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blackshire
04-28-2009, 10:17 PM
Hello All,

In the late 1970s or early 1980s I had an unusual hand-launched glider that is illustrated in G. Harry Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry," and I would like to acquire another one if possible.

This glider is shown in Figure 13-11 on page 203 of the "Handbook of Model Rocketry" (7th edition), in Chapter 13 ("Glide Recovery.") The caption says, "Elliptical dihedral of a wing." This photograph also appeared in several previous editions of the book.

It is a polystyrene foam hand-launched glider of the pod-and-boom type, with a "Y"-shaped (when viewed from the front or rear) tail assembly. It is rather similar to the F/F (Free Flight) gliders on this web site: www.f4bscale.worldonline.co.uk/hand.htm . Does anyone here know where the glider shown in the book might still be found, or know the name of this glider (and its manufacturer)?

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

georgegassaway
04-29-2009, 10:23 AM
It is a polystyrene foam hand-launched glider of the pod-and-boom type, with a "Y"-shaped (when viewed from the front or rear) tail assembly. It is rather similar to the F/F (Free Flight) gliders on this web site: www.f4bscale.worldonline.co.uk/hand.htm . Does anyone here know where the glider shown in the book might still be found, or know the name of this glider (and its manufacturer)
It was a mass-produced hand launched glider that was around for a relatively brief time in the mid 1970's. Some Hobby Shops carried it, but it was not a popular item.

As I recall, the elliptical wings were molded expanded foam which included a partial “fuselage” area with a 1/4” (or so) hole thru it for the dowel fuselage to run through. A molded rubber piece was at front, also mounted to the dowel, both for noseweight and to keep the dowel from spearing anything (anyone). The tail surfaces were also molded foam, in one piece, to mount to the dowel. Actually I am pretty sure the dowel was tapered.

I never had one, but I saw a few people who had them (and I might have seen them once in a Hobby Shop). They were not as good for a contest B/G as people could build from scratch, except for those who could not build gliders very well at ALL. This was because the wing airfoil was sort of draggy for rocket boost, the glider was sort of big for anything under D power, and while the foam made the wings light, the tail was a hair heavy and the short nose required the big rubber piece up front to be somewhat “heavy” to balance the whole model out

I do not recall the name of the company. I am almost certain we are talking about a 30+ year dead product. So the most likely (?) way to get one now would be via someplace like eBay. But that is SO obscure that I doubt you’d find one listed (Well, you might find “foam glider” listed a lot, but not this one). Or if you ever were successful in finding out the name of that company, a Google Search might bring up some info.

- George Gassaway

Royatl
04-29-2009, 10:35 AM
Hello All,

In the late 1970s or early 1980s I had an unusual hand-launched glider that is illustrated in G. Harry Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry," and I would like to acquire another one if possible.

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Since Bill Stine frequents the forums, and since that photo looks like one of the ones that his dad took or had taken, he might have the info you want.

Old Rocketeer "II"
04-29-2009, 12:11 PM
Since Bill Stine frequents the forums, and since that photo looks like one of the ones that his dad took or had taken, he might have the info you want.

I think it was made by North Pacific.

It has not been in the marketplace for 30 or more years.

When Quest did its line of foam gliders four years ago we designed a nice eliptical wing glider similar to this one but it never made it into production.

Royatl
04-29-2009, 12:33 PM
I think it was made by North Pacific.

It has not been in the marketplace for 30 or more years.

When Quest did its line of foam gliders four years ago we designed a nice eliptical wing glider similar to this one but it never made it into production.


Ok, so according to a comment on Jeff Duntemann's blog (http://www.contrapositivediary.com/?p=582) , North Pacific was bought by Comet, which was bought by Guillow in 1998, but the North Pacific designs were gone by then.

North Pacific made these nifty nickle gliders whose wings were held on by a small plastic extrusion, and John Langford would use a paper clip to hook these up to regular rockets and fly them in 1/4a and 1/2a boost glide contests as parasite gliders. They outperformed anything we'd seen till then ('70-71).

blackshire
04-30-2009, 04:50 AM
I thank you all very much for your replies! Here is a link to an "online museum" of balsa toy gliders, rubber-powered "stick" airplanes, and rubber-powered helicopters www.oldwoodtoys.com/new_page_2.htm , some of which date from the 1920s!

