Hummingbird build

[Mike Howie]

The very first glider I attempted to fly was the Centuri Hummingbird. The glider
was made from styrofoam, and only rated to fly on A or A fraction motors. I
stupidly put an C6-3 in it. (I was young then. ). At launch pieces went
everywhere. I've wanted to build another so here goes.

I made one change, I had some left over 1/16 balsa, so I used it instead of the
foam. First I printed out a set of the fin patterns on full page labels. Stuck
them on the balsa, and cut them out. Using Corel, I mirrored the patterns, and
printed them out again. Then I attached them to the matching balsa sides.

 

[Mike Howie]

ARRGH!!!! I forgot to take any pics of the intermediary steps! Got
sidetracked building the Space Ark Jr. Sorry.

Nothing untoward happened in the rest of the build, just followed the instructions. And this is what I got. Without doing any trimming, I do get a
fast glide off a hand toss. It just needs a small bit of finesse and I should get
a better glide.

 

[Gillard]

I built one of these from plans about 4 years ago. it flew like a brick
hope yours works better.

 

[CharlaineC]

the plans at yorp have me slightly confusled lookin at thm i get most of the shots but whats with the black and white pages?

 

[AKPilot]

I download the plans for this and will go with balsa all the way around. Probably even use a bigger wingspan.

 

[shuyge]

Just for reference, the flying surfaces on this kit were originally fiberboard, not foam. Any decent balsa should do the trick. If it were me, I'd use contest balsa, but I already have plenty on hand so I use contest balsa for all glider type rockets.

 

[Mike Howie]

the plans at yorp have me slightly confusled lookin at thm i get most of the shots but whats with the black and white pages?

The black and white page show the sizes of the part. The right hand side
has the BT, LL, Spar braces.

 

[Blades]

Looks nice, Mike. I've been wanting to build one of these myself, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll be interested to see how it flies.

 

[Saluki]

Mike, what is the length and size of the body tube and nose cone?

 

[CharlaineC]

ok i can bearly make it out so i was confused

 

[Mike Howie]

Mike, what is the length and size of the body tube and nose cone?

BT20-3inches
NC- I don't have the part name. It was just in my parts box. It's 1.5 balsa

 

[ewg1967]

Not sure if anyone reads this tread anymore but just wanted to post some pics of my clone. I used 1/16" balsa instead of fiber board. I hope she flies well and if so I plan to build an upscale version.

 

[Pepe Le Pew]

I built a Panther (my own design for electric R/C power). The motor is installed in the back!!!!! It looks like I can fit an E sized engine in it. We'll see. The similarities withe the Hummingbird lead me to believe she'll fly great, just a little bigger. I love the HB though

 

[Charles_McG]

This is the last flight of my BT60 scale Hunmingbird. While she has flown beautifully, this flight ended in the dirt with major damage.

Filmed in slow motion.

[video=youtube;bwKudMoTEMs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwKudMoTEMs[/video]

 

[ewg1967]

Test flew my scratch built Hummingbird clone twice today. Both times I used an A8-3 motor. The first flight she arced over and flew straight into the ground. There was minimal damage. Just a ding in the nose cone. On the second flight she got more height and flew in a circle around me. Watching it in slow motion it appears the Hummingbird is generating lift the instant it leaves the launch rod. Obviously I've got something out of balance.

Here is the video of the two flights in slow motion.

[video=youtube;W_SB6pLK67Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_SB6pLK67Q&list=UUsO71XqnnRmwLLFuLHG4C4g[/video]

 

[ewg1967]

This is the last flight of my BT60 scale Hunmingbird. While she has flown beautifully, this flight ended in the dirt with major damage.

Filmed in slow motion.

[video=youtube;bwKudMoTEMs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwKudMoTEMs[/video]

That was painful to watch. I'm sorry for your loss. Will you build another? Also, what size motor were you using?

 

[Charles_McG]

C6-5.

My Hummingbirds (this is #3 as a BAR) have always flown an overhead arch, like described in the Halverson Zoomie instructions. My original scale caught a tailwind and flew over a fencerow into a soybean field. I still have my BT50 scale.

Here's a good flight of the BT60 scale. B6-2. I'm thinking that 1) short delays are good. 2) maybe I angled the thrust the wrong way. On the 60, I made the motor mount so I can set a 3-5 degree angle. It has an ejecting pod with a stream and a washer for forward weight during boost. I think all mine generate lift at boost. For the flat plate models, the trim is nose up. So the angle of stack should make lift. On the BT60 scale, the wings are made out of foamcore and I sanded in an airfoil.

[video=youtube_share;n7IZBZyT1vo]https://youtu.be/n7IZBZyT1vo[/video]

 

[K'Tesh]

I'd like to see more of this... My Hummingbird builds have stalled out and I'd like to get some more info before I try again to restart it.

Thanks for the Video!
Jim

 

[ewg1967]

I added some weight to the nose of the Hummingbird and took her out for another flight. I found that three dimes fit perfectly into the BT-20 tube. I dropped a little glue up against the nose cone and slid the dimes in. This time she flew much better!

[video=youtube;oy6lna2uNnE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy6lna2uNnE&list=UUsO71XqnnRmwLLFuLHG4C4g[/video]

 

[bradycros]

Good looking gliders.

 

[Pepe Le Pew]

Very Kewl my man!!