Materials/Kits

[akersbaker]

Hi. We are new to Science Olympiad and I'm confused that it's ok to use a kit. As a parent (and teacher) it seems there's more benefit to building from scratch. But would that necessarily mean our team's glider would always lose out to the kit teams? Is the challenge supposed to be in the technical details involved in tweaking the glider and designing the launcher?

[bernard]

Hi. We are new to Science Olympiad and I'm confused that it's ok to use a kit. As a parent (and teacher) it seems there's more benefit to building from scratch. But would that necessarily mean our team's glider would always lose out to the kit teams?

No, kits aren't necessarily better than self made gliders. If you're starting out, kits are very helpful because it can help you get a plane built and flying quicker. A great design doesn't help unless you've got the tweaking step down.

Is the challenge supposed to be in the technical details involved in tweaking the glider and designing the launcher?

Yes, design is a factor you don't really have to care about unless you've trimmed your glider to perfection.

[jander14indoor]

The reason kits are allowed is because design is NOT the point of this event. The designs are well understood and all you'd have to do is find a design as good as any of the kits is to spend some time exploring the internet. They exist.

The point of this event is test and evaluation. Thus the flight logs. The point is to test, take data, adjust, take data, adjust, etc to optimize any given design.

Thus kits are not a 'magic' solution to the event. You still need to put in the time and effort to gather data on that design and optimize the performance. The kits that are available are perfectly good, but not beyond what a reasonably competent student can build. And its far cheaper to build from scratch.

I make the claim when I'm coaching that I can hand you my plane/glider/helicopter in pieces (so you don't just start with the ideal settings I've already determined) and you couldn't succeed without putting in that time and effort to test, take data, and find the optimum settings. Haven't been proven wrong yet. Even by experienced flyers. They just get there faster because like me they have years of data in their heads and know where to start.

Gliders/Wright Stuff/Helicopter are just convenient non-linear systems with a reasonable number of variables to test and evaluate.

Besides, they're fun.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[akersbaker]

Thanks very much for the helpful advice. It's appreciated!

[bjt4888]

akersbaker,

Having coached this event for Division C for a couple of years and for Division B last year, i have found the Stan Buddenbohn "SO Littl Sweep" kit to be the easiest to build for the quality of results it gives. Stan is the reigning world champion in F1N glider for ceiling category IV and his kits show excellent attention to detail. The students I have coached using this glider (previous year's rules) typically get flight times of 24 seconds or more in gyms with ceilings of about 30 ft. (launch heights usually a few feet under the ceiling). Best results with this glider, when built to minimum weight are about 1.0 seconds per foot of altitude. I believe that results will be similar with this year's rules as they are not much different than the High School rules from a few years ago.

Stan's kit glider is a very good flying and easy to build airplane. However, it is not the ultimate best flying glider. A "flapper style" glider, under the current SO rules, if properly constructed and trimmed will fly in the neighborhood of 1.1 seconds per foot of altitude. The best my high school students were able to do with a flapper glider under a 27 ft. ceiling was 27.8 - 28.5 seconds. My best was usually between 28.5 and 29.8 seconds. I posted a plan for a flapper style glider on the Hip Pocket Aeronautics, Builders Plan Gallery, along with some instructions on wood selection and sanding technique (very important). Although this plan is for a previous rule set, it can be easily scaled for this year's rules.

I have no affiliation with Stan's company, I'm just a SO coach that is interested in students having fun and flying a good glider. Here is the link to Stan's catalog:

http://www.discuskid.com/Pages/BUddenbohmProducts.aspx

Also, here is the link to a video of a glider pro building Stan's kit.

http://www.amaglider.com/?p=view&a=so-l ... p-building

Good Luck and good science. Practice, practice and practice some more and take lots of data regarding launch bank angle, inclination angle and amount of launch rubber stretch.

Brian T.
AMA since 1972 (off and on)

[Less_Incidence]

My slightly modified (slightly smaller wingspan to be flown in AMA Standard Catapult) SO Lit'lSweep kit from a couple of years ago did 28.0 and 28.4-second flights in a 35' ceiling at high elevation, about equivalent to a 25-27' site at sea level (at least according to SCLG world record holder Bill Gowen). They are very capable gliders, and are much easier to trim and adjust than flappers. I've found the 1/32" thick wood on the wing on the Lit'lSweep a bit unusual, but given most beginning builders' (lack of) sanding ability, it seems reasonable to start at such a low thickness.

[Dr_Scherms]

What are the major changes in the rules this year? Anyone know?
We don't have the rules as yet
Thanks in advance..

Really just the wingspan cannot be more 30.0 cm. They also refer to the launcher as an "apparatus" instead of a launcher. That's really it.

[bernard]

What are the major changes in the rules this year? Anyone know?
We don't have the rules as yet :(
Thanks in advance..

Really just the wingspan cannot be more 30.0 cm. They also refer to the launcher as an "apparatus" instead of a launcher. That's really it.

Also, mass of glider must be between 3.5 and 10.0 grams (3.c.). Last year's rule was mass of glider must be between 4.0 and 10.0 grams (3.d.).

[Fanglin]

Last year, I used the Freedom Flight glider kit. I found that kit to be more of a tedious build, but definitely worth the time. It is also very cheep (compared to others). I had no problem with the weight, which was actually only about 4 grams. This year, because the 2015-2016 glider from Freedom flight has not come out yet, I have just converted last year's gliders into the new standards. With the new version of the 2015 glider, I got about 30 seconds consistently in a 30ft gym.

[Less_Incidence]

Freedom Flight makes excellent kits. Like we've stated previously, design is not the main factor in this event - trimming and testing is. The main design variance is in flappers vs. non-flappers, and I personally don't think that trying to trim a flapper is the best idea for a team building their first glider. Weight shouldn't be an issue with any design, as an experienced modeler can build a glider of these dimensions down to 1.5 grams. My lightweight gliders are usually slightly over 2 grams and I don't have particularly extensive experience.

I've been casually flying gliders for a few years (Twice in SO) and haven't ever managed to build a functional flapper. Beyond the first glider for learning, though, feel free to experiment and try whatever. Just know that flappers are significantly more difficult to trim.

1 foot per second is an excellent sink rate, and probably near optimal. The next step would be to make fine adjustments to flap camber, et cetera for optimization. Sounds like you've heard this before and know what you're doing, though.