HLG RC Glider

Tonero311

Well-known member
So with the lockdown here going on in the UK(I'm in Northern Ireland specifically) and us only allowed out for 1 hour of exercise a day observing strict social distancing, I've decided to finally build my son his first proper rc aircraft. Hes already got the EZ glider which is getting passed onto my daughter.
So what would be your suggestions for a FT style HLG? I've got nearly everything to do it.....ubec, 850mah 3s batteries, 5g and 12g servos, Rx etc. I just need a starting model about 1m wingspan and 3ch that's nice and forgiving for him.
This little project will get me and the kids our exercise with social distancing and also be an element of home schooling for my son too.
Any and all help greatly appreciated. Good luck, stay safe and keep your distances everyone.
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
Really leaning towards a 200% EZ Glider. Just rudder and elevator for now. Can hide 2 5g servos under the wing and size the fuse height and width to fit my nano-tech battery/servos. This does well I may get the tickle to build one with ailerons.
 

Figure9

Elite member
So with the lockdown here going on in the UK(I'm in Northern Ireland specifically) and us only allowed out for 1 hour of exercise a day observing strict social distancing, I've decided to finally build my son his first proper rc aircraft. Hes already got the EZ glider which is getting passed onto my daughter.

Very strict quarantine, more restrictive than here in California. Our outside time is unlimited but we’re not allowed to congregate with persons other than those in our household.
I built a Simple Soarer as the base plan for modification into a motor glider. The build turned out quite nice & flys well with a flat wing & ailerons. Of course, it has a motor, I didn’t build a sail plane because I have no convenient ridges to soar it from. I like your plan for the EZ Glider because it looks like the fuselage to tail transition is not so fragile as the Simple Soarer, thus allowing for a sturdy mount for larger tail feathers. I designed a 1300mm wing folded in the style of Ed’s Experimental Airlines ~ Noob Toob videos. No dihedral because mine has ailerons. As a new flyer it’s the only design I’ve built that I’ve been able to fly well.
If you’re upsizing the EZ Glider I think you should look at the Simple Soarer wing design with polyhedral. I think the Simple Soarer wing would work well with an upsized EZ Glider fuselage, especially for 3 channel control & with upsized horizontal & vertical stabilizer sections.
~Cheers & be well.
 
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Tonero311

Well-known member
Very strict quarantine, more restrictive than here in California. Our outside time is unlimited but we’re not allowed to congregate with persons other than those in our household.
I built a Simple Soarer as the base plan for modification into a motor glider. The build turned out quite nice & flys well with a flat wing & ailerons. Of course, it has a motor, I didn’t build a sail plane because I have no convenient ridges to soar it from. I like your plan for the EZ Glider because it looks like the fuselage to tail transition is not so fragile as the Simple Soarer, thus allowing for a sturdy mount for larger tail feathers. I designed a 1300mm wing folded in the style of Ed’s Experimental Airlines ~ Noob Toob videos. No dihedral because mine has ailerons. As a new flyer it’s the only design I’ve built that I’ve been able to fly well.
If you’re upsizing the EZ Glider I think you should look at the Simple Soarer wing design with polyhedral. I think the Simple Soarer wing would work well with an upsized EZ Glider fuselage, especially for 3 channel control & with upsized horizontal & vertical stabilizer sections.
~Cheers & be well.
Thanks @Figure9. Experimental Airlines Armin Wing/Noob Tube type build it is. Already started on me and the Son's 5" and 7" wing builds.
Not sure about all dimensions yet at all, but going to make the sons a dihedral wing. Going to use fibreglass pole with 2.5mm music wire as central brace. Not a clue about how much angle to put in yet, but that's a few steps away yet.
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
So change of plans. Giving the sons bird a carbon fibre tail boom. The nose and wing saddle will still be FB. Just try to figure out how to attach the tail feathers. Thinking a gift card bent around the CF tube to hold the vertical stabilizer and slot the horizontal into that. Need to see if a little heat will let the gift card bend around the tube without snapping.
So far it's a 36" wing span with 5" chord and 1.5" control surfaces. Anybody any pointers on how long I should make the tail and how big the tail surfaces should be? Be very much appreciated.
Wings are made and cut. Just need their dihedral made and joined. Think I might free up the ailerons as well for flaps. Post pics of progress once a bit further on.
 

Figure9

Elite member
So change of plans. Giving the sons bird a carbon fibre tail boom. The nose and wing saddle will still be FB. Just try to figure out how to attach the tail feathers. Thinking a gift card bent around the CF tube to hold the vertical stabilizer and slot the horizontal into that. Need to see if a little heat will let the gift card bend around the tube without snapping.
So far it's a 36" wing span with 5" chord and 1.5" control surfaces. Anybody any pointers on how long I should make the tail and how big the tail surfaces should be? Be very much appreciated.
Wings are made and cut. Just need their dihedral made and joined. Think I might free up the ailerons as well for flaps. Post pics of progress once a bit further on.

I’ve considered that same thing. How to attach the tail feathers & proportions. What I do is establish the tail design first. For stabilizer size I often use a proven design of a similar aircraft. True sailplanes frequently appear to have smaller tail feathers. The shape of the horizontal & vertical does not seem to matter as much as the most effective size. For me it helps with finding the balance If I build the tail first, determine the fuselage length I want, temporarily install the tail, motor, servos, battery, etc. Install the wing last & find the pivot point for balance by temporarily installing the wing with sticky hook & loop so I can move it fore & aft. When I know where everything goes & balances well I do the permanent attachments For the wing & battery.
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
@Figure9 my plan at the minute is to epoxy the 5mm CF tube to the horizontal stabilizer and use gift card brackets to hold rudder upright and to the boom. I've got roughly 650mm length to work with on the boom, though I do want it extending to the front of the fuse as much as possible too. The wing tie downs will be carbon fibre tube as well length wise along fuse.
Here's photos. Son picked green and yellow for his colours, mine are red and black(not in pics yet). Not too much to show. Tomorrow his wings get glued together and servos installed.
 

