4 Metre Glider Scratch Build
- Thread starter Jackson T
- Start date
Jackson T
Elite member
I flew my glider again today, but I had an elevator trim issue so I cut the flight short. I started flying around downwind of myself to lose altitude, but I flew over a herd of sheep that must have triggered a thermal (or were farting heaps 
). After deciding to keep flying instead of landing, I flew back and forth through the lift. It was very hard with the elevator not being trimmed, but I managed. I started flying around the area at maybe 12m altitude or so, but a few minutes later it was at least double the starting altitude! I am not sure if this will ever be a great "thermal machine", but today proved that it can be done. I am building a Simple Soarer to teach my little sister to fly on, so hopefully I can learn to thermal properly on that.
). After deciding to keep flying instead of landing, I flew back and forth through the lift. It was very hard with the elevator not being trimmed, but I managed. I started flying around the area at maybe 12m altitude or so, but a few minutes later it was at least double the starting altitude! I am not sure if this will ever be a great "thermal machine", but today proved that it can be done. I am building a Simple Soarer to teach my little sister to fly on, so hopefully I can learn to thermal properly on that.
Last edited:
Jackson T
Elite member
I know it's a bit late, but I finally got around to finishing part 3 of the build video for my YouTube channel.
Jackson T
Elite member
Guess what? I crashed my glider . I was doing a performance test with my dad that morning. I normally put a few clicks of down trim when I'm near the ground to make sure I don't stall, but this time I didn't. I was low and slow, which didn't leave me with much control authority and overall safety. A cross wind gust came and banked me hard to the left, so I put in full right rudder, throttled up, and pulled up. That ended up with the glider being in a tight, steeply banked turn (my rudder input did nothing) about 2m off the ground, for at least a full 360 degree turn, and then it hit. the wingtip hit first, then the nose swung into the ground. There is some wing damage on the left outer panel and the firewall is stuffed, but it could have been a lot worse. For anyone who is interested, we measured the altitude using two stakes, a string, a tape measure, and trigonometry. Then we timed how long I could glide before I needed to throttle up. From that we figured out the rate of sink and the glide slope (L/D). The calculated rate of sink was about 0.65 m/sec, or 2.13 ft/sec. I was flying FPV to help me fly accurately at minimum sink, but there definitely would have been a drag contribution from the FPV gear (see photo), so the actual performance should be a bit better. I seem to remember the cruising speed being roughly 30km/h from a GPS test I did, which would put the glide slope or L/D at almost 13:1 with the FPV gear. Not bad for my second ever balsa design!
. I was doing a performance test with my dad that morning. I normally put a few clicks of down trim when I'm near the ground to make sure I don't stall, but this time I didn't. I was low and slow, which didn't leave me with much control authority and overall safety. A cross wind gust came and banked me hard to the left, so I put in full right rudder, throttled up, and pulled up. That ended up with the glider being in a tight, steeply banked turn (my rudder input did nothing) about 2m off the ground, for at least a full 360 degree turn, and then it hit. the wingtip hit first, then the nose swung into the ground. There is some wing damage on the left outer panel and the firewall is stuffed, but it could have been a lot worse. For anyone who is interested, we measured the altitude using two stakes, a string, a tape measure, and trigonometry. Then we timed how long I could glide before I needed to throttle up. From that we figured out the rate of sink and the glide slope (L/D). The calculated rate of sink was about 0.65 m/sec, or 2.13 ft/sec. I was flying FPV to help me fly accurately at minimum sink, but there definitely would have been a drag contribution from the FPV gear (see photo), so the actual performance should be a bit better. I seem to remember the cruising speed being roughly 30km/h from a GPS test I did, which would put the glide slope or L/D at almost 13:1 with the FPV gear. Not bad for my second ever balsa design!
Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes
Legendary member
It is fixable though?Guess what? I crashed my glider
speedbirdted
Legendary member
Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes
Legendary member
Well played
TooJung2Die
Master member
Fix it and call it a Phoenix.
Jackson T
Elite member
Yes, I started working on it yesterday.
Haha! To be honest, I'm actually quite sick of calling it my "4m glider" all the time, maybe I should give it a name. Any ideas?
Jackson T
Elite member
TooJung2Die
Master member
Jackson T
Elite member
I don't think my mum would like that oneHow many besides me clicked on the 'F' in the first death meme.
Big Ass Glider.
.
OliverW
Legendary member
The fuse is not bad at all!
speedbirdted
Legendary member
oh that's nothing... you could have that fixed in 20 minutes.
