Micro Sparrow

[bobalexander]

I had someone request the plans for a 25% Mini Sparrow for quick building.
We build around 125 at a Maker Faire as make and take items - the kids loved them and they make great little chuck gliders.
I did a STEM class where they experimented with the effect of changing the CG, removing paper from one or both sides and playing with control surfaces and wing shapes.
You can fit 4 of these on a single sheet of DT Foam Board.
Hope you like them!

 

[bobalexander]

Single Sparrow on 8.5" X 11" paper - quasi tiled.

 

[bobalexander]

Single Micro Sparrow on 11X17

 

[bobalexander]

Micro Sparrow Build instructions

 

[Seahawk]

Wonderful work sir. Will try to build one tonight so I am ready to use in a STEM class I am giving at the kids school. I will post results and Pics when we build them in the next few weeks to share with the community.

 

[Robbe77Tunic]

Keep up the good work.

 

[Seahawk]

Just got done building one of your micro Sparrows and have to say that you have done a great job scaling down the model. It took me about 20 minutes to assemble after I cut the foam board, but I was working very slowly since this was my first build. I think that once I build a few more, then it shouldn't take more then 5 to 10 minutes to glue one together.

The only issue I had was when I realized that the cut and score lines were a different color then your directions call for. Mine printed out with black and blue lines only. No red or purple. I ended up cutting through the bottom score line on the wing, and had to make a new one. Not really an issue considering out how easy and quick it was to trace a new wing and cut. All in all a very easy and fun build to do in a very short period of time. Plus it looks so darn adorable at that size!

I am pretty sure that the kids of my STEM class are going to love building and flying these things. Thanks for the work on this Bob, you did great!

 

[bobalexander]

Awesome Hawk! It looks great!
I apologize for not explaining my instructions - I had a demo model that I had colored the appropriate parts for illustration for the kids!
The SVG/PDF was made for a laser cutter where the laser knew that a 50% cut was blue and 100% through cut was black.
I'm glad you were able to figure it out!
BTW, we used modeling clay/play dough to balance the planes but I'm sure the new method of embedding a few pennies in hot glue would work better (albeit less adjustable).

 

[Seahawk]

Awesome Hawk! It looks great!
I apologize for not explaining my instructions - I had a demo model that I had colored the appropriate parts for illustration for the kids!
The SVG/PDF was made for a laser cutter where the laser knew that a 50% cut was blue and 100% through cut was black.
I'm glad you were able to figure it out!
BTW, we used modeling clay/play dough to balance the planes but I'm sure the new method of embedding a few pennies in hot glue would work better (albeit less adjustable).

No problem Bob, all it took to figure the lines out was a little exercise of the brain muscle and as they say...Eureka!

I had my 10 year old build another one tonight so I could gauge the length of time needed and he got it done in a little over 20 minutes. Going by that experience, I think it would be wise to factor in about 30 minutes for a group of 10 to build. I was hoping for less build time, but realistically these are kids after all, and kids who have never used a hot glue gun. Unlike the first build we did not glue the hatch completely, and used plumbers putty for the weight and balance as you suggest. Works great, and I like that it is a more hands on approach.

The older kids are in a youth Civil Air Patrol (CAP) squadron at Andrews AFB and the wife wants me to do a STEM build with them also. She took one of the builds to their weekly meeting, and based on the reaction of the kids, as well as my own these things are a hit. However we are talking about an event with well over 50 kids, which means a lot of cutting, unless I could convince a certain buddy I know who has CNC cutter to do a batch for me (wink, wink !)

Looking forward all the same to do the build with the smaller group, and will keep you posted on how it goes.

 

[DAWNSIGHT4]

Looks Great! I wonder how well this would work for using just one of the power pack H motors for it, and building it as a standard sparrow

 

[bobalexander]

I would love to try it with one of those tiny motors, but I'm not too hopeful about the flight characteristics... Please let us know if you try it! Getting the battery and electronics inside and the CG right will definitely be a challenge.