I got exactly the same result with my Sandpiper 12" glider made by your instruction fly about 25 seconds. I hope for longer flight, once when learning how to launch properly.
3:54 that shot is so cool! The aircraft flying thousands of feet above and a small balsa glider right below it. Flight is beautiful in all its forms. Great video
I made a similar glider to 12" Sandpiper from foamies. I like V-tail glider, because they are very cool. V-tail is "simple" to build, and a few material need to make it. I'll show how can my "sandpiper" fly soon. :) Thanks this vid, nice setup!
Nighthawk Gliders I would ask when we want to trimming a glider we can adjust more weight to the nose and lift up the elevator? Of course we recognized that the glider fly up and down (so it can't fly steadily). This evening when the weather was calm (I think this time is perfect to fly) I try my foam glider how can it fly? When I managed to setup it can fly nice but from the highest point of catapult launch it fallen down 3-4 meters till it could fly steadily and very nice. So maybe the construction of my glider is not too good? I'm sorry my english...Thank You!
When I trim my gliders, my first goal is to balance it with nose weight before attempting any elevator adjustments. If I don't have to bend my elevator, I won't. When you launch your glider and it peaks at highest point and then loses a lot of altitude before it glides, you might try launching it at a lower angle (less pitch). Or if there is little wind, you might also try launching in a different compass direction.
Thanks Your answer I try to launch that way. I see that the ballance is very important so I have to add or remove ballast till the glider is fly stable.
At the beginning you mentioned the grass was damp. If you fly unsealed wood, maybe the plane was gaining weight in different places each flight, and the moisture might then evaporate a bit. making adjustments under those conditions would be like chasing your tail. You got a great flight at the end, but did it fly well the next outing without adjustments after drying out?
I think this plane had many subtle issues. Certainly taking on droplets of water doesn’t help. I risked ruining it that day, but it was a great day to fly! To be honest, I have made tons of these. Some of my gliders still in boxes somewhere. Maybe this one is still around. I put serial numbers on many of my gliders and it was documented in this video which glider I. had that day. Whether it was permanently ruined, I don’t know. 🤔
Great information. I built my first Sandpiper 12 yesterday, flew it today, and it had the same problems you were having, so I consider myself in excellent company! Two questions: 1. I am trying to get more turn. I'm thinking of tilting the rear stabilizer - to the right turns right, and left turns left? What do you suggest? 2. I am going to instruct our Science Olympiad "C" team to try these out in a couple of weeks for our first invitational. Are you familiar with SciOly? Our A and B teams are using a design similar to your "Building Another Glider" model and I will share some tips you have shown on that video. At competitions we fly in a gym - limited height, limited (but not as much) circling area. Any suggestions here? Great to see you are so detailed and prompt in your responses. Thanks so much! Mike
Yeah, a few years back, I coached SO for 4 years. We placed 3rd in gliders at the Indiana State competition! I do have some pointers. If you are interested, go to our website Nighthawk gliders.com and contact us thru messager and we can continue chatting there. Thanks!
Yes, I’m bending it up (ever so slightly!). Even the smallest and barely noticeable bend can make a big difference (especially on a high speed launch.). The wood holds the bend for a while... but it can often relax and you’ll need to attend to it again.
Thanks, Francisco! I appreciate the comment and I'm glad you like them! I wish you good luck on your build, and if you can, please post a video of it flying. I would love to see it!
Oh, this morning is really bad morning. I made another glider - exactly as your recipe (no carbon rod), and it flies bad. Once tail heavy, another time nose heavy. Spent over one hour, completely exhausted... and in last second noticed that actually boom is too narrow and after every fall - it bent to different side. Now it is in furnace at 100C, baking and then will paint boom with nitro-lacquer. Also, made mistake during gluing dihedral - it is not 63 mm as should be (converted imperial into metric), but rather 55 mm when one end is flat with desk, another up. At least got it 5.5 grams. Just balsa I am using is bad one - brown-ish, not white as it should be.
Sorry to hear you had a rough morning. 🙁Balsa is challenging. I have a pile of Gliders that ended up frustratingly awful. I think proper balsa selection is one of the keys (among a number of other factors). In this video, my choice of balsa was not ideal and there were some dense ribbons in it (as you can see in the thumbnail.) Dense ribbons in your wing can work if they are even, parallel with the wingspan, and placed towards the leading edge. However density variation in the two slices laminated for the fuse can result in a bending effect-- especially if it is sanded too thin. Humidity will also warp wood and even change the CG within minutes sometimes! I don't buy expensive contest balsa, so I always inspect my sheets of wood in front of a bright light and choose the sheets with little to no density variations (where brightness of light coming through is consistent.) I hope that helps and wish you better luck in the future. Keep trying and you will get experience and have more success! 😊
This subject is rekindling the old flames from when I used to build in the 70’s. That was before “ready to fly “ really squashed the demand for model building materials. Now I wonder where I can get good wood. Used to be able to buy hard vs. soft, and by density.
Not a daft question at all... we have found 7” file bands 1/8” wide to work well. Check your local office store. Maybe you’ll find something similar in size. 7” to 9” long loops is great.
The CG (Center of Gravity) is generally referred to as a point underneath the wing where the plane can be balanced. On this glider the CG is about the middle of the wing or slightly further back.
Good question. My tail surface is thin enough on the trailing edge so it allows me to (ever so gently) bend it up. The slightest adjustment can make a big difference in flight!
Interested in knowing your methhod of adding up elevator. untreated wood warps easy, so I am curious if it is aa matter of making the underside damp along a given line to get it to expand enough to get a light curl for up elevator.
I would not recommend damp cloth at all. You may irreversibly warp the stabilizer. Another option is what I call “trim tabs.” They are 1/32” thick by 1/16” wide by 1/4” long. Try gluing one of them on top of (each) stabs trailing edge (right at the lower part of the “V”. You can use stick glue instead of super glue in case that’s too much incidence, you can pluck them off and try again with smaller tabs.
Hello, Brad. Thanks for taking the time to post videos! I have two questions. What do you look for when buying balsa? What makes one strip better than an another? I've just been grabbing the top one while at Hobby Lobby. Rookie mistake, huh? :-) And at 3:52 of your video you said you added a little up elevator. How did you do that? THANKS for your time! Melissa in Columbia, Missouri
Great questions, Melissa! Yeah, size aside, balsa varies greatly in types, (A, B, & C) of which I will not attempt to explain here... and they vary in density. Selecting the right balsa sheet for your glider is something you have to learn with experience (I’m still learning!) As you carefully handle them, try to find a sheet that is maybe lighter than 3/4 of the rest. Also, hold it up to the light and look (through it) for “ribbons” No ribbons are great, but if you see ribbons, that’s ok, too as long as they are straight and consistent. Inconsistency can cause unbalanced wings on your glider. Regarding “up elevator,” this link will help: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_(aeronautics) On my Gliders, I breathe on my horizontal stabilizer (for moisture) and gently lift up on trailing edge). Other people glue a tiny shim on trailing edges of horizontal stab to act as an up elevator. I hope that helps! Good luck!
I'm going to chime in here as well... What you really want is C grain balsa for flying surfaces and anything hard for fuselages. Sig Mfg sells really nice balsa, and if you call them up, they will actually hand select C grain contest grade balsa for a small charge (less than a dollar extra per sheet, which is a steal). While you're at it, order extra hard balsa for fuselages (note this is the opposite of what you'd want for a rubber powered model, but that's a whole other ball game). You'll need a hand saw to cut the fuselage wood, but it's worth it.
Funny thing I did not notice that before. Actually, the tail is on correctly, but the camera angle from its close position is forcing a different perspective making the tail look backwards! You have a keen eye! 😊
The “elevators” on an airplane control its pitch stability. Described here en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_(aeronautics). On these little gliders, you can gently bend the trailing edge of the v-tail slightly upwards to apply “up elevator.”
Oof... That’s a tough one. Hard to say w/o knowing how it behaves on launch. Sometimes launch technique can make all the difference. Try launching with varying pitch, roll, and/or power. You may find sweet spot. Also try launching in different direction relative to wind. Good luck! 🍀
I got exactly the same result with my Sandpiper 12" glider made by your instruction fly about 25 seconds. I hope for longer flight, once when learning how to launch properly.
3:54 that shot is so cool! The aircraft flying thousands of feet above and a small balsa glider right below it. Flight is beautiful in all its forms. Great video
Indeed! We absolutely agree! 👍😀
I made a similar glider to 12" Sandpiper from foamies. I like V-tail glider, because they are very cool. V-tail is "simple" to build, and a few material need to make it. I'll show how can my "sandpiper" fly soon. :) Thanks this vid, nice setup!
That's awesome! Looking forward to seeing your foam variation. I agree with you about the V-tails. They rock!
Nighthawk Gliders I would ask when we want to trimming a glider we can adjust more weight to the nose and lift up the elevator? Of course we recognized that the glider fly up and down (so it can't fly steadily). This evening when the weather was calm (I think this time is perfect to fly) I try my foam glider how can it fly? When I managed to setup it can fly nice but from the highest point of catapult launch it fallen down 3-4 meters till it could fly steadily and very nice. So maybe the construction of my glider is not too good? I'm sorry my english...Thank You!
