Boomer EPP slope glider wing

2004.02.04

That wing is the Boomer Termica sold as a kit from Otto Laszlo Peterdi on his www.asadecombate.com site.

I bought it and built it on 2003.05 but never flew it as I didn't have a decent slope to go to. When I found the slope between Camburi and Boiçucanga beaches (pictures here) I decided to put it back in action since some parts had been cannibalized by other projects.

It's currently equipped with a Berg 4 DSP receiver, Hitec HS-55 servos, an elevon mixer by NC Models since I don't have a computer radio yet, and 400mAh 4.8V NiCd batterias.

AUW is 370g and I had to add a lot of weight to the nose (around 40-50g) to get the CG on the correct place.

My building skills are very limited (I can't recall how many times I've written this...) so be advised someone could easily build a better looking Boomer...

It has a bungee hook and a hi-start hook close to the CG. Bungee launching this wing works very well, launches easily to 15-20m. I haven't had a chance so far to try it on a hi-start.

My first try at the slope is scheduled for next weekend!

2004.02.07 - Boomer on Boiçucanga's slope

What a blast!

My first slope experience and it couldn't have been better. Hot sunny day, the wind was a steady 10-15 knots coming from SE, hitting the slope slightly sideways from the left and producing a perfect lift. To my astonishment there was lift even way into the ocean at 100-150m from the slope face! The launch point is around 50m ASL but that's only 1/4 of the mountain total height... I climbed several times way up higher than the summit, glided far away into the sea, rolled, looped, flyed it inverted... lots of fun!

Landing was a different story... The instructions I had in mind on how to land on the slope quite didn't work for me, most landings where head on crashes into soft bushes when aimed right, and into the grassy ground when my aiming failed me :)

I was all by myself there, even the paraglider pilots didn't show up this weekend. I took the pics myself, r/c on the right hand, camera on the left hand. Lots of lift and a well trimmed stable wing made it all very easy.

Later, pondering over my first slope flight, I came to the conclusion that slopes are not exactly what I like: there's just too much lift, too easy to stay on the air. It's like if you had a motor with endless fuel... I like the challenge of having to find thermals and chase them around without loosing too much altitude, or even to reach farther out to get some slope lift and then back, but keeping strictly on the lift all of the time is not challenging enough for my taste. Aerobatics are fun but I get tired of it after a short while. I'll be back to that slope but won't be a frequent flyer here.

Re the Boomer's flight characteristics, I was impressed how docile and easy to fly it is. No actual experience on that, but by what I've heard of other flying wings I'd say the Boomer is a very calm and responsive sloper, and that fits my taste perfectly (though still a sloper).

2004.02.21 - Camera mount

Decided to strap my camera to the bottom of the Boomer wing for aerial photographs.

These pics are of the bottom of the wing!

At first I thought of pointing it forward and came out with that (click for larger image). I was going to test fly it to check if the flying characteristics would be affected too much but gave up and went with the more aerodynamic side looking mount pictured above. I think it was a wise decision. :-)

These aerial pics were taken with this camera setup (more to come in the future) :

2004.03.13 - Pirapora do Bom Jesus

2004.02.21 - Pirapora do Bom Jesus