Top Rudder Solo 103 by MS/Asobo now available

[Fielder 3,793]

 

[Fielder 3,793]

Njord was the Norway/Denmark God of Windstroms...

 

[Mace 1,965]

3 hours ago, regis9 said:

Interesting, for the price might be worth a shot.  It does concern me that if real life me got Into the plane it’s gross weight would nearly double lol 

I concerns me that I probably can no longer bench press that airplane.

[in2tech 588]

For those that bought it, a few videos please? And if it will float like a sail plane, after turning engine off, I might pick it up. In other words is it so lite that the mountain ridges will cause lift and other thermals? I really want a glider in MSFS. Can it be use like a glider at times?

[BostonJeremy77 519]

53 minutes ago, in2tech said:

For those that bought it, a few videos please? And if it will float like a sail plane, after turning engine off, I might pick it up. In other words is it so lite that the mountain ridges will cause lift and other thermals? I really want a glider in MSFS. Can it be use like a glider at times?

I don't have a video, but I can tell you that you are at the mercy of the wind. My test flight was in Vieques, Puerto Rico (as usual) where there was a 15 knot wind. That resulted in LITERALLY vertical takeoff and landing. As in... ZERO distance travelled on the x-axis. 😉 A bit like Bleriot but light. 

[scotchegg 4,265]

Very basic (no fuel gauge even) but what a lot of fun! Just spent a very happy hour over the ridges and stunning water masks of the North side of Oahu. Recommended for when you can’t be arsed to plan!

[Bilbosmeggins 217]

1 hour ago, in2tech said:

For those that bought it, a few videos please? And if it will float like a sail plane, after turning engine off, I might pick it up. In other words is it so lite that the mountain ridges will cause lift and other thermals? I really want a glider in MSFS. Can it be use like a glider at times?

No, it won’t really glide. Turning the engine off makes it very nose-heavy, and it will quickly dive for the ground. A shame as I had the same thought of ridge soaring it.

[Bilbosmeggins 217]

1 hour ago, Stoopy said:

Thanks for this.  Think I might grab it and head on over to Torrey Pines!

🤙

 

Just make sure the wind is kicking up a bit, and you’ll be in for a wild ride 😀

[amsfsx02501 22]

The Top Rudder is so much fun to fly, spent about 30 minutes flying around the Gold Coast from YBCG to YSPT in it.

[crimplene 634]

2 hours ago, Bilbosmeggins said:

No, it won’t really glide. Turning the engine off makes it very nose-heavy, and it will quickly dive for the ground. A shame as I had the same thought of ridge soaring it.

Look at it. It's not a sailplane! It might be light but it has the shape of a shopping cart.

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,799]

2 hours ago, crimplene said:

Look at it. It's not a sailplane! It might be light but it has the shape of a shopping cart.

yeah ...  I think people are confusing this with a trike which is basically a hang glider with a tiny engine. A trike uses hang glider "reverse" controls (push bar forward to climb -  pull bar back to dive)  and like the hang glider they are based on does glide reasonably well.

This and the other two 103 based ultralights currently for sale (Powersolo and the Aerolite 103) are all 3 axis ultralights with conventional wing and tail and ailerons and an elevator and conventional controls, although very light they are not hang gliders with an engine they are conventional aircraft.

The key differences seem to be the aerolite is a pusher prop, the Powersolo has fairly basic textures/graphics and comes with floats as an option and the new Asobo one is sort of like the Powersolo but better graphics, with no floats, and with a weird engine.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Glenn Fitzpatrick

[Bilbosmeggins 217]

5 hours ago, crimplene said:

Look at it. It's not a sailplane! It might be light but it has the shape of a shopping cart.

I never suggested it was. I was answering a question from another, and I used to fly hang gliders back in the 80’s, so am acutely aware of the differences. The only thing that made me vaguely hopeful was that the developers had stated that if you throttle down, then a centrifugal clutch disconnects the engine from the prop. And the only real thing that could be considered useful by doing that was if the plane had some thermalling, or ridge soaring  abilities. It doesn’t.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Bilbosmeggins
Typo

[Bilbosmeggins 217]

Just stumbled across this video on YouTube. The MSFS rendition mirrors this experience perfectly. If you fly in a conventional fashion you may just lose the will to live as the scenery inches it’s way along. However, fly it like you stole it, in a hooligan fashion and it’s amazing. I just found it very interesting to find some real footage exhibiting this very behaviour. 

 

[kaha 205]

I like it, it's fun to fly. Here are two videos, one from St.Baarts, one from Innsbruck, where I live. I still have to practice landings. Too slow is ... hmmm... too slow.

https://vimeo.com/543313592

https://vimeo.com/543319467

Karl

[tpete61 235]

On 4/28/2021 at 1:28 PM, in2tech said:

So this is their first payware offering from MS/Asobo? Smart for them to make it a smaller aircraft at a very nice price of $9.99 to start their own payware offerings, I think. Kind of that price point people don't have to think about a lot, IF they like that type of aircraft, or want to see if they enjoy that type of aircraft.

I'll have to keep an eye on this one. Hope the people that get it, enjoy it 🙂

They can't hardly muck up a tiny little VFR plane hopefully.

So it was a very wise choice considering the state of IFR flying.

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by tpete61