Recycled Glider
On Sunday, Nov 26th
while listening to
Ed Trotta play...
I was recycling food...
I looked at the
Styrofoam Hot-Dog box,
and figured it might
be recycled into a glider.
I wiped the box clean,
then cut the top and bottom
panels for the wings.
The curve of the box
made a good dihedral
gluing mount .
The hinge section,
folded and glued,
formed the body.
I lengthened the
tail section, and
made a tail and
elevator from
the scraps...
The elevator
could have been
wider and narrower...
I tossed it a few times
and shortened the wings
due to stalling.
A penny, and Yoplait foil
made the nose weight.
After it could fly,
I gave it away to a
young boy and his dad.
He gave it back
smiling, ten minutes
later as they left.
I tossed it 3 times
on the lawn,
then it landed
on an awning...
where it remained
several hours, until
Ed finished,
and I walked back.
The design is based
on the wonderful
North Pacific Balsa Gliders.
My friends and I spent
many happy hours
for about ten summers
flying gliders on
our cottage lawn.
Chuck
PS.
Styrofoam is easy to cut
with scissors.
No surgical blades required.
Make the wings oversized,
and test fly.
Pinch the leading edges
of the wings and tail
to reduce drag.
If it stalls (it will...)
trim the wings a little
shorter at the outer
edges, and repeat
until flight is level.
If it curves too much,
Carefully bend the
Rudder and elevators.
My friends used to
Spend their whole
allowance buying
Biplanes and large
24" long rubber-band
powered propeller
gliders, that could
taxi and take-off...
I bought a couple
Biplanes (we would
dogfight them)
and a few 15 cent
Skeeter propeller
planes,
but my favorite
was the 5 cent
North Pacific Strato.
I would buy 5 stratos
to keep on hand
If a friend visited
or my Strato ended
up high in a
Sugar Maple tree .
Kids don't know
what they're missing.
All they have is
Smartphone internet,
and Skateboards.
PPS.
The topmost gif has
a short Balsa glider tutorial.
I would mount a rounded
piece of Balsa for the nose.
You don't want that
thin dowel flying into
someone's face.
Notice how difficult
they make it seem.
You can build one
out of foam,
and skip the
printer, knives,
and laser cutter.
I did.
Of course, it helps
having years of
experience
repairing damaged
gliders ...
from Biplane
collisions, and
Frisbee interceptors...
Here's a a folded cardboard
"Paper Doll" type glider
that I built in about 10 minutes
on Christmas Day, after Starbucks closed.
Start by folding the cardboard,
then cut the outline of the
body, wings and tail, in one piece.
Tape the body fold together,
add a penny nose-weight,
and curve the wings
aerodynamically.
I had to extend the wings
because the cardboard was
too narrow.
You don't need a rudder
If the tail is dihedral...
Cardboard is rather heavy,
so the size, shape, and
curve of the wings is most
important.
It flew pretty well.
Chuck
*****
[Beans Wed, 11-22-2023 Time : 3:54p]
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