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Lidl XL Glider


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Hi Stephen,

I'm about to maiden my converted lidl xl glider with pitcherons like you and Søren I don't have expirence with soaring at all and here in the netherlands we don' t have those nice hills, but we have dykes so I will try it on the dykes.

I read that Søren is putting extra weight at the CoG but he is flying in high winds ( fast wind). Have you also put some extra weight at the CoG ? What is the total weight of your glider ?

Ruud.

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Hi Ruud,

I do not have any extra weight in mine and mine flies well in light to moderate winds , although i have found i can fly my glider in stronger winds just by using a heavier battery up front .

which gives the glider a nose down attitude.

In my 1st video the winds where much too strong for the glider so i had too fly lower down the hill where the wind was much lighter.

The weight of my glider is 226g with the light battery and 236g with the bigger battery.

I am starting on my second build and on this one i will be reducing the thickness of the trailing edge which will hopefully allow me to fly in lighter winds due to reduced drag.

I have flow power models for many years and never really given gliders much thought until recently .

I must say how much i have enjoyed flying these gliders it has been well worth the effort . I know i could of gone out and bought a purpose built glider for the job, but i could not resist the challenge of converting these cheap gliders and i am now considering chucking one of my Sipa MiniJets of a big hill as i am sure it will fly equally well .

Steve

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Steve, thanks for the info. Today we had no wind at all so I did some glide tests and now with the lipo which I have

available and with a weight of 250 grams and the CoG at 60 mm I have a nice glide flight. So I'll have to wait for some good windy days.

Thanks again,

Ruud

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Here are a couple of photos of my conversion. I've flown it a couple of times in winds varying from approximately 7-13 mph. I'm pleased with the way it flies. It has carbon fibre strips along fuselage and across wings.

lidl glider 1.jpg

lidl glider 2.jpg

Elevator is excellent and it loops ok.

However, it takes about two seconds or so to perform a roll which is far too slow and makes switching in/out of inverted flying more difficult. I should have made the ailerons bigger. Pictures shows full deflection. TX is on 150% and push rods are against the wing.

Anyone got any ideas for increasing aileron effectiveness? I'm considering gluing a couple of one inch x 8mm tapered balsa strips along the trailing edge to increase their area, or possibly cut out more from the wing but that would mean completely replacing the ailerons with balsa.

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Ballast tube from one of those very cheap solar powered garden light spikes.

Pushed into into the spine of the fuselage at 45 degrees passing through the centre of gravity.

Ballast from stock but made from 15mm lead filled copper tube 25mm long and coming in at 45 grammes per section.

Simple pin for top retention and bottom of tube sealed with a balsa plug.

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Any combination of 45 g slugs can be used to suit conditions.

Edited By Devcon1 on 21/07/2017 19:56:06

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Getting caught out in some situations with temperamental aileron control so decided to make them full span whilst retaining tip dihedral but negating extra servos.

From the scrap and spring box I've let two alloy tubes into inboard and outboard ailerons but keeping the centre line of the inboard one, then simply joined them with a spring loose fitted into both ailerons.

Normal taped hinges and all seems to work well.

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I have added 3 videos on how i converted the glider to wingerons.

While i am sure the Lidl Glider will be re stocked there are still several gliders that are similar in size and shape that could also use the same configuration.

The videos where done as i was asked if i could show how i did the conversion.

And this is the simplest conversion i have seen.

This is my 1st How to Video i have done and i kept getting interrupted and so not as well put together as i would like but hay Ho.

Steve
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Following the post of 27 June on the Lidl XL/Robotbird's Felix IQ XL comparison, for those who are interested I have noted Stephen Jones' figures in his 3-part video and my newly-opened Felix.

As supplied, the Felix weighs 148.6gnms (Lidl 165gms) and the bolt-noseweight is 38.5gms (Lidl 38gms.

The Felix's CG is at 67mm from the leading edge.

The test glide of the Felix seemed satisfactory - it veered off to the right due to a packaging-induced-twist in the fairly flexible fin, as I expected. This, I am confident, will yield to standard straightening techniques.

I have yet to put the airframe in a mounting to assess squareness, mark incidence and datum lines etc.

