Fliskits - 3's a Charm

[JAL3]

If all goes well, it will be launched at the Amateur Rocketeers of Texas Freedom Launch next weekend. This little MMX will be competing for attention with the HPR stuff and some Ex stuff as well if I'm not mistaken.

I wish I could have had it ready today. I had kids fighting to recover rockets today. Next week, probably not.

I never was able to get it finished in time but my regular club launches again on the 13th. I hope to have it ready then.

 

[JAL3]

I know all the caveats about how finishing affects the performance of gliders but I would rather have a nice looking rocket than a stellar performer. Besides, the memory of my heavily painted Semroc Swift Boost Glider flying away, never to be seen again makes me WANT to build them too heavy. With all that in mind, I gave all the balsa parts a coating of balsa fillercoat.

 

[Micromeister]

I'm going the opposite way on the gilders John;
I decided they are more then likely not going to all be recovered vary many flights so I'm making a few replacements and fine sanding with 400girt then finishing each with various Magic Marker colors... Light Bright colors on top, darker on the bottoms. Then giving each a coat of krylon workable fixatif to seal the markers.

Just started Priming and sanding a bunch of micro models this evening, 3's-A-Charm booster is amoung them. it'll be finished like most of my micros after smoothing out some of the nasty balsa on the glider standoffs, I must have had my fingernails in the way on a couple of them...they look pretty rough at the moment

 

[JAL3]

The fillercoat was sanded down and then all the pieces were cleaned up with a tack cloth. I did not try to prime any of the pieces but went straight to paint. The rocket itself came first and was painted red.

 

[JAL3]

The first of the gliders was sprayed orange. After a bit, it was turned over and the bottom was sprayed.

 

[JAL3]

The second glider was treated in the same manner but was painted yellow.

 

[JAL3]

The third glider got a light purple coating.

 

[JAL3]

When the painting was done, I put the pieces together, admired the result and pondered how I was going to trim the gliders.

 

[JAL3]

Now here is the problem. I have read the trimming instructions but they do not seem to apply. I get neither the stalls nor the death dives. each of the gliders goes directly to unstable leaf flutter the momment it is released. That was true before the painting and is still true.

How can I tell where to add weight?

 

[kullas]

I would start by adding a pinch of weight to the nose and then give it a toss. getting the nose going down will get the elevator working to get it flying right

 

[jflis]

Trimming something this small is difficult as you have discovered.

I agree that if it is just doing the leaf flutter thing you need nose weight, but be CONSERVATIVE here. For mine I just used small drops of glue. Don't use white glue as it changes weight as it dries...

Also, be sure to use soft tosses that would approximate the actual flight speed of these things, which is fairly slow. By that I mean, don't WHIP it when you test fly it...

 

[RangerStl]

I think one can expect a steeper glide angle as well. Since the weight is so low, you will need a steeper glide to keep the airspeed up. I converted a Guillow's rubber band airplane to electric micro R/C and was surprised that I could not just pull power and glide it to a landing. It was so light and draggy it just slowed and stalled.

Your micro glider is slicker, but will need airspeed to keep the control surfaces working. You are working in some very small Reynold's number regimes. The difference between attached flow (flight) and detached flow (stall) could be one unit of gnat flatulence.

-N

 

[Micromeister]

Trimming something this small is difficult as you have discovered.

I agree that if it is just doing the leaf flutter thing you need nose weight, but be CONSERVATIVE here. For mine I just used small drops of glue. Don't use white glue as it changes weight as it dries...

Also, be sure to use soft tosses that would approximate the actual flight speed of these things, which is fairly slow. By that I mean, don't WHIP it when you test fly it...

For sure! very gently toss. one of my gliders took only a hint of clay, while another as a glob and still isn't doing well.

I'm still in the primer sanding stage on the booster so have nothing new to show.

 

[Micromeister]

Week before last we had one heck of a rainy spell. rain or no rain I did some painting anyway...lord I love having the spary booths in the basement LOL!

got the Booster primed sanded and painted before last weekends sport launch. As luck would have it the breeze stayed up stronger then expected all day so I didn't get to launch her

The Better 2/3rd and I had an awful time even getting the little gliders to glide with a gentle breeze. Jim is there some other trick we need to employ to get these little jewels to fly?

When we got home I decided to add a couple name decals to the model. I'll take a pic or 2 shortly.

 

[jflis]

The main problem in getting them to fly right is really two-fold

1. Being so small it is very hard to get a suitable test toss. You may have it trimmed perfectly but won't be able to tell as you can't get a good toss. I am working on a method and am waiting for good weather to test...
2. You may get them perfectly trimmed and then encounter weather effects that throw it off (very high or very low humidity that affect the ballance as well as any slight warpage of the wings)

It doesn't take much to have a major impact to these gliders, that's for sure...

I flew mine once and got a great glide on 2 of the 3 gliders (the 3rd red barroned in). An hour later I flew it againn and all 3 gliders did perfect glides...

The only difference is that it was getting hotter as the day got later...

 

[Micromeister]

Might it be possible to slightly increase the size of the gliders wing span or length to get a bit more stable platform? the gliders on the T3 Lunar patrol were a snap to trim and actually stay with the booster core circling all the way to the ground. I may try making some minor mods to the gliders. I really want this thing to work well. I'm calling it 3's A Charm - Fliskits Micro Airshow.

 

[Micromeister]

Took this lasted pic last night