Some Gliders I Flew Yesterday

[AstronMike]

Please excuse the poor picture here but this is with the infamous cheapy gumcam.

At yesterdays TTRA launch I flew 8 different gliders, and four of these are shown here. I dont think anyone else got photos or vids of these in flight, too bad, since these all did very well. A yardstick is shown as well for scale.

The first glider on the left is a version of my Marauder, which is about the largest and easiest glider you can do on a C motor. This thing is made from the meat tray foam, which is lighter than balsa, and I wound up with a 2 minute flight with almost no wind! 18" span and over 120 sq in wing area.

The largest glider shown next is the Maxi Novus. It has nearly 400 sq in of wing area using Readiboard, and based on a BT70. This has become one of my favorite flyers, using the E15s or 24/40 loads.

The one to the right of the Maxi Novus is the Astron Triple Eagle, sans its usual golfball topped ejected forward section. I gave Brianc of this Forum one of these in kit form, and he finally has his working great! Mine still boosts dead straight and glides better though . Typically flown on D12 as an E9 in this would result in a lost glider for sure.

Those 'old and fat' amongst yourselves should recognize the far right glider. Yes, it is a BT70 upscale of the old Astron SkyDart. This too is a favorite, and just like the other 'midsize' gliders it too uses Readiboard wings and rudder. This is very easy to make, and also eats up E15s to great effect. The large balsa nose makes it a bit nose heavy but it boosts dead straight.

Both the Maxi Novus and the Maxi SkyDart do not just fly by themselves....in fact, I have a special square bodied Readiboard based carrier to haul BOTH of these together up on a G38 or 40. Did this last month, and the two huge gliders splitting off was fantastic!! Yea, you guessed it, both glided straight and NOT in the same direction!

[seanmca79]

What was it you flew on an H128 at LDRS 16 in Orangeburg? I think it was an SST style setup that ejected the motor/nose weight IIRC.

[brianc]

The one to the right of the Maxi Novus is the Astron Triple Eagle, sans its usual golfball topped ejected forward section. I gave Brianc of this Forum one of these in kit form, and he finally has his working great! Mine still boosts dead straight and glides better though . Typically flown on D12 as an E9 in this would result in a lost glider for sure.

Sorry I couldn't make it to the launch Mike! Cardiologist scheduled
a heart cath for Friday, and I couldn't drive until Sunday night.

My Triple Eagle was nearly lost at the last ROCK launch. D12-3 in
nearly perfect weather. Excellent boost to ~200 ft, then an instant
transition to glide. I guess I need to induce some more turning
into the bird. She went mostly straight to the farthest corner of
the field, over the trees and into the horse farm! (Thanks to Tom
Dennon for the recovery). Probably close to a minute flight time.

http://www.rocketreviews.com/reviews...le_eagle.shtml

[AstronMike]

What was it you flew on an H128 at LDRS 16 in Orangeburg? I think it was an SST style setup that ejected the motor/nose weight IIRC.

I flew like 5 different gliders on H and I motors at that LDRS back in 96. It was LDRS *XV*, the one in Orangeburg, as you obviously remember these.

The only one that flew 'only' with an H128 was my Astron SST, and this was the absolute minimum motor for that. Do you have the Point 39 video for the launch? This will show the same Astron SST on its very first flight up there on an old I112 (with the larger/heavier grains, not the watered down version).

Most of the HPR gliders I have done were/are deltoids with rear ejection as this is likely the easiest way to do larger FF gliders.

Since those days, I have gone to the opposite extreme: Large and Light rather than built like tanks for HPR. I even have a 'lite version' Astron SST that does as well on Gs as that old version did on H123/I161s.

Thanks for remembering those things I flew way back when. Heck, 90% of the guys at the local Tripoli launch have never seen me fly such things and view me as a NAR weenie instead

[seanmca79]

Somewhere I have plans for one of yours that uses the golf ball/paper towel tube setup with a cardboard wing that's a giant circle. I have a Wasatch Rocketry SST kit in my stash too. I'll get to them some day.

[AstronMike]

Somewhere I have plans for one of yours that uses the golf ball/paper towel tube setup with a cardboard wing that's a giant circle. I have a Wasatch Rocketry SST kit in my stash too. I'll get to them some day.

Those plans you are referring to must be of the old 24/40 Saucer Glider ones. That is very easily built but hard to trim. I would suggest using Brians link and making a Triple Eagle instead. Looks better, flies MUCH better. Just be sure to use Adams Readiboard for this.

As far as the Wasatch kit, bleh, I had one of those back in 93 thinking this was a 'deluxe' thing better than my Astron SST at the time. Once I opened the huge box I was sorely disappointed. The wings and tail were nothing more than blue Styrofoam, and horrendously warped! Also, there was no elevon hold down wire, so I had to make my own. I also did not like the small hinges either and just went for the 'two tape' method.

All in all, by the time I got that built it looked OK but since each wing panel was warped in opposed directions, it was closer to a Gyroc than SST. Never boosted really straight, never glided better than a tight spiral. Not to mention, having to cover the wings/rudder for boost anyways.