More Gliders

One of the first hand launch gliders I made in the 1970's was a biplane. This design was made out of 1/32 inch balsa sheet and was an appropriate model for flying indoors as well as outside. Its tiny size made it a quick and easy glider to construct. The original design was one by Don McGovern and it is a gem.
It is an easy to fly model and it is also quite a slow flyer so it is easy to photograph in flight. With the correct balance, this little model can fly a good distance. Also, a little balsa cement on streaked on one side of the tail fin will make the little beauty turn in circles, so it is not such a trek to recover it when it lands.
My next model was a flying wing. This glider, by Eric Gammie, was called Cutlass. It was inspired by the American fighter plane of the 1960's.
The design is a twin boomed flying wing with washout on the outboard planes. It is a fast flyer and my model flew straight and true. Good exercise on the recovery.

Rediscovering Merlin

Having cleared the bulk of my exam marking for this year, I decided to have another go at making some hand launch gliders from the past plans. I recalled a successful design of mine called Merlin, so that was to be the next attempt.
Glider number 8 - Merlin was an acrobat with a forward sloping wing and an inverted tail fin. The idea was that the weight of the wing and the laminated nose would trim the glider for normal flight and it would fly straight and level. However, if you threw this glider very hard, the lift generated from the ends of the wing would upset the balance and the glider would climb and loop-the-loop. If the glider was thrown hard in a bank, it would turn sharply as well.
The model did all of the things that it was supposed to do. It did not disappoint, and I managed to keep it intact after several flights.

Following on from this, I took another one of Keith Harris's designs (they were good) and made Dualett. This is an odd-bod. You add a drawing pin to the nose and it flies forwards. Take the drawing pin off and add it to the tail and it flies backwards. It really does work, and though it is not quite as stable, it will do the same upside down.

The only issue with Dualett is the landings. With the outer wing being a glued wingtip, an arkward landing tends to knock off a wingtip. Still, it can be glued back on again.
This is Merlin in flight. I will not admit how many camera shots it took to get a good one - good job I have a digital camera.

Back to Balsa

Way Back in 1974, a group of Air Cadets took part in a "chuck glider" competition to see who could fly their model hand launch glider the furthest and longest. The competition was run by Flying Officer Keith Harris, using one of his designs called Icarus and it took place on The Carrs at Warsop, Nottinghamshire. The officers and cadets were on a mission to test out a range of designs to evaluate the flight characteristics as part of the Principles of Flight classes. It was great fun.
The spin off from this is that I kept a copy of all of the plans and designs. Having recently found them I thought it would be a terrific nostalgia trip to make a few and fly them, so when Rosie asked me what I wanted for my birthday - I said Balsa Wood.
On the morning of my birthday, we went to get the wood and cement. This was followed by a grand day out at the Dorothy Clive Gardens, where we had a splendid walk and a good lunch and cuppa. That evening I sat in the garden and made a couple of gliders.
It was a warm and sunny evening and I started with the competition glider number 7 - Icarus.
I trimmed the model with the obligatory 4 drawing pins in the nose, as we had done in 1974 and it flew a treat. I then had a go at another of Keith's designs - glider number 10 - a flying wing called Manxman. This has a shaped fuselage and Lancaster Bomber shaped fins (Bomber Harris!).
When I cut the wings I was left with two Lancaster Bomber fin shaped offcuts. Now I understand the logic of the design! This glider flies well, but it is fast and needs some space in which to fly.
There are about 80 designs to go at. Perhaps I will try one of mine next - Merlin, or maybe I will make Eric Gammie's Cutlass. What a choice.