Brief:
After t' success o' me 2.9x upscale Groovy Katt, I decided t' tackle an even more ambitious upscale glider. Arrr! This is a 3X upscale CMR Manta glider from t' original plans at Ye Olde Rocket Plans with a few modifications for strength and balancing.

T' glider is 36.5" long, shiver me timbers, arrr, 27" wingspan, and weighs in at 12.25oz. Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! T' boost pod is 58.25" o' BT-55 and weighs 8oz. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Blimey! At launch, it is 85.75" tall and 20.25oz plus motor. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It is designed for 24mm RMS E28 and F39 motors.

Construction:
A sketch o' t' dimensions used t' build t' glider from 4 sheets o' 4" x 36" x 3/32" balsa is shown here. Some critical junctions were fiberglassed with strips o' 0.5oz fiberglass cloth. Ahoy! Four braces runnin' t' length o' t' craft were made from 3/32" balsa planks rounded on t' edges. Avast! Avast! T' fuselage was crafted from three layers o' 3/32" basswood with some portions carved out for weight. Arrr! I added 33g o' weight t' t' nose o' t' glider, plus 2g on t' left win' tip t' promote circling.

T' boost pod be crafted from Semroc parts. Aye aye! T' pod splits with t' nose, upper 18" o' BT-55, ya bilge rat, and bulkhead separatin' from t' lower airframe. T' glider mount is made from basswood with layers alternatin' grain direction. 1.75oz o' nose weight was added for stability. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! With t' glider in its mount, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, t' CG is 3.125" up from t' aft end o' t' boost pod with a F39 loaded. I used rail buttons t' allow for slow launches off a long rail. Motor retention was provided by two bolts epoxied into t' aft CR with nuts holdin' on clips that fit t' 24mm RMS casing. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! For recovery, matey, I used a 24" Binder Design nylon chute which was always too small for me BD Thug. Begad! It never caught t' air very well, so I cut and reorganized t' shroud lines so now it works great.

Finishing:
T' glider be painted with a light dustin' o' metallic navy blue paint and some rather silly hand painted deadlights were added. Arrr! Avast! T' boost pod got several coats o' orange Duplicolor Ceramic Engine Enamel with some coats o' clear over t' top. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! This orange paint provided a very pleasing, me hearties, rich, shiver me timbers, and smooth look.

Flight and Recovery:
T' first launch be early in t' mornin' in dead calm air durin' Northern Colorado Rocketry Club's Octoberfest. Begad! I used a AT RMS E28-4. While placin' it on t' rail I got a few skeptical looks, ya bilge rat, which certainly mirrored me own strong doubts about whether this beast would fly at all. Liftoff was immediate with very straight thrust t' maybe 500ft at most. Avast, me proud beauty! Separation was flawless. Ya scallywag! T' glider was trimmed extremely well and after a couple minutes, people started askin' if I had checked me watch when t' glide started. Begad! Alas, I had been too excited t' time t' glide duration, matey, me bucko, ya bilge rat, but it must have been at least a couple minutes. Avast! Aye aye! T' glider landed softly right in front o' us for a fantastic first flight. Well, blow me down! T' crowd broke out in applause.

T' second launch was later that day in a light breeze on a AT RMS F39-6. Begad! Boost again was straight, me bucko, arrr, however, shiver me timbers, it appeared that t' boost pod separated early at its coupler, which be pretty loose. Aye aye! This caused t' glider t' separate also, arrr, but t' glider got hung up in t' shock cord. Well, blow me down! After a moment, t' glider shed t' entanglement at a very awkward angle and made several flips and loops before rightin' itself into a steep dive. Well, blow me down! This time, t' crowd ran for cover. Well, blow me down! With this initial attack angle, t' glider was nay quick enough t' dampen a series o' fast porpoisin' stalls as it circled downward and crashed into a spectator tent. Avast, me proud beauty! Damage t' t' glider is repairable. Avast, me proud beauty! After recoverin' it, me hearties, I gave it a test throw t' confirm that t' trim was still accurate and that t' poor glide must have been related t' t' unfortunate release.

Summary:
This be quite a challengin' project. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! T' sheer amount o' balsa in t' glider and t' huge wingspan made me feel that t' craft would shred without careful braces and a little fiberglass. Avast, me proud beauty! T' glider and boost pod together are quite heavy. Strong initial thrust is needed t' get off t' rail safely but nay too much t' tear things apart. Even a F39T keeps it well under 1000ft. Avast, me proud beauty! O' course, these challenges are exactly what made this such a fun project and so satisfyin' t' see t' giant manta sail gracefully back t' earth.