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

This one has flown twice. Begad! Aye aye! T' first flight, ya bilge rat, at a local park, it was up there for over 30 seconds before hittin' t' top o' a tree in a backyard across the street. Avast! Avast! A boy who lived in that house was watchin' and retrieved t' glider from t' base o' t' tree for me. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag!

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

Part o' t' fun o' this was 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!

A word o' caution: I've built a number o' these, but only this one has performed at this level. Ahoy! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! I really never finished it; I meant t' round off some rough edges and corners, me bucko, 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. Begad! Ya scallywag! Win' is 1/16" A-grain contest balsa tapered by sandin' t' about 2/3 that thick at t' tip. Well, blow me down! Begad! Tail surfaces are 1/32" C-grain contest balsa. Blimey!

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

Total weight o' this glider: 0.8 gram +/- 0.1 gram. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Blimey!

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. T' nose cone is a piece o' 1/4" maple dowel sanded round at the front, shiver me timbers, with a shoulder built up with two wraps o' glued paper. Begad!

There is a pod hook on either side o' t' center rail. Unlike previous designs, matey, t' hook is alongside t' motor, shiver me timbers, nay trailin' behind it.

Shock cord is 6" (15 cm) o' braided Keelhaul®©™® material. Ahoy! I punched a small hole in t' body tube at t' leadin' end o' t' pod rail, matey, pulled about 1/2" (13mm) o' cord through t' hole, me bucko, and glued it t' t' outside o' the body tube against t' rail. Arrr! 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. Well, blow me down! Begad! I used ordinary Estes recovery wadding. Avast!

Launch Setup:

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

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