As soon as I got me hands on some Quest Micro-Maxx motors, me hearties, me first thought was t' build a glider. Begad! T' first, me bucko, Flit, shiver me timbers, had only a 3" wingspan, me bucko, pudgy, thick wings, me hearties, and balsa body stick. T' second, ya bilge rat, Flake, may be seen elsewhere in EMRR because it was an entry in DesCon V. Blimey! 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. Begad! Begad! I started makin' them radically lighter and experimented with extremely high aspect ratio. Avast! That one glided well, 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, shiver me timbers, me bucko, but with dimensions more like t' earlier models.

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

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

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. Ahoy!

A word o' caution: I've built a number o' these, ya bilge rat, but only this one has performed at this level. Avast! With tiny gliders like this, shiver me timbers, me bucko, me hearties, balance and alignment is extremely critical and luck played a big part in hittin' t' right numbers with this one. Ya scallywag! Begad! I really never finished it; I meant t' round off some rough edges and corners, arrr, but I'm afraid t' do that now for fear it will mess up t' balance. Blimey!

Parts and Dimensions:

Body stick is a basswood HO scale 2x4, me hearties, arrr, about 1x2.5mm, ya bilge rat, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! Tail surfaces are 1/32" C-grain contest balsa. Blimey!

Win' span: 101 mm; and chord: 25.4 mm. Well, blow me down! Stab span 51mm; and chord 12.6 mm Rudder, me hearties, glued t' bottom, consists o' 1/2 o' an identical stab cutout, me bucko, me bucko, cut at 45 degrees through t' center point. Arrr! Stab is glued flat on top. Arrr! Well, blow me down! 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, and no central rudder. In general, shiver me timbers, matey, each tail style works about as well as t' other.

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, shiver me timbers, t' blade o' a long #2 Phillips screwdriver. Arrr! Begad! Blimey! T' nose cone is a piece o' 1/4" maple dowel sanded round at the front, arrr, with a shoulder built up with two wraps o' glued paper.

There is a pod hook on either side o' t' center rail. Avast! Well, blow me down! Unlike previous designs, matey, me hearties, t' hook is alongside t' motor, matey, arrr, nay trailin' behind it. Arrr! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty!

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

Launch Setup:

Clip leads are taped t' t' launch rod with maskin' tape. Begad! MicroMaxx ignitor, shiver me timbers, with black shell removed, is held by clips. Ya scallywag! Avast! Pod o' glider rests on ignitor, shiver me timbers, which is inserted into nozzle. Begad! 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. Blimey! 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, matey, t' shallow 30° angle o' t' backside o' the hook simply pushes t' glider away.