The old North Pacific foam glider in the "Handbook of Model Rocketry" had good wind penetration because it was rather heavy for its size (which allowed me to achieve high hand launches), yet it glided pretty well in calm air as well. Maybe it didn't catch on at the time because it didn't "look like an airplane?" The Airglider 40 (see: http://www.nextag.com/airglider-40/products-html ) looks similar to it but has a "V"-tail instead of a "Y"-tail, as well as cloth-covered flying surfaces.

I'll see if I can find even a beat-up one on eBay or elsewhere. I could replicate it pretty closely in balsa, using three instead of the usual two polyhedral panels in the wings in order to more closely approximate the elliptical dihedral of the original foam glider.

Ltvscout
04-30-2009, 07:54 AM
Ok, so according to a comment on Jeff Duntemann's blog (http://www.contrapositivediary.com/?p=582) , North Pacific was bought by Comet, which was bought by Guillow in 1998, but the North Pacific designs were gone by then.

North Pacific made these nifty nickle gliders whose wings were held on by a small plastic extrusion, and John Langford would use a paper clip to hook these up to regular rockets and fly them in 1/4a and 1/2a boost glide contests as parasite gliders. They outperformed anything we'd seen till then ('70-71).
Boy, does that bring back memories. I bought a TON of North Pacific balsa planes as a kid. 99% of them were the rubber-band powered type vs a straight glider. I also liked the catapault launched glider that folded its wings to get way up there before they popped open for a nice long glide.

I was also very big into kites as a kid. (I do stunt kites now from time to time.) I would put a small hook on the nose of a glider and put it on the string. The wind would carry it up the string. I'd jerk the line a few times and it would fall off and glide down. Fun!

Eagle3
04-30-2009, 08:16 AM
Sort of related..... I'm looking for plans for the Jasco "Fleet" of hand toss gliders. I've scoured the web and come up empty. I believe Jasco had another "box of gliders" product, but I don't recall the name. Anyways, if anyone knows how to get the plans for these I'd greatly appreciate it. A couple could be converted.

Royatl
04-30-2009, 10:51 AM
I thank you all very much for your replies! Here is a link to an "online museum" of balsa toy gliders, rubber-powered "stick" airplanes, and rubber-powered helicopters www.oldwoodtoys.com/new_page_2.htm , some of which date from the 1920s!


The "American Airlines" promo glider mentioned in the "Gliders part II" segment is the North Pacific nickle glider I mentioned earlier.

blackshire
04-30-2009, 11:51 PM
Sort of related..... I'm looking for plans for the Jasco "Fleet" of hand toss gliders. I've scoured the web and come up empty. I believe Jasco had another "box of gliders" product, but I don't recall the name. Anyways, if anyone knows how to get the plans for these I'd greatly appreciate it. A couple could be converted.

Here are two sources for JASCO and JETCO gliders. Tom Martin of Tom Martin R/C (see: www.tmrcsailplanes.com/plans-and-patterns.html ) has plans and laser-cut kits of most of the JASCO and JETCO gliders, and Mike Smock's company called Aerosente (see: www.aerosente.com ) markets them and provides abundant building and trimming information on his web site.

Was the "box of gliders" product you're referring to a 3-kit combo that included a conventional-configuration glider with elliptical wings and tail surfaces ("Orthodox"), a swept-wing tailless glider with a central vertical stabilizer ("Flying Wing"), and a canard glider with elliptical main wings and canard wings ("Tail First")? If so, that was the JETCO (and I believe JASCO made it as well) Thermic Trio. Tom Martin has the plans for these (although he hasn't scanned them yet), and Mike Smock has expressed interest in releasing the Thermic Trio as a laser-cut kit. It was my first "glued-together" balsa chuck glider kit, and I would love to build another 'Trio.

blackshire
05-01-2009, 12:29 AM
The "American Airlines" promo glider mentioned in the "Gliders part II" segment is the North Pacific nickle glider I mentioned earlier.

