blackshire
08-13-2009, 12:13 AM
Hello All,
The Civil Air Patrol has online patterns & plans for all-card stock gliders and even all-card stock model rockets (including two-stage models, see: http://nmwg.cap.gov/santafe/Activities/ )! Also, here is another web page with downloadable card stock glider "kits": http://zovirl.com/tags/paper-airplanes/ . Some of these gliders would make good boost-glider conversions.
As with the White Wings www.whitewings.com card stock glider kits, if you spray the completed gliders and rockets with two or three light coats of clear lacquer, as is recommended in the White Wings kit instructions (allowing each coat to dry before applying the next one), it will moisture-proof the models, protect their markings from getting marred, and strengthen the card stock as well.
Some of the gliders in the White Wings "High Performance Gliders" 6-kit set (Stock Number AG664, see: http://tailspinaviation.com/html/white_wings_19.html and http://agi-usa.stores.yahoo.net/higperglid6m.html ) are just *made* for boost-glider conversion. The Racer 527 "Sky Fish II" glider has its vertical stabilizer mounted on the underside of the fuselage. (The other "single-rudder" gliders in the kit set could also have their vertical stabilizers so mounted.) Also, the Racer 544 "Snipe" glider has offset twin vertical stabilizers, so it would also be a "natural" for B/G conversion. Since these are all catapult-launched gliders, they should handle rocket-powered ascents just fine. You would just need to build a 13 mm motor "pop pod" to go with these gliders.
Also, there is a way that these gliders could be flown as boost-gliders without any modifications. The Vashon Industries cold-propellant boost-gliders (which Estes carried for a time in the 1970s) had a different physical arrangement that allowed the use of gliders with normal tail assemblies, and this configuration could also be utilized in solid-propellant boost-gliders. In these models, the pop pod was an ordinary three-finned rocket with one "missing" fin, which was replaced with a glider. While they looked like parasite boost-gliders at first glance they were not, because the two-finned carrier rockets were not aerodynamically stable without their gliders attached.
The glider was mounted "belly down" on the rocket body in such a way that its wings were even with the rocket's two fins, and much of the glider's airframe was located behind the rocket's nozzle. This provided both aerodynamic stability and "trailing-member stability" (like a skyrocket's stabilizer stick). The Vashon X-13 (see: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/vashon/vashon14.html ), Astro-Gnat, and Baron (see: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/vashon/vashon16.html ) all had this configuration.
While this arrangement would have a bit more drag during the powered ascent than the common front-motor boost-glider, it might be less prone to weathercocking under power. It would also allow many un-modified hand-launched gliders (and especially catapult-launched gliders) to be used as boost-gliders. (Two low, forward-pointing "L-shaped" wood brackets glued to the rocket in place of the "missing" third fin would fit on either side of the glider's fuselage and hold the trailing edges of its wings during ascent. At ejection, the glider would slide forwards out of the brackets when the rocket body was kicked backwards.)
I hope this information will be helpful.
The Civil Air Patrol has online patterns & plans for all-card stock gliders and even all-card stock model rockets (including two-stage models, see: http://nmwg.cap.gov/santafe/Activities/ )! Also, here is another web page with downloadable card stock glider "kits": http://zovirl.com/tags/paper-airplanes/ . Some of these gliders would make good boost-glider conversions.
As with the White Wings www.whitewings.com card stock glider kits, if you spray the completed gliders and rockets with two or three light coats of clear lacquer, as is recommended in the White Wings kit instructions (allowing each coat to dry before applying the next one), it will moisture-proof the models, protect their markings from getting marred, and strengthen the card stock as well.
Some of the gliders in the White Wings "High Performance Gliders" 6-kit set (Stock Number AG664, see: http://tailspinaviation.com/html/white_wings_19.html and http://agi-usa.stores.yahoo.net/higperglid6m.html ) are just *made* for boost-glider conversion. The Racer 527 "Sky Fish II" glider has its vertical stabilizer mounted on the underside of the fuselage. (The other "single-rudder" gliders in the kit set could also have their vertical stabilizers so mounted.) Also, the Racer 544 "Snipe" glider has offset twin vertical stabilizers, so it would also be a "natural" for B/G conversion. Since these are all catapult-launched gliders, they should handle rocket-powered ascents just fine. You would just need to build a 13 mm motor "pop pod" to go with these gliders.
Also, there is a way that these gliders could be flown as boost-gliders without any modifications. The Vashon Industries cold-propellant boost-gliders (which Estes carried for a time in the 1970s) had a different physical arrangement that allowed the use of gliders with normal tail assemblies, and this configuration could also be utilized in solid-propellant boost-gliders. In these models, the pop pod was an ordinary three-finned rocket with one "missing" fin, which was replaced with a glider. While they looked like parasite boost-gliders at first glance they were not, because the two-finned carrier rockets were not aerodynamically stable without their gliders attached.
The glider was mounted "belly down" on the rocket body in such a way that its wings were even with the rocket's two fins, and much of the glider's airframe was located behind the rocket's nozzle. This provided both aerodynamic stability and "trailing-member stability" (like a skyrocket's stabilizer stick). The Vashon X-13 (see: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/vashon/vashon14.html ), Astro-Gnat, and Baron (see: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/vashon/vashon16.html ) all had this configuration.
While this arrangement would have a bit more drag during the powered ascent than the common front-motor boost-glider, it might be less prone to weathercocking under power. It would also allow many un-modified hand-launched gliders (and especially catapult-launched gliders) to be used as boost-gliders. (Two low, forward-pointing "L-shaped" wood brackets glued to the rocket in place of the "missing" third fin would fit on either side of the glider's fuselage and hold the trailing edges of its wings during ascent. At ejection, the glider would slide forwards out of the brackets when the rocket body was kicked backwards.)
I hope this information will be helpful.