11 August 2021
"Shoot!" is a catapult glider for good easy flying. It may be launched by throwing, but each throw will be slightly different from the last, in speed, attitude and tilt. It is much easier if it is rubber catapult launched, the force/speed can be held constant and repeatable, the attitude and tilt is easier to maintain.
It is meant to be flown indoors. The space and ceiling of an indoor venue is limited, so the glider has to be able to transit into tight circling glide easily. Easily available are those short rubber bands, stretched all out, they can't shoot to the ceiling height of KKCC sports hall. The glider has to be light to fly slowly, powered by a single or a double rubber band, easy to construct from easily accessible material, easy to trim and highly stable in no particular order.
I'm thinking of a 5g glider:
- paper clip for catapult hook and partial nose weight, held with heatshrink sleeve on the nose of the dowel fuselage with drop of superglue;
- remaining nose weight is solder wire (easy to coil around paper clip, snip shorter or coil another piece);
- something to make the nose bigger for safey;
- 2mm bamboo dowel for fuselage (shaft), extending past the tail to provide pull back grip;
- short plastic sleeve to slide over the shaft (adjustable wing position/CG, may be superglued after CG is determined), epoxied to aluminium dihedral strip (comes from aluminium soft drink can);
- Simple but ample dihedral (Polyhedral too much work) so it can also transit by rolling over;
- Wing of 3mm foam for front 50% chord and tips, photocopier paper for 110% chord (the 10% is wrapped over to the top of the wing);
- Wing shape has swept back;
- Tail pieces similar to wing's construction but thinner foam.
