Balsa DLG Tutorials - Episode 5 | First Flights |

Hey guys! This is the fifth and final episode in my balsa discus launch glider tutorial series. In the four foregoing episodes, I have shown in detail how to construct the entire airframe, as well as how to install the electronics and get the aircraft set up for flight. This episode concludes the series by showing the aircraft’s first flights, as well as a few flying tips.
If you enjoyed the video, remember to leave a like and to subscribe to see more model aviation videos released every Saturday. You can also share this or other videos of mine with your friends, to help me reach a wider audience. Thanks for watching!
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[@altbob]

So glad that I happened to be biking by so I could get your plane down for you! The flights look great. I should build one of these sometime soon!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

It was quite a lucky coincidence for sure. You should; you’d probably do a better job of it than me. :)

[@altbob]

@@AeroCraftAviation But maybe not as good as you at launching it!

[@walgato1956]

Excelente la construcción, los ajustes y los vuelos increíbles. Thanks for sharing this video and plans. Congratulations!!!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

And thank you for your kind words!

[@michaelwhinnery164]

Respectable. Nicely done

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thanks!

[@luke_atthat]

Congratulations! Great first flight! I seems so easy for you to adjust the behaving of the glider. Great conclusion to this build.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you! Glad you liked the video. :)

[@allenmoore9848]

This has to be one of the best flying models you have made so far. I noticed your audio was down when you were commenting out in the field. When I am out in the field I will speak in a "larger than life" volume to compensate. It sounds over the top while you are doing it, but it all falls back to sound about right on camera. The thing to check is the level meter on the editor program, especially if you are doing voice over and field commentary on the one video. I set it so my voice is averaging around -12dB up to -6dB This means I will adjust each audio clip individually to achieve this level either via volume and/or compression. Thanks for doing this series as it been really interesting and I have learned a few tips from it. keep up the good work Allen

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Yeah the field audio always turns out too quiet. I'll try speaking louder next time. Thanks for the tip. :)

[@goldenfish77]

Very nice glider and it fly very well. I like that You throw it up easily. :) And I like Your works!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you! I am glad you enjoy.

[@hammeys1]

very cool, thank you for the series

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you for watching!

[@kenkingsflyingmachines2382]

If i had found these videos when you posted them, I'd be flying one right now. Great work! I enjoyed your comnent about the built up wing:"honestly, there's not much difference".

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Glad you enjoyed the tutorials. You should build yourself one. :) And yes, it really is true. In order for the built-up wing to be noticeably better than the sanded wing, the level of building precision and glue-joint smoothness and covering tension etc. would have to be ridiculously perfect. No doubt with like 50 or 60 careful building hours, one could produce a really high-performance built-up wing, but then again, one could build numerous sets of good-flying sanded wings in the same 50 hours.

[@kenkingsflyingmachines2382]

@@AeroCraftAviation I'm sorry it took me so long to see this response. I understand that imperfection in the airfoil is a real drawback to a built up wing, but surely the weight difference more than makes up for it? I have purchased some 3.5g servos...maybe I can get something built this fall.

[@richardrosenau9292]

Volume is 100% technical issues and easy to modify, seeing the steps you have come in RC is the TRUE value of your channel, please do keep it up

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thanks you, I am glad you enjoy my channel. 👍

[@ricomon64]

I enjoyed the build, but I love the flying. That was good of you to keep your trees well fed. I was feeding mine a P51 just yesterday.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Yeah, I’m in the same boat. Building is alright, but nothing beats flying. Haha yeah, they haven’t had any planes since last summer. On no! Was it a scratchbuilt P-51?

[@ricomon64]

No, just an Eachine EPP Mini P-51 from Banggood. It flies great, but it's a tad fast for me. Luckily, they're quite durable.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

@@ricomon64 Oh cool. Didn't know Eachine did Warbirds.

