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Old 12-02-2017, 05:38 PM
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burkefj burkefj is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2009
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Default Orbital Transport Glider upscale

I wanted to do an orbital transport glider for a while, but buying a bunch of BT-80 tubing and cones for my kits finally pushed me over the edge. For a standalone glider that boosts vertically I didn't want a low mounted wing with dihedral, I prefer a mid mounted wing to get the servos on the bottom but up away from landing damage. Based on the dimensions I was able to just re-use the same wing I use for one of my other kits so I had a known good CG location. It went together really quickly, and I hand cut the vinyl trim using what I had laying around. I used standard straight elevons and just mocked the angled wider tip elevons with trim vinyl and some sharpie markers to give it that "orbital transport" look. I added some leading edge color since it was a bit plain, and added a stripe on the bottom to remind me what direction I should be pointing.
The only pain in doing this is the extremely thin lightweight BT-80 tubing tends to lose shape as the slot is cut, I've found using a dremel works better than an aluminum angle like I normally use. The best option is to use a full length piece of coupler inside to support the tube as you cut, but that isn't feasable in a kit. The other issue since the tube wants to flatten out, is as you put the glue fillet, you have to squeeze the tubing slightly to keep it round. Same when putting the tail in place. Once everything is glued it is very rigid for the light weight.

CG just needed .25 oz of nose weight, so AUW ready to fly with E-6 is 10.25 oz. 2.6" diameter, 32" long, 20" wingspan.
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