I flew many of those! North Pacific also made an even smaller glider that looked similar but had untapered and slightly-swept wings that couldn't have been wider (in chord) than 1/2" from leading edge to trailing edge. This one glided farther than any of these "slip-together" balsa chuck gliders that I've ever flown.

Eagle3
05-01-2009, 07:00 AM
....

Was the "box of gliders" product you're referring to a 3-kit combo that included a conventional-configuration glider with elliptical wings and tail surfaces ("Orthodox"), a swept-wing tailless glider with a central vertical stabilizer ("Flying Wing"), and a canard glider with elliptical main wings and canard wings ("Tail First")? If so, that was the JETCO (and I believe JASCO made it as well) Thermic Trio. Tom Martin has the plans for these (although he hasn't scanned them yet), and Mike Smock has expressed interest in releasing the Thermic Trio as a laser-cut kit. It was my first "glued-together" balsa chuck glider kit, and I would love to build another 'Trio.

YES! That was them and since I was using the wrong mfg it's no wonder I couldn't find them. :chuckle: So, what are the chances these guys will release the plans or laser cut parts?

Eagle3
05-01-2009, 07:40 AM
Update - Penn Valley Hobby Center has the Jetco Thermic Trio for $14.95 (including shipping).

Order placed. :) Thanks Blackshire!!!

blackshire
05-01-2009, 06:59 PM
Update - Penn Valley Hobby Center has the Jetco Thermic Trio for $14.95 (including shipping).

Order placed. :) Thanks Blackshire!!!

And thank you for letting me (and all others here) know about these! Are they NOS ("New"-Old Stock) or newly-made kits?

Eagle3
05-03-2009, 09:40 AM
I'm guessing NOS, but I'll let you know when the package arrives. I also see they sold one on ebay for over $20.

blackshire
05-03-2009, 10:06 AM
I'm guessing NOS, but I'll let you know when the package arrives. I also see they sold one on ebay for over $20.

Thank you. Their kits may not be NOS, but perhaps new kits--Jeff Teaford of Teaford Aerospace Company www.teafordaerospacecompany.com sells his "Stacy-K," "Wasp," "Gus," and "Scotty" balsa hand-launched glider kits both on eBay and directly from his company's web site as the Penn Valley Hobby Center does with their glider kits.

Eagle3
05-05-2009, 08:56 PM
The box says "Manufactured with permission by Shive Specialties, Lansdale, PA". Google seems to think Shive and Penn Valley are one in the same. Either way, the kit looks nice. The plan sheet looks like an exact replication of the original. The balsa is good quality with the patterns printed on the sheets. No laser cut.

Ltvscout
05-05-2009, 09:14 PM
The box says "Manufactured with permission by Shive Specialties, Lansdale, PA". Google seems to think Shive and Penn Valley are one in the same. Either way, the kit looks nice. The plan sheet looks like an exact replication of the original. The balsa is good quality with the patterns printed on the sheets. No laser cut.
I would hope so since Bill Shive is the owner of PVHC. ;)

If anyone here is in contact with Mack Yocum, you can get all kinds of info about Bill and PVHC.

rokitflite
05-05-2009, 09:45 PM
I would hope so since Bill Shive is the owner of PVHC. ;)

If anyone here is in contact with Mack Yocum, you can get all kinds of info about Bill and PVHC.


Haven't heard from Mack in a while... He called, no message, I called back WITH a message and have not heard back. I hope all is well with him :( .

Ez2cDave
05-22-2011, 04:01 PM
Sort of related..... I'm looking for plans for the Jasco "Fleet" of hand toss gliders. I've scoured the web and come up empty. I believe Jasco had another "box of gliders" product, but I don't recall the name. Anyways, if anyone knows how to get the plans for these I'd greatly appreciate it. A couple could be converted.

I know this thread is a couple of years old . . .

