Deltie Thunder and other delights

madcow rocketry
Onebadhawk
the model rocket show
shop deals on amazon
The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Kirk G

Kirk G

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2012
Messages
1,326
Reaction score
1
At a club launch a half a year ago, I saw an older hand launch and fly an "unfinished" balsa wood glider to great effect.
It intrigued me enough to attempt a few myself. I ordered the Deltie, Tinee, and Cici models from Edmonds Aerospace and enjoyed the assembly and experimentation, leading to successful flights.

However, I seem to think that this rocketeer/flier had a larger version of one of these when he flew it.
I posted a message asking how common it was to attempt to scale up a Deltie and if I should attempt it, and several people said what i was describing already exists(ed) as a Deltie Thunder. But as one poster stated, "It's a rare bird these days."

So I'm back to my original question: Should I attempt to scale up the Deltie myself and scratch build one from spare balsa around the house and at Joanne Fabrics in town? OR, are there plans for the Deltie Thunder on-line some place that would allow me to build to their dimensions?

OR, does somebody have a Deltie Thunder complete kit for sale today?
Thanks for any help.
 
Try https://edmondsaerospace.com/#Ordering. They have a list of all their gliders/kits, some you can order on their site, along with a list of all their vendors.

I have the Stage 2 Thunder waiting for a good day to fly it. Unfortunately the weather is turning for the worse here in Ohio.

Happy flying.

Pat
 
Years ago, I upscaled Deltie types myself. Found both a 16" and 24" span jobs, made with light balsa, great on C motors. Now, to the extreme, I did make a fly a 40" span version powered by F motors. That thing never wanted to fully pull out of transistioning, no matter how well it glided at ground level. Not only this, but it tended to 'fall off' to either side in any sort of breeze. I'd say the lack of dihedral worked against it here, even though you do get some effect from the LE swept panels. Also, with that much drag and weight, I opted for a different MMT/pod setup, as I did not trust doing this the usual 'hang-on' manner.

Depending upon the specific design elements incorporated into each glider, upscaling them does tend to make some do better and some not so much, especially if you make the manner of operation/flight/transistioning the same.

Scratch build like a 16" version and just parasite it off a standard BT50ish long tube. Could even use the Apogee glider hooks, designed by none other than George Gassaway himself, to great effect. That's what I used on my old 16" versions, and they worked great.
 
the deltie thunder is a rare bird. I don't know if anybody has the kit for sell. when I got mine I made paper patterns so I could build it again if I destroyed it (yep I needed the patterns I had a F-12 spit the rear closure and a grain caught it on fire )
 
my best deltie thunder flight was 8 1/2 mins on a F-12-3 reload, I also built a custom pad with 4 1/4 in dowels holding the glider stable till lift-off
AstronMike said:
Years ago, I upscaled Deltie types myself. Found both a 16" and 24" span jobs, made with light balsa, great on C motors. Now, to the extreme, I did make a fly a 40" span version powered by F motors. That thing never wanted to fully pull out of transistioning, no matter how well it glided at ground level. Not only this, but it tended to 'fall off' to either side in any sort of breeze. I'd say the lack of dihedral worked against it here, even though you do get some effect from the LE swept panels. Also, with that much drag and weight, I opted for a different MMT/pod setup, as I did not trust doing this the usual 'hang-on' manner.

Depending upon the specific design elements incorporated into each glider, upscaling them does tend to make some do better and some not so much, especially if you make the manner of operation/flight/transistioning the same.

Scratch build like a 16" version and just parasite it off a standard BT50ish long tube. Could even use the Apogee glider hooks, designed by none other than George Gassaway himself, to great effect. That's what I used on my old 16" versions, and they worked great.
Click to expand...
 

Similar threads

milehigh
BAR Fleet #143 - Deltie Airshow
Replies
3
Views
422
Hobie1dog
Hobie1dog
smstachwick
DART’s “Geezer TARC” Event: My entry
Replies
25
Views
1K
smstachwick
smstachwick
R
3D Printing STEM 3D printed rocket project update- ongoing
Replies
2
Views
1K
Rustie0125
R
Rktman
JACKKNIFE SWING-WING BUILD THREAD
2
Replies
56
Views
5K
Rktman
Rktman
burkefj
Rebuttal to R/C Rocket glider article in latest 2020 Sport Rocketry
2
Replies
35
Views
4K
BEC
BEC

Latest posts

Back
Top