Quest Aurora Question

[goose_in_co]

Help!!!

I am building the Quest Aurora boost glider and have a question on the construction of the glider

The instructions say to "score the elevators to produce a hinge" and then not to glue them to the twin rudders in a later step. What are you supposed to do with them? If they aren't glued into position they will tend to straighten out, or worse yet, set in to two different angles, possibly causing the dreaded spiral of death.

So If anyone has any suggestions on how thiers was build and how it flew, I would appreciate the info.

By the way, EMRR has a review, but it does not cover this aspect of the kit.

Thanks in advance guys.

Goose

 

[billeblurzz]

Hey Goose, my AURORA is a good flier. Just build it very light...only 1 light coat of paint. You can cut the elevons loose and attach them to the glider with trim monocote to make an adhesive "hinge". Put a strip on both sides of the elevon and butt up against the rudders. These strips will hold the elevons set against the rudders and you can then experiment with nose weight in hand-tossing the glider for flight. A small ball of clay about the size of a BB was added to my glider for a good flat glide. A B6-4 is plenty of motor for flights from a small field....if your glider is a good flier, with a C it may never come down....goes way up there!!!

 

[billeblurzz]

Also sand down the dowel that the glider hangs on with....it must be very loose on the launch lug or the glider will not come loose from the booster. I use talc power between the glider body and the booster body so these two painted surfaces will slide past each other easily.

 

[billeblurzz]

A shock-cord/chute kept as short as possible will help from fouling of the glider. This may be hard to see, but if you look to the right of the booster coming down under chute, the black dot is the glider flying around all by itself!

 

[goose_in_co]

So if I get you right, the monokote will hold the elevators in the proper position even if they are not glued into position?

 

[WestWayneRocket]

yes use the monocote to make a hinge for the glider. I however trimmed mine then glued the rudders in place. My suggestion for the booster is to use a long streamer instead of the chute, the plastic fin unit is VERY tough Ive had mine land on cement with very light damage. They are correct about the paint on the glider keep it light, but do paint the glider bottom high visibility (Orange,red,etc) The top should be painted so as to show up on the ground. I painted my glider all black to avoid this trouble. And as a last point try to stick to a "2" delay I have seen cases at least with my Aurora where a B4-4 has caused the glider to stay with the booster due to the delay being after apogee, the glider has a harder time seperating after the booster is nose down on the way back. My Aurora has flown over 20 times and its always a pleasure to watch the kids love chasing down the glider.

 

[powderburner]

I saw one once where the guy built it with tape (or monocote or something) for a hinge, for structural attachment of the trim tab.
Then he had a little piece of wire (a paper clip?) epoxied on the inside that he could bend into position to hold the tab where he wanted. I guess it would work OK since you don't bend the tab back-n-forth very much (the wire would eventually crack). As I recall, he had some decent launches/glides with his.

 

[goose_in_co]

Thanks for the tips.

Sounds like there is a little trimming to do then set the hinges in place with some glue. I will do that after I get it painted, as the glider that I have for the orbital transport clone changed its trim drastically after a coat of paint was applied.

Goose