This link has JASCO plans, etc

http://www.parmodels.com/Plans/JASCO_Models.htm

blackshire
05-22-2011, 07:49 PM
The Penn Valley Hobby Center has reproduction kits of several of Frank Zaic's classic glider kits. These include the Thermic Trio (see: http://www.pennvalleyhobbycenter.com/rubber/Jetco/jtmthermictrio.htm ), which is a "3-in-1" kit of gliders with different configurations.

Cohetero-negro
05-24-2011, 01:59 AM
The Penn Valley Hobby Center has reproduction kits of several of Frank Zaic's classic glider kits. These include the Thermic Trio (see: http://www.pennvalleyhobbycenter.com/rubber/Jetco/jtmthermictrio.htm ), which is a "3-in-1" kit of gliders with different configurations.

Black,

Are you seeking a glider from a specific page on the HoMR or a certain Zaic plan?

I have some of his old orange books from the 30's, 40's, and 50's, bur I don't remember those; but there are some very weird plans that with today's materials would be a snap (pardon the pun) to build.

J

blackshire
05-24-2011, 04:04 AM
Black,

Are you seeking a glider from a specific page on the HoMR or a certain Zaic plan?

I have some of his old orange books from the 30's, 40's, and 50's, bur I don't remember those; but there are some very weird plans that with today's materials would be a snap (pardon the pun) to build.

JNo. The foam glider shown in Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry" (which I started this thread about) is long out of production. I just posted the link above in response to Eagle3's query about a JASCO "box of gliders" kit. The Thermic Trio gliders were later Frank Zaic designs. I got my first Thermic Trio kit (made by JETCO instead of JASCO) in the 1970s.

Cohetero-negro
05-24-2011, 08:55 AM
No. The foam glider shown in Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry" (which I started this thread about) is long out of production. I just posted the link above in response to Eagle3's query about a JASCO "box of gliders" kit. The Thermic Trio gliders were later Frank Zaic designs. I got my first Thermic Trio kit (made by JETCO instead of JASCO) in the 1970s.

Ah OK, I understand now.

My first gliders were the Peck Polymer 'Eaglet' gliders. As a kid, I would take the bus down to their suite/warehouse when they were owned and located on Carson BLVD in Carson CA.

Great gliders, I actually got one to thermal away twice in one day. I had to walk about a mile each time to recover the plane; an Eaglet 20 IIRC.

Hey you wouldn't happen to do Jetex? I have kits and motors, but there is just no interest to be found even at the model rocket sites!?

Jonathan

Ez2cDave
05-24-2011, 10:11 AM
The NDC "SUPER GLIDER" !

EBAY has a CASE of them listed right now . . .

http://cgi.ebay.com/Case-1960s-Super-Glider-Plastic-foam-NDC-Corp-/400166610113


http://www.periodpaper.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/8022f01105bea4edf676ba39d5976c14/T/O/TOYS71_062_1.JPG

EBAY has a CASE of them listed right now . . .

http://cgi.ebay.com/Case-1960s-Super-Glider-Plastic-foam-NDC-Corp-/400166610113

Bill
05-24-2011, 01:38 PM
Hey you wouldn't happen to do Jetex? I have kits and motors, but there is just no interest to be found even at the model rocket sites!?



Jetex does not have enought thrust to launch vertically. But there were rocketry applications for Jetex wick back in the day. Do they still make that?


Bill

Cohetero-negro
05-24-2011, 01:50 PM
Jetex does not have enought thrust to launch vertically. But there were rocketry applications for Jetex wick back in the day. Do they still make that?


Bill

Bill,

Yes they are still made. There is also a French equivilent that sells a preassembled jetex solution similar to a model rocket motor.

Blackshire made a good posting: http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showpost.php?p=64116&postcount=1

J

Ez2cDave
05-24-2011, 02:25 PM
Bill,

Yes they are still made. There is also a French equivilent that sells a preassembled jetex solution similar to a model rocket motor.

Blackshire made a good posting: http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showpost.php?p=64116&postcount=1

J


According to this , RAPIER motors are no longer available . . .

http://www.smallflyingartsforum.com/YaBB.pl?num=1283283333/14

blackshire
05-24-2011, 09:12 PM
Ah OK, I understand now.

