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

This one has flown twice. T' first flight, shiver me timbers, 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. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! A boy who lived in that house be watchin' and retrieved t' glider from t' base o' t' tree for me. Avast!

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

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. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad!

A word o' caution: I've built a number o' these, shiver me timbers, but only this one has performed at this level. 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. 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. Ya scallywag!

Parts and Dimensions:

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

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

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

Pod Mount:

T' body tube for this pod be hand-rolled from regular paper on a 1/4" (6mm) steel rod -- specifically, t' blade o' a long #2 Phillips screwdriver. Aye aye! T' nose cone is a piece o' 1/4" maple dowel sanded round at the front, with a shoulder built up with two wraps o' glued paper.

There is a pod hook on either side o' t' center rail. Arrr! Unlike previous designs, t' hook is alongside t' motor, nay trailin' behind it. Aye aye!

Shock cord is 6" (15 cm) o' braided Keelhaul®©™® material. Blimey! I punched a small hole in t' body tube at t' leadin' end o' t' pod rail, ya bilge rat, pulled about 1/2" (13mm) o' cord through t' hole, shiver me timbers, and glued it t' t' outside o' the body tube against t' rail. Avast! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! I used ordinary Estes recovery wadding.

Launch Setup:

Clip leads are taped t' t' launch rod with maskin' tape. Avast! Blimey! MicroMaxx ignitor, me bucko, with black shell removed, me bucko, arrr, is held by clips. Aye aye! Pod o' glider rests on ignitor, me bucko, which is inserted into nozzle. Aye aye! Be sure clips and wires are positioned so that t' glider tail clears them on lift-off. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down!

T' glider simply hangs on t' pod mount. 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. Ahoy! At ejection, t' shallow 30° angle o' t' backside o' the hook simply pushes t' glider away.