What is DLG?

DLG stands for Discus Launch Glider. Years ago the category was referred to as “Hand Launch” but with today’s ever smaller and affordable R/C receivers and servos – we now can control hand launch planes in the air. These gliders are made of carbon fiber or balsa wood.

R/C Soaring – Thermaling

This is most of what we do as a club – R/C Soaring – Thermal Hunting. It is an age old story – the sun heats the ground unevenly causing warm areas to rise into in the shape of invisible “dust devils”. These often feed clouds high above or “mothers milk” – whimsical lower cloud layers of rising air.


In theory – one can fly all day. In practice flying more than 20 or 30 minutes in the rising air takes skill as well as mental and physical endurance. Out competitions use “Tasks” of 6 or 10 minutes to test one pilot against another.

The Contest

We like to fly and we like to compete. An R/C Glider contest invites R/C pilots to compete over a “task”. In our club the task is a combination of “duration” and “landing”. We accumulate 1 point for every second of flight up to the task time (6 or 10 minutes) and add a landing score. The landing score is based on distance from a point on the ground – the closer to the location, the more points earned. We fly 4-6 rounds. Each round consists of 1 flight. The total scores are added together. The winner recieves 1,000 points and each of pilot receives a percentage of 1,000 based on the percent of the winners points earned. We add these up and see who has the most at the end of the season.