Holverson Swinger RG – resurrection of a nostalgic classic

Took off a tiny bit too much with the dremel. A little shimming with some 1/32” ply got things aligned right, although I do notice a little weirdness—the piston tends to “roll” in the motor tube, allowing the control wire to move a bit right or left so that both wings can move up to 1” left or right in the locked back position. Equalizing the tension on both sides of the rubber band seems to ameliorate the problem though, and I’m guessing air pressure and drag will help keep them pinned back.

Happily no adjustment was needed in the wing’s glide position, they both deploy at an exact 90°.


As extra insurance I hardened off the wing root and control rod clamp areas of the wings with CA. The forward wing root is an especially high-stress area that I wanted to ensure wouldn’t split when the wings slam up against the fuse when they deploy.

Just need one final coat of dope to protect things from all the balsa-warping humidity here and getting the CG where it needs to be, and I think I can wrap things up.

 

Both wings turned out virtually identical in weight (16.2g & 16.3g), something which has never happened before (there’s usually a more pronounced weight difference). So I may either go the clay route or slightly warp the rudder to induce a turn. What I’m hoping is that the stacked wings might induce a turn naturally, so I won’t have to add any wingtip weight or mess with the rudder.

The CG should fall 9/16” ahead of the rear edge of the wing support disk. Fortunately all it needed to balance was a less than BB-sized lump of clay on the aft end, though I may still have to make small adjustments after some trimming glides.

 

Done! Adding the small wire nut feels like adding the cherry on top. Happy to have this Blast from the Past replica. I feel like John Hammond, the billionaire guy in Jurassic Park that brought back extinct dinos—except in this case it’s a cool but extinct glider.


Quite happy with the way it turned out. It’s definitely unique looking and unlike any other glider kit currently out there. At about 23” in length and 89.37g (3.15oz) in weight with an expended engine casing in place, it may not be a contender for competition, but with a C6-3 it should put in a flight time of over a minute, which is plenty enough for a sport glider that I really don’t want to lose or have to hike a long way to retrieve.
Hopefully I can give it its inaugural flight in mid-February at our club launch, weather permitting.

 

Nice job!

 

Appreciate that! Always wanted one of these, glad I got to scratch that itch.

 

Beautiful Job!!! I can't wait to get one for myself.

 

Thanks! It'll be a great addition to your fleet and different enough to be a real attention-getter at any launch. Would be great to see a pic of yours here in this thread when you're done.

 

Good hunting!

 

Yup I think she's going to be a big field flier only.

 

Rktman have you flown your Swinger yet?

 

There's a club that uses a 38,000+ acre farm near the coast. Will launch with them once the crops are havested sometime in late August/early September. Hopefully I'll be able to snag some video.

 

Hope you have better fortune than review here!

http://archive.rocketreviews.com/reviews/all/oop_fr_swinger.shtml


“Summary:
If someone buys you this kit, then build it as guided above but do not install the motor. Take the Swinger out to your flying field and them jump up and down on it. This way you'll still have a smashed Swinger, but you won't waste a motor.”

End of quote


Given yours is balsa rather than plastic, you may he better luck

Only worse review I have seen is the Cosmos Mariner

http://archive.rocketreviews.com/reviews/all/est_cosmo_mariner.shtml

 

Haha yeah I've seen those reviews and the Swinger should never have been offered as a foam version. Too flimsy. At least the fuselage should have been balsa. The impact of those wings swinging forward is pretty extreme. And I've never heard good things about the Mariner. Probably too heavy to glide decently.

Actually the Centuri Mach 10 is even worse; it's glide is more a controlled (barely) fall, but only after it performs its always reliable head-removing loop. But I knew that going in and built it for fun knowing it has to be boosted high enough not to risk taking out someone's eye.

I'm going to upscale it and redesign it without the offset motor tube and the draggy air brake of a stab that causes the looping. Should make for a fast sink rate but otherwise fairly decent glider.

 

Strange that they would kits something like that, especially since the simple build seems to have been been targeted at kids and beginner level fliers.

 

Thats how i designed my rc kit versions of the mach 10, but you may still need some sort of pop up elevon for glide to get some angle of attack...and it may still want to pitch toward the tail without some offset thrustline.

 

I was thinking of mounting the stab on top of the tail with zero decalage but with elastic-actuated flaps that would pop up at apogee. I saw a photo posted somewhere with that setup and the builder claimed that the air pressure kept tbe flaps pinned flat during boost and once the glider slowed at apogee, the elastic (though weak) was still strong enough to pull the flaps up. Do you think that's even possible? If not I'll have to think of another (non-RC) way to do it.

 

yeah that's what I was thinking would work but you may want to just do some glide tests and see if it if you can get a glide without anything

 

It is now Oct. Has it flown yet? Curious minds want to know.

 

The launch is being held on the 26th. Trying to build a pad with a long 3/16" launch rod since the clubs rack rod's are far too short for my larger gliders. Hopefully I can finish in time but if I miss it, my next window will be November 16th.

 

GROUNDHOG 16 . . . 1971

https://plans.rocketshoppe.com/narcomp/groundhog.pdf

HOT TURKEY . . . 1984

https://plans.rocketshoppe.com/pubs/Newsletters/SNOAR/SNOAR_News_8-84.pdf

There may have been other designs . . .

Dave F.

 

Thanks for the links Dave. While the Groundhog used a piston and wire arrangement to release the wings, it had separate hinges for each wing, unlike the Hot Turkey which utilized a single pivot for both wings (but a burn string instead of piston). I kinda lost my enthusiasm for the Groundhog after discovering that you have to slit the motor pod to attach the wire hold-backs to the balsa piston. I may have a go at the Hot Turkey, though I tried the elastic/release pin/burn string method on one of my scratch builds and it didn't quite work reliably or consistently (though I admit I may not have rigged it in the most efficient way).
No matter, I'm having a great time learning about the evolution of variable geometry gliders during all those years that I was away, and it's a kick trying out some of those early designs. So much clever ingenuity and inventiveness, something that seems to be missing in the few glider kits still available from the larger surviving manufacturers. (J&H Aerospace may be the sole exception, in that it's a single owner operation that still exhibits that innovative spark). I have a hard time believing that gliders can't evolve any further, and sad to consider that people may just have given up being creative and inventive where gliders are concerned. Most of that these days seems to be focused on HPR only.