Semroc - Swift BG

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I must say that is THE best looking boost-glider I have ever seen. Since I build all of mine for competition, the best they get is a coat of dope and maybe, if I'm feeling ambitious, Japanese tissue. Usually, all they get is a good coloring from a pair of giant Sharpie Magnum markers (red for the top, black for the bottom.)

Anyways, great job, and I can't wait for the flight report! Don't forget to re-do your trim tosses!

The one in the pic is actually colored with just a regular sharpie. (This was before I found the Sharpie Magnum markers.) The balsa dries out the marker, so I wouldn't recommend it.

Stiletto-B 2.jpg
 
I must say that is THE best looking boost-glider I have ever seen. Since I build all of mine for competition, the best they get is a coat of dope and maybe, if I'm feeling ambitious, Japanese tissue. Usually, all they get is a good coloring from a pair of giant Sharpie Magnum markers (red for the top, black for the bottom.)

Anyways, great job, and I can't wait for the flight report! Don't forget to re-do your trim tosses!

The one in the pic is actually colored with just a regular sharpie. (This was before I found the Sharpie Magnum markers.) The balsa dries out the marker, so I wouldn't recommend it.

Thanks.

I'm hopign to do some more trim glides in the next few days and will let everyone know how it goes.
 
I went inside and inserted one of the trim nails provided for weight into the left horizontal stabilizer and then went back outside to try again.

Adding one nail did not do too much to improve things although it did give me hope. I had one semi-successful glide before my nephew came out with the camera. Still, I thought it needed another nail.

The first test with one nail can be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/3887704659/

The second test with one nail can be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/3888500252/

The third test with a single nail is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/3887708343/

SBG-1-nail.jpg
 
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John dear as always a great build but i would sugest you find a LARGE GRASSY AREA for testing the gulide as you wont have as much repair. also you should build a ballence tester.

2 12" 1/8 dowals

1 6" x 2" flat board

2 sewing needles


take a ruler and mark the center of the board on its shortest side.
next find the center of the long side and mark.
then drill matchng holes ever 1/2" or 1/4"out from center. to allow for the dowals at the shortest distence to be 1/2" apart.
now as straght as you can insert the needles into the top of each dowal and trim to 1/4" the ballence board is done.

ballenceing is done by finding the ballence point that the mfger states and starting their and adding waight as needed then proforming first test glide.

This has helped me with both gliders and rockets. I hope it helps you
 
I took the carcass back into the shop to try and get it fixed up again. The tip was put pack on with a double glue joint using yellow glue. The angle was obtained by eyeballing it.

SBG-broken-wingtip-1.jpg

SBG-broken-wingtip-2.jpg

SBG-broken-wingtip-3.jpg
 
While repairing the wingtip, I noticed that bouncing on the asphalt also took a bite out of the nose. At first I was going to try and fill it but then thought better of that approach. I thought I might be able to reduce the nose weight a little bit by sanding a bevel into both sides of the nose. I took out a sanding block and got to work.

SBG-nose-damage-1.jpg

SBG-nose-damage-2.jpg

SBG-nose-damage-3.jpg

SBG-nose-damage-4.jpg
 
When the glue from the wingtip repair had dried, I took out some Tightbond Trim and Molding glue and applied a fillet to each side of the joint in an effort to strengthen it.

SBG-broken-wingtip-4.jpg
 
John dear as always a great build but i would sugest you find a LARGE GRASSY AREA for testing the gulide as you wont have as much repair. also you should build a ballence tester.

2 12" 1/8 dowals

1 6" x 2" flat board

2 sewing needles


take a ruler and mark the center of the board on its shortest side.
next find the center of the long side and mark.
then drill matchng holes ever 1/2" or 1/4"out from center. to allow for the dowals at the shortest distence to be 1/2" apart.
now as straght as you can insert the needles into the top of each dowal and trim to 1/4" the ballence board is done.

ballenceing is done by finding the ballence point that the mfger states and starting their and adding waight as needed then proforming first test glide.

This has helped me with both gliders and rockets. I hope it helps you

I didn't see this post earlier.

I appreciate the tip. I shoulda known better about the street but, sometimes the "stupidity" virus becomes more active than others.:confused2:
 
The newly beveled nose was sprayed with orange paint and it blended fairly well with the rest even though the new surface had not been sealed.

SBG-re-orange-1.jpg

SBG-re-orange-2.jpg
 
When the repairs were complete, I tried throwing the glider a few more times to test it out but the results were both contradictory and confusing. Sometimes it would stall like it needed more tail weight. Other times it would dive and a few times it just kind of moved without doing anything resembling gliding. In the course of one of these tests, it turned in a very nice glide that rivaled anything done by the unpainted model. I decided to just wait and try it out on the launch pad. I called the construction of this one done.

SBG-done-3.jpg
 
remember to toss her into the wind and as hard as you can. ir throw her up as high as you can to see what she does
 
Try to get the balance point to about 25 percent behind the leading edge of the wing when in the glide mode. Add a tiny bit of weight/clay to one wingtip or the other to help get the glider to turn. Ideally you want a glide circle about 100' or so in diameter. Once the turn starts working you may need to add or subtract (most likely) clay from the nose to restore the glide. Make progress gradually...ie. make small adjustments and make them one at a time.

It really doesn't matter whether the glider turns to the left or to the right but you should go with whatever direction the glider seems to favor.

An old Free Flight trick is put a return address somewhere on the glider because once you get the glide down pat, you're most likely going to lose the bird. The FF term is OOS as in Out Of Sight.

