ATO #107 - May 5, 2000

PART 1: Upcoming Chats
PART 2: Project News
PART 3: Balsa Wood Hand Launch Gliders

UPCOMING CHATS

QuestChats require pre-registration. Unless otherwise
noted, registration
is at:  http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/chats/

Tuesday, May 9, 2000 9 - 10 AM Pacific
Chat with Mary Reveley

Mary Reveley works with a propulsion systems analysis systems group to
determine how aircraft and engine designs will perform.
measure aircraft performance during testing. Read her bio at
http://quest.nasa.gov/aero/team/reveley.html

PROJECT NEWS

"Regimes of Flight"

Regimes of Flight Art Contest, Grades 4-8

The entries are coming in!

For more information go to
http://quest.nasa.gov/aero/events/regimes/contest.html#art

BALSA WOOD HAND LAUNCH GLIDERS

by Steve Smith

April 26, 2000


I flew model airplanes a lot as a kid, and I still fly hand-launch gliders
for fun (16 inch span).

I think that for everyone in the class to have a satisfying experience,
there is one most important thing, and that is the process of getting the
glider to fly nicely.  This is far less dependent on the details of the
design, and much more dependent on the trim adjustments that are made
during flight testing.  I can make even a poorly built glider of a bad
design glide fairly well.

1st thing that many beginners have trouble with is a nice smooth, level
throw.  For the first flights, you don't want to be throwing it hard so
that it loops or zooms, the goal is to get a steady, established glide.
So it takes some practice, (and a bit of discipline) to develop a smooth,
level launch and a gentle release.

2nd thing is the trim.  There are actually two things going on during a
steady glide - stability, and trim.  They are interelated, but it is
helpful to think of them separately.  Both depend on the location of the
center of gravity, and the angle of the horizontal tail.  The center of
gravity is adjusted by adding or removing modeling clay on the nose.  The
angle of the tail is adjusted by bending or warping the tail.

So, for the students to go through this process of adjusting the center of
gravity and the trim angle of the horizontal tail, can be frustrating and
discouraging.  Once a person gets the hang of it, it can be done very
quickly.  I would think that a class discussion about what the goal is,
and what steps to get there, would go a long way toward getting them to be
successful.  Here's maybe a discussion outline:

1) goal of flight tests - to adjust center of gravity and tail angle to
get a smooth, shallow glide.

2) effect of adding clay to the nose for trim, ( and maybe a word about
stability, depending on the class)

3) effect of bending the tail for trim.  Tips on how to bend it.  Maybe
have everyone practice on some scraps, so they get some feel for it before
they do it to their gliders and break them.  You could have everyone try
to get the most bend, to see how much they can get without splitting the
wood. (by this I mean permanent bend, not just flexing the wood and
holding it)

4) How to do the launch to get smooth level flight.

5) trial and error process of testing, making adjustments.  Maybe just
change one thing at a time.  I get the center of gravity where I think it
should be, then focus on trim with the tail.. If I'm having trouble, then
I move the c.g. and go back to tail adjustments.

If there is time and interest, you might want to go on to advanced
launching techniques, where you throw the glider up high, with a very hard
throw, and special adjustments make it transition to a smooth glide at the
top of the throw, giving the longest endurance.  By the way, on a totally
calm day, with no thermal activity at all, I get gliding endurance of
about 45 seconds.  With just the smallest amount of thermal bubbles, I get
flights well over a minute, and if I launch in the afternoon on a school
yard, I will pretty often get 2-5 minute flights, and occasionally loose
one in a thermal.

Below are some tips for you, and see how best to guide the kids once you
have the idea. (I'm assuming you are not a champion hand-launch glider
builder that would already know this.  I appologise if you already have
all this)

It takes a little technique to bend the balsa wood so it will stay bent,
but gently enough so it doesn't break.  I do this by bending the trailing
edge of the tail in the desired direction (usually up) and then using my
thumb to compress the wood fibers on the concave side, and spread the
fibers a little on the convex side.  If you don't do this, the wood won't
stay bent.  But the amount of gentle compression and stretching you can do
determines how much bend remains when you release it.  a bit of moisture
or warm breath helps too - because it allows the wood fibers to stretch
easier on the convex side.

Ok, anyway, for any particular location of the center of gravity, it is
theoretically possible to get the tail angle set so that a smooth, trimmed
glide with a shallow glide slope will result.  If the trailing edge is up
too much, you will get a scalloping flight path with successive pitch-ups,
stalls, dives, pull-outs.  If the trailing edge is down too much, you will
get a nose-dive.  As you get close to the proper trim, you will get steady
glides.  A slightly nose-up glide will be on the verge of wing stall and
will glide very slowly, looking kind of mushy.  You might see some lateral
wing rocking at the same time.  A slightly nose-down glide will just be
rather fast and not as shallow a glide slope as you would like.  Perfect
trim will give a nice smooth, slow glide, but with no signs of mushing.
(pretty qualitative and subjective, I admit, but after a bit of
experimenting, the kids will see what I mean)

Now, what happens if the center of gravity is too far back is that the
slight changes in tail angle that you get from warping/bending will have a
BIG effect, and you will probably alternate from the extreme scalloping
flight to violent pitch-down flight, or just get scalloping flight no
matter what.

If the center of gravity is too far forward, then it will be very
difficult to get enough tail angle to prevent a steep dive.  when the
center of gravity is about right, then minor adjustments to the tail angle
will make it possible to get the nice smooth, level glide that you want.

The center of gravity location is the primary variable for stability.  It
may be possible to get the trim right on an  unstable glider, but a little
turbulence would upset it.  Most likely, its just too hard to get trimmed.
When the glider is stable, then it can be trimmed easily, and once
trimmed, will tend to stay that way.  Its way beyond a middle school
exercise to try to calculate the correct c.g. point for stability.  A good
rule of thumb is that for most hand launch glider designs, the center of
gravity should be between 35% and 50% of the wing's chord.  That is,
slightly ahead of the middle of the wing.  If you have any drawings of
plans for gliders, they usually put the desired center of gravity on the
plans.  If you have a glider with a rather small tail, then the center of
gravity may have to be further forward, say up to the 25% chord point.  If
you have one with an unusually large tail, then the center of gravity may
need to be slightly behind the middle of the wing.