My first gliders were the Peck Polymer 'Eaglet' gliders. As a kid, I would take the bus down to their suite/warehouse when they were owned and located on Carson BLVD in Carson CA.

Great gliders, I actually got one to thermal away twice in one day. I had to walk about a mile each time to recover the plane; an Eaglet 20 IIRC.I just vaguely remember those.Hey you wouldn't happen to do Jetex? I have kits and motors, but there is just no interest to be found even at the model rocket sites!?

JonathanI have one or two Jetex motors and a pack of Dr. Z's Rapier motors, but I've never tried them in model jets.

blackshire
05-24-2011, 09:16 PM
The NDC "SUPER GLIDER" !

EBAY has a CASE of them listed right now . . .

http://cgi.ebay.com/Case-1960s-Super-Glider-Plastic-foam-NDC-Corp-/400166610113


http://www.periodpaper.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/8022f01105bea4edf676ba39d5976c14/T/O/TOYS71_062_1.JPG

EBAY has a CASE of them listed right now . . .

http://cgi.ebay.com/Case-1960s-Super-Glider-Plastic-foam-NDC-Corp-/400166610113That's the one! I'll bet their designer (John B. Crosetto, Jr., who died on October 12 last year, see: www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=john-b-crosetto&pid=146007682 ), never thought they would sell for $150.00 per box!

blackshire
05-24-2011, 09:24 PM
According to this , RAPIER motors are no longer available . . .

http://www.smallflyingartsforum.com/YaBB.pl?num=1283283333/14Not quite--further postings in that thread (including a copied e-mail message from Dr. Z himself) indicate that he is in the process of re-negotiating a contract with the ammunition factory where he makes the Rapier motors. Also, the European Union has apparently classified Rapier motors as fireworks, which complicates the process of shipping them. Since they aren't explosive and are rather feeble as rockets go (they're like weakly self-propelled white-smoke flares), it should be possible to work out new shipping arrangements for them.

Ez2cDave
02-22-2022, 10:18 PM
The glider in question is the NDC "Super Glider" . . . I had a couple of them and converted them to B/G's in the mid-1970's . . . Lost them to thermals.

Dave F.

blackshire
02-25-2022, 01:16 PM
The glider in question is the NDC "Super Glider" . . . I had a couple of them and converted them to B/G's in the mid-1970's . . . Lost them to thermals.

Dave F.Ah--thank you for posting this! (If the NDC Super Glider is no longer in production--although it's possible that some other company got the molds and is producing it under another name--3D printing would enable duplicate molds to be made; expanding foam would fill them, with small holes "venting" excess foam.) Also:

When we lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia, a neighbor kid had one of those gliders. Its calm-air performance--we glided it downhill several hundred yards, through the "thinned" trees on our mountain, where a trail was located--was outstanding! I'm not surprised that you lost your boost-glider-converted ones to thermals.

tbzep
02-25-2022, 01:26 PM
Welcome back!

Ez2cDave
02-25-2022, 02:15 PM
Ah--thank you for posting this! (If the NDC Super Glider is no longer in production--although it's possible that some other company got the molds and is producing it under another name--3D printing would enable duplicate molds to be made; expanding foam would fill them, with small holes "venting" excess foam.) Also:

When we lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern Georgia, a neighbor kid had one of those gliders. Its calm-air performance--we glided it downhill several hundred yards, through the "thinned" trees on our mountain, where a trail was located--was outstanding! I'm not surprised that you lost your boost-glider-converted ones to thermals.


You are very welcome, sir !

I may have additional info on my desktop PC ( on laptop, at present ).

If I have more info, I will post it !

Data is meant to be shared . . . ENJOY !

Dave F.

blackshire
02-25-2022, 03:09 PM
Welcome back!Thank you--it feels great to be back!

blackshire
02-25-2022, 03:23 PM
You are very welcome, sir !

I may have additional info on my desktop PC ( on laptop, at present ).

If I have more info, I will post it !

Data is meant to be shared . . . ENJOY !

