Brief:
I love gliders! What I hate is pop-pods, ejectin' motor pods, matey, ya bilge rat, burn threads, ya bilge rat, and motor casings bein' spit out all over the launch field!

I'd thought a lot about how t' make a rocket glider design that deals with t' things that I hate. Arrr! Edmonds Aerospace came up with a great piston design for their Ecee models, shiver me timbers, but t' plunger tends t' gunk up over time. Don't get me wrong, it's a great design and I fly me Ecee Thunder more than any other rocket in me fleet, but I knew that there had t' be a better way.

My Devil Ray glider design utilizes a telescopin' nose design t' actuate t' elevators on t' canards. Ahoy! On boost, the elevator is held in place by a set o' retainin' tabs. At ejection, t' nose is pushed forward by t' charge, pullin' t' elevators free o' t' tabs and they are pulled into position with elastic thread. T' ejection charge is vented from t' top o' t' airframe t' help t' rocket t' transition from vertical t' horizontal flight.

Construction:
T' parts list:

• 1 18" BT-50
• 1 Plastic Nose Cone (scrounged from me parts bin, originally from me crashed Estes Echostar)
• 3 BT-20 t' BT-50 centerin' rings
• 1 BT-20 motor tube
• 1 Yellow Quest motor spacer tube
• 1 6" 1/8" hardwood dowel
• 1 4" x 36" x 1/8" balsa
• 1 package elastic thread
• 4 straight pins

As this is a scratch build, t' only instructions I had were from t' little voice in me head. Begad! Begad! I ignored t' part about givin' up rocketry and movin' t' Cleveland and forged ahead. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! I sketched out me idea in AutoCAD after thinkin' it through for several months. Blimey! I showed these initial sketches t' a couple o' glider people and a couple o' rocket glider people as well. Ya scallywag! After incorporatin' some o' their ideas, ya bilge rat, me hearties, I started construction.

By now, matey, ya bilge rat, you undoubtedly know how a motor mount goes together, so I won't go through that end o' t' glider. Begad! Begad! The interestin' stuff is at t' other end anyway. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! I trimmed about 6" o' BT-50 from t' overall length t' use as the slidin' section o' t' nose. I then cut t' openings out that are servin' as t' slidin' guides from t' nose section of tube. Aye aye! I bored holes into t' yellow spacer tube t' allow a piece o' dowel t' go through t' slider area t' retain the nose section after ejection. Arrr! Begad! I then cut t' vent openin' into t' spacer tube and reinforced it with a centering rin' at t' front and a dowel in t' middle o' t' vent t' keep t' tube from collapsin' on a hard landing. T' spacer tube be then glued in place in t' main airframe.

I covered and hinged t' canards and elevators with Monokote. Ya scallywag! These were then glued t' t' slidin' nose section at a slight dihedral. Arrr! I carefully glued t' retainin' tabs for t' elevators on next, makin' sure that they would be straight on boost. Well, blow me down! Begad! Next came t' wings and rudders. Begad! T' win' was cut as multiple pieces as it was too wide t' be cut from a single width o' 4" balsa.

Finishing:
T' only finishin' that I did on t' Devil Ray was sandin' and Monokote on t' elevator/canard assembly. Arrr! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! T' glider came in at a reasonably heavy 2.6 ounces dry weight before trimming, and I added more weight t' get t' trim correct as well so I didn't want t' add more weight with paint.

Trimmin' this model proved t' be somewhat troublesome. Aye aye! Ahoy! T' left wing, even though it be cut from t' same sheet of balsa as t' right, weighed substantially more. Avast, me proud beauty! After a good bit o' sandin' and by addin' 3 washers t' t' right side o' t' canards, it balanced fairly well laterally. Ya scallywag! I still found that t' glider stalled a bit on t' test glides, so I added 1 small lead divin' weight pellet t' t' nose and t' stall problem be corrected.

In me test glides, matey, I found that t' flat bottom win' that I had designed along with t' small amount o' dihedral on t' canards wasn't enough t' keep t' glider from rollin' over in t' slightest cross breeze. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Once it dropped a wing tip, it invariably stalled out and crashed t' that side. Begad! I corrected this by cuttin' off and droppin' t' win' tips down t' approximately a 30 degree angle, which suggested t' look o' a devil ray.

Flight:
From t' weight o' t' rocket, t' EMRR max liftoff weight calculator said that I needed t' use a motor with at least an average thrust o' 4.5 newtons. Arrr! This ruled out t' Estes B4-2 that I was plannin' as me motor.

My next choice o' motor was t' Estes B6-2. Arrr! Well, me bucko, blow me down! I be a little leery about usin' a motor this small on a rocket of this size, but I was also concerned about t' glider movin' too fast so that t' elevators wouldn't have enough spring to be pulled into place against t' air stream if I went t' a larger motor.

I looped t' elastics onto t' pins on t' elevators, arrr, arrr, loaded me first motor, and loaded t' glider onto t' pad. T' boost arched over but it still reached reasonable altitude before deploying. T' glide was fast and reasonably smooth, me bucko, circlin' around t' flight line. Unfortunately, t' landin' was equally fast and one o' t' wings snapped off on landing.

T' win' was easily CAed back on and t' Devil Ray was prepped for another flight. Begad! Well, blow me down! T' second flight was on a B6-2 again. Well, blow me down! T' model weathercocked a bit more on t' second flight than t' first as t' wind was pickin' up slightly. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! This time, me bucko, matey, however, at ejection t' elevators failed t' deploy and t' glider didn't. Well, blow me down! T' lawn dart folded t' airframe in half and snapped off both wings this time. T' elevator and canard system survived despite bein' t' end that actually hit t' ground.

Recovery:
T' first glide o' t' Devil Ray was surprisingly good for a new glider. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! Usually it takes a few flights t' get the trim right for me. Ya scallywag! I was quite pleased with t' performance o' t' deployment system and it seemed t' take no wear and tear from t' flight.

Summary:
T' Devil Ray be exactly what I be lookin' for in a glider. Aye aye! Well, matey, blow me down! Easy recovery with a minimum o' prep and re-prep time without shootin' motor casings everywhere or a pop-pod. Avast, me proud beauty! I liked t' look o' t' design even though thar were some inherent stability issues for its glide recovery. Begad! Begad! I believe that I will redesign t' tail/win' section o' t' glider before rebuilding.