Willy Nillies Gentle Lady 250 Beta Build

[TooJung2Die]

Transparent film is a royal p.i.t.a.

Yes, compared to opaque film, it is a P.I.T.A. I've gotten pretty good with document laminating film which is the worst transparent for shrink-ability. Leave a generous amount of film overhang, at least 1 inch. If a wrinkle won't shrink out you can pull the film tight by applying high heat and carefully pulling on the overhang. I use a heat gun for this but an iron should work in corners. Only after it's all smooth and the outside edges are sealed do you trim off the excess. Then go back over the film edges with an iron and seal them down. If you can learn to get doculam smooth then model airplane film is a breeze.

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

The covering overlap between the two wing panels was really messy so I decided to redo it since I have a bunch more covering on the way. I messyup the first attempt by not making sure everything was taught before I started shrinking, got a ton of wrinkles. The second attempt went on fine but I only had enough covering left to do the bottom. I'd love to do the fuse but I'm waiting on some servos and I want to get the electronics set up before I cover it.

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

In sanding every once and a while I break a joint open by mistake. Evidently when regluing one of these I changed the polyhedral angle of one of the wing panels so now they're uneven. Looks like I'll need to break that joint open and set the angle right. I also found out that I had just enough film left to do the underside of the other panel.

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

Servos finally arrived today along with a new Schofield (that's another story) so I got the fuse closed up and sanded

 

[TooJung2Die]

Smoooooth. 😊

 

[Quinlan Sauter]

any updates?

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

any updates?

Unfortunately not, it's been a wild five months for me and I haven't really been active in the hobby lately. It's been sitting on my nightstand.

 

[The Hangar]

Great work so far! I built a fullsize Gentle Lady earlier this year and it's an amazing plane. It does amazing with a bungee hi-start. Though, I wouldn't try this one with a full 2-meter bungee because you would probably rip the wings off. You could probably get a length of surgical tubing to do launches with.

Also that battery is... not gonna work I think Doug has been flying his with a 350 2s and he says it's perfect. You really don't need much power at all with one of these things, mostly the motor is just to find thermals. If you plan to use no motor you could probably use a 1s if you can find a reciever that will operate on that voltage. You could maybe use a BEC.

How much would it cost to put together a simple bungee launch for my gentle lady?

 

[speedbirdted]

How much would it cost to put together a simple bungee launch for my gentle lady?

You say that like you have a currently airworthy Gentle Lady.

You could build one for probably 30 bucks. I use 60 feet of 1/2 OD surgical tube with I think 300 feet of 50 lb test line attached to it as the tow line with a rag tied near the top as the chute. I pull it to about 10 pounds - the gentle lady weighs 22 ounces, and any pull force around 5-10x your AUW will give you a quick ascent, anything less may be anemic and more may be violent.

A dog stake works well to anchor the bungee end down. You can also use latex tube which will be more UV resistant, I only used surgical tube as I have a source I can get it cheaply from.

 

[The Hangar]

You say that like you have a currently airworthy Gentle Lady.

You could build one for probably 30 bucks. I use 60 feet of 1/2 OD surgical tube with I think 300 feet of 50 lb test line attached to it as the tow line with a rag tied near the top as the chute. I pull it to about 10 pounds - the gentle lady weighs 22 ounces, and any pull force around 5-10x your AUW will give you a quick descent, anything less may be anemic and more may be violent.

A dog stake works well to anchor the bungee end down. You can also use latex tube which will be more UV resistant, I only used surgical tube as I have a source I can get it cheaply from.

Not quite airworth - yet! I still need to order covering for it. I really want to make it bungee launch rather than put a motor and prop on it, but it would probably be easier and more practical to just put a motor on it - not as cool though.

 

[Quinlan Sauter]

Not quite airworth - yet! I still need to order covering for it. I really want to make it bungee launch rather than put a motor and prop on it, but it would probably be easier and more practical to just put a motor on it - not as cool though.

i agree the bungee is way cooler!!!!

 

[speedbirdted]

Not quite airworth - yet! I still need to order covering for it. I really want to make it bungee launch rather than put a motor and prop on it, but it would probably be easier and more practical to just put a motor on it - not as cool though.

Not wrong, really. I just like the bungee because it keeps everything simple (and can let the glider weigh less) but it has some disadvantages... for instance it takes a LOT of practice to do a bungee launch solo. Usually you will need another person to hold tension on the glider and release it while you fly it on the way up. With a motor if you get too low just put in some power and you're back in business thermal hunting in no time. My gentle lady also needed nose weight too (3 ounces) which I could have added in the form of a motor and a bigger battery.

