RR Finch - Ultra Micro Glider

[CrazyFastFlying]

Hi,

Great looking glider!

I have a little problem though. When I was trying printing out the plans, they came out of the printer with REALLY light lines and it was only the outline of each piece. I double checked to make sure it wasn't on the ink saver setting. I tried printing it again and it did the same thing.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Robinder]

Hi,

Great looking glider!

I have a little problem though. When I was trying printing out the plans, they came out of the printer with REALLY light lines and it was only the outline of each piece. I double checked to make sure it wasn't on the ink saver setting. I tried printing it again and it did the same thing.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

Hmm... interesting, what PDF viewer are you using to print? Is there an option to scale line types? If so, make sure that’s unchecked, and that you’re printing without any PAGE scaling. Some printers I’ve found cut off some of the edges with their margins, but I was able to extrapolate the lines and still make it work.

I would also check the ink cartridge, maybe it needs replacing? Or can you increase the quality setting in your printer settings?

Let us know if you get it figured out!

 

[FoamyDM]

That’s too bad, I hadn’t tested with tape, but that’s a good idea for kids crafts. How did it fail?

Out of interest, how did the cubs like making them, and how did they fly otherwise? Did they get them to glide?

It broke in half at the groove in the tail. I told them that hot glue and tape can restore it to like-new.

The build was quick and simple. Everyone enjoys making them, and they like flying them even more. unlike other builds, (1 sheet tiny trainer) the size made it more approachable, but less of a "woah" factor. Even my Lions (kinder-gardeners) were doing it on their own mostly. I scored the middle of the top for dihedral (which was perfect for hot gluing dihedral and that was a mistake as it made a weakness in the wing too. Which I had maybe two break in half. I showed then that tape on top and bottom, and it's good as new.

As it is, some got them to glide well. Others just chucked. Everyone enjoyed them.

 

[CrazyFastFlying]

Hmm... interesting, what PDF viewer are you using to print? Is there an option to scale line types? If so, make sure that’s unchecked, and that you’re printing without any PAGE scaling. Some printers I’ve found cut off some of the edges with their margins, but I was able to extrapolate the lines and still make it work.

I would also check the ink cartridge, maybe it needs replacing? Or can you increase the quality setting in your printer settings?

Let us know if you get it figured out!

My PDF viewer is Preview.

I tried printing a page from the FT mini sparrow plans and it worked perfectly, so all the settings on my printer are right.

The cartridge is still 70% full.

 

[FoamyDM]

I shrink to fit.. still was off, but close enough. Good luck. I have screen captured, pasted to word (minimum margin), and printed fit to page. while not pretty, it gets you there. just know the hatched areas are 1 foam board thickness and you are ready!

 

[messyhead]

I really liked the look of this glider, and was looking for something to build with my son. I was going to do the TT as a chuck glider, but then saw this. It's my first foamboard build.

I printed it out at work yesterday, on A4 (UK size), so it wasn't quite the same size. I've also printed it on A3, so I'll try making a bigger version.

I had a quick test flight of it this morning, and it flew quite well. So much so, it went over the garden fence into next doors garden

Anyway, I'm going to name it the Fugly Finch, as it's a bit of a mess

 

[mayan]

Beautiful build!
What FB are you using? It looks like 10mm FB.

 

[messyhead]

It's 5mm, Westfoam board. It's quite a bit heavier than the FT board, but the paper can be removed to reduce the weight. I'm just experimenting with it though, and not getting too hung about weight, or comparing it with FT board. The main thing is having fun building these, and see how or if they fly.

I found cutting the board accurately and cleanly to be tricky. So I don't mind getting this wrong with this board, then buying some FT board or depron foam for when I want to build something better.

Oh, and when you say beautiful build, I'm showing it's good side. You don't want to see under the wing It's a mess of hot glue

 

[mayan]

Oh, and when you say beautiful build, I'm showing it's good side. You don't want to see under the wing It's a mess of hot glue

A plane doesn't have too look good to fly good. That is something that I've learned.

 

[Robinder]

Nice job, @messyhead!

 

[messyhead]

I finished building the bigger RR Finch tonight. It's quite a bit tidier than the little one, mainly as I learned a lot about cutting the FB when I built the first one. I also bought some poster card and made decent templates first.

So here it is, shown next to it's little brother...

I'll need to wait till the weekend to see how it flies, but here's some (bad) video of the little one's maiden flights. I was launching it into a stiff breeze, you can see the kids in some shots. They were flying a kite, so it was windy. It tended to right turn on the wind, and occasionally did a good loop. Not much of a glider, but fun anyway.