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Tonero311

Well-known member
So the wings are joined at last. After all was done it works out this wing has 6.5°ish dihedral. I'm happy with that. At the moment the wing weighs 177g. 2 5g servos to fit and fittings, I think the wing will weigh about 190g.
Have decided to make the tail boom 450 mm long. This will give me the benefit of extending 300mm into the fuse and below the wing saddle. Should make for a good strong join between wing and fuse.
The tail feathers I just eyeballed and guesstimated the width and depth of the horizontal stabilizer. Vert stab I made 25mm taller than half the horizontal stab. Depth on both is 100mm total with 25mm control surfaces. Both pieces got iron sealed edges and ironed hinges. Adds great strength and rigidity that will hopefully carry on through to mounting. As is the hori and vert stabs weigh 8g(5g and 3g respectively). Dunno if this is good or not really.
 

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Piotrsko

Master member
Traditional rule of thumb: horizontal stab is 10% of wing area 3 times the wing chord back. rudder 1/2 that. Further back can make the stab smaller. This gives you the most forgiving CG range. Full size sailplanes have very restrictive CG range with airfoils that the COP doesn't move much.

Couple of pieces foamboard the same size of the carbon tube glued onto the tube sides should suffice for the mounts. Ie: X0X.
 

Figure9

Elite member
Traditional rule of thumb: horizontal stab is 10% of wing area 3 times the wing chord back. rudder 1/2 that. Further back can make the stab smaller. This gives you the most forgiving CG range. Full size sailplanes have very restrictive CG range with airfoils that the COP doesn't move much.

Couple of pieces foamboard the same size of the carbon tube glued onto the tube sides should suffice for the mounts. Ie: X0X.

Thanks for posting this, very helpful. :)
 

Figure9

Elite member
So the wings are joined at last. After all was done it works out this wing has 6.5°ish dihedral. I'm happy with that. At the moment the wing weighs 177g. 2 5g servos to fit and fittings, I think the wing will weigh about 190g.
Have decided to make the tail boom 450 mm long. This will give me the benefit of extending 300mm into the fuse and below the wing saddle. Should make for a good strong join between wing and fuse.
The tail feathers I just eyeballed and guesstimated the width and depth of the horizontal stabilizer. Vert stab I made 25mm taller than half the horizontal stab. Depth on both is 100mm total with 25mm control surfaces. Both pieces got iron sealed edges and ironed hinges. Adds great strength and rigidity that will hopefully carry on through to mounting. As is the hori and vert stabs weigh 8g(5g and 3g respectively). Dunno if this is good or not really.

That’s looking good. Guys at my club have been flying Slow Sticks & I’ve been thinking it might be fun to scratch build something similar.
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
Traditional rule of thumb: horizontal stab is 10% of wing area 3 times the wing chord back. rudder 1/2 that. Further back can make the stab smaller. This gives you the most forgiving CG range. Full size sailplanes have very restrictive CG range with airfoils that the COP doesn't move much.

Couple of pieces foamboard the same size of the carbon tube glued onto the tube sides should suffice for the mounts. Ie: X0X.

Thanks for the info there. Been looking something along these lines all week. Now time to get my head around that and work out how I have to tweak my design. Fingers crossed not much has to change. Got the tail feathers covered and ready.
 

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Tonero311

Well-known member
That’s looking good. Guys at my club have been flying Slow Sticks & I’ve been thinking it might be fun to scratch build something similar.

This is my sons first RC aircraft. I'll be happy if it flies at all. Basically everything has been on the wing (pardon the pun) so far, no solid plan and barely a notion in sight😂.
 

Figure9

Elite member
Hate to tell you this, but it is how I build most of my planes. Some work well, some don't.

If you do the balancing I described with all components installed to determine where to permanently install the wing, it will surely fly. Even if the wing is off the proper balance & center of lift points you can still balance it by moving the battery & it will ‘probably’ fly. I like to balance the plane from front to back also, supported by a finger under the prop hub & under the tail & the plane should rest level.
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
If you do the balancing I described with all components installed to determine where to permanently install the wing, it will surely fly. Even if the wing is off the proper balance & center of lift points you can still balance it by moving the battery & it will ‘probably’ fly. I like to balance the plane from front to back also, supported by a finger under the prop hub & under the tail & the plane should rest level.

That's roughly my plan. I'm leaving the nose long to place my electronics for balance, then trim off the excess and make my nose. If I have enough blue foam block left, a tail plug too.
I haven't decided just yet on servo placement for the tail. Either behind the wing joint and control rod running down the sides of the boom, or directly on tail feathers. I'm leaning strongly towards the first option, think it will make for a lighter tail.
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
So no CF tubes yet🤔. Ah well, redone the tail feathers and got the fuse cut and covered. Can do nothing until the post man is good to me again.
Ah well, start work on the 72" motor glider and get my mini Pietenpol ready for its final flight. Its electrics are going in this new one.
Hopefully postman comes soon. Sitting by the letterbox like a Jack Russell Terrier trying to set an ambush😂.
 

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Figure9

Elite member
So no CF tubes yet🤔. Ah well, redone the tail feathers and got the fuse cut and covered. Can do nothing until the post man is good to me again.
Ah well, start work on the 72" motor glider and get my mini Pietenpol ready for its final flight. Its electrics are going in this new one.
Hopefully postman comes soon. Sitting by the letterbox like a Jack Russell Terrier trying to set an ambush😂.

Looking good !!