4 Metre Glider Scratch Build

What should I build next?


  • Total voters
    7
  • Poll closed .

Jackson T

Elite member
Finished the next wing panel!
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Jackson T

Elite member
I just finished editing a video of the construction of the wings. It's pretty much a slideshow of the photos on this thread, so nothing new really :).
 

Jackson T

Elite member
Done a LOT of work (well, it took a long time at least) :p. I ended up using some thinner, lighter tube for the pushrod guides that my brother had just pulled off his bike instead of the vinyl tubing. I put a length of tubing down the first 20cm where it is all bendy, and after that used short segments every 10cm. Then I did the covering film.
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Next thing on the list is painting a canopy on the fuse, and then making and installing control horns on the tail surfaces. Almost there!
 

Jackson T

Elite member
I haven't been able to do any work on my project last week, as I was participating in a work experience program. It was so cool! Myself and 24 other high schoolers built a kit full scale plane from the package crates to flying in 7 days!
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I will probably do a forum thread, article, and possibly a video for my YouTube channel on it too, so stay tuned!

Anyway, back on track. I made some control horns out of paddle pop sticks.
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Than I glued the hinges in for the rudder and elevator, glued the horizontal stab to the vertical stab, then glued it all onto the fuse.

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Next thing will be to install the control horns. After that, all I have to do is lengthen the pushrods as they aren't quite long enough and connect them to the control horns, then it's ready to fly!
 

Wildthing

Legendary member
I haven't been able to do any work on my project last week, as I was participating in a work experience program. It was so cool! Myself and 24 other high schoolers built a kit full scale plane from the package crates to flying in 7 days! View attachment 143774
View attachment 143775 View attachment 143777

I will probably do a forum thread, article, and possibly a video for my YouTube channel on it too, so stay tuned!

Anyway, back on track. I made some control horns out of paddle pop sticks.
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Than I glued the hinges in for the rudder and elevator, glued the horizontal stab to the vertical stab, then glued it all onto the fuse.

View attachment 143779
Next thing will be to install the control horns. After that, all I have to do is lengthen the pushrods as they aren't quite long enough and connect them to the control horns, then it's ready to fly!
That looks fantastic, good luck on the maiden.
 

Jackson T

Elite member
IT FLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is actually the second flight, but the first flight video was all fuzzy, so I decided to use the video from the second. It flies soooooo nice! It turns really well considering it's a 4m wingspan and no ailerons. It does want to increase bank angle while turning cause it's so slow and the wingspan is so huge, causing the outer wing to travel faster and make more lift.
The prop was still windmilling when I chopped the throttle because I haven't calibrated the ESC brake yet. I'll hopefully get that sorted today.
 

Jackson T

Elite member
Thanks everyone! I couldn't have done it without everyone's useful input and encouragement. I managed to program the ESC brake yesterday and test it out. It works fine, except the motor makes a weird noise every now and then. Any ideas what it might be? Yesterday I started designing the first set of winglets. They are of this type:
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The idea behind these winglets is to increase the aspect ratio and make the tip vortex smaller and to bring it away from the wing. The plan is to research different styles of wingtips and winglets and test them all out on this plane. I have a bit of an idea of how I might be able to measure performance, but it probably won't be that accurate. At least I should be able to tell if there is a huge increase or decrease in performance. As long as there's not a huge decrease, I'll probably fly with them as they look cool, and apparently they improve the handling of full scale gliders, so there might be a handling benefit.