fliskits 3's a charm- NEED ADVICE also!

[Mike TG]

Well, here it is, the newest addition to my fleet. Ok not the newest, just the most recently built. As far as construction goes, fliskits instructions are awesome, and build it as simply or elaborately as you want. I went with filling the spirals, aerofoiling the wings, etc. I know painting is not recommended as it adds to the weight of the gliders, but I figured two things. First, the wings are less than 2" wide and less than 2" long; I need all the help I can to see them return to earth, hence the fluorescent yellow and pink. Second, do I really need them to glide for 2 miles? I think not, as surely I'd never see them again. I do think, though, that I'm not exactly done painting. Not too thrilled with the silver against the brightness, so my plan is to mask flames and have the nose of the rocket in that same fluorescent pink flaming to silver nearer the tail. I semi balanced the gliders before painting by adding elmer's glue to the noses, and will re balance when I am done.

Now, where I need advice.

It seems that one glider is a little shorter than the rest, as I had a heavier hand when sanding the trailing wing edge on the first one. That aside, when I mount any two of the gliders onto any two of the mounting lugs, all is well. Adding the third causes them to touch at the wingtips, making a triangle when viewed from the rear. This triangle pushes out and causes at least one glider to be tight in the mounting lugs. I am afraid they won't deploy because of this. The lifting body has square tips at the ends of it's fins, designed to rest against the wings, but they are not binding there as I shaved them a little when I saw that they were. No, the problem is where the wingtips touch and force the triangle out more or less evenly on all three sides.
I thought that a solution would be to sand down the wingtips evenly across each of the three gliders, and keep going till they fit loosely. That surely would work, but I will ask here for more seasoned advice (maybe Jim Flis?, or micromeister?, or some other rocket scientist?) before removing any highly important surface area on the wings.

Any advice anyone has, good or bad, will be considered before I render it unflyable with my own miscalculations! Thanks, Mike

 

[jflis]

You say that all the gliders attached is what causes ONE to be tight. Not sure how this would happen, but if the others are loose enough, when they detach after boost the tightness will go with them, freeing up that last glider.

Your idea of lightly sanding the wing tips is a good one too. Remember, this isn't a performance bird and small reductions in glide time can actually be a good thing, as you've already pointed out

 

[jflis]

Oh! By the way.... They look stunning!

 

[Mike TG]

Thanks Jim! I work on stuff until it is the way I want it to be. If I cannot make it that way, it's a personal failure to me, even if it looks good to others. But I continue to try. I do see in my own mind's eye that each new attempt seems to get closer to the goal, so I keep on. By the way, I did mask off some flames and paint it this AM, so the nose cone and about 1/2 the body is fluorescent pink, with a "flaming" transition to silver. I'm not sure, though. Maybe I like it. Maybe not.
I should clarify; when I said one would be tight, it seems that one is always tighter than the other two (but I'm not certain it's always the same one, or even f it's the same position), I suppose better observation would be in order here, duh. It really doesn't matter though, as one tight one might be enough to cause failure in the other two. If a glider does come off, the others will surely follow, but if not,...

I think my plan of action will be:
1. Wait a day or so and see if anyone else has a bright idea, sort of outside the box thinking may be in order here.
2. If no better ideas, I will do as I (and the mighty Jim) suggested and sand off the wingtips a little. That would surely do it.
3. Re-trim the gliders for flight.
4. Take it to the backyard and go for it!

By the way, I have very little experience with gliders; would a drop of glue on one wingtip cause a weight differential such that the gliders might turn in a gentle circle as opposed to straight line flight? I believe a short overall distance flight would be preferred here.
Any mental help here would be greatly appreciated. Someone out there flies these things, I'm sure. If I can fake it long enough, I might learn from someone else's trials, rather than failing for myself over and over till I finally get it right. Or lose it outright.

 

[Micromeister]

Mike TG:
I concur with Jim on Lightly sanding the wing tips to get them to just meet. I did this with my own 3's-a-Charm. I won't worry much about a glider being a tad tight. Micro-Maxx-II motors have a pretty heft kick at ejection even though the model may still be going Up.

Yes a TINY drop of CA or white glue is enough to get these tiny gliders to turn...sometimes MORE then wanted....instead smear just a tiny tad of modeling clay out on the very edge of the wing tip. the amount can then be adjusted by wiping off or adding a smig more til you get the circle you want.

I didn't paint my 3's Gliders as it adds unwanted mass. Instead magic markers were used to decorate and give a little contrast. Still; each time I fly 3's-A-Charm...NO matter how many folks are watching I always come up at least one glider shy on recovery. On mowed grass it's a little easier to get Most of her back... if it's short. In higher field grass it's just Luck to get any of the gliders back Still Fun to fly and watch at ejection...but your ahead of the game if you make a few replacement gliders.

 

[Mike TG]

Thanks for the advice! Not looking forward to losing any parts, though. Luckily, my backyard is big enough for micromaxx, and devoid of foliage enough to spot landings. Or so I assume.....

 

[jflis]

Saw one fly the other day at our CMASS launch. MIT was breezy that day and I noticed the 3 gliders taking off down range upon deployment... I kept my eyes on them (they flew in formation the whole way down...) and spotted where they landed about 300-400 meters away... After a short search we were able to find them all in the grass