Not enough gravity

[Viperkite]

Wanted a competitive catapult glider and built a Sweepette 14. Did the usual basic trimming and was pleased with the result, so gave it the full catapult launch. I no longer have the glider, it shot off to about 50 feet and then treated gravity with contempt. After chasing it for half a mile I lost sight of it. So building another one, this time with a D/t.

[Starduster]

Why, listen here, whippersnapper...

Back in MY DAY, why, we'd build a dozen hand-launch gliders. No one even thought of putting DT's on em'

If we came back from Taft with one or two, why, we'd be disappointed.

Heck, most of the time, we wouldn't bother to chase them once they got swept up into one of them there trash movers!

Oh, and we'd wear onions on our belts, and we called nickels "bees" back then. We'd say "hey! give me five bees for a quarter"

[Viperkite]

I gave up looking for it after I realised I had spent less time on building it. Problem is in competition you have to make 7 flights with no more than 3 models, so might run out of 'ammo'.

[strat-o]

Back in MY DAY, why, we'd build a dozen hand-launch gliders. No one even thought of putting DT's on em'

If we came back from Taft with one or two, why, we'd be disappointed.

LOL  Been there, done that.  Thrilling losing your glider the first six or seven times.  After that DT's on ALL of them.  

I spent an afternoon trying to get a paper airplane lost in a thermal from my yard once.  The trouble with paper airplanes here in Houston is the air is so humid that after 5 minutes the plane turns into a damp rag.  I came pretty close though a couple of times.

BTW, there are several paper airplanes I consider thermal-worthy.  The first design folded in this video is nearly identical to my go to favorite:
https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/03/john-collins-paper-airplane/

Also to get a paper airplane to fly a gentle turn, sort of twist the nose where the wing intersects with the fuselage.  This brings one wing into a higher anlgle of attack than the other wing.

[lincoln]

If I had some way to send along some of our local gravity, I would. We have too much.

[Viperkite]

Got loads of gravity, just not always where I want it.