New Glider Build for NCR Oktoberfest

I've been taking a hiatus from rockets for a while, but my upcoming club launch has got me enthusiastic about jumping back in. There's no way I'll finish my level 2 rocket in time, but here's another project. These plans are all I have to work with. I'm going to build approx about a 1.5x upscale because it provides a more spectacular lawn dart.

Well now, that's one you don't see every day. Nice find geof, good luck with it.

Last year before putting this project aside, I had cut the tubes and all the little balsa bits, and applied my standard goop over everything (Elmer's wood filler diluted to the consistency of catsup). Now I have sanded everything smooth and started to glue parts. In my rush to finish before the launch, I accidentally made two left wings. (I can hear you say "No, just flip it over", but that doesn't work since I had already glued on the aeleron. So, making a right wing is slowing me down, but I'm doing as much as I can without it.

Here's where I am on the booster this morning.

The old fellers will love it at Oktoberfest. That is one sexy rocket, just like the original Blaue Engle!

Hubba Hubba Hubba! Can't wait...that's some sexy landing gear there. boys!

Full figured rockets and a few sips of EKU 28 dopplebock can really take the edge off at Oktoberfest!

Looks like a parasite glider. Reminds me of the Estes original Orbital Transport. These are relatively heavy and draggy models. I found that in the old Estes Orbital Transport that I definitely had to use C-motors.

Very nice! I looked at those plans recently. Please let us know how it turns out!

Sorry I skipped a few steps with photos, but here's the final outcome.

The glider was extremely hard to trim...maybe 60 tosses. Turned out to need a small chunk of clay near the nose.

I finished in time for Oktoberfest, so I launched it on a B6. It was weak and unstable off the pad and thunked on the ground before the ejection charge. One of the red tips broke off real cleanly, so I CA'd it back on and the fix is almost invisible. I decided that it needed more stability so I added some nose weight. To compensate, I launched it on a C6 this time. Very similar results...the two adjustments had cancelled each other out. Also, one of the forward black finlets broke off and I couldn't find it. The main tube was a little dented. That was enough frustration for one day.

I took everything back home and licked my wounds. I grinded away another of the forward black finlets to retain symmetry. A few minor fixes and paint touch-ups and I was ready to try at the November launch. This time I had reduced the nose weight a bit, and I launched it on a D12. It was a beautiful arcing ascent, with the glider deploying shortly after apogee. The larger shuttle deployed its mylar chute and landed with no problem. The glider was quite nicely trimmed so it had a fairly graceful flight. Because of the breeze, it followed an interesting figure-8 shaped glide path before straightening and then circling again for a gentle landing.

I plan to fly it again next time we see very low wind conditions. I'm going to take just a hair off the glider nose clay to try to get an even gentler glide.

Project complete!

Very nice build.