1.4 Meter High-Performance Balsa DLG - Build Walkthrough and Maiden Flight!

This video production in its entirety represents around 60 hours of my work spread over the course of 4 months. So I would greatly appreciate any help you could give me in getting this video viewed by a wider audience, and recognized on a larger scale amongst the community of other avid model fliers! Thank you for any and all efforts to help me in that way! And if you yourself have watched and enjoyed this video, be sure to subscribe to my channel! By doing so, you’ll not only be immediately notified of all my new uploads, but you’ll also be greatly supporting me and the work that I present here on KZbin. Thanks for watching!
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[@ikeimage]

Ahh, the satisfaction and reward of making something from scratch and having it surpass your expectations!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

That’s for sure! Couldn’t have said it better myself! :)

[@elizabethconant9971]

This is such a beautiful build video in every way. Congratulations on this gorgeous craft.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Yeah I’m really happy with how it came out. :)

[@wunkus]

That's some impressive workmanship, and I looks like it flies great!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thanks! Yeah it's pretty finicky when it comes to wind and weather conditions, but the raw glide performance is super good.

[@ludwigvanzappa9548]

Thank you for sharing ! Can't wait to build my own ... very soon . :) Love your choice of music !

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you! Hope all goes or is going well with your build! Especially glad you appreciate the music. As a classical musician myself, having this music in my videos is of utmost importance to me and it’s great to have that appreciated! Thanks for watching!

[@Firebird356]

What an awesome glider !! It just hangs there! Nicely done.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thanks! One of my best builds yet.

[@tarcisiosoares3404]

Beautiful DLG , build! and wing structure. ,GREAT MUSICS

[@loganreuter6072]

This one looks great! I knew it was only a matter of time before the DLGs came back! Lol. Anyway Flies great and awesome build as always! Can’t wait for the next video

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Haha yup, they’re back and they’re better than ever! Thanks, glad you liked it. :)

[@kirkglundal4289]

Great job!

[@goldenfish77]

From 4:25 Your wing mounting is very epic! I like that You cut the fixing parts to encircle the fuselage.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thanks! Yeah that's a good way to make the joint smoother. It can improve the glide a little bit.

[@Coyotehello]

Success indeed! And the video itself is a piece of art, very well edited.

[@allenmoore9848]

Your skills keep getting better all the time. Very nice build

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you. Always learning and always improving, that’s how I try to remain. :)

[@yassermasood3423]

Wonderful job young man. You are and inspiration.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you very much! Your words mean a lot. :)

[@dbmooo]

Great job 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@markod1977]

Beautiful build! Great wing structure.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you!

[@GrandadsOtherChannel]

I was just typing "another success" here in the comments and you put it on your end screen 😁😁 On the maiden with the gusty conditions and warm air I didn't think it was going to come down, seemed to hang in the air for ages 👍👍

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Haha yeah, it was just staying up there. Actually since that was just a maiden flight and I was very unused to its flight tendencies, I was trying my level best to get it to come down for the last 20 seconds of that flight. 😂 it was just so thermal-sensitive that I couldn’t get it down without risking slamming it into the ground.

[@haroldland4620]

amazing first flight !

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you!

[@grahambate3384]

Good build mate

[@goldenfish77]

Very nice DLG building and flying video! My favourite part at 6:15, nice circle flying in the sundown. Beautiful!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you! Ah yes it was such a beautiful flying glider. It crashed this summer and I don't have it anymore. :( But I am working on a better one!

[@goldenfish77]

@@AeroCraftAviation Oh, I'm sorry this could be happen. I did not think that. But this glider flies forever in Your channel! :) Very nice glider was. Nowadays my "HLGs" do not break but I have to repair some nose damages. In this case I fix them. I would work on a such nice DLG too. These are very big projects, I think so.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

@@goldenfish77 Haha yeah...but it’s ok, I’m always excited to make new projects. And you’re right, it’s always here in my channel. :) Yes with me too, usually I get small fuselage damages that can be repaired. But this one was worse. Many of the wing ribs were cracked, and the fuselage was split, and the tails were bent. Not worth fixing, so I took out the good parts and threw away the rest.

[@goldenfish77]

@@AeroCraftAviation I made a hot wire foam cutter to make DLG wings. I hope it will be good for it. What DLG type do You mention for me? I'm very beginner in this theme. I like that DLGs what You have built. I just would control the fin and stab with servos. It will be compilcated at first time to take the glider up in the air?

