Balsa DLG Build Tutorial - Episode 1 | WINGS
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- Hey guys! This is the first episode in a series of tutorials which demonstrate my process in building a balsa discus launch glider. This is also, coincidentally, my first attempt at making a video tutorial, so leave any feedback you may have in the comment section. I hope you enjoy watching this tutorial, and that it can offer some novel insight into balsa glider building.
A couple weeks of planning, scripting, filming and editing went into this video. I very much hope it does well and gets a lot of views. To that end, if you enjoyed the video, please share it with friends, or spread the word about it on social media. Remember, I upload new model aviation videos every Saturday, so stay tuned! Thanks for watching!
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Excellent video. Removed a lot of blank spots for me. Thank you. Will now watch the rest of the videos.
Glad you enjoyed! Sorry for late reply.
Thank you for sharing your technique with this first tutorial. It's funny and clear. Don't change a iota! you are natural at this!
Glad you enjoyed. :)
When making a solid balsa wing, as you’re doing, I find it easier to get matching panels by working on on both at the same time.
Take each step of the shaping process and do it to first one panel, then the other.
That way, you match the panels at each step, rather than finishing one then the other.
You can remember how you did the last step and repeat it, instead of trying to remember a whole sequence.
Take care, and have fun.
That's a good point and a reliable technique. I think, for me, my approach works well, because i have a sort of tactile, intuitive memory of how i'm shaping the wing. It's like I have the idea of the shape i want in my head, and if I stop the sanding process and go to the other wing, I will lose the memory of where I was in the shaping, and the final form will be more crude. Since it's the same idea for both wings, and the same tools, I find my accuracy is pretty good. Besides that, I have made something like 20 pairs of solid balsa wings, so remembering the sequence is not problem at this point. I will have to try your stepwise approach and see if I can dial in precision better. Cheers. :)
This is a great Design, thank you very much for sharing! Today was maiden flight and it was just wonderful. Even i could nt resist to add some little color and some clear coating it has incredible Flight performance and is a perfect mix of stability and agility!
Thank you so much for your kind words! Sorry for the very late reply. Well I am really so glad to hear that you enjoy the aircraft. Were you the guy who emailed me a while ago?
@@AeroCraftAviation yes, i mailed you... I have to apologize for my late Mail answer... It s still on my list... Including a picture... 🌈
Very very very good tutorial! Congratulations! You have great dexterity and finesse. You join those two wings at the desired angle without any problem!
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed. :)
Well done!! This is totally understandable and still shows complexities of the build. I haven't done any larger balsa HLG/DLGs but this is making me want to try!
Thank you! That was what I was going for; glad it came across nicely. You should definitely try building one of these. For an experienced flyer like yourself, it really won’t take much time or effort. A couple afternoons of some rudimentary sanding and gluing and you’ll have it all done. 👍
love the feel and editing of this video
Thanks!
Videos are getting better and better!
Thank you!
that bell woke me up thank you !!
Fantastic tutorial! Thank you for the crystal clear audio and quality editing. I'm getting Zoom, the collab is definitely promising.
Glad you enjoyed! :) Happy to hear it’s coming along. Can’t wait to work with you. :)
I was laughing out loud at the animotion segment of glue bottles and stuff marching past the camera. You fixed your sound issues also. Exacto knife safety tip, tape a thin tiny piece of balsa scrap to the handle end to make it so the knife can not roll easily. Ever have en Exacto knife roll off a table and land on your foot or thigh? Something to try and avoid. Thanks for the detailed video! As usual, Well done dude!
Haha I'm glad you enjoyed. That took me way too long so at least you got a laugh. :) Ah yes the X-acto tape thing. I remember you mentioning that before. I'll be sure to do that. Thanks!
