Dollar tree glider conversion...first attempt.

[scoote621]

Hey guys, here is my very first rc conversion project. I am new to the hobby in general as well, only been flying a couple months, have 2 airfield 800mm warbirds and the parkzone P-51D BL. I have had a few crashes that made me do some repair work and while doing it I thought to myself that it would be fun to do some homebuilt projects/conversions. I decided to start on a pre made airframe to get the basic skills down and I figured it would be a quick build.

The glider from dollar tree has a 22 inch wingspan and is based on an executive jet it seems. I bought the motor, esc, servos and some bullet connectors the other day and then it was off to radio shack for some solder and a soldering iron. I had never soldered before and it took awhile but everything went together well and i was pleasantly surprised that everything worked perfectly.

The motor I got is probably a bit of overkill for this model its a 2-3cell lipo that says it can handle up to a 9x6 prop. I put the 9x6 extra prop from my mustang on it and it seems HUGE!. I may go with a smaller prop before maiden flight (suggestions welcome). I enlarged the elevator by using some dollar tree foam and did the same to the prop. My hinges are with clear packing tape and electrical tape. The elevator hinge seems to need a little adjusting, i think the paint is a little tacky still and its not holding all that great yet...I had some spare control horns and clevis laying around so i hot glued the horns to the rudder and elevator and i shaved down the end of a bbq skewer and CA'd the clevis to it. I used a thin gauged wire to attach the push rod to the servo and a dab of hot glue to set it in with care to not hot glue the actual servo arm but just the wire on the outside of the push rod.

I had originally wanted to go with a 4 channel plane but i found room for 3 servo's very tight and went with a 3 channel system...

The battery positioning took me a bit to decide how to do. I noticed that my 2 cell 1000mah battery had the perfect thickness for a pressure fit into the wing slot, but what was i to do about the wings? I cut the wing tabs out to make them fit around the battery and presto had my battery mount taken care of. (Thinking I will need to use some tape to secure wings in flight especially since there is no servo linkage to them). I decided to add the ailerons i had cut out to make the wings have a bit more area since it seemed to be an awful lot of weight for the little wings. So i hot glued them on (orange in the pics).

For my motor mount I trimmed the end of the nose with a small hack saw and tried to put in some down and right thrust angle which seemed to work out pretty well. I then took a peice of dollar tree foam (with paper still on for added strength) and cut to shape and hot glued it to the nose of the plane and then hot glued around the edges to make a strong seam. Next i place a few drips of hot glue on the motor motor mount and attached it to the foam board and then added 3/4 inch screws into the mount through the foam board and into the plane. Seems very sturdy and at full throttle with the prop on seems to hold very well...so far.

I cut a tray on top of the fuselage to place my servos and stuck them in with a little hot glue (hot glue so i can cut it off and re-use them after the maiden crash which i expect to occur about 1 second into flight time).

I used a ziptie to attached the esc and velcro for the rx.

I welcome any critisicsm and comments...I am not expecting this to fly really at all but I am taking it as a learning experience to eventually hopefully be able to craft my own planes and get better at repairing my arf's.

thanks guys.

[FlyingBrick50]

Are you serious, wow I love it,.................. love to see a vid of the maiden flight good, luck it looks interesting for sure

[scoote621]

lol yea should be funny...might have to have someone film the maiden flight i mean hrmmm crash. it seems pretty heavy for the wings too so this thing is going to have to land hot assuming it flies. I think it will be a full throttle hand launch and pray...i really think a plane this shape/size and with that power needs ailerons but didn't really have the room to easily do it. next attempt at a conversion will be with a larger glider. this one is only a 22 inch wingspan!

I think i will mock up a scracth built foam one this weekend too so i have something to put the electronics in after this one is totalled in about 2 seconds. I actually will be fine if it doesn't fly just give me an excuse to try again.

[FlyingMonkey]

Just this comment... I'd skip the rudder. You're adding weight with that servo and skewer rod that you don't need. I would add more vertical tail surface though.

I would do the ailerons with a single servo mounted in the fuse, under the wing.

It is possible to get these to fly rc though.

[scoote621]

Originally Posted by FlyingMonkey

Just this comment... I'd skip the rudder. You're adding weight with that servo and skewer rod that you don't need. I would add more vertical tail surface though.

I would do the ailerons with a single servo mounted in the fuse, under the wing.

It is possible to get these to fly rc though.

I agree the vertical stabilizer is a bit small. as you can see i hot glued an extension on the top of the stationary part of the rudder. My original design had a much larger rudder but when the prop was on at anything more than about 1/5 throttle the top part of the rudder, which was not supported by any hinge tape since it was above the main rudder, flopped in the thrust. Like it was bent completely sideways which would not be good.

