Today you're going to learn how to make this balsa wood free flight glider.
[INTRO]
We start with the plans
this design was from someone called Wallace Simmers
and it was designed in the 30s you can download the plans
from the description of the video
We are going to need balsa wood of 3 mm thick for the wings, 2 mm thick for the fuselage
and 1 mm for the tail surfaces.
The first part of the process is very simple
and is simply to cut all the pieces from the plans.
Then we transfer the shape to the templates to the balsa wood, and cut it out.
Remember to use a very sharp blade to make precise cuts and to not damage the wood.
The fuselage is made of two sheets of 2 mm, that makes it stronger
and will stand a lot of hits.
And I know you are very smart, you know that you have to cut the tail surfaces just like
we did with the wings.
Now having the pieces all cut out especially the wings, we're going to sand them, we have
to give them an airfoil shape to make them more aerodynamic, the recommended airfoil
in the plans is this one, but to achieve that shape we have to sand the wings a lot,
with patience, but I'm going to sand the wings with a generic airfoil shape, and that should
be enough, Sure it won't have the same performance of their original glider
but it’ll fly very good.
To accelerate the process I'm using a knife but I recommend always using the sand paper.
After an intense sanding the leading edge turns round
and the trailing edge becomes sharp.
Now it's time to join the fuselage pieces, sand it, and also sand the tail surfaces.
Now is the moment to join the wings, and because they have a very pronounced dihedral I'm going
to cut them at the root with an angle, so they can fit perfectly, and then I use common
glue or wood glue to join the wings, this is more flexible for this application than
CA glue and won't snap after some hits, the problem is that we have to let it dry overnight
for at least 10 hours.
Following the plans to put the Wings at their correct dihedral angle we have to put one
of the Wings flat on the table and the other should have its wingtip at an elevation of
88 to 90mm, so put something underneath the wing and let it dry.
The next day our wings are joined, and you only need to cut off the excess.
It's important that you align the wings very precisely when you glue them to avoid an erratic
flight path and irreversible imperfections in the structure.
Now is the time to put our glider together, for that we're going to hold the fuselage
on the table as aligned as possible.
At the moment of placing every surface It's important to check the alignment and symmetry
using the string technique and also the ruler.
If you detect any misalignment you have to act quick before the glue dries, correct it
and then apply more glue, then check again.
And now I'm going to place the wings and it's the same process, the only different thing
I'm going to do is to clean out the excess glue from below the wing and make some scores
or indentations on the fuselage to make the glue able to hold well, also make sure the
fuselage it's perpendicular or at 90 degrees to the table, and the rest of the process
it’s the same.
The more you check the alignment using the string method and the ruler the better, always
do it before the glue dries.
And the last surface I need to place is the vertical stabilizer, from now on I'm just
going to add some extra glue in the joints of the Wings and fuselage and then carve out
the hook where I'm going to place the rubber bands to catapult the glider.
And finally you have to balance it in its centre of gravity.
This is just a starting point of balance it might change when we test the glider
launching it and changing its weight.
The catapult that uses rubber bands is so simple that it doesn't need an explanation.
Is the moment of the tests, first we need to hand launch it and see how flies, if it
goes down like that try first removing a bit of weight from the nose or bend the horizontal
stabilizer upwards a bit
also try curving or bending the wings down to generate more lift.
Now lets launch it with the catapult.
Of course tease free flight gliders need a lot of tuning to fly well
so in every launch observe its behavior and modify it accordingly
like changing the weight or moving a bit the surfaces.
It's better to fly in very calm days with no wind, even a slight wind will make it fly
poorly and it can take it away from you, I almost lost it at some point because of that.
Now I’m going to finish this project with some protective coating on the wood.
I’m using EZe Dope, a coating product especially designed for model airplanes, this will protect
the wood from getting wet and it will give it a soft and shiny finish
and lastly I’ll use some model paint
to create a simple design on my glider.
Then I use some masking tape and print some letters that I want to paint on my glider.
And finally our design is finished, I hope you’ve liked this project, remember that
you’ll find everything you need in the description of the video, like the plans.
For now, I’ll see you in the next project.