Dave F.Heartily agreed! I was thinking--if anyone here on YORF has an intact NDC Super Glider glider (or even a somewhat "nicked" one; with computers, "mirror images" of the "nicked" spots could be generated [using the 'un-nicked' opposite sides--or interpolation could be used if both spots were nicked], for 3D printing the molds), it should be possible to scan it with an optical contourometer, to generate high-fidelity 3D printed molds for them. (The optical contourometer is a pretty old device; even back in the 1950s, military jet pilots' helmets were custom-made to fit by scanning their heads with them [you can see this in the second and third images in the second row, *here*: https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=contourometer&fir=kk1kftkiFMM60M%252CS4AqUFSrVTBhSM%252C_%253BYugqGqw-Zg-DwM%252CFYsFqKZMVBHjfM%252C_%253BpghZbTyOGbzbVM%252CJr0L4qrDic0PUM%252C_%253B8wYLz82dbllaDM%252CS4AqUFSrVTBhSM%252C_%253BlJf-uVGVnFOm6M%252CNvnP63_wt20wjM%252C_%253B789spSoDiKsgwM%252Cs66gGp8W0J9dPM%252C_%253BoKVopSqpYGWDzM%252CNvnP63_wt20wjM%252C_%253BZVKoWXyx235rxM%252CgFt6t-b9Yc983M%252C_%253Bb4AOfgOsCclqmM%252CNvnP63_wt20wjM%252C_%253Bo1dbYdEE8afZlM%252CgFt6t-b9Yc983M%252C_&usg=AI4_-kTozmiegZ97CN0n0dNY1RqfCu1oDA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihuenH45v2AhUUJzQIHTImDf4Q7Al6BAgbEBI&biw=1440&bih=789&dpr=1 ], and modern, PC-compatible ones are now available, see: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=object+scanning+contourometer&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=contour+meter [I searched Ebay under the term, "object scanning contourometer"].)

Ez2cDave
07-07-2022, 02:28 PM
I just found airfoil data . . .

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=49078317&postcount=5

Dave F.

blackshire
07-08-2022, 06:32 AM
I just found airfoil data . . .

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=49078317&postcount=5

Dave F.Wow, this is my "thread that would not die" (neither shall I, once I have that single horn). Thank you for posting the NDC Super Glider photographs and wing airfoil section! (It is similar to what my father patiently sanded into his Estes Astron Falcon boost-glider's wings--just that slight "touch" of undercamber, which made a big difference; it would descend in 1/8th-mile circles, taking minutes to reach the ground!) Also:

The NDC Super Glider flew even better, with its thicker wing, elliptical dihedral wing (a radiused wing tip polyhedral, like that of the Eflite UMX Radian R/C motor glider: https://www.google.com/search?q=Eflite+UMX+Radian&source=hp&ei=ExjIYu7hA9PB9APOgrX4AQ&iflsig=AJiK0e8AAAAAYsgmIwZUClJ98dLwu3LNvNfRzBCftXWh&ved=0ahUKEwiut-OKm-n4AhXTIH0KHU5BDR8Q4dUDCAk&uact=5&oq=Eflite+UMX+Radian&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBAgAEAoyBggAEB4QFjIGCAAQHhAWMgYIABAeEBYyBggAEB4QFjIGCAAQHhAWMgYIABAeEBYyBggAEB4QFjIFCAAQhgMyBQgAEIYDOhEILhCABBCxAxCDARDHARDRAzoLCC4QgAQQsQMQgwE6CwgAEIAEELEDEIMBOg4ILhCABBCxAxCDARDUAjoICAAQsQMQgwE6BQguEIAEOgUIABCABDoICAAQgAQQsQM6CAguEIAEELEDOgsILhCABBCxAxDUAjoHCAAQgAQQCjoKCAAQHhAPEBYQClAAWPQzYKo5aABwAHgAgAHtAYgB3RGSAQYwLjE2LjGYAQCgAQE&sclient=gws-wiz , might work equally well, while being easier to make), and below-the-chord-line leading edge. If you know of anyone in your area--or if there is anyone here on YORF--who does CNC machining of foam--or could 3D print molds for it, reproducing the NDC Super Glider in closed-cell foam, with the 1/4" dowel tail boom (and with a forward upper slot for an eject-able motor pod; its "Y-tail" [a pretty flat "V"-tail, with an underside vertical fin]) would be perfect for model rocket use, and:

