Mini DLG Composite Discus Launch Glider - Blue/White 950mm (PNF)

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Customer Rated

Jul 28, 2016

As another reviewer commented - the one HK sells isn't the same one as advertised, the one I received has following issues:
1. the canopy/pod is all plastic and is very heavy - without battery/voltage reg/receiver, it weighs 125g, with 2s battery, a very tiny voltage regulator and a Lemon RX Feather receiver, we are looking at 152g. but it's *way too* nose heavy. might have to add 10g or so just to get CG right. so we are looking at 162g flight weight vs 130g advertised.

2. the wing mount bolt/hole is not straight/level. If horizontal stabilizer is level, one wing tip is **5 cm** higher than the other and there is no easy way to fix :(

I am very disappointed because the glider was well reviewed by several RC websites.
I purchased the glider and expected very quick assembly and fun. but now I am looking at rather nasty CG issue and wing bolt fixes.

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Customer Rated

May 01, 2016

Be forewarned: The plane HK is selling now is not this plane. The one I received does not have any balsa in the pod. Instead the servo tray and canopy mount are cast into the pod plastic. With this extra weight in the pod castings I cant add flight gear and get the CG correct.
Right now I have a single cell 360mah lipo bare cell going into a tiny HK voltage booster feeding a frsky d4r-11. All of my components are pushed as far back as possible. CG is still too far forward WITHOUT the canopy !!
I think my next move will be to relocate the wing mounts 5mm forward.

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Customer Rated

Apr 13, 2016

It is super fun to fly, but it has its own problems, because it's quite cheap. The tail boom is really weak and I would suggest putting at least some tape on the tail boom just under the wing to prevent the cracks spreading, if any should appear. It doesn't break if you don't crash it or throw it with full force, but where is the fun in that... The wing on mine broke in half while throwing it (it was probably weakened by a few crashes I had previously). Fixing the wing is quite easy - just find some 1mm balsa, cut out the broken balsa and glue in new balsa with some regular wood glue.

I fly this with the stock servos, a 180mAh 2S LiPo, a 5V regulator and the FrSky V8FR-II. The CG is just right with these components.

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Customer Rated

Feb 14, 2016

I picked this up on sale for about half price, but if I had known how good it was, I would have paid full price a long time ago. Of course it is built to a price point, but in general i'm very impressed with the construction. the wing is straight, (as is everything else), the servos were well centered out of the box, and the covering is decently applied with only a few very small wrinkles. Normally I expect to fix some "issues" with hobbyking planes, but this required nothing. I set mine up with a 240mah zippy single cell lipo, and a small voltage booster. The CG was perfect. The first flight was uneventful, which is perhaps the highest praise I can give to a plane. This is my first DLG, but I found launching easy. Stalls are gradual, and the glider doesn't have any nasty tendencies. You won't win any competitions with this glider, but it's a good flier at a bargain price.

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Customer Rated

Jul 18, 2015

This is my second DLG. I started with a smaller foam DLG and got instantly hooked as soon as I experienced my first thermal flight. So as usual I wanted to go a little bigger. This DLG was priced very reasonably compared to other manufacturers. Along with the purchase I also included a HobbyKing Voltage booster and two Nanotech 1s 300mah cells. Mounted the receiver and VB in the bottom of the pod and applied Velcro to the top of the pod to allow the movement of the battery for CG. With the above equipment installed the CG does balance perfectly with no other additional weight required. I am very impressed with the quick assembly of this 950m. I took my time getting to the maiden flight by following the instructions on the throws(very important) and the CG. A couple of light hand tosses showed that little trim adjustments were required however this is true for every plane. I set my D/R values to 90pcnt and 30 for both rudder and elevator. Once I was comfortable with it's characteristics I tried a single circle launch into about a 6/7mph wind. Got some good climb and then bang thermal. Took the plane up and played a little landing gracefully. For the price and the fun factor it is well worth it. I wouldn't expect pro DLG performance from this plane however it is a joy to fly. I would recommend this purchase to anyone looking to get started in DLG.

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Customer Rated

May 23, 2015

Superb,used a smart lipo 250mah(built in step up to 5v & bec),balanced perfectly,just took the orange r615 out of it's case,everything nice and snug,quality is really good,no warps and tight as a drum film,this is really light and the float is unreal,flown it in loads of different conditions windy/calm it will get lift from almost anywhere,was a bit wary of having a rudder/elevator only model but to be honest it turns on a dime,quite responsive and definitely a lot of fun!,you will not regret buying this one.

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Customer Rated

May 07, 2015

If your one of those people who are debating on which dlg to start off with , i can tell you from my experience and videos i watched. I bought this one and im very pleased with it , Its a very very good floater in thermals and the plane reads them well so you will know once your in one. The pod doesn't seem to be as fragile as other people are putting it but the pod will break if you plan on crashing the plane hard nose first or flying on very rough terrain then your better of going with the composite 1000mm dlg because of its fiber glass and carbon fiber material. If you just want somthing thats going to be a good floater in thermals and want somthing affordable then this plane is the best choice for the price and what you get.

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Customer Rated

Mar 20, 2015

Overall this is a nice beginner DLG. If it's your first you'll probably tear it up. It's cheap for a reason. At some point you'll get your launches better and better to the point you'll break the wing. Mine didn't explode or anything, but I can tell that in a few more hard launches the spar might let loose. Great for a beginner. Another good choice would be to get the version with flaperons. It'll make sticking in that thermal a bit easier. This one glides just a tad too fast.

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Customer Rated

Dec 18, 2014

was amazed at the quality. none of the covering required any shrinking, no dents or scratches either. the only downside was the plastic wingbolts thread was non-existant. I had to improvise using a couple of brass 3mm screws I had lying around. I put a Frsky XR4 Rx and the only battery I have atm is a 450mAh smart lipo.
With all this I had to stick a 3gm weight on the back. this gave an AUW of 145g. will look at sourcing a smaller battery, but in saying that we're going through a fairly windy period so a bit of extra weight might not matter.will post another review after flights

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Customer Rated

Nov 06, 2014

Though it is hard not to like the overall package, I would like to see a bit more 'quality control'. In attempting to test glide (not a discus launch) I found that the DLG had a very strong tendency to do a wing over to the left. During this testing process, I also had a servo fail (jammed). When I really started examining the glider as I do w/ my home built planes, I found it had wash-in on the right wing and wash-out in the left wing - guaranteeing that it would not fly correctly. It took a lot of time w/ a heat gun and iron to get the panels even close to straight. I was close to stripping the covering and recovering the whole wing. I bought the DLG to practice discus type launches, but have yet to be able to attempt this.