Your tutorial style is similar to a guy called Bruce Yeany who has been a teacher for 40 something years and now does science videos on YT. I can tell you from experience that making a tutorial is very addictive and your own learning curve for what you do goes up as well. You then get better with each one. Also you learn new skills of camera handling and editing and narration, which BTW is really good already. Really pleased you took this step as it will only build your skills and help build a genuine community around your channel. PS I would probably have used glad wrap (cling film) to stop the glue penetrating the table top, or do what I do and wax the tabletop until you have many coats. Glue does not stick to it. all the best Allen
I'll have to check out Bruce's channel. Making this video was pretty fun, yeah. Editing (which took a looong time) did get pretty tedious though. I'll try Glad wrap next time. i didn't known about that. I don't think wax would really work though, as I have seen CA glue stick to wax pretty easily before.
Excellent tutorial looking forward to the next one 👍
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed. :)
I use removable 3m photo spray.stick both wings down and sand them at the same time the center together. The wings aerofoils will be easier to match.
Very good tip! You could easily incorporate that into the method shown in the video. The only issue is that you cannot go too thin, otherwise the uneven pulling will bend the trailing edge. (Pulling against the firmly taped the bottom surface I mean). Also it would be difficult to remove the 3M tape (very sticky) from a thin trailing edge.
Thanks for the video. Great tutorial. A little tip when tracing things like the wing to another wing if you shift it down you’ll be a lot closer. Less sanding
Thanks, glad you like it. Yes I think I mentioned that in the video. The general case is to always cut on the inside of the pen line; if your shape does not match up with a corner, shifting one direction or the other will not work.
Super! Looking fwd to this.
I Like this very much.
Feels down to earth.
Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed. :)
@@AeroCraftAviation Yeah, i'm going to attempt one on my own now. Probably going to 3d print the fuselage, same technique for the wings as you tho. Real tidy
@@socialus5689 Oh whoa a 3D printed fuselage for this plane would be super cool. You gotta upload a video on that; I would love to see how it turns out!
@@AeroCraftAviation Do you have any sort of social media? It's about put together now! Just waiting for a BEC.
@@socialus5689 Yep! You can follow Copterdude on instagram; that's me. Also you can follow tuba_practicelog if you wanna see my music stuff. Nice. What BEC will you be using?
Nicely paced video, easy to follow 👍👍
Thanks!
Great stuff! Can't wait for the next one. :)
Thanks! Coming soon, :)
5
Can you share the plans of your DLGs?
You rock dude! Thanks!
You bet!
Would this sort of aircraft (dlg) be suitable as a trainer for flying larger rc gliders such as say, a 'Gentle Lady'?
Not really. The flight tendencies are quite different. But honestly, big slow gliders like Gentle Lady are quite easy to fly. You'll do fine even with little to no prior flying experience. As long as you know left from right and up from down. Haha
Yep definitely building one, though I’m a little short on balsa right now :( Also I like this editing style, it was pretty fun to watch.
Nice! Lemme know how it comes out.
Yeah, I thought the editing cane out pretty nicely. Definitely gonna do the following tutorials in the same style.
@@AeroCraftAviation yeah looking forward to it
DLG Discus Launch Glider dint know that 😀
how you sanding persice?
Do you find that wing join sufficiently strong enough or do you reinforce it ? Good effort for your first build video and look forward to seeing the rest.
On its own, that wing join is not really strong enough, no. But as you will see in the next tutorial, the fuselage will provide most of the strength in holding the wings together.
Great tutorial! You made me order some balsa. We'll see how it turns out. :) Do you cover the balsa with paint or film or is the added weight vs possible drag and/or protection a bad idea?