On an unrelated note... they let you change that subscript thing under your username now? Or is it a mentor only thing?

I need to get that...

 

[OliverW]

Not wrong, really. I just like the bungee because it keeps everything simple (and can let the glider weigh less) but it has some disadvantages... for instance it takes a LOT of practice to do a bungee launch solo. Usually you will need another person to hold tension on the glider and release it while you fly it on the way up. With a motor if you get too low just put in some power and you're back in business thermal hunting in no time. My gentle lady also needed nose weight too (3 ounces) which I could have added in the form of a motor and a bigger battery.

On an unrelated note... they let you change that subscript thing under your username now? Or is it a mentor only thing?

I need to get that...

It's a mentor only thing sadly

 

[Tench745]

Not wrong, really. I just like the bungee because it keeps everything simple (and can let the glider weigh less) but it has some disadvantages... for instance it takes a LOT of practice to do a bungee launch solo. Usually you will need another person to hold tension on the glider and release it while you fly it on the way up.
I need to get that...

I have found that a bungee launch is quite simple to do solo. Some caveats:
-I only have experience with bungee launching one aircraft.
-My glider has a fiberglass fuselage, so it probably needs less care than a balsa glider would.
-I need both hands to pull the bungee and walk the glider out, but only one for launch; my radio hangs from a neck strap while my hands are busy.
-I am, by no means, a proficient glider pilot.

 

[Willy Nillies]

Hi-Starting a glider by yourself can be done pretty easily. You might want to have some help the first couple of launches just so you can get used to the quick climb that comes right after release. Video below is of me, by myself launching my Gentle lady 250.

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

Not quite airworth - yet! I still need to order covering for it. I really want to make it bungee launch rather than put a motor and prop on it, but it would probably be easier and more practical to just put a motor on it - not as cool though.

Honestly the covering was what I was having trouble figuring out. It's not that it's particularly difficult I just don't know the method for covering the nose on a plane like this. Especially since I'm using transparent film.

 

[The Hangar]

Honestly the covering was what I was having trouble figuring out. It's not that it's particularly difficult I just don't know the method for covering the nose on a plane like this. Especially since I'm using transparent film.

Same, I’ve never done any covering work. I don’t even have a covering iron!

 

[speedbirdted]

Honestly the covering was what I was having trouble figuring out. It's not that it's particularly difficult I just don't know the method for covering the nose on a plane like this. Especially since I'm using transparent film.

Have you started trying to cover the fuselage yet?

I immensely dislike using transparent colored film over a solid sheet fuselage. Mostly because if you have spots where the covering overlaps, these will be less transparent and hence more colored. It's so bad that any spot like this stands out from a mile away. The only exception to this is clear film as it does not suffer from this problem. I would recommend using an opaque color - white or silver generally look good on gliders.

As for applying the covering, use one sheet on each side, and either one wrapping around the nose from the hatch to the bottom of the fuselage or one that goes from the hatch to the point of the nose and then one more on the bottom of the fuselage. Apply the side pieces first and then the nose piece, and if the nose covering is in two pieces make sure one overlaps significantly and the seam is facing downwind so air resistance will not try to lift it. The top and bottom piece(s) will then shield the side pieces' seams. If you use a little more heat on the iron you can roll the edges over the rounded corners to seal them off nicely as well.

 

[Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes]

Have you started trying to cover the fuselage yet?

I immensely dislike using transparent colored film over a solid sheet fuselage. Mostly because if you have spots where the covering overlaps, these will be less transparent and hence more colored. It's so bad that any spot like this stands out from a mile away. The only exception to this is clear film as it does not suffer from this problem. I would recommend using an opaque color - white or silver generally look good on gliders.

As for applying the covering, use one sheet on each side, and either one wrapping around the nose from the hatch to the bottom of the fuselage or one that goes from the hatch to the point of the nose and then one more on the bottom of the fuselage. Apply the side pieces first and then the nose piece, and if the nose covering is in two pieces make sure one overlaps significantly and the seam is facing downwind so air resistance will not try to lift it. The top and bottom piece(s) will then shield the side pieces' seams. If you use a little more heat on the iron you can roll the edges over the rounded corners to seal them off nicely as well.

So kind of like a clamshell over the nose?

 

[Quinlan Sauter]

@Crawford Bros. Aeroplanes / @Willy Nillies- do you have any pictures of the tow hook i can't figure out what pieces go where. Thanks'