Build Thread: Apogee Mini-Condor

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Gary Byrum

Overstable By Design
Joined
Aug 4, 2011
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Well who’d have thunk! Two build threads going on at once. My other build is going through uninteresting phases at the moment and I got to a stopping point on some other rockets I had on the bench, so….. There’s a lot of chatter going on about how little there is on LPR build threads lately, so here is my contribution to that note. If that weren’t enough……IT’S A KIT!!! You heard me alright. I already had four kits hanging in the closet that were either gifted to me or I won them. I am soooo very rarely interested in doing kits and I really suck at gliders, so I figured I’d build this little jewel LW gave me a few months back.

Here’s the proverbial spread of all parts and pieces. Sure ain’t much to this lil fella.

1.jpg

Getting started, I realized there was one thing I didn’t have and I usually won’t have it either. Instructions call for using thick CA glue where balsa meets plastic. Hmmmmm……well so, since I know wood glue is out of the question, I opted for using epoxy. Of course I’d have to use it as sparingly as possible because it might actually weigh more. Where it called for use on strengthening wood edges, I do have thin CA for that.

After separating all the wood from the balsa sheets and forgetting to sand off all the laser burn, I started assembly. I did however get the leading and trailing edges of the wings sanded round as described in the instructions. The “horizontal tail”, they call it, was mounted first.

2.jpg

Then came the “vertical tail” which had to be glued to one side of the fuselage and atop of the horizontal tail. All tail pieces were checked to make sure all was perpendicular. Thin CA was applied to the front and top of the vertical tail. BTW, these pieces are so thin, they might as well be cardstock.

3.jpg

Thin layers of glue set up really quick, so I went to the next phase where the hook plates are installed on the front end of the fuselage. Easy peasy, so next, they have you mount the wing panels to the plastic dihedral support. Epoxy was sparingly applied to one panel and I had a little rig set up so it could dry properly without slipping. 10 minutes later, panel #2 went on and being careful not to let them get tweaked, I had yet another rig set up for a temporary balance. For photo purposes, I put the wings on that block for only a minute or two. Then they got transferred to the gizmo you see for overnight curing.

4.jpg 5.jpg

That pretty much wraps it up for glider assembly except for trimming it out. The wing panels have to be friction fitted to the fuselage, flown and tested before you can mount them and I can’t do that at 10:30 PM. So, that part will have to wait. I did btw, get most of that laser burn sanded off, but it’s not as clean as it prolly should be.

I did get two more steps completed before calling it quits. I glued the shoulder to the nose cone and got the plastic pylon mounted on the body tube. Those will sit overnight as well.

6.jpg

All in all, I’m scratching my head about how this kit is considered a level three. I’m really hard pressed to believe that. It’s way too easy to build.
 
Gary, did you finish and fly the Mini Condor? Results? I have one being delivered today so am interested to hear the ending to your build.
Hope it flew well,
William
 
Gary, did you finish and fly the Mini Condor? Results? I have one being delivered today so am interested to hear the ending to your build.
Hope it flew well,
William

It's finished except there hasn't been a good day for trimming. Either wet or too windy. All I have to do is permanently mount the main wings. I was going to wait until I got those mounted and take it to the next launch in a couple of weeks. There is one bit of advice that was given to me about it. The rear tails are very thin and I was told to use thin CA on the leading edges to keep them from cracking upon landing. It's not a very challenging build, but for guys like me who cant fly a simple paper airplane, it's a good starter for getting into gliders.
 
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