Glad you enjoyed! :) I do not cover the balsa with film or paint. I use a thin acrylic finish. Adds about 1.5 grams. Here:
www.ebay.com/itm/Aleenes-26412-Spray-Gloss-Finish-6oz-Acrylic-Sealer-Original-Version/303783347572?epid=1744132557&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item46bae60574:g:AFoAAOSwJ9FfvnLw&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%252Fn%252BzU5L90Z278x5ickkpFtSR0CGv%252Bh98r8Yb9quS7nVGwvjUdsKty%252Foo%252B74OLz7yOkez25H8p2wA2cF39gJJJPShn4fVFYvFaosu7hHKb3YzinJ3A%252F16utjBY1f6djvoecKCMWZjtLtl%252F7JhJR7GzNcB1SPVBt0lca5bDoIj9UWzW1VwRqaPul8Qj2oN4E4yHR0Ghd3rcxyuCzhtqphba7WsTzi5El6tBnyYgc79yjlmCZmh8yeGuZ5KIe%252FELMK42EI160A8Rq%252FwKNZqwDkECaH1OJNBJ0hSIRjWia1k6IEDDeeLD4Qjbjo8vbKNUZlLlDRlLIIwnTh1oEbimipMcgpmfHH7vTya4J3a3WwN%252Fi6FhPibINrNEnh8wXuCtRSw3CuWC6R%252BYJaywPnZZx7t5vZHE5wWV%252FzHv4xyKiLnvk0m%252FreQfDWZHLrEvrO%252BJI1BJRTs%252BAxCODsr2HBZJYxnLIS9a%252FazcPQOG3cxb9iAWMeyq4cT%252FRYt%252Fcpyx9CUj1%252FVM8djbv5ivHN8Wjzm3yS1TbEmf3hI%252FzI1rn8jUUkRnNsIbCrE%252B4YOmieBQgUXF73yc6uSB5HpVEdKM7901Pq6EYUeTvnSSqzrMQjtzn5706OWTdRB7z3J3LOjvtXIcpwaSjjvjtzhMnbruZpMl4ahOzSLZQ2G2vD8izvkcs2mxZgSCd%252BmcqCrfAeKYZgp6ArOiY6%252FKDAQTFWi9Hwi%252B%252FmhUVyH96WfjlutO024zEZ3PNAI7WJzcFqcvQ57UnKKrZ9bQdhIissdAFTbf9GrcF3fAsmBbnr7vc5hwPGoSxqVw%253D%253D%7Ccksum%3A3037833475729f3e9f20317a4dc79ce71a9fced172aa%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2334524
I spray on a thick coat, then sand it down smooth. Then spray on another coat, then sand down. Do this several times until the whole wooden surface has a VERY thin and smooth coat of finish. For the sanding, I begin with 320 grit paper and eventually change to 720 grit paper. Take about 5 minutes to sand each coat of finish. Sand carefully to make sure all the unevenness is worked away.
Thank you !!!!!
Good video. Could you post the plans?
At college right now, and plans are stored back home. If I have a chance I can get them and scan them. Then I'll reply with link
I'm sure I.missed it but is there a template to print out for the wings?
If not what are the dimensions of the balsa you used? Thank you.
Dimensions were stated in the video. Wings have elliptical leading edge curve. You can trace it out by eye. With a beginner glider, it is not really important. Besides, it is possible to trace out a pretty accurate elliptical curve by eye.
I backed the video up to the beginning and found it. Thanks for the reply and I look forward to more of your videos.
the best explanation ever thank you for making this video as I'm searching for a references video for my project-based learning program and this very helpful. would you mind if I ask that do you think if it can be launch and fly freely without any motors or electrical support?
I am glad you found this helpful! I have gotten that question before. Here is what I told someone else about that possibility:
Yes it could maybe fly free without electronics. It might be a bit fragile with the current design (I'm imagining all the nose-dives that a free flight DLG has to withstand before it gets adjusted smoothly 😂), but i think with some strengthening this might be a passable free-flight design. I would be concerned about its stability though, as most free flight DLGs have polyhedral angled wingtips for extra roll stability, as well as a Y-tail for yaw stability during launch, both of which this design doesn't have. To counteract the potential instabilities, I would probably sand some washout (negative wingtip angle) into the airfoil, along with some trim tabs on the wingtip trailing edges to set a nice left-right pattern. It would be finicky but could work.
@@AeroCraftAviation thankk youu for your respond and explanation I do appreciate it🤍✨
Nice
Yay! Tutorial!
Yeah!
Question: Can you explain what your minimal sender settings are, for a dlg start? Is a sender with flight mode programming mandatory, or can a low skill dlg throw and climb be achieved with just one overall trim and manual elevator control? How do you achieve going from horizontal throw to steep climb without doing a loop?
