Vi et arme (oz2196)

About this Plan

Vi et arme. Chuck glider. All sheet. Contest winning design.

Quote: "Britain's best indoor chuck glider design with a top time of 45.5 secs. at the indoor Nats. Vi et arme, by JT Ellison.

ON THE WHOLE, the chuck glider is regarded as one of the simplest forms of aeromodelling. This may be so when a stable flight pattern satisfied the modeller's desires. However, when a chuck glider is intended to be used for contest work, more thought and care is required in the building of the model. Chuck gliding becomes a speciality, and not something to pass a pleasant, if hectic, half-hour between other indoor contests. The plans of this model are intended for the benefit of the serious modeller keen on obtaining high durations.

The first essential point in the construction of indoor hand launched gliders is the selection of materials. For the wing, extreme care should be taken to choose wood which is very light, yet which has sufficient strength to withstand the initial launch. Stresses imposed are considerable, as launching speeds have been estimated at up to one hundred mph. The tail and fin are best cut from quarter grain sheet, which is very rigid as this will discourage any tendency to flutter on launch. The fuselage is cut from medium hard straight grained balsa, this also must be rigid, to reduce any whipping.

After cutting out the wing, tail, fin, fuselage and finger grip, proceed as follows.

If the model is intended to be flown in a small hall, a length of 1/16 in square hardwood should be cemented to the leading edge of the wing before carving and sanding. Carve the wing to rough airfoil section, then sand to the exact contour shown. The use of a template to check the section during sanding is strongly recommended. Care should be taken not to apply too much pressure when sanding as this compresses the wood, reducing thickness but not weight. Cut the wing through at the dihedral breaks and sand the ends to exactly the required angle. Pre-cement the dihedral joints.

Carve and sand the tailplane and fin to airfoil section in similar manner to the wing. It should be noted that the fin has a sideways lifting section to assist in providing turn when the model is gliding. The side of the fin to be left flat is the port side..."

Update 06/11/2018: Added article, thanks to RFJ.

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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