[@ricomon64]

They have a Mustang and a Corsair, and they're available from Banggood in China. They both fly great, and the Corsair will slow down nicely. They're four channel with full gyros and a switch on the Tx to vary the gyro sensitivity. Those with good eyes and quick reflexes torn off the gyros. I run them in intermediate, allowing sporty flying with rock solid stability. They also have an F22 pusher jet which I find very difficult to fly in my small flying area.

[@kenkingsflyingmachines2382]

I fed a tree at the park. A beautiful ff rubber job.

[@gisall8205]

Great video series. I know it'll add weight, but have you ever covered one of these Balsa Builds with a lament. Much slipperier through the air, and much stronger. Plus extending the lifespan of the build. Just curious.

[@Thalarctos.]

Bravo de france !! 😉

[@wingnutzster]

You won't believe this, long before I even knew your build existed I was at a coffee shop and suddenly got the urge to build a DLG, as a less complex project between my scale builds. The hobby store was next door so without a formal plan other than an idea in my head I bought materials I estimated I would need and wouldn't you know it I got the exact materials you describe in your build - albeit in Queen's units - 1 length of 1000mm x 100mm x 8mm balsa for the wings, 1x 6mm OD, 4mm ID carbon tube, even a 0.6mm carbon rod I thought I would use for stiffening. My design differs however, I drew it up afterwards for the materials I have and called it the Dragonfly, a straighter wing, a finger peg, and control surfaces are of depron, all of it will be coated and the pod is shaped then hollowed out. My concern was for the shaping of the solid balsa wings but you make it look easy, maybe too easy, I don't think most builders would get perfect mirror forms of the airfoil on the wings, also I planned my airfoil based on what is agreed to be the best airfoil for the application - I made templates then marked the important points onto the wing blanks like max thickness point along the top, the leading edge arc point and the trailing edge line across the edges of the blank, luckily I have a table sander to help but it's still very intricate and difficult to get exact profiles especially on a bird with no ailerons to compensate for differences in wing performance. Nice to find a fellow thinker! Subscribed

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Wow sorry that I'm only just seeing this comment now. That's a wonderful coincidence! I am really so glad that my video could provide some insights or inspiration. You improvements are very thoughtful and calculated. I would be skeptical about the depron control surfaces -- I have had nothing but failures when it comes to any DLG component made from unstrengthened foam. A finger peg on such a small glider is also questionable; at small sizes, viscous drag forces dominate and unnecessary surface aberrations (like a peg) induce a lot of drag relatively speaking. Besides that, I've never found a throwing peg to to give me much more than +5% of launch height as compared to a finger-pinch wingtip grip. Seems you have done the Drela method for the airfoil -- polygonally tessellating the airfoil and then marking the vertex stations along the wing. It's a good process. I always get too lazy to see it through and end up doing it by feel and eye. Table sander sounds like a dangerously fast-working tool for such delicate airfoil work. When it comes down to the fractions-of-a-millimeter part, I imagine the table sander is rather unhelpful. Good way to slough off the preliminary material though I suppose. What airfoil did you use? I have usually tended to the AG series personally -- the 25 and 47 are my favorites.

[@minecraftgamerz929]

Love your vids ! What servos do you recommend for a small dlg glider such as the lightninbug ? Thanks !

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thanks, glad you enjoy. I have found the Lightingbug glider is around 0.8 meter in wingspan. I would recommend the Emax 4.3 gram servos.

[@thephanphanlawoffice5548]

You are one cool dude. I built little free flight balsa gliders but this one you did is on another level. I was never as meticulous as I needed to be. Do you know if you can buy a production model of this plane?

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thanks! Yeah these builds are quite detail-oriented and time-consuming. But so worth it! Unfortunately there is no production-level version of this model. That's something I really want to do now that I'm at a university with the equipment available to me for manufacturing them. But not yet, no.