Wow sorry I guess I never saw this comment. Well, if I remember correctly, I think this glider had a launch setting of about 1mm down-elevator and 1mm right-rudder. If you make a glider with ailerons/flaps you can set a couple mm of up-flaps for launch. Put the setting on a sprung switch that will flip back to OFF position when you let go of switch.
I’d love to follow this video for my school project, but I can’t seem to find balsa being sold anywhere in my area. Since my project is due in a few days, I’m kind of screwed 😅
Oh dear, sorry to hear about the due-date stress. I feel ya. Finding good balsa can be difficult. Fewer and fewer hobby shops seem to carry it. Hobby Lobby and Michaels might, or maybe Meynards or Lowe's (if you're in the US, I don't know). I recommend buying it online from specializedbalsa. Buy a lot at once since shipping will be costly. Spend a couple hundred bucks and get yourself all the balsa you'll need for a year's worth of projects. Well worth it in my opinion.
Hi, thanks for the tutorials. Did you put anything into the wingtip to launch the glider? Or do you just pinch it between your fingers when launching?
Just pinch between my fingers. I can still pretty reliably throw to about 100 feet, so it's alright for a little glider.
I used a CNC machine and Fusion 360 to design my wing for this project. I'll post a time lapse if anyone is interested
Yes please! I am doing a similar thing with NX but having trouble getting it to mill correctly with the soft balsa. I would be very interested to see how you do it.
Song/Piece: Minuet in G by Boccerni (dont know how to spell composers name :/)
That's right. The piece in the intro is the Boccherini minuet in G.
Can j use styrofoam
Short answer is no. Not with this same method, no. But if you put some stiff spars in the wing, and/or apply an outer layer like thick covering film or fiberglass, then maybe yes!
What is the thickness of the balsa wood sheet
Thickness is 1/4".
At 5:58 I can get the name of the designer of the airfoil. Anyone can help me
Stan Buddenbohm uses this kind of airfoil on his gliders, which are very high performing aircraft. Here is a webpage where he has written some information about the kits and plans that he sells, as well as the techniques:
amaglider.com/?p=view&a=stans-stuff_aug-2020
@@AeroCraftAviation Thank's
Where did you go
To university... life is busy.
@@AeroCraftAviation Well good for you! I hope in the future you get time to do more videos if not happy studies.
Can we make it without electronics.
That is make it hand launch.
Pls reply😁😁
Yes, we can make DLG without electronics. See here, a wonderful example of a free-flight DLG: ua-cam.com/video/G0kBspK3cSE/v-deo.html
These take SO MUCH SKILL to build and fly. With electronics it is much easier.
Hello, use what size balsa?
In inches: 1/4 X 4 X 18 for each wing. 3/32 thick sheets for tails and fuselage parts.
nice job, your fingers looks like to mine fingers :D
Haha cool. Thanks
Any inputs on stanfoil?
At this size and weight, I have found that the flattened leading edge seems to lose its unique efficacy. I also have found that, at least for these 4" chord, 36" span, 65-gram DLGs, it is better to have more camber on the upper surface than on the lower surface. An airfoil with symmetrical trailing edge is not very good for slow flight or thermalling. However, I have found that a symmetrical leading edge (rounded both on top and bottom) is better than an asymmetrical leading edge (rounded mostly on top, or rounded on bottom and flattened on top). I have also found that better launch height (might) be achieved by extending the leading edge taper a bit, so the airfoil high point is a bit further back. I can't say for sure though. There are so many factors. In fact all of this is speculation, and while it comes from a lot of flying and building, there is still a chance some of the observations are inaccurate. Hope this gives some ideas. :)
@@AeroCraftAviation could you provide pictures for these aerofoils. The description seems to be going over my head.
build tutorial lightninbug
Sanding simply sanding....
Yes! So much careful, slow sanding. It is worth the time and effort, if done properly!
8
Omg that sound at the start.. What is wrong with you?
Lol, maybe I should've done what the other UA-camrs do and prefaced it with "RIP earphone users" 😂