Elastic Launch Glider C [Trial]

[Jim_R]

Discussion for Elastic Launch Glider C

[twototwenty]

Has anyone here tried/has sucess with designs on the ama glider website other than the simple simon?

[jander14indoor]

There's already a fairly extensive discussion in the helicopters sub-category. Check out the Future Aviation Events thread.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[himlynx]

Elastic launch glider has been announced as a firm event for North Carolina 2013 B Division.
See http://www.sciencenc.com/events.php

[jander14indoor]

If they use any reasonable variation on the div C national rules (and many unreasonable ones) you'll find much help under the helicopter thread as previously mentioned.

Course this means you miss out on helicopters, but these are fun too.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[retired1]

I came across a rumor about changes from the trial event that makes me wish that I had delayed buying lots of material until the rules come out in a couple weeks.

[retired1]

For those who are wondering about what happened to the AMA Glider site, it is gone. It was run by grandfather, father and nephew. Grandfather died and nephew who ran the site lost interest and took the site down. I will try to get a copy from a friend of a friend.

[wlsguy]

Hello Everyone,

I contacted the owner of the AMA site and he said it was inadvertantly taken down after a mistake during DNS upgrades.
It's back up now. Thanks
http://www.amaglider.com

[retired1]

you are a good man charlie Brown. Proves that it helps to know the right people. My teams thank you.

[illusionist]

When building Wright Stuff planes, it was common practice to have a fuselage that pivots in the middle in order to adjust the angle of the rudder. Under the forces that these gliders will experience, I don't think such a design would work well. So then is the best option to have a solid fuselage and simply glue the rudder at an angle on the fuesalage? Or, is the turning achieved through banking rather than rudder?

[twototwenty]

One of the best articles on the AMA website (thank goodness, its back up!) is this:
http://legacy.amaglider.com/assets/general-technical-documents/freeflight-trimming

It says that to successfully make a glider circle, you need to apply rudder to give it yaw, but also adjust the stab angle to make sure the glider soesn't roll. Thus, you should plan on adjusting bothe the rudder and the horizontal stab.
What I would personally reccomend doing is just glue everything together with CA glue so that you can dissolve the glue with acetone and reglue it. However, don't be quick to throw away ideas like a rotating tail...that kind of thing would enable you to make your adjustments infinitely more precise. I would definitely test that idea before saying it would render the glider too delicate for a launch. Just keep in mind that you can only use wood, glue, and carbon fiber.

[jander14indoor]

Well, materials aren't quite that limited. The complete list of materials is: wood, foam, paper, plastic film, carbon fiber, and/or glue. Any malleable, non-metallic material for ballast.

Note, the usual caveat applies, this is not the official rules site, clarifications or other. Check rules for yourself, and only go by official rules and clarifications.

And I'll add my sincere thanks to wisguy for getting the AMA Glider site back up, an invaluable resource.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI