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

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

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

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. Well, blow me down!

A word o' caution: I've built a number o' these, arrr, me hearties, but only this one has performed at this level. Aye aye! With tiny gliders like this, me hearties, 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. Ahoy!

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! Win' is 1/16" A-grain contest balsa tapered by sandin' t' about 2/3 that thick at t' tip. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! Tail surfaces are 1/32" C-grain contest balsa. Begad!

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

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

Pod Mount:

T' body tube for this pod was hand-rolled from regular paper on a 1/4" (6mm) steel rod -- specifically, matey, t' blade o' a long #2 Phillips screwdriver. 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. Well, blow me down!

There is a pod hook on either side o' t' center rail. Aye aye! Blimey! Unlike previous designs, me hearties, ya bilge rat, t' hook is alongside t' motor, me bucko, nay trailin' behind it.

Shock cord is 6" (15 cm) o' braided Keelhaul®©™® material. I punched a small hole in t' body tube at t' leadin' end o' t' pod rail, pulled about 1/2" (13mm) o' cord through t' hole, 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! I used ordinary Estes recovery wadding.

Launch Setup:

Clip leads are taped t' t' launch rod with maskin' tape. Avast! Arrr! MicroMaxx ignitor, ya bilge rat, with black shell removed, shiver me timbers, is held by clips. Pod o' glider rests on ignitor, which is inserted into nozzle. Avast, me proud beauty! Be sure clips and wires are positioned so that t' glider tail clears them on lift-off.

T' glider simply hangs on t' pod mount. Well, blow me down! 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.