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Old 07-07-2010, 03:03 PM
AstronMike AstronMike is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Lakeland, FL
Posts: 224
Default SkyDart LV

Well, for those of you who remember my mentioning this as a future project a month or so ago, now its done and flown several times. Was going to make this an outright build thread but figured practically no one would really build one of these for themselves. That said, I will list the critical dimensions and materials anyways:

One 17" length each of BT20 and 55
Two C-rings for this, either use 2055s or make your own
A half of a plastic Easter Egg used for the NC here to save cost and weight
One sheet of Adams Readiboard, obtainable at Dollar Tree
Two small paper clips with 8" of round sewing elastic tied between them
Two large paper clips, used for an elevator stop if needed, and for the elevator hold down
12" chute for the pod, along with a burnt 18mm motor casing and 4 pennies for pod wt

As you probably know, this is basically a 40ish% upscale of the original SkyDart, but made light enough for good flights on C6-3s. The main wing has a 11" chord and 17" span while having the curved outside edges (mine isnt right though). The rudder has a base edge of 6.5" and is 3.5" high, with the top edge being an inch. Just as in the original, its aft base edge is notched to allow for elevator travel. Mine currently has a rise of just under 1/2" and glides fine.

The NC is really critical to this build, as any standard balsa or plastic one would make it way too nose heavy. Therefor, I opted to use the absolute lightest solid thing I could find, which is half of a small Easter Egg. It fits the end of the BT55 perfectly albeit with NO shoulder. No problem, just chrome tape it on there . THose of you good with paper and cardstock could use an even lighter conical cone but you may then need nose weight for glide trim. Mine still needed a penny taped up front.

Definitely use Adams board for this build. It is very easy to work with and LIGHT. Any standard foamboard product would make this too heavy for any real flight on Cs. If you cannot locate this in a Dollar Tree (the only place its locally available) then going with the lightest 3/32" balsa might work. Of course, the advantage of using readiboard is that you do not have to splice balsa bits together ala the original.

The pod is pretty straightforward. Take a burnt motor and chip out most but not all of its nozzle, and glue this into one end flush with the end of the tube or even sticking out a bit, just as long as the end of your pod butts up against the inside rear of whatever nose cone or bulkhead you use. Take the four pennies and tape them around where you glued in the casing, these should provide the necessary boost ballast. The two C rings glue on the pod tube at 2.25" and 8" from the *rear* of the tube. Now finish the pod by taping a large paper clip onto the end. Youll have to bend it to allow for taping one 'side' to the pod BT and then take the other 'side' and bend this to where it will overlap your elevator and hold it flat against the gliders main BT. THis will have to be done once you actually finish the main glider, of course. Oh yeah, dont forget to tape on that small chute between the two CR2055s. I used a 3/16 launch lug too, just for Fred

Building the main glider is very easy once you have the parts cut out from the Readiboard. ONce finished, you should end up with an empty (NO POD) CG around 5" aft from the apex of the wing. This is dependant upon whatever your chosen NC weighs, so keep that light. Oh yes, lest I forget here, about the elevator....

The elevator measures 9" wide by 1.125" deep. Cut this out of the main wing BEFORE you glue the main wing onto the glider ! What about the hinging? I just tape it across its span with wide clear tape, and then bend it over, and then tape across the back edges. This works fine, and even just the single taping over the top will suffice here.

You can notch your rudder a bit less than half an inch and just let the elevator hit it there for starters. If you wind up needing more elevator, youll have to carefully cut out a bit more room for the elevator. What if you need less travel? Thats where another paper clip comes into play. It goes over the base of the rudder and is taped down when you have your trim licked. And for those of you who are unsure of trimming, dont worry, this glider is EASY to get right.

My glider with pod, sans motor, comes in at 3.0z, and this has now flown twice. ITs first flight was on an Estes C6-3. Straight boost, good altitude, and nice glide. A bit nose down I saw, so I gave it a tad more elevator for the next. It then was flown on a Quest C6-3, which is the long burn variety. SLow chugging boost but still straight, with ejection at apogee, and a nicer glide of probably 45 seconds or so in no wind. Nice!! This larger glider does the job, and does it well, and if you make one you will enjoy it. Just watch your weight.

Pictures below as follows: 1/ Main Parts 2/ Complete w/pod (before I shortened it some) 3/Done as flown 4/ Myself holding the SkyDart LV while using gum cam standing in front of mirror
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