[@AeroCraftAviation]

@@goldenfish77 Oh that’s great! Hotwire cutters are cool, I want to make one too. I don’t know what glider to recommend. I design my own, so I have never used plans. Maybe a thermal scout could be a good DLG...but I don’t know. It will not be so complex. The connection of the electronics and linkages is pretty easy, and there is a lot of information available about it.

[@GeneBurnett]

Really nice one!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thanks! :)

[@sumantabhowmick.4128]

Lovely.... skillful building is back again..ha ha 🤗🤗...... I wonder how do u make a 1.2 m glider so light.... Awesome. And this time flying video is also very very pleasing... lovely to watch... really enjoyed. Thanks for sharing.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed! The lightweight is partially because I used very light balsa, but because it is thick it still has strength. Also I used an ultralight covering film, something usually used for indoor flow-flyers. But really it comes down to a design that has good structural soundness and makes an efficient use of material.

[@joshuawfinn]

A beautiful build as always. I do think that now you're LONG overdue to start vacuum bagging wings. For the amount you're spending on contest grade balsa you could have a sweet Synergy II wing, and you can make pods from Kevlar over blue foam (dissolve the foam away when done).

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you! Yeah, I’ve been interested in vacuum bagging wings recently. It’s just a bit overwhelming with all the various methods that I see online and the new tools and equipment it seems like I would need, so I stick to balsa. But I really would like to get into composite building and vacuum bagging.

[@ricomon64]

Yes, an major success! It was 36 hours well spent.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thanks! That’s for sure. :)

[@thatparamotorguy]

Nicely done man! I'll try to get a shout out put together in my column in Model Aviation!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Oh that would be awesome! Thanks so much!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Any progress on that shoutout? :)

[@thatparamotorguy]

@@AeroCraftAviation March issue. Had it ready for Feb but it turned into a two part write up so I didn't have the room available!

[@genetung8590]

Nice choice of music

[@alejandroa.menyhart5346]

Great

[@cloudstreets1396]

I came for the glider build and I stayed for the music.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Haha, that's nice to hear. Not too many people enjoy classical music; it's nice when someone really appreciates it.

[@Objectivityiskey]

I can't believe it actually flyes!!!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Well, just like everything I build, it certainly does fly. I mean, if it weren’t gonna fly, I wouldn’t even bother with it to be honest. :)

[@B60IN3]

I can't believe it's not butter!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

@@B60IN3 😂😂😂

[@flymachine]

Beautifully executed and an elegant design, tell me though is there a strong argument for laminating sheets to get the thickness as opposed to cutting straight from thicker stock? I know that laminating adds strength but with a weight penalty - could I reproduce this with the 10mm stock I have?

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you. There is no good argument for the necessity of laminated sheets in this case. I laminated sheets simply because it's all I had -- did not have access to lightweight 10mm stock. Making the wing from 10mm stock would be a monumental improvement. Here's why lamination is a bad idea: It results in a rough ridge of adhesive when the airfoil is sanded. It also increases the risk of warping -- when the sheets have different densities or grain textures they will respond differently to the sanding. And if you use enough glue to withstand the tendency to warp when sanded, then you're adding a good deal of weight AND the glue will make a rough edge along the airfoil contour. The leading edge may also chip away more easily because each individual sheet is getting tapered down more thinly (so that together they comprise the leading edge shape), and the brittle layer of glue holding them together doesn't do much good to absorb impacts. Honestly, a 10 mm solid balsa leading edge is the way to go. Add a little basswood strip along the leading edge and you're doing even better.

[@flymachine]

@@AeroCraftAviation it's settled then, thanks for your response. I must admit to preferring your solid sheet wings from a build perspective but also just in terms of the results one can get shaping sheet stock. Higher and Higher

[@peterredlich6322]

Congratulations Copterdude! Once more a nice piece of intellectual and handy work! One thing is not clear to me: the assembling of the wings with the tail and pod. How much dihedral? By the way what are the width and length of the laths of your workplan... Don't stop posting!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you! The aircraft has around 4 degrees of dihedral per wing, but it’s not very exact and I’m not sure of the precise angle, I only know it’s roughly 4 degrees per wing. Do you mean my work table? That is around 3 feet X 7.5 feet.

[@peterredlich6322]

@@AeroCraftAviation No I meant the timbers of your work table! that gives a scale of the parts you made!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Oh. The width of each board is around 4.5”.

