Future Aviation Events

[fozendog]

Star Trek yeah!!!!! Isn't that just Wright Stuff? Or how does the propeller work?

[twototwenty]

I was finally able to get to my local hobby store to get materials to begin messing around with the elastic launch glider, and, not suprisingly, the sheets of 1/32" think balsa I got (I am planning on starting off with the simple simon) are somewhat wavy. Does anyone here have a good method for flattening them out?

[chalker7]

I was finally able to get to my local hobby store to get materials to begin messing around with the elastic launch glider, and, not suprisingly, the sheets of 1/32" think balsa I got (I am planning on starting off with the simple simon) are somewhat wavy. Does anyone here have a good method for flattening them out?

Any methods for flattening the wood will just be temporary, it will go back to its naturally wavy state eventually. Instead, you have to be very careful with initial wood selection. Next time you visit the hobby store, go through all of their stock of balsa before choosing the best sheets (look for low weight, high strength, evenness of grain and flatness)

[twototwenty]

Unfortunately, my hobby store had a very limited supply of balsa sheets that thin, and all of the sheets were wavy to one degree or another...I guess I'll just have to give it a shot with what I have. Thanks for the help, anyway.

[twototwenty]

Sorry for the double post, but I had another question, after having finished my first glider:

When I launch it (a simple simon), instead of transitioning into a glide, it flips upside down and loops backwards back to the ground. Am I right in my diagnosis that this is probably due to a too-positive incidence, and I need to adjust the elevator? (I may not be explaining this well enough; let me know if should elaborate)

[jander14indoor]

Are you tilting the glider off horizontal when you launch? See earlier discussion about launching up in a corkscrew.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[twototwenty]

Oh, I had forgot about that; thanks! Just one thing though: when you say "tilt the glider so that it ascends in a corkscrew", how exactly do you mean that? I have been having some troubles developing good launching technique.

[jander14indoor]

At launch, you should be pointing your glider and rubber up at a steep angle (70 to 80 degrees, depending, requires testing) with the wings banked sharply right or left (right if you hold the stick with your left hand and glider with your right, left for opposite hold) on the order of 45 degrees bank (again, depends, requires testing). Note, you will also have to trim your glider to match. A properly trimmed glider is either right or left handed.

You do this because launch is VERY high speed compared to glide. To glide level, the bulk of the flight, lift must match weight at gliding speed. This means lift is WAY more than weight at launch speed causing the glider to climb and pitch nose up. In other words loop. You want to turn that loop into a climbing spiral.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[twototwenty]

Alright, thanks! This is quite helpful.

[jander14indoor]

For some visuals, youtube is your friend. See the following video, and many others posted by this person for several catapult launches by an expert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tya5SlbP ... el&list=UL

And an indoor CLG showing the whole flight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDJGMlldtds

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI