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-   -   Glider Building (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=17417)

MarkB. 07-30-2018 11:46 PM

Glider Building
 
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Conrades:

I though I'd share a picture of my glider program during the building stage. As mentioned elsewhere, I am trying to build something to qualify for my NARTrek Silver requirement. The short version is I need a thirty-second glide, something I'm just not going to ever get from the Centuri X-24s and clones that have heretofore been the only glide-back design I had ever successfully flown.

So on the build board are Semroc Swift, Estes Firefly and scratch design based on the Firefly that I built as a kid, but like my original Firefly, was destroyed upon impact with rocky terrain. Finally, a FlyBaby, the plans for which Chas. Russell kindly posted on this forum earlier this year is also in pieces on the board. The engine pods are built and painted, the only deviation on those was that I covered the front of the Swift engine hook (the white one) with a piece of cardstock.

The scratch design, on the cradle, was the surviving wing from my childhood which was painted red, probably with Testors Flat Red at some point. New tail feathers, colored with yellow highlighter and most importantly, a spruce fuse that should allow at least some chance of successful flight. * It needs a little lead tape on the nose and its ready to fly, likely off my Big Bertha.

LIke the scratch glider, the Firefly clone is getting a spruce fuselage. Other than that, it's per the plans. Like all of the other gliders in the picture, everything has a coat of SIG clear dope and will be tissued. I know I don't have to tissue, but since I hadn't used dope and tissue for at least 45 years, I kinda wanted to see if I could. I have various colors of tissue so I will not be using the very pigment-heavy, colored dope.

I'm planning on starting the covering tomorrow. I'll post pictures.


* "Successful flight" at our cosmodrome is defined as the ability to refly the article immediately following recovery without repair of any kind.

Blastfromthepast 08-03-2018 08:41 AM

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Good looking group of glider parts. You should be able to knock something together out of that group to satisfy the NARTrek requirements.
I've attached a picture of me and a FlyBaby B/G, circa 1982. I recall that the FB was a nicely performing bird.
Gliders are lots of fun! Good luck.

ghrocketman 08-03-2018 09:42 AM

One great boost glider you could clone is the Estes Dragonfly.
Mine always turned in good times.

MarkB. 08-05-2018 08:13 AM

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Progress:

Fly Baby covered. Came out well enough that my son said I'd lose it on the first flight. (Thanks, son). Covering is good old-fashoned dope and tissue. The bottles in the picture are SIG Supercoat (butyrate), SIG Dope Thinner and a bottle with Acetone to clean the brush. Tissue is from SWMBO's vast hoard, but she thinks she got it from Hobby Lobby. I used the cheapy brush. Here are the exact steps I took:

1) Using the dope unthinned, I brushed on a coat to all of the surfaces to receive tissue;.
2) wait 48 hours, then very lightly sand with 400 grit (you are trying not to remove the dope);
3) cut the tissue with about a 1/8" to 1/4" extra around the edges (edges are the tricky part);
4) place the tissue over the surface you are covering and brush on Dope Thinner to hold it in place;
5) immediately brush unthinned dope on to the soaked tissue including the edges; I brushed with the grain;
6) let it sit for a minute or two, then, using your fingers, fold the edges and press them against the other side (I did bottom surfaces first);
7) clean your brush in Acetone, dry it on a paper towel, admire your work thus far and return to step three for another surface.

Getting the tissue to wrap around the edges was the tricky part, especially around the little tail pieces. Making lots of little micro cuts to the tissue where there are curves before you soak it helps a lot. The wing was easier, probably because its bigger and sturdier.

Probably should use rubber gloves and not get dope on your skin.

For whatever reason, the yellow tissue went down easier than the orange. I'm going to try other colors on the other two gliders. Can't fool around or get off task either because the Thinner flashes off very quickly. Also the tissue is very fragile when soaked so there is minimal repositioning available.

So there you have it; I feel like I've rediscovered an Ancient Skill.

BARGeezer 08-05-2018 01:18 PM

Nicely done. So, I assume you did some balsa and tissue model airplanes as a youth?

MarkB. 08-05-2018 06:38 PM

Yes, a few. The last one I remember was a Comet Nieuport 11 that flew great.

During the Nixon Administration.

A Fish Named Wallyum 08-05-2018 08:51 PM

I bought a huge multi-pack of colored tissue several years ago for a project that never quite got off the ground. I might dig some of it out and see how it works on the NAR Plans Jet Freak and AMROCS Wombat that I've been experimenting with lately. The paint has yet to be friendly to the glide portion of the flight.

MarkB. 08-12-2018 07:48 PM

I decided to build a Vashon X-13 from the plans on JimZ. It is similar but not identical to the Estes Firefly. The X-13 has a longer nose moment and a larger wing (more cord and span). I noticed that the Vashon kit came with some Monokote to cover it. Does anybody have one who could tell me what color Monokote came with it? Or if you remember? I have a fairly large stash of Monokote from my R/C days so I'd love to cover it "authentically".

BARGeezer 08-12-2018 08:25 PM

On Tom's Vashon page he has it covered in orange monokote. Disclaimer: I don't know if that is the original color or if he customized it. He says that he did not construct it from a kit.

http://www.mindspring.com/~vashon/x13.html

On his home page he has an email address, don't know if it's still active. Good luck!

EDIT: Vashon catalog page says "Brilliant orange monokote puts the finishing touch on the X-13".

http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/ca...n/vashon14.html


Pics after, please.

jeffyjeep 08-12-2018 09:55 PM

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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
One great boost glider you could clone is the Estes Dragonfly.
Mine always turned in good times.


I'll second that! ....and if you need a Dragonfly wing decal, I have a couple of them.

Here's (3) Dragonflies I did many years ago. All of them were hand painted by "The Vixen".


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