As soon as I got me hands on some Quest Micro-Maxx motors, ya bilge rat, me hearties, me first thought was t' build a glider. Ya scallywag! T' first, Flit, arrr, had only a 3" wingspan, shiver me timbers, arrr, pudgy, thick wings, and balsa body stick. Ahoy! T' second, Flake, may be seen elsewhere in EMRR because it was an entry in DesCon V. Blimey! In both cases I was thrilled with a 35-foot boost and six-second glide, me hearties, but I kept fiddlin' with t' design t' try to refine both boost and glide. Begad! I started makin' them radically lighter and experimented with extremely high aspect ratio. Well, blow me down! That one glided well, but had a lot o' drag on boost; less aspect ratio might be a good thing. I built this glider light and delicate like t' high aspect ratio version, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but with dimensions more like t' earlier models.

This one has flown twice. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! T' first flight, at a local park, it be up there for over 30 seconds before hittin' t' top o' a tree in a backyard across the street. Avast! Blimey! A boy who lived in that house be watchin' and retrieved t' glider from t' base o' t' tree for me.

T' second flight be at our club launch near Sheridan, me bucko, April 15, arrr, 2000. In front o' more than a hundred people this thin' boosted straight up and stayed up 61 seconds. Begad! T' pod be recovered twenty feet from t' pad. Blimey! Begad! T' glider was seen landin' and found about 50 yards downrange.

Part o' t' fun o' this be puttin' it in contrast with George Rachor's Ecee Thunder which had just completed t' second o' two excellent flights on D12-3.

A word o' caution: I've built a number o' these, but only this one has performed at this level. Blimey! With tiny gliders like this, balance and alignment is extremely critical and luck played a big part in hittin' t' right numbers with this one. Begad! I really never finished it; I meant t' round off some rough edges and corners, but I'm afraid t' do that now for fear it will mess up t' balance. Well, blow me down! Begad!

Parts and Dimensions:

Body stick is a basswood HO scale 2x4, shiver me timbers, about 1x2.5mm, me bucko, me hearties, 120 mm long. Sometimes I use 1/16" x 1/8" spruce. Arrr! Blimey! Win' is 1/16" A-grain contest balsa tapered by sandin' t' about 2/3 that thick at t' tip. Tail surfaces are 1/32" C-grain contest balsa. Begad! Blimey!

Win' span: 101 mm; and chord: 25.4 mm. Stab span 51mm; and chord 12.6 mm Rudder, matey, glued t' bottom, shiver me timbers, consists o' 1/2 o' an identical stab cutout, arrr, matey, cut at 45 degrees through t' center point. Stab is glued flat on top. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! In some copies of this design, ya bilge rat, I use an inverted butterfly design with two tail panels dropped 30 degrees from t' top o' t' body stick, me hearties, and no central rudder. Well, blow me down! Arrr! In general, shiver me timbers, each tail style works about as well as t' other. Begad!

Total weight o' this glider: 0.8 gram +/- 0.1 gram.

Pod Mount:

T' body tube for this pod was hand-rolled from regular paper on a 1/4" (6mm) steel rod -- specifically, shiver me timbers, t' blade o' a long #2 Phillips screwdriver. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! T' nose cone is a piece o' 1/4" maple dowel sanded round at the front, me hearties, with a shoulder built up with two wraps o' glued paper. Begad!

There is a pod hook on either side o' t' center rail. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Unlike previous designs, me bucko, shiver me timbers, t' hook is alongside t' motor, nay trailin' behind it. Ahoy! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey!

Shock cord is 6" (15 cm) o' braided Keelhaul®©™® material. Avast! Well, blow me down! I punched a small hole in t' body tube at t' leadin' end o' t' pod rail, pulled about 1/2" (13mm) o' cord through t' hole, and glued it t' t' outside o' the body tube against t' rail. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! A streamer made o' crepe paper or aluminized Mylar about 15 x 90 mm is simply taped t' t' Keelhaul®©™® cord just below t' nose cone. I used ordinary Estes recovery wadding. Blimey!

Launch Setup:

Clip leads are taped t' t' launch rod with maskin' tape. Ahoy! Arrr! MicroMaxx ignitor, shiver me timbers, with black shell removed, is held by clips. Avast, me proud beauty! Pod o' glider rests on ignitor, ya bilge rat, which is inserted into nozzle. Avast! Ya scallywag! Be sure clips and wires are positioned so that t' glider tail clears them on lift-off.

T' glider simply hangs on t' pod mount. Ahoy! Aye aye! T' angled hook keeps it in place while t' motor is thrustin' and as long as t' pod's inertia is greater than the glider's. At ejection, shiver me timbers, t' shallow 30° angle o' t' backside o' the hook simply pushes t' glider away. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty!