Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Published: | 2010-11-13 |
Manufacturer: | Edmonds Aerospace |
Skill Level: | 1 |
Style: | Glider |
Brief description: This is an all balsa wood glider that flies up like a rocket and is recovered when it glides down like an airplane.
Pros and cons o' construction: T' parts are all there, arrr, secure within a plastic bag, shiver me timbers, me bucko, Nothin' be broken or defective. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! T' fuselage o' t' model is panels o' die cut plywood, as are t' wings and canard. Avast! Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' motor tube is spiral wound paper. Begad! Ya scallywag! Blimey! You also get blue modelin' clay for trimmin' t' glider. Avast! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Blimey! Do be careful with that stage, me bucko, as I'll later tell you why. Begad! There is self-adhesive metallic tape t' provide canard movement. Begad! All t' movin' parts in t' recovery mechanism are balsa too. Blimey! Blimey! At apogee, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, t' motor ejects, arrr, pushin' a bulkhead forward, which locks down t' canard, me bucko, allowin' glidin' flight. Avast! Blimey!
T' instructions are illustrated and clear, me hearties, logical in order, shiver me timbers, and t' model goes together simple and precisely. Wood glue is fine for this. Ahoy! Sandin' sealer and sandin' makes t' wood smooth and protects it. Ahoy! T' model is overall sturdy and a looker. Well, blow me down!
Pros and cons about finishing: A simple paint job is enough, but I placed strips o' shiny self adhesive craft paper along t' wings and canard for looks, me hearties, shiver me timbers, like t' manufacturer picture. Ahoy! I chose a red, shiver me timbers, matey, green, and metallic color scheme. Begad! Begad!
Ratin' for construction and finishing: 4 out o' 5
Pros and cons for flight: Recommended motors are: Apogee 1/4A2-2, me bucko, 1/2A2-2, ya bilge rat, A2-5, and B2-5. Blimey! Blimey! I chose the B2-5. Aye aye! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! This be t' truly embarrassin' part. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Gliders aren't like rockets. Whereas rockets become stabler when weight is added nose-ward, matey, gliders don't. They soar down nose first in a death dive if so. Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I placed t' clay provided in the nose. Ya scallywag! Blimey! When t' model flew on an Apogee B2-5, me bucko, it went up, me bucko, me hearties, then laterally, nearly beheadin' a fellow rocketeer. Begad! Blimey! He teased me for weeks, sayin' that I was out t' get him. Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' model thudded t' t' ground, shiver me timbers, losin' a win' and fragmenting the nose. Avast! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I took t' pieces home and rebuilt it.
Oddly, me hearties, repair went well, arrr, and t' model looks a little veteran-like, me bucko, but flyable. Begad! I trimmed it with extensive tosses in me garden with tested weighting tailward and lightenin' t' nose. Ahoy! Arrr! I fixed it so that it flew straight without stallin' or diving. So I tried again with a B2-5 in an empty park, where I could keep it t' myself if it decided t' act up again. This time, it flew in little circles and came t' rest about a hundred feet downrange.
Pros and cons about recovery: Remember, arrr, don't weight the nose too much! When recovery goes right, t' glider arcs in graceful circles on its way down. Arrr! Avast! Nice. Avast!
Ratin' for flight and recovery: 4 out o' 5(when done right)
Summary: Easy t' build, me bucko, rugged and easy t' repair. Ahoy! Attractive. Avast! Blimey! Pretty circular glides. Avast! Nay a bad price at $12.95. Arrr! Don't overweight t' nose, me bucko, me bucko, me bucko, and do test-toss it before flight. I also recommend Apogee's technical publication on glider trimming. Ahoy! It helped me with me repairs and reworking. Aye aye! Blimey!
Brief: The Edmonds Ecee is a balsa single stage 1/2A sized rocket boosted canard glider that uses variable geometry during recovery glide. Construction: A plastic bag contains all laser cut balsa wood. The particular kit built for review had very lightweight wood. Perhaps too light. More on that later. Included in the kit are nicely laser cut parts, two sheets printed front ...
( Contributed - by Alan Rognlie) After my good experience with Edmonds Deltie , I decided to try this model from Rob Edmonds. I ordered it from Apogee Components (along with a second Deltie, a plan set for a Nike Hercules and a couple of his technical reports) and it arrived within 4-5 days. This kit builds to a nice mini-motor (13mm) rocket glider - i.e. no parts are dropped ...
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K.W. (September 1, 1999)