[@peterredlich6322]

@@AeroCraftAviation the translations with Google are not always effective! I meant the slats of which your table is made. But you already understood me! Have a nice day. Here in France it's sleeping time. Zzzzzzzzzzzz

[@manupfdo3150]

Omg please tell how u connected it to ur controller, please do a depth lesson of connection using cheap parts like a toy car rc controller please. Really appreciate

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Connecting the receiver to the controller is a simple binding process. I use Spektrum transmitter and receiver. You can find info on those at horizonhobby.com . Also on the Horuzon Hobby KZbin channel. I will not do a lesson on binding remotes and transmitters on my channel, because it is very rudimentary, and it is widely available information. Cheers. :)

[@michaelrollo6518]

does this glider make for good slope soar? your build is so simple thanks did you see the guy that built the z plane he sent it to flight test look up flight test they are a crazy bunch of dudes with their expermentel planes

[@AeroCraftAviation]

You would have to add ballast weight. Maybe 75 grams of ballast for medium winds.

[@ianpoon7357]

Damn music is crazy!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Brandenburg Concertos really were genius works! Too bad he didn't get the job lol.

[@oguzhanisbilir]

where did you get the puhsrod wire ????

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Hi there, sorry for the delayed reply. The control is achieved through thin nylon cables that are at tension between the servo and the control horn.

[@somethingelse2740]

Really nice job mister! That thing looks and flies like a champ. Do you use a heat gun for your covering, or just the covering iron?

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you! No heat gun, I just use an iron. Sometimes I do wish I had a heat gun, but somehow I can’t make myself spend $50 in a new tool when I’m getting pretty good covering jobs without it.

[@somethingelse2740]

True, you can get decent covering done with just an iron. But Irons tend to make more scratches on the film than a heat gun. And a gun heats film faster overall. When using an iron you can not really see the shrinking and tension lines in the film as it shrinks due the iron blocking your view. Don't get me wrong, Irons are truly a necessity, but heat guns are a great tool also. A heat gun for RC use is also excellent for heat shrink tubing on wiring. No way to overheat/melt the shrink tubing like people do with torches and lighters. And Top Flite brand heat guns are only $26 on amazon. My TF gun has been serving me well since 1995.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Yeah you make a good point, I may indeed be able to achieve some minor cosmetic improvements to my covering jobs with a heat gun. And I guess I hadn’t seen them for so cheap, but I’ll check again again with that in mind. For shrinking heatshrink tubing I just set my digital soldering iron to the shrinking temperature notated by the supplier of the tubing on the product page (usually some nondescript Chinese eBay seller).

[@somethingelse2740]

Cosmetic repair is only one thing you can do with a heat gun. You can also untwist wings or add twist such as wingtip washout when wing never had it in the first place. Just lay your wing flat on surface and hold majority of wing down flat with weights. Add a small wedge under trailing wingtip forcing the washout. You will see wrinkles in covering. Add heat from gun and the wrinkles disappear and the washout remains. Flip wing and heat underside also. It can take a few tries with more and more wedge if the wing structure is really strong. Same type of method can be used to remove warping from wings. As for using an accurate soldering iron for shrink tubing, I'm sure it works, but an iron can not surround the tubing with heat in one shot. And I'm pretty sure it can't do a dual layer shrink tube as well as a gun. Heat gun is just a great working tool with more than just use. Can also use it to dry things out quickly or accelerate glue. Or warm your frigid fingers on a cold winters day! Or to soften old stickers that need peeling off your old car. The list goes on and on. Hairdryers don't cut it and paint peeling heat guns are simply too hot for these other uses.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Interesting, I guess a heat gun would be handy for wing-twisting. Although I’ve used a covering iron for that purpose very successfully many times. Yeah, I guess that had never occurred to me, but you’re right, the soldering iron can’t do a very good job of dispersing heat around the cylindrical shrink tubing. Well consider me convinced; a heat gun may not be a bad thing to have around! :)

[@EngineeringFun]

What's the purpose for zooming in so much? We want to see the plane flying.

[@LWJCarroll]

Hi I couldnt find out what you used for plans?? Thanks Laurie

[@peterredlich6322]

Hi Laurie! in my opinion he has no drawn plans. He starts with a wing profile and builds the plane around. It's all in his brains! Am I wrong?

[@AeroCraftAviation]

You’re spot on! I just imagine in my head what I want to build, then I build it. Although for this project I did sketch up some of the parts in CAD just to make sure they would fit.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

I don’t use plans. I design everything myself. :)

[@glenntrechel]

gg

[@davidepaganini5527]

terribile !

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Tante grazie!