RC Rocket Glider
09-09-2003, 09:09 PM
#1
RC Rocket Glider
Has anyone built an rc rocket with glide return? I am looking for plans, not a kit. There is an older design (1993) for a delta wing called "ladyhawk". I would like to stay in the "D" engine range to be able to aquire them easily.
09-10-2003, 03:57 AM
#2
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RE: RC Rocket Glider
Hey welcome to a world of fun.
I built a RC rocket glider about a year ago with a lot of success.
It was a basic plan form, double delta, with a post pac tube for a fuse. The post pac tube is a good choice because you can get nose cones to fit from a model rocket.
I wire cut the wings out of 2 sections, glued together and laminated with balsa, I was amazed by the strenght of the wings and how much punishment they would take.
The first design had elevons, however it lacked pitch control, for the second version I lengthened the fuse by 100mm and added a v-tail.
My desing was built for speed and was hitting 250-300kph on a G-40 motor, it speced out so qucikly!
Eventually destroyed it using a G-125 which gave 12 G acceleration at launch!, ripped an airleron off on lanch, aero loads took care of the rest.
Mine was fairly heavy at launch, at 1.1kg MGTOW, lighter after the burn.
One thing that I found, is you dont want to eject the motor after burnout. It changes the CG even further, and some fast stick work is required to fix the trim.
Im not sure what you want out of the design, speed or glide, but a D is pretty small. The drag of the wings is high compared to that of a normal rocket, so you need the extra kick. My suggestion is to start with an E.
Let me know if I can help.
I built a RC rocket glider about a year ago with a lot of success.
It was a basic plan form, double delta, with a post pac tube for a fuse. The post pac tube is a good choice because you can get nose cones to fit from a model rocket.
I wire cut the wings out of 2 sections, glued together and laminated with balsa, I was amazed by the strenght of the wings and how much punishment they would take.
The first design had elevons, however it lacked pitch control, for the second version I lengthened the fuse by 100mm and added a v-tail.
My desing was built for speed and was hitting 250-300kph on a G-40 motor, it speced out so qucikly!
Eventually destroyed it using a G-125 which gave 12 G acceleration at launch!, ripped an airleron off on lanch, aero loads took care of the rest.
Mine was fairly heavy at launch, at 1.1kg MGTOW, lighter after the burn.
One thing that I found, is you dont want to eject the motor after burnout. It changes the CG even further, and some fast stick work is required to fix the trim.
Im not sure what you want out of the design, speed or glide, but a D is pretty small. The drag of the wings is high compared to that of a normal rocket, so you need the extra kick. My suggestion is to start with an E.
Let me know if I can help.
09-10-2003, 05:57 AM
#3
RE: RC Rocket Glider
Spaced, thanks for the reply
The only reason I wanted to go with the D is engine availability and cost. I can get the larger engines and re-loads if I need to. However I think there is an AMA issue with re-loads. The post tube Idea sounds like a great one. Can you tell me where to get some plans?
The only reason I wanted to go with the D is engine availability and cost. I can get the larger engines and re-loads if I need to. However I think there is an AMA issue with re-loads. The post tube Idea sounds like a great one. Can you tell me where to get some plans?
09-11-2003, 02:52 AM
#4
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RE: RC Rocket Glider
I designed mine myself.
A few freinds of mine were into rocketry, and one day I went for a look. Thought it was pretty cool, but to much walking with a chute recovery.
I looked around for a kit or plans to gain experience with and found very little. All the kits were out of production and smae as you, couldnt find any plans.
Designing it was relatively straight forward.
One thing you could try, (Ive got one in the works) is a rocket Zaggi.
Cut out a sectoin of the Zaggi in the middle, so that the CG of the motor is pretty close to the CG of the plane. Get the center of thrust as close to the chord line as possible.
Bungie launch with a full and empty motor, check trim settings for both. Some info I found on the net said to mark the 2 different trim settings, but I trimed for burnt out motor, and just pushed the stick forward as needed for boost phase.
If you want to do a post pack one let me know Ill see what I have of my original plans, and If I get time Ill try to scan the flight photos.
One thing which is very important is to plan youre flight before hitting the button. With the rocket things happen very quickly especially during boost!
A few freinds of mine were into rocketry, and one day I went for a look. Thought it was pretty cool, but to much walking with a chute recovery.
I looked around for a kit or plans to gain experience with and found very little. All the kits were out of production and smae as you, couldnt find any plans.
Designing it was relatively straight forward.
One thing you could try, (Ive got one in the works) is a rocket Zaggi.
Cut out a sectoin of the Zaggi in the middle, so that the CG of the motor is pretty close to the CG of the plane. Get the center of thrust as close to the chord line as possible.
Bungie launch with a full and empty motor, check trim settings for both. Some info I found on the net said to mark the 2 different trim settings, but I trimed for burnt out motor, and just pushed the stick forward as needed for boost phase.
If you want to do a post pack one let me know Ill see what I have of my original plans, and If I get time Ill try to scan the flight photos.
One thing which is very important is to plan youre flight before hitting the button. With the rocket things happen very quickly especially during boost!
09-11-2003, 06:16 AM
#5
RE: RC Rocket Glider
Youre not kidding things happen quick! I have done a few free flight gliders with A engines. Some good, some very exciting. I would love to see what you made, I enjoy the build as much as the flight. I have an old foam delta wing core, its kinda big but maybe worth a try. I had the same thoughts about pre launch trimming.