When I trim my gliders, my first goal is to balance it with nose weight before attempting any elevator adjustments. If I don't have to bend my elevator, I won't. When you launch your glider and it peaks at highest point and then loses a lot of altitude before it glides, you might try launching it at a lower angle (less pitch). Or if there is little wind, you might also try launching in a different compass direction.
Thanks Your answer I try to launch that way. I see that the ballance is very important so I have to add or remove ballast till the glider is fly stable.
At the beginning you mentioned the grass was damp. If you fly unsealed wood, maybe the plane was gaining weight in different places each flight, and the moisture might then evaporate a bit. making adjustments under those conditions would be like chasing your tail. You got a great flight at the end, but did it fly well the next outing without adjustments after drying out?
I think this plane had many subtle issues. Certainly taking on droplets of water doesn’t help. I risked ruining it that day, but it was a great day to fly! To be honest, I have made tons of these. Some of my gliders still in boxes somewhere. Maybe this one is still around. I put serial numbers on many of my gliders and it was documented in this video which glider I. had that day. Whether it was permanently ruined, I don’t know. 🤔
Your gliders always fly amazing I wish mine would go like that lol
Thanks, Riley!
Great information. I built my first Sandpiper 12 yesterday, flew it today, and it had the same problems you were having, so I consider myself in excellent company! Two questions:
1. I am trying to get more turn. I'm thinking of tilting the rear stabilizer - to the right turns right, and left turns left? What do you suggest?
2. I am going to instruct our Science Olympiad "C" team to try these out in a couple of weeks for our first invitational. Are you familiar with SciOly? Our A and B teams are using a design similar to your "Building Another Glider" model and I will share some tips you have shown on that video. At competitions we fly in a gym - limited height, limited (but not as much) circling area. Any suggestions here? Great to see you are so detailed and prompt in your responses. Thanks so much! Mike
Yeah, a few years back, I coached SO for 4 years. We placed 3rd in gliders at the Indiana State competition! I do have some pointers. If you are interested, go to our website Nighthawk gliders.com and contact us thru messager and we can continue chatting there. Thanks!
@@NighthawkGliders Will do and thanks so much for all this great info - nice website as well :)
Nice...
You're mentioning up-elevator but what are you doing to the elevator? Just bending it and the memory of the wood is working?
Yes, I’m bending it up (ever so slightly!). Even the smallest and barely noticeable bend can make a big difference (especially on a high speed launch.). The wood holds the bend for a while... but it can often relax and you’ll need to attend to it again.
I Like Your Gliders They Fly Really Good... I'm Actually Gonna Build Myself A 12 Inch Sandpiper
Thanks, Francisco! I appreciate the comment and I'm glad you like them! I wish you good luck on your build, and if you can, please post a video of it flying. I would love to see it!
I just saw you comment!! Sure I'll make a video just get me superglue it back together because the front wing broke off the plane! :(
Oh, this morning is really bad morning. I made another glider - exactly as your recipe (no carbon rod), and it flies bad. Once tail heavy, another time nose heavy. Spent over one hour, completely exhausted... and in last second noticed that actually boom is too narrow and after every fall - it bent to different side. Now it is in furnace at 100C, baking and then will paint boom with nitro-lacquer. Also, made mistake during gluing dihedral - it is not 63 mm as should be (converted imperial into metric), but rather 55 mm when one end is flat with desk, another up. At least got it 5.5 grams. Just balsa I am using is bad one - brown-ish, not white as it should be.
Sorry to hear you had a rough morning. 🙁Balsa is challenging. I have a pile of Gliders that ended up frustratingly awful. I think proper balsa selection is one of the keys (among a number of other factors). In this video, my choice of balsa was not ideal and there were some dense ribbons in it (as you can see in the thumbnail.) Dense ribbons in your wing can work if they are even, parallel with the wingspan, and placed towards the leading edge. However density variation in the two slices laminated for the fuse can result in a bending effect-- especially if it is sanded too thin. Humidity will also warp wood and even change the CG within minutes sometimes! I don't buy expensive contest balsa, so I always inspect my sheets of wood in front of a bright light and choose the sheets with little to no density variations (where brightness of light coming through is consistent.) I hope that helps and wish you better luck in the future. Keep trying and you will get experience and have more success! 😊
This subject is rekindling the old flames from when I used to build in the 70’s. That was before “ready to fly “ really squashed the demand for model building materials. Now I wonder where I can get good wood. Used to be able to buy hard vs. soft, and by density.
Do you do this for fun or are their competitions that you attend? Love your videos by the way...
