Welcome to our Discussion. I’m David Higgins
Although I am introducing this Forum, I will not be a formal moderator of sorts that controls or guides any part of the discussion—rather it will be the GLIDER COMMUNITY at large that steps in to answer or make comments relative to the discussion. Like all of you I will weigh in when appropriate to speak on subjects that I can contribute to.
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Please visit my Introduction to the Gliders Group Forum to give you an idea of my history with gliders and why I recommend them for all aeromodelers.
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KC'S FREE FLIGHT AËROMODELLING SITE 
Wing loading is the most important characteristic for indoor and outdoor hand-launched and catapult-launched gliders when it comes to time aloft. A glider’s wing loading will determine how slowly it will fly, which determines how long it will stay aloft. For outdoor gliders, where you have an unlimited ceiling height, a glider with very light wing loading may not have enough strength to withstand the stresses of launch nor enough inertia (mass) to attain very high heights.
With catapult-launched gliders you have a rule-limited catapult consisting of a 9” loop of 1/4” wide rubber strip, so if you make your glider too big and heavy it won’t get very high. So, what is the ideal weight and wing loading for an outdoor catapult-launched glider? That is what I’ve been trying to determine. Recently, I’ve taken two of my heavier 12” wingspan high ceiling height (think of the Kibby Dome) indoor catapult gliders and converted them for outdoor flying by adding “The Flip Dethermalizer System” to them. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to test them, but I think there is a good possibility that they will be fairly competitive. Being that it is now the middle of November, I will have to wait until next spring to find out how well they perform.
Yes Dave! You are so right about wing loading! Especially when it comes to indoor gliders. This is one of the real challenges to building and flying indoor competitive gliders. For an indoor glider it needs to be strong enough the withstand the flight loads and yet light enough to fly slow enough to stay aloft to achieve a competitive time. This means wood selection is important! Also the glider configuration would need to be taken into consideration….a low ceiling glider would be different than a high ceiling glider such as flying in Tustin’s blimp hangars vs. you local gym with a 24/26 foot ceiling. More on this later.