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The Candy Wrapper
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26”
SAL (side-arm launch) RC Glider
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by Andy Mitas
August 22, 2006
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This article describes the design, construction,
and flying of the easiest to build, cheapest little
RC glider for schoolyard thermal hunting I’ve
ever tried.
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Inspiration: Carl Dowdy and the Bug
While living in North Carolina I have had
the privilege of flying with the great Carl
Dowdy (SFA:bugsoaring). While his enthusiasm
and sense of humor are very welcome at the
flying field, his knowledge of RC and free
flight gliders combined with his penchant
for great craftsmanship are difficult to
compete against. It can be embarrassing
and frustrating to watch how well his airplanes
- always simpler than mine - seem to fly.
So far, Carl’s most famous contribution
to aeromodelling has been the remarkable
30” RC glider called the Bug.
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Bug landed Carl on the cover of RCM,
and perhaps the highest form of recognition
in the information age - a Yahoo!
Group dedicated to the design. Many modified
versions have been built, for example by SFA:uhu. |
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The Bug is very simple and
attractive. Its great innovation is the combination
of cheap, everyday materials - balsa, dowel,
and pultrusion carbon tube - in a simple,
structurally sound, and elegant balance. It
looks like it wants to fly and just begs for
any number of modifications - conventional
tail, setup for discus launching, electric
power, etc.
The Bug also happens to
be ideal for my needs for an RC glider -
small size, easy building and flying, durability.
So I built one, right? Of course not. I
had to try to design - with my inferior
experience and questionable IQ - some thing
even simpler, even quicker and cheaper to
build.
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The Design: the Candy Wrapper
My airplane is built around the wings from
the “Skyraider” Styrofoam glider
molded by Guillows and marketed to children
at craft and toy stores as well as through
Guillow’s
website. The stabilizer from the toy is
also cut down, hinged, and used as the stab
on the Candy Wrapper. The “Skyraider”
usually costs about $5.
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The other unique element is the Blue
Arrow receiver and servo equipment.
It is very light and small, functional, and
costs about $70 for everything. All other
materials are completely ordinary: light,
stiff 1/8” and 1/16” balsa, 1/32”
ply, 20.25” of 1/8” pultruded
carbon tube, cellophane tape, CA, and - that’s
right - a wrapper from a granola bar.
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