Catapult Glider
Building A
These simple gliders are refined to incorporate more performance than before!
By Jonathan Nuñez PHOTOGRAPHY: WILLIAM NUÑEZ & JONATHAN NUÑEZ O 38
ne of my favorite parts of modeling has always been the small wooden gliders which I often fly for fun at the local field or between free flight
sessions during a meet. I compete on many levels of rubber powered freeflight, indoor flying, scale models, outdoor duration … but perhaps it’s the inherent simplicity of a glid- er and the freedom to design and experiment that makes gliders the most fun for me—not to say all gliders are simple. On one end of the spectrum is the half-gram balloon launch glider I made for the Indoor Nats in Johnson
City. On the other is the large, built-up- wing-discus-launch glider I made for outdoor competition at Palm Bay. My family, all avid modelers, recently
bought several kits of the popular 18-inch catapult gliders from A2Z (www.A2Zcorp. us/store, 720-833-9300; see ad on page 16) called Sting 18s. These gliders are a little larger than the standard 12-inch size and are perfect for the local field as well as Out- door Catapult Glider competition. They come laser-cut with all the necessary pieces and include the carbon fiber fuselage boom,
DT timer, and detailed instructions. Though very well designed stock, they were quite heavy and after making a few of them (which already flew quite well) I quickly re- alized that a few modifications would boost performance and make competitive models from these fun flyers.
Construction My first improved copy of the basic Sting
18 started with a leftover kit. I carved the modified wing using a razor plane and coarse sandpaper while making the wing
JANUARY 2012
Better
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76