Highside Glider

Well I mentioned in my Owlet blog that a new design was on the go and was something a little different for me. Well I guess it is time to go public and gauge a reaction. I have not built or designed a glider since I was about 12 years old so I guess it was a bit overdue and with a Brother In Law who is an rc glider enthusiast then I was getting a little flack to do something.

My aim was to come up with a straight forward design to build that had a believable look about it and could be used primarily for slope soaring and potential to add a power set up later if I felt the urge. It should be compact and capable of some aerobatics and operate in general flying conditions if there is such a thing and of course that will only been born out once I get round to the flying bit.

I have used my own compromise wing section that hopefully gives appropriate performance for general flying.

Enough waffle so here it is, at least the basic design

The model is all basic balsa construction, the fuz a box with sheet nose and lattice frame rear, broad wing, mid wing layout at 56inch span so reasonably compact.

Work has been on going so this will be a retrospective blog as she is now largely constructed and looks like this

The fuselage carries two standard size servos with plenty of space for RX and flight pack, strip ailerons 38mm wide so should be capable of crisp response. Hoping to get this finished and airborne asap. Thoughts and comment please as usual. Linds

hello lindsay...very nice -it looks like a one i'm flying from LE gliders..... the guppy.....quick get a plan in the mag for it-for the problem with obtaining the guppy is it has to come all the way from kansas/USA.here's the photo from my album...

ken anderson...ne...1 guppy fan club dept.

Edited By ken anderson. on 19/12/2015 17:38:02

There is no denying I pulled some inspiration from a few designs I have seen over the years and brought them together in my own. Definite similarities with the guppy but enough variation to make them individual in there own right as well - interesting as I was not aware of the Guppy,

There's something fishy about this thread

Wow they are very similar!

Here's my Le Fish

But Lindsay, nice model, but for a glider I don't think I would have finished the tips like that. Maybe the Mk 2 could have a slightly taper wing and different tips. Have you made any provision to add some ballast, my Le Fish is a bit too light for normal UK sloping.

Hi Guys, it was a conscious decision to avoid a taper just to keep the build very simple if we get as far as a published design but duly noted for the tips which were largely driven by aesthetics over maximum efficiency. The fuz is deep enough to carry additional ballast and that was indeed a design consideration. The Le Fish was certainly one of those models that I like the shape of and was certainly in the mixing pot but not intended to be such an extreme aerobatic design. I guess this is aimed at the transition from novice arena but I need to see how she performs probably in the hands of a few slope guys as well as my own experience is limited so a trip to the Orme will be schedule once she's ready and a few bodies are around and we'll have a 'pass the tranny session' and see what everyone thinks. Linds

Mostly been covering the wing today in a subtle shade of day glow orange and applying my graphic but it also shows up well how the one piece wing locates onto the fuselage giving great access to the space within the fuselage.

Will start from the beginning of the build soon when time allows. Linds

I like that Lindsay, what section did you use?

Hi Matt, I new somebody would ask me that and in absolute truth it is completely of my own making. It is actually my Zulu E design section that has been thinned and stretch with just the slightest hint of reflex. Given this I totally accept that I could have gone with an established section and that would have been the safer option but me being me I like to do things my way so if it turns out to be rubbish then I can only blame myself but I am reasonably satisfied that the logic re performance expectation is sound enough so as with all designs the truth will bear out in the end.

Keeping an eye on this one! That looks very neat! Hopefully a free plan soon.

I'm following this thread too . As mentioned before, this is very similar looking to the Le Fish, Guppy, Traceur and many of the Swiss Fish type VTPR designs. In the new year I fancy buying one of these, which is made from depron with a 120mm span, I think.

Steve

A470soaring

Looks a bit like a stubby mini-Voltij

But then again design shapes do tend to come round again -

A design of mine circa 1980-84

About 76" span but designed to pack away for holidays. Flaperons via 1 fixed & 1 sliding servo in the fuselage - no mini servos or programmable Tx's back then.

Seems at least people like the shape so that's a positive start, bit more covering done this evening, will get stuck into the retrospective build blog later in the week once work is out the way. Linds

120mm span, you'll have to keep that close in

An afternoon of covering and she now looks like this

I think another couple of hours to fit control horns and connect up linkages and she will be ready to hit the slopes, not literally I hope. The site closest to me is probably Great Orme so hopefully later this week I might get wind under her wings. Linds

Like the colour Linds looks a good un

John

Day glow orange, will need the sunglasses on the greyest of days

Not with SE winds! Pop over to Cheshire/Derbyshire (LMMGA) for a test fly?

thanks for that Chris, I'll see how my week and weather goes and might take up the offer. I have ended up in the strange situation with three models to test fly at the moment each needing slightly different conditions and venues. Linds