Fran Teryda
New member
Hi guys! I am Fran from Argentina and i have just started building a homemade Discus Launch Glider. I am creating this thread to show you the building process. I will be very thankful if you help me through the build, i would love to hear from you any piece of advice.
I have always wanted to fly one of those DLG's, but here in Argentina it is very difficult to get one as they are very expensive. I really wanted to buy the "Vick DLG" but I could not get one because of taxes to import in my country. That was when i decided to build my own glider. I was truly inspired by the vick dlg, but i made some mods to the design. The biggest change is that instead of having a 750 mm wingspan, my wings are going to be 1200 mm long. It is going to be a 2 channel glider having only rudder and elevator. I have made a rough 3D model so thay you can see how i want it to be:
First of all, i have drawn the main pieces in Corel Draw to laser cut them and took them to a shop to cut them in 3mm balsa wood. I was really amazed of how cheap it was. I have paid only 100 $ARS (roughly 3 USD). This is how they came out:
As you can see, they only weigh 15 grams. I think it is good enough.
Today i have cut the wings out of high density foam using a hot wire. The procces is not very difficult, but you have to be prepared to fail 😂. The airfoil templates where also laser cut.
Here is a picture of the first attempt. It turned out to be pretty badly, but after sanding for a while i could save the wing. Pay attention to those ulgy deep grooves in the foam. Thankfully i could remove them very easily.
Here you can see the 2 finished wing halves:
The trailing edges are very thin and brittle, and they look as they are going to get dented very easily. For now i have covered them with tape (as you can see in the previos pic.) to prevent any damage. I have ordered some carbon fiber rods and stripes to use as wing reinforcement. After that i don't know what to do: Should i fiberglass the wings to make them stronger and more durable? Or should i save weight covering them with tape?
Now that i am stuck waiting for the pieces to arrive, i started figuring out the electronics to use. I have a simple Turnigy 5x transmitter and it's receiver. I also have a power pack i used for a big 2m glider i have, but it was really heavy to use for the DLG. Everyone in the internet uses 1s lipos, as they are really small and lightweight. As i could not find any in Argentina at a reasonable price, i came up with this thing:
It is very simple. I used an old nokia battery i had laying around at home. I soddered very carefully on it's pins a jst connector i took from a broken servo. It is ideal to power up 2 servos and the receiver, and only weights 21 grams.
Please let me know what you think. Now, i have to build the pod (i have ordered and i am waiting for the servos to arrive). I am going to post more details as soon as i can. Thanks for reading, cheers from Argentina.
I have always wanted to fly one of those DLG's, but here in Argentina it is very difficult to get one as they are very expensive. I really wanted to buy the "Vick DLG" but I could not get one because of taxes to import in my country. That was when i decided to build my own glider. I was truly inspired by the vick dlg, but i made some mods to the design. The biggest change is that instead of having a 750 mm wingspan, my wings are going to be 1200 mm long. It is going to be a 2 channel glider having only rudder and elevator. I have made a rough 3D model so thay you can see how i want it to be:
First of all, i have drawn the main pieces in Corel Draw to laser cut them and took them to a shop to cut them in 3mm balsa wood. I was really amazed of how cheap it was. I have paid only 100 $ARS (roughly 3 USD). This is how they came out:
As you can see, they only weigh 15 grams. I think it is good enough.
Today i have cut the wings out of high density foam using a hot wire. The procces is not very difficult, but you have to be prepared to fail 😂. The airfoil templates where also laser cut.
Here is a picture of the first attempt. It turned out to be pretty badly, but after sanding for a while i could save the wing. Pay attention to those ulgy deep grooves in the foam. Thankfully i could remove them very easily.
Here you can see the 2 finished wing halves:
The trailing edges are very thin and brittle, and they look as they are going to get dented very easily. For now i have covered them with tape (as you can see in the previos pic.) to prevent any damage. I have ordered some carbon fiber rods and stripes to use as wing reinforcement. After that i don't know what to do: Should i fiberglass the wings to make them stronger and more durable? Or should i save weight covering them with tape?
Now that i am stuck waiting for the pieces to arrive, i started figuring out the electronics to use. I have a simple Turnigy 5x transmitter and it's receiver. I also have a power pack i used for a big 2m glider i have, but it was really heavy to use for the DLG. Everyone in the internet uses 1s lipos, as they are really small and lightweight. As i could not find any in Argentina at a reasonable price, i came up with this thing:
It is very simple. I used an old nokia battery i had laying around at home. I soddered very carefully on it's pins a jst connector i took from a broken servo. It is ideal to power up 2 servos and the receiver, and only weights 21 grams.
Please let me know what you think. Now, i have to build the pod (i have ordered and i am waiting for the servos to arrive). I am going to post more details as soon as i can. Thanks for reading, cheers from Argentina.
For now, here is a picture of the finished DLG without the canopy lid.