 

[Paracodespoder]

@messyhead , what type of foamboard are you using, it almos looks to be Elmer’s, might just be me though .
Nice build and video, good job .

 

[messyhead]

It's Westfoam board that you can get from hobby stores in the UK. It's apparently not great, and is quite a bit heavier than the FT stuff, but I've read mixed reports about it on here. I saw a load of it on offer, and bought it.

I'm just using it to practice build and experiment with at the moment, so that when I get some FT or Graupner board, I'll not waste it. I've peeled the paper of some surfaces to reduce weight, which is why the tail looks a bit dodgy. You can take the paper off cleanly by running an iron over it, but I couldn't be bothered with that tonight.

I've got plans printed for the TT, so I'm going to build that with this board to see how it all goes together. I might try it as a chuck glider and see what it's like. But by the summer, I plan to have it built in FT board and have the Tx, Rx, and electronics all fitted.

 

[messyhead]

@Robinder When I look at my build, and then the photo of your build on the first post, the slots in the fuse on my one are really untidy and don't fit the wing shape very well. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong there.

 

[Paracodespoder]

It's Westfoam board that you can get from hobby stores in the UK. It's apparently not great, and is quite a bit heavier than the FT stuff, but I've read mixed reports about it on here. I saw a load of it on offer, and bought it.

I'm just using it to practice build and experiment with at the moment, so that when I get some FT or Graupner board, I'll not waste it. I've peeled the paper of some surfaces to reduce weight, which is why the tail looks a bit dodgy. You can take the paper off cleanly by running an iron over it, but I couldn't be bothered with that tonight.

I've got plans printed for the TT, so I'm going to build that with this board to see how it all goes together. I might try it as a chuck glider and see what it's like. But by the summer, I plan to have it built in FT board and have the Tx, Rx, and electronics all fitted.

Instead of a tiny trainer try the new ft EZ Glider , then add a couple servos and you have a really nice beginner friendly glider. Have fun building .

 

[mayan]

@Paracodespoder I still think that he should build the TT.

 

[messyhead]

@Paracodespoder thanks for pointing that one out. However I intend to make a powered trainer / glider, which is why I was looking at the TT. I'll probably build it as a chuck glider fairly soon as I don't have any of the control electronics yet, but can get something that my son can have a play around with. But then develop it into a powered trainer through the summer.

 

[mayan]

@Paracodespoder thanks for pointing that one out. However I intend to make a powered trainer / glider, which is why I was looking at the TT. I'll probably build it as a chuck glider fairly soon as I don't have any of the control electronics yet, but can get something that my son can have a play around with. But then develop it into a powered trainer through the summer.

If you want to build the TT as an extremely fun chuck glider and can get your hands on 3mm FB scale down the original plans to 75% and you’ll have a chuck glider that you can also play with indoors in a small area even a living room.

 

[Robinder]

@Robinder When I look at my build, and then the photo of your build on the first post, the slots in the fuse on my one are really untidy and don't fit the wing shape very well. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong there.

Hi @messyhead, thanks for the question and for posting the video!

Firstly, I haven’t tried chucking mine outdoors, I’m sure wind plays a huge part in the flight characteristics. I had originally designed it for tiny kids and an easy chuck, but seeing how you guys are chucking them, I think that @Paracodespoder is right... the undercamber produces a lot of lift and drag. Good for tiny kids with a light toss, probably not ideal for a solid chuck outdoors. Either way, yours seemed to fly (in a loop) and at least land softly! lol

Might want to try extending the flat underside of the wing (to remove the camber), or even just flattening the wing and seeing if it flies better at a hard chuck. Let me know if you try it! The bigger version looks good, btw!

With respect to your fuselage question, I wasn’t sure if you were referring to the tail connection, or the wing slots? The wing slots should work well with carefully cut lines per the plans, the slots should have the wing airfoil shape to make it a snug fit.

If it’s the tail slot, I marked on the plans how far you need to chamfer the end of the fuselage slot so it moulds nicely with the tail.

I also noticed that the ones I made for all of the kids here also failed at the tail connection. Seems to be a weak point. I addressed it by inserting a skewer from the rear edge of the tail, all the way through into the fuselage cavity. This reinforces it pretty well without adding much weight. Would probably be good to do this before balancing just for best results.

Lastly, I’ve found it super helpful to spray repositionable adhesive on the back of the plans and then securing it to the foamboard. Very easy to then cut the lines perfectly, and it peels off with no ill effects. Game changer for me, pic of the product below.

Hope this helps, glad to see you enjoying it with your little ones too!

 

[mayan]

@messyhead what @Robinder mentioned about the spray glue is a method I use for quick builds. I even leave the plans on the FB many times and it doesn’t seem to hurt either.