[@peterdepp5721]

Thanks a lot! Super présentation of building a small glider. I will probably choose a kit if it existed because I don’t have your building talent. Is there somewhere where I can Buy a mini glider kit or a full mounted one? Best regards!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thanks for your kind words! There is no kit for it. Maybe one day when I have the time and money, I will produce a kit. For now, though, there is none. Try your best to build it! It is very doable. You will enjoy the process, and you will learn a lot.

[@KrisKraya25]

Awesome👍i like your creation 🤗💕👌👍🙏if i made this can i make wing little bit longer than that🤔

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you! Yes, with this fuselage and tail section, I think you could increase the wingspan to 39 inches and maintain good flight characteristics. Hope this helps. Happy building. :)

[@richardrosenau9292]

Just slightly on the quite side, great job, your commentary will be more valuable than the classical music in the back. Reverse the volume and i expect it to be even better. The written points do help. Good job again

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Yes I had a technical issue this week that I couldn’t fix in time. My editing program stopped responding to changes in music volume. I decided to work with it and post anyway. Glad you enjoyed. :)

[@robertvanhousen1015]

That bird looks super light. Just wondering if you considered putting some type of coating or covering on the surfaces. It doesn't seem like it would last long with a few bad landings or a run in with a tree, etc.. Thanks for the videos!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Yeah, it's pretty light at around 54 grams. I find these 36" span, 4" root chord designs tend to be optimized at around 58-62 grams. All surfaces are covered with an acrylic sealant. Doesn't totally waterproof them, but it does prevent humidity-induced warping and other wood deformation. Like all of my gliders, this aircraft would definitely get totalled by a crash landing or run-in with a tree. I don't build 'em crashproof, I just build 'em to be minimalistic and efficient in flight. Makes for some disappointing crashes sometimes, but some very rewarding flights. I actually happen to still have this one after many months, so I've got a good no-crash streak going here. 😆

[@robertvanhousen1015]

@@AeroCraftAviation Hope I didn't jinx it, lol.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

@@robertvanhousen1015 Haha I was thinking the same thing. I'll take it for some flights today and we'll see. 🤣

[@robertvanhousen1015]

@@AeroCraftAviation Good luck. Any suggestions for good deals on the carbon fiber rods?

[@AeroCraftAviation]

@@robertvanhousen1015 Sorry for the late reply. Well I usually just look around on eBay for good deals on the carbon fiber. There are thousands of listings, so just try various search words and filters and you'll usually find some pretty good prices and quick shipping times.

[@RicardoRodriguez-mh7my]

Sorry if you’ve already answered this question on another video but do you think it’s possible you could add a very small FPV camera and a small electric motor with a propeller to this particular design?

[@AeroCraftAviation]

FPV camera, very possible. I once put a little all-in-one FPV unit on a glider similar to this, good fun. I carved a little rounded cover piece/mount out of balsa to fit the camera so the drag would be minimal. I haven't motorized any of my little balsa gliders, but I think with a little change to the fuselage, you could add one of those little 1103-1106 size brushless motors very easily. Lemme know how it goes!

[@RicardoRodriguez-mh7my]

@@AeroCraftAviation Sweet, thanks for the help :) I'll remember to update whenever I get to it. where would be a good spot to add the motor? The tip of the nose or the top over where the wings connect?

[@AeroCraftAviation]

@@RicardoRodriguez-mh7my Tip of the nose probably. If you add it over the wings, it'll have a lever arm about the transverse axis and will mess with the pitch control. I'd say just build the fuselage with a square front, and add a plywood firewall with a few holes drilled to screw the motor into place.

[@RicardoRodriguez-mh7my]

@@AeroCraftAviation Noted, thank you again, you're a really talented glider and crafter :)

[@Graybear78]

Please keep the music lower so we can hear you. Otherwise, good job.

[@andylowe9321]

Glock mos g41

[@yankeeromeoalpha]

Aight... time to get to work lmao

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Haha go for it! :)