EDIT: I just looked at your most recent glide test videos. You're throwing the glider way too hard. What you want to do is launch it at as close to it's normal glide speed not the launch speed. Aim for a point approximately 30 feet away and give it a gentle push with wings and stabilizer level. If it stalls, add weight to the nose. If it has a dive tendency, remove weight from the nose or add weight to the tail. You want a nice floating glide that neither stalls nor dives. Easy to say, yes. Not always so easy to do. I should make a small vid clip to demonstrate what I mean. Hmmm....
 
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Try to get the balance point to about 25 percent behind the leading edge of the wing when in the glide mode. Add a tiny bit of weight/clay to one wingtip or the other to help get the glider to turn. Ideally you want a glide circle about 100' or so in diameter. Once the turn starts working you may need to add or subtract (most likely) clay from the nose to restore the glide. Make progress gradually...ie. make small adjustments and make them one at a time.

It really doesn't matter whether the glider turns to the left or to the right but you should go with whatever direction the glider seems to favor.

An old Free Flight trick is put a return address somewhere on the glider because once you get the glide down pat, you're most likely going to lose the bird. The FF term is OOS as in Out Of Sight.

EDIT: I just looked at your most recent glide test videos. You're throwing the glider way too hard. What you want to do is launch it at as close to it's normal glide speed not the launch speed. Aim for a point approximately 30 feet away and give it a gentle push with wings and stabilizer level. If it stalls, add weight to the nose. If it has a dive tendency, remove weight from the nose or add weight to the tail. You want a nice floating glide that neither stalls nor dives. Easy to say, yes. Not always so easy to do. I should make a small vid clip to demonstrate what I mean. Hmmm....

I really appreciate the input on the tossing. I guess I was still battling the Cosmos Mariner in my mind.

We''l see what happens on saturday, if its not raining.
 
It finally flew on Saturday and I'll post pics and vids as soon as I can.

THe summary is thus:

1st flight on a 1/2A6-2. Unimpressive, bad stall and crash. People more knowing than me said too much tail weight so I removed one of the nails.

2nd flight on a B6-2.:jaw: It was PERFECT!!!

It stayed up for well over a minute and behaved beautifully.
 
It finally flew on Saturday and I'll post pics and vids as soon as I can.

THe summary is thus:

1st flight on a 1/2A6-2. Unimpressive, bad stall and crash. People more knowing than me said too much tail weight so I removed one of the nails.

2nd flight on a B6-2.:jaw: It was PERFECT!!!

It stayed up for well over a minute and behaved beautifully.

Congrats John! Thanks for the flight report. Glad to hear you got that monkey off your back.

A bit curious after some of the previous posts, I bought some tissue and dope and will try that method on mine.
 
Congrats John! Thanks for the flight report. Glad to hear you got that monkey off your back.

A bit curious after some of the previous posts, I bought some tissue and dope and will try that method on mine.

Thanks.

Its nice to know that, if I want to use up a year's worth of luck, I can make a glider glide.

Best of luck on yours.
 
The maiden flight of the Swift Boost Glider was at the September 09 launch of the Alamo Rocketeers. I prepped it with a 1/2A6-2 and set it up on the pad. It received favorable comments from all for appearance.

SBG-f1a.jpg

SBG-f1b.jpg

SBG-f1c.jpg
 
Almost immediately after leaving the rod, the rocket started to arc over but the curve became more gentle over time and it always had a slight upward inclination.

SBG-f1d.jpg

SBG-f1e.jpg
 
I had a good view of the pod popping off; that was fun to watch.

SBG-f1f.jpg
 
Then I got to watch the glider plummet to the earth; that was not fun to watch.

SBG-f1g.jpg

SBG-f1h.jpg
 
The unanimous consensus of those present who knew about such things was that the glider was tail heavy. I pulled out one of the nail weights and repacked the streamer in the pod realizing that I had forgotten to put any wadding in there the first time. Fortunately, the streamer was only slightly singed. For the second flight I loaded a B6-2 since I had no B4-2s. It was taken out to the pad and hooked up.

SBG-f2a.jpg

SBG-f2b.jpg

SBG-f2c.jpg
 
The unanimous consensus of those present who knew about such things was that the glider was tail heavy. I pulled out one of the nail weights and repacked the streamer in the pod realizing that I had forgotten to put any wadding in there the first time. Fortunately, the streamer was only slightly singed. For the second flight I loaded a B6-2 since I had no B4-2s. It was taken out to the pad and hooked up. When the ignition button was fired, the Swift showed the same arcing behavior as before but not as drastic. It went up relatively high considering it spent most of the boost at about a 60 degree angle to the ground. When the pod popped, though, things were definitely different. It started gliding. It would lazily turn into the wind and seem to just stand in place for a while not losing any altitude and maybe even gaining a bit. It would then turn with the wind and fly away for a short time (but a long distance) before turning into the wind to repeat the performance....again...and again...and again. On some circuits it did gain altitude but it was definitely going to come down...eventually. I began to get worried that I would lose it but everyone kept an eye on it until it finally went down...a long way away.

I wish I could show some great photos of the flight but I was to busy being awestruck to remember to take any. All I have to offer is a photo of the grounded pod a few yards from the launch pad.

SBG-f2d.jpg
 
I did get some video but cannot find the #$@* cable. I will post it when I can.
 
I was feeling lucky and several other had posted successful glider flight on Saturday so I thought I would show off the Swift BG. It had done so well on its last outing on a B4-2 that I loaded one up again and took it out to the pad.

Swift-BG-f1a.jpg

Swift-BG-f1b.jpg

Swift-BG-f1c.jpg

Swift-BG-f1d.jpg

Swift-BG-f1e.jpg
 
It also looked good when the glider separated from the pod and began to glide.

The pod came back fine but the glider liked gliding too much. It flew away across US 87 and when we lost sight of it, it was still way up there gliding fine.

I'm going to miss this one.:(

Swift-BG-f1h.jpg

Swift-BG-f1i.jpg
 
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