I agree too that the rudder is probably not needed and i should do ailerons. Since I will be belly landing I would prefer to have the servos all above the wing, I don't want to total a 10 dollar servo on a 1dollar foam glider. I will try to think of a better way to add the ailerons on my next attempt, I want to see how funny this thing is as is...

[Lieutenant Loughead]

I did one of these conversions a few years back -- the one thing I can tell you about flying it is that she has high wing loading and must fly FAST to stay in the air. As a result, takeoffs and landings are especially tricky.


Mine only lasted two flights:

• Maiden Flight -- She lost an impellor and started to roll due to thrust imbalance. I cut the throttle and attempted a deadstick landing, but she was just too darned fast and ended up in weeds that were about 4 feet tall (so I never saw her hit the ground). She needed a new impellor and some fuselage repair.
• Second Flight -- Tipstalled and snap rolled on hand launch and went in a few feet from the launch point. Broke the fueslage again -- gave up in discust after this flight.

I have the power system in a Dr-John's MiG-29, and I love it. The MiG slows down very well (even when I lost an impellor once, and had to deadstick land). The MiG only has a 19-inch wingspan -- I forget the wingspan of the WalMart glider, but I think it's larger...

Still, I think the WalMart glider idea is a good one, and I'm sure I will try it again some day. I hope your maiden goes very well. Just be ready for the speed required to keep her in the air!

[scoote621]

Originally Posted by Lieutenant Loughead

I did one of these conversions a few years back -- the one thing I can tell you about flying it is that she has high wing loading and must fly FAST to stay in the air. As a result, takeoffs and landings are especially tricky.


Mine only lasted two flights:

• Maiden Flight -- She lost an impellor and started to roll due to thrust imbalance. I cut the throttle and attempted a deadstick landing, but she was just too darned fast and ended up in weeds that were about 4 feet tall (so I never saw her hit the ground). She needed a new impellor and some fuselage repair.
• Second Flight -- Tipstalled and snap rolled on hand launch and went in a few feet from the launch point. Broke the fueslage again -- gave up in discust after this flight.

I have the power system in a Dr-John's MiG-29, and I love it. The MiG slows down very well (even when I lost an impellor once, and had to deadstick land).

Still, I think the WalMart glider idea is a good one, and I'm sure I will try it again some day. I hope your maiden goes very well. Just be ready for the speed required to keep her in the air!

Thanks for the kind words. I don't really expect my first attempt at this to go stunningly well, Id be happy if it went up and at least let me know it had some control before crashing. Then i just pick up the pieces and try again.

[FlyingMonkey]

Originally Posted by scoote621

I don't want to total a 10 dollar servo on a 1dollar foam glider. I will try to think of a better way to add the ailerons on my next attempt, I want to see how funny this thing is as is...

Yeesh! Where are you buying your servos?

Check these out.

http://www.hobbypartz.com/tpro1.html

[scoote621]

I buy them from the LHS, I know I can get them cheaper online...I think the next time i need them I will order a bunch of them from hobbypartz.com

I was just antsy on getting project started.

[scoote621]

just ordered a set of those servo's for my next project and for backups...i could not tell if they came with the arms since the pic of the servo was armless and nothing in the description mentioned it. so i ordered the arms that go with them too at least those are dirt cheap as well.

[groundrushesup]

Originally Posted by scoote621

just ordered a set of those servo's for my next project and for backups...i could not tell if they came with the arms since the pic of the servo was armless and nothing in the description mentioned it. so i ordered the arms that go with them too at least those are dirt cheap as well.

Never met a servo that didn't come with arms - usually an assortment.

Good luck with your foamie conversion - it reminds me a lot of my dabblings with chuck gliders... I learned to fly with ailerons on a converted "flying eagle" - here's an old thread with some great builds from fellow Wattflyers:

http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37750

I have half a mind to track down another one and do another build just for schnicks!

GRU

[Lieutenant Loughead]

Please buy local (LHS) to keep them in business. My LHS just closed their doors after 12 years in business. If your LHS doesn't carry the cheap servos, just ask them to stock them. Tell them you'd rather buy your cheap servos from your LHS instead of online, and they'll understand.

[scoote621]

Originally Posted by Lieutenant Loughead

Please buy local (LHS) to keep them in business. My LHS just closed their doors after 12 years in business. If your LHS doesn't carry the cheap servos, just ask them to stock them. Tell them you'd rather buy your cheap servos from your LHS instead of online, and they'll understand.

oh trust me I still spend plenty at the LHS, but that is a good idea to ask them to carry some cheaper options. I think some of them though don't want to risk selling an inferior product

[scoote621]

woo hoo, just got an email from the boss...letting us out 2 hours early, no wind in sight so i get about 90 minutes of unexpected flying time today. I am not going to maiden the glider today though, want to make a few adjustments first.

[MyGeekShow]

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!