Homemade DLG Build log

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:

Glider render.png


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:

20181121_223824.jpg

20181125_102654.jpg


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.

20181216_113011.jpg


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.

20181216_114559.jpg


Here you can see the 2 finished wing halves:

20181216_152222.jpg


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:

20181215_145120.jpg


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.
 

bracesport

Legendary member
Hi from New Zealand. It looks like your wings and laser cut parts are shaping up well. I started out wanting to build a DLG too, but my parts are way overweight (closer to 800grams) so its more of a glider! Last week I made a wire cutter for another project at work, but am yet to give it a whirl - you say its easy?
 

Fran Teryda

New member
Hi from New Zealand. It looks like your wings and laser cut parts are shaping up well. I started out wanting to build a DLG too, but my parts are way overweight (closer to 800grams) so its more of a glider! Last week I made a wire cutter for another project at work, but am yet to give it a whirl - you say its easy?
Just go for it!
 

Fran Teryda

New member
How’s progress on the build?
Hi! It is already finished and flies pretty well! I have pictures of the building procces and i am going to upload them as soon as i can. I have made several mods to the original design. I also have some flight videos. Just stay tuned, i am going to upload as much as i can :D For now, here is a picture of the finished DLG without the canopy lid.
WhatsApp Image 2019-01-26 at 21.39.10.jpeg
 

Fran Teryda

New member
Nice! looks like you know what you're doing!
It just looks like, I actually do not jajajajaj. I can improove many things in the build and design and i have went through MANY iterations of the pglider this month. For example, the tail feathers were at first extremely small and i did not have enough control authority. Iwill post more details as soon as i can. Cheers from Argentina.
 

Fran Teryda

New member
Great looking plane. A flight video & plans please.
Hi! Here you can see a low quality (sorry) video of a launch!

I don´t have any plans, but the wings are hot wire cut out of foam and reinforced with carbon fiber rods and a strip in the upper side. The arfoil is MH32 and the wingspan is 1,2 m. The tail boom is a 750 mm CF tube. Please ask me if you need any specific measurement i would be pleased to measure it for you.

Now i am considering making a video showing it off, it might be asier than explaining through the forum! Cheers
 

glideher

Member
nice project and well done, she does look a little over weight, one thing i have learned through out the years in designing small gliders is that ever .1 gram counts, keep that in mind for your next build project.
here is a 28.5 inch wingspan micro dlg glider, flying weight at around 45 grams with build up balsa wings, stays afloat beautifully mostly due to its low eight signature, so always keep the weight in mind
DLG-GLiders-microbirds-RC-Gliders-radio-control.jpg

rc gliders
 

mwbyrd

New member
nice project and well done, she does look a little over weight, one thing i have learned through out the years in designing small gliders is that ever .1 gram counts, keep that in mind for your next build project.
here is a 28.5 inch wingspan micro dlg glider, flying weight at around 45 grams with build up balsa wings, stays afloat beautifully mostly due to its low eight signature, so always keep the weight in mind View attachment 168104
rc gliders
What are you using to power your receiver? I'm struggling finding a good answer on how folks are powering their receivers in super light weight DLGs. Thanks in advance.
 

rfd

AMA 51668
What are you using to power your receiver? I'm struggling finding a good answer on how folks are powering their receivers in super light weight DLGs. Thanks in advance.

small 1s 150mah or more. if your RX and servos need more than -4v, as most will, run the batt into a voltage regulator (under $5/USD) that will step up the voltage to a constant 5v.

the converse of this is running large 2s or 3s lipos for large sailplanes, where connecting these 7.4v to 11.1v batts to a UBEC will drop the voltage down to 5v.
 

rfd

AMA 51668
1s 450mah runs a lemon 6ch RX and a pair of emax servos on the fuse build for a 1m DTFB DLG.

oh yes, arrow shaft point weights for C/G balance. :)

6DYZU9D.jpg
 

rfd

AMA 51668
1m DTFB proto weights so far are 56g for the polyU coated wing and 57g for the fuse. weight to be added will be wing balance, wing/boom hot glue, envelope nose cone ala a-filos, c/g balance. getting there ....
 

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alladdino

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:

View attachment 120400

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:

View attachment 120401
View attachment 120402

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.

View attachment 120403

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.

View attachment 120404

Here you can see the 2 finished wing halves:

View attachment 120407




hello, you have reproduced well, very nice, could you share the drawings at least of the fuselage and the tail planes, I would like to put my laser to work