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any really high-performance RTF boost-gliders (the RTF Cox Space Shuttle America's two parasite gliders flew much like the actual Space Shuttle Orbiters...but they looked sleek), and a "hand-toss-able *OR* rocket-launchable" NDC Super Glider would be a popular product. (Its rather hard-rubber nose could be made of the rubber-like "grades" of the Por-A-Kast or PolyTek resin, poured into a single-cavity RTV rubber mold--or a "multiple single cavity mold," to make ten or more at a time.)

dlazarus6660
07-17-2022, 05:47 PM
I was going to o recommend R/CGroups of which I'm a long time member.
There is a plans business from the UK that presents free plans of most model aircraft.
You download them on your thumb device and bring it to a printing place.
I'll try to find it.

blackshire
07-18-2022, 08:13 PM
I was going to o recommend R/CGroups of which I'm a long time member.
There is a plans business from the UK that presents free plans of most model aircraft.
You download them on your thumb device and bring it to a printing place.
I'll try to find it.Thank you. I don't think there are any such "foam fabrication firms" here in town (I'll look and ask around, just in case), but I'm sure there are ones online that make CNC-machined--or maybe 3D printed--molds for these kinds of EPO or EPP expanded foam items (including model gliders), and do the foam-molding as well. I have no idea how much it costs (or what the minimum numbers of units might be), but I'll find out! :-) In this connection:

When--in the early 1990s--I was looking to have BT-5 size (regular) injection-molded, low-pressure injection-molded, or rotationally-molded, styrene 5:1 tangent ogive nose cones made for my Nova Hobbies ASP scale kits (which had turned-balsa nose cones), the cheapest option I could find locally (in Miami, at that time) was a single-cavity, tool steel mold. It would have cost $5,000, which I couldn't afford (but it could have cast 100,000 or more styrene nose cones), but:

I told the company I simply couldn't afford the tool steel mold, and they recommended a shorter-life--but much cheaper (just a few hundred dollars) mold--made of a rather "soap-like" plastic (Delrin, I think; they said that plastic funnels and similar items are sometimes cast in these molds). They didn't make such molds themselves, but suggested other Miami plastic molders who did. Maybe, if the most common method is too expensive for me, there is an analog of the shorter-life molds, regarding expanded foam (EPO and/or EPP) molding.

Bill
07-19-2022, 08:03 AM
Laser cutting parts out of foam board and hot gluing them together has been a thing in the R/C aircraft scene.


Bill

blackshire
07-20-2022, 09:39 AM
Laser cutting parts out of foam board and hot gluing them together has been a thing in the R/C aircraft scene.


BillI know; so has been (and is) "glassing" foam wing, tail, and fuselage 'cores' (including with thin-gauge carbon or Kevlar cloth and 'foam-friendly' epoxy, instead of with glass cloth; this is done with some full-size homebuilt aircraft too, such as Burt Rutan's VariEze, Quickie, Q2, and Solitaire homebuilt canard airplanes and sailplanes). I was thinking in terms of a model hand-launched (and model rocket B/G) glider that--like the original model shown in G. Harry Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry"--would be molded, out of EPO or EPP expanded foam, like (to give but one example, see: https://dream-flight.com/ ) Dream-Flight's R/C gliders.

dlazarus6660
08-28-2022, 07:24 PM
Outerzone or OZ has plans you can download for free.
Put them on a thumb drive and take to a printer like Staples.
There are thousands of plans and the search engine is not the best.

blackshire
08-31-2022, 08:01 PM
Outerzone or OZ has plans you can download for free.
Put them on a thumb drive and take to a printer like Staples.
There are thousands of plans and the search engine is not the best.Thank you for letting us know! I'll try that.