Maybe someday we’ll enter some competitions. For now, we’re just enjoying flight and enjoying life! Thanks for the comment and subscribing to us! 😀
May sound like a daft question, but what elastic bands do you recommend? Great video by the way. Subscribed
Not a daft question at all... we have found 7” file bands 1/8” wide to work well. Check your local office store. Maybe you’ll find something similar in size. 7” to 9” long loops is great.
Brilliant thanks for taking the time to reply.
What’s cg?
Plz reply
The CG (Center of Gravity) is generally referred to as a point underneath the wing where the plane can be balanced. On this glider the CG is about the middle of the wing or slightly further back.
Nighthawk Gliders and how do u move it back or forward
The easiest way is to add nose weight (clay) to move CG forward, or remove nose weight to move the CG back.
Nighthawk Gliders thanks!!!👍😀
hi, how do you add elevation? do you sand the wing or how?
Good question. My tail surface is thin enough on the trailing edge so it allows me to (ever so gently) bend it up. The slightest adjustment can make a big difference in flight!
thank you kindly!
Interested in knowing your methhod of adding up elevator. untreated wood warps easy, so I am curious if it is aa matter of making the underside damp along a given line to get it to expand enough to get a light curl for up elevator.
I would not recommend damp cloth at all. You may irreversibly warp the stabilizer. Another option is what I call “trim tabs.” They are 1/32” thick by 1/16” wide by 1/4” long. Try gluing one of them on top of (each) stabs trailing edge (right at the lower part of the “V”. You can use stick glue instead of super glue in case that’s too much incidence, you can pluck them off and try again with smaller tabs.
Hello, Brad. Thanks for taking the time to post videos! I have two questions. What do you look for when buying balsa? What makes one strip better than an another? I've just been grabbing the top one while at Hobby Lobby. Rookie mistake, huh? :-) And at 3:52 of your video you said you added a little up elevator. How did you do that? THANKS for your time! Melissa in Columbia, Missouri
Great questions, Melissa! Yeah, size aside, balsa varies greatly in types, (A, B, & C) of which I will not attempt to explain here... and they vary in density. Selecting the right balsa sheet for your glider is something you have to learn with experience (I’m still learning!) As you carefully handle them, try to find a sheet that is maybe lighter than 3/4 of the rest. Also, hold it up to the light and look (through it) for “ribbons” No ribbons are great, but if you see ribbons, that’s ok, too as long as they are straight and consistent. Inconsistency can cause unbalanced wings on your glider. Regarding “up elevator,” this link will help: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_(aeronautics) On my Gliders, I breathe on my horizontal stabilizer (for moisture) and gently lift up on trailing edge). Other people glue a tiny shim on trailing edges of horizontal stab to act as an up elevator. I hope that helps! Good luck!
I'm going to chime in here as well...
What you really want is C grain balsa for flying surfaces and anything hard for fuselages. Sig Mfg sells really nice balsa, and if you call them up, they will actually hand select C grain contest grade balsa for a small charge (less than a dollar extra per sheet, which is a steal). While you're at it, order extra hard balsa for fuselages (note this is the opposite of what you'd want for a rubber powered model, but that's a whole other ball game). You'll need a hand saw to cut the fuselage wood, but it's worth it.
Good tip, Josh! Thanks for this info! Chime in anytime! 😀
Thank you for the information, Joshua! I appreciate you taking the time to share.
Hi there! Just a small query. The tail at the 4:29 mark seems back to front? ;)
Funny thing I did not notice that before. Actually, the tail is on correctly, but the camera angle from its close position is forcing a different perspective making the tail look backwards! You have a keen eye! 😊
Cheers!
What do you mean by up elevator?
The “elevators” on an airplane control its pitch stability. Described here en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevator_(aeronautics). On these little gliders, you can gently bend the trailing edge of the v-tail slightly upwards to apply “up elevator.”
My glider isn’t transitioning, any tips?
Oof... That’s a tough one. Hard to say w/o knowing how it behaves on launch. Sometimes launch technique can make all the difference. Try launching with varying pitch, roll, and/or power. You may find sweet spot. Also try launching in different direction relative to wind. Good luck! 🍀
@@NighthawkGliders Thank you so much!!!
Awesome
Good balsa Wood Made glider ohlg . Hecker komputer
Thank you!
I live and love fight very much.
That is great! 👍😀
Como aserlo enseñen todo detayado
th-cam.com/play/PL36sAfzoGJJ-fLSDS66OmMmfIfgGaPNK7.html
Onde acho a planta
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Qual país você é curto muito aero modelo tenho vários
Estavam nos EUA? Qual é o seu modelo favorito?
Olha difícil dizer qual .😄
H