illini
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We flew 3 different Edmonds glider kits today: Ecee and CiCi2 built by me and a Deltie built by my 10 year old son. Here's our quickie report on each:
Ecee: Builds great and flies even better. This is a 13mm canard rocket glider with a free moving elevator on ascent that locks into a fixed position for glide. First flight was in November on a 1/2A3-2T. Not much altitude on that motor, although transition and glide worked great. Two flights today were on A3-4Ts. Ascent and glide were beautiful on both flights even though it kicked the motor on the second flight. The Ecee just looks great gliding at altitude. Overall, a fun little rocket glider that has me eyeing the Ecee Thunder (D-motor upscale). Highly recommended.
Deltie: Easy to build for any age and a great glider too. This is a 13mm pop-pod style boost glider with laser cut parts that's a snap to build. My son had no problems with this. I weighed the glider (minus the pod) before flying today...4.5 grams. Both flights today on 1/2A3-2T, which had us hoofing it after the glider both times...the thing really hangs up there. The pod streamer separated on the first flight and the kevlar cut through the tape at the top of the pod (kevlar is attached to the pod externally). On the second flight we opted for nose blow recovery (since the small crepe streamer was lost), and this time the nose cone separated as the kevlar broke. The stock kevlar is smaller diameter than some 28lb. stuff I have on hand...thinking this is too light. We'll probably repair the pod with 28lb. next time and hope for better results. The glider flew great both times, though.
CiCi2: Easy to build, but upper stage glider roasted. That's right, this is a two stager where both stages are gliders. The upper stage appears to be a stock CiCi that ejects the motor for glide. The lower stage has a long body tube attached for gap staging (see the attached picture) and retains its motor for glide. The gliders mount to each other back-to-back for ascent. Flew this once today on B6-0/A8-3. The lower stage recovered nicely. The upper stage really took off and was nearly lost. Had to search a bit to recover. The main wing was really singed. The left inboard is burned through. I don't believe this was due to the upper stage motor...guessing this was the result of blowing burning propellant through the vents of the lower stage. Hard to say for sure what the cause was, but the upper stage is toast (literally!).
Picture is of Ecee on the left, CiCi2 lower stage in the middle, and CiCi2 upper stage on the right. You can see the damage on the upper stage main wing.
Ecee: Builds great and flies even better. This is a 13mm canard rocket glider with a free moving elevator on ascent that locks into a fixed position for glide. First flight was in November on a 1/2A3-2T. Not much altitude on that motor, although transition and glide worked great. Two flights today were on A3-4Ts. Ascent and glide were beautiful on both flights even though it kicked the motor on the second flight. The Ecee just looks great gliding at altitude. Overall, a fun little rocket glider that has me eyeing the Ecee Thunder (D-motor upscale). Highly recommended.
Deltie: Easy to build for any age and a great glider too. This is a 13mm pop-pod style boost glider with laser cut parts that's a snap to build. My son had no problems with this. I weighed the glider (minus the pod) before flying today...4.5 grams. Both flights today on 1/2A3-2T, which had us hoofing it after the glider both times...the thing really hangs up there. The pod streamer separated on the first flight and the kevlar cut through the tape at the top of the pod (kevlar is attached to the pod externally). On the second flight we opted for nose blow recovery (since the small crepe streamer was lost), and this time the nose cone separated as the kevlar broke. The stock kevlar is smaller diameter than some 28lb. stuff I have on hand...thinking this is too light. We'll probably repair the pod with 28lb. next time and hope for better results. The glider flew great both times, though.
CiCi2: Easy to build, but upper stage glider roasted. That's right, this is a two stager where both stages are gliders. The upper stage appears to be a stock CiCi that ejects the motor for glide. The lower stage has a long body tube attached for gap staging (see the attached picture) and retains its motor for glide. The gliders mount to each other back-to-back for ascent. Flew this once today on B6-0/A8-3. The lower stage recovered nicely. The upper stage really took off and was nearly lost. Had to search a bit to recover. The main wing was really singed. The left inboard is burned through. I don't believe this was due to the upper stage motor...guessing this was the result of blowing burning propellant through the vents of the lower stage. Hard to say for sure what the cause was, but the upper stage is toast (literally!).
Picture is of Ecee on the left, CiCi2 lower stage in the middle, and CiCi2 upper stage on the right. You can see the damage on the upper stage main wing.
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