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Hi, John Robertson 3,

I take it you have both the Playtive XL Glider from Lidl and the Fleix IQ XL from Robotbirds,

It would be nice if you could do a comparison for us all, while you do a conversion of the Fleix IQ XL glider.

I read the stats of the Fleix glider is a little smaller than the Lidl one which should not be a problem but how is it in regards to strength and width in order the take radio gear.

Any observations or thoughts would be much appreciated .

Cheers Steve

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I only have the Robotbirds' Felix IQ XL - the Lidl glider does not appear to have been sold in my neck of the woods, so no direct comparison is possible, I'm afraid.

The Felix fuselage is 52.7mm wide at the wing's leading edge, depth is 93.1mm. The canopy is a mere tight push-fit. No glue is involved other than a dab on the (socket-headed) bolt-noseweight. Wing thickness is about 21.4mm at the root, 14mm at the tip. The trailing edge is about 8mm thick, tapering to about 4mm at the polyhedral break. The flat-bottom of wing section is about 153mm.

Judging from the videos I've been watching today (rainy and windy) the wing looks to deflect about the same as the Lidl one when testing the possibility of flattening at the tips.

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Hi,

Some Stats for the (Lidl) Playtive XL Glider,

Main wing span 860 mm x 160 mm at root x 102 mm at tip. Thickness 22 mm at root 10 mm at tip.

TE thickness at root 9 mm and 5 mm at tip.

Tail plane span 296 mm x 107 mm at root x 65 mm at tip. TE Thickness at root 9 mm and 5 mm at tip.

Fuzz 680 mm long by 92 mm high by 58.5 thick and at the shoulder 56.6 mm wide.

weight empty 163g ( with bolt )

weight with radio 227g :- 1 x Frsky receiver , 1 x Bec , 1 300ma 2s Lipo , 2x 9g servos

My 1st Tilting wing glider ;- spar 82 mm from LE, 50 mm between spar and control rod Control movement 10 mm each way.

My 2nd Tilting wing glider;- spar 75 mm from LE , 37.7 mm between spar and control rod

Cog 55 mm From LE.

 

Steve

 

Edited By Stephen Jones on 27/07/2017 18:52:43

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Hi,

One of my subscribers to my YouTube channel has just posted a video of the Felix Glider that he has converted to Rc using rudder and elevator .

And it does fly really well on a flat field using a bungee to launch.

So i think it would be well worth a try for those that would like to try there hand at Rc Gliding

Un fortunately i can not ask him any questions

Steve
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HI, i have never tried anything like this before so I followed speedster (soren) with the pitcheron and as i fly from a flat field i tried towing which did happen just needed a swivel on the towing rope then it was suggested to piggy back it but i didn't want to use a servo for release (had to be different) I thought i would have a go at holding it with magnets and after several weekends/modifications am glad to say it is reliable up to approximately 500' before release/break free (the glider get small) i take it up on my little "ace 20" trainer with a super tigre 29 glow, we have had great fun in getting this to work. More photos of it in my album. Steve

img_3827.jpg

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Thanks Steve

I just made a cradle out of lite ply and ended up with four adjustable steel plates in each corner and an adjustable magnet in the Centre, the one in the Centre is so you can get the tail plane at the correct angle/incidence and you want to make the cradle so you have a negative incidence on the main wings then using flight modes you can keep the servos happy whilst on the cradle and when ready for departure flick switch to normal flight trim and pull up elevator and away the glider comes. The trick to keep the glider attached is to not get the carrying plane going to fast you can have a high angle of attack but not to much speed so adjust climb rate with throttle and before you turn to do a circuit reduce power push down elevator and then turn to keep speed low when in to wind again up the climb rate and add power, great fun. The other photos are in my album.

I will try and get someone to video it next time.

img_3898.jpg

Steve

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For towing the Lidl glider just use a small piece of velcro, works great for small gliders, and up to 3 meters with experienced people

Only use around 5 - 10 mm for the Lidl gliders, how much depend on the velcro.

To release the glider pull hard up or the motor plane level out and make a half roll and go vertical down.

Cheers
Soren
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