Building Joshua Finn's Aleda Catapult Glider Kit

[@GeneMyers14854]

Good to hear from you again Bruce after so many years playing with toys keep your young and the technical engineering keeps your mind healthy I may have to get one of them from you and go play 2 and Brad I don't know if you remember me you is just a little tyke back then y'all keep up the very good videos they're pretty cool

[@williamrobinson7435]

Excellent! Thanks for posting, and Joshua Finn is indeed a brilliant aeromodeler.. 👍

[@herbertkuttner9228]

Ha guys Herb here (remember me?) J. Flin is one of the best in my book I met him a long time ago when I was flying down in Palm Bay Florida Not just gliders he is a very fine modeler and free flight flyer and as you know he also as a u-tube channel You have met the best How are you guys doing, fine I hope In 5 month if I make it I will be 89 I still love our hobby and have had a lot of fun with your gliders I wish you guys the best Herb

[@TheRcSaylors]

Awesome video guys! I was very excited to see this upload! Great camera work :) We may have to try and pick one of these up! Lovin the Swag Bruce!!! :)

[@NighthawkGliders]

Thanks! Our camera work and video production skills are certainly a work in progress and we appreciate the compliment. 😊 Yeah, Hmm. I wonder where Bruce got that shirt?!? 🤔

[@joshuawfinn]

Y'all are having waaay too much fun. Nice job getting those built out and trimmed so quickly. I do see a need to put a backing board in the kits to prevent the edging from breaking off of the wing blanks...more little tricks to implement... Can't wait to meet up and fly with y'all!

[@NighthawkGliders]

Thanks, Josh! Yeah, we had fun with these. It’s the simple things in life that makes us happy! 😀 We’ll see you soon!

[@joshuawfinn]

Yup! Also...gonna build a Sandpiper tonight. I may totally corrupt it...it'll be fun though!

[@NighthawkGliders]

Awesome! We wish you good luck on your build! Hope it works out for you! 👍 😀

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Man though you guys are lucky not to have any snow and to be able to fly in January! Here in upstate New York there's so much snow that as soon as gliders land they absorb tins of water...so I can't fly outdoors yet...phooey. Nice flying by the way! Didn't know a glider could even turn that tightly without going into a spin!

[@NighthawkGliders]

Yeah, we had severe icing last week. But all cleared up now and we had a nice, warm, calm, break. So, we seized the day! Yeah, that was a super-tight turn. Lol. I’ve since adjusted my rudder to widen turn to something more stable. Flew it today and even had to watch out for thermals! 😀

[@joshuawfinn]

You can reduce the turn by twisting the tailboom so that the left stab tip isn't as high relative to the wing. With the aft CG you're flying, any stab tilt has a very significant influence on glide trim. I try to avoid messing with the rudder for glide trim other than to dampen out stalls after severe upsets, but that still has to be balanced very carefully with launch trim.

[@NighthawkGliders]

Never thought about twisting tail boom as an option. Hmm. Since I had too much rudder, I just tried sanding it down a little more on trailing left side to counter the turn a bit. Seemed to help and even launches better now!

[@joshuawfinn]

So long as it flies good, that's what matters!

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Crazy! I flew one of my CLGs today and I had to watch out for snow banks and ice sheets!(I didn't watch out enough, it's in pieces on the kitchen table!)

[@MentaIPatient]

Nice build and flights. Can you tell me what measurements you used to cut out the wing shape on your "building another glider" video? I would greatly appreciate it. Keep up the great videos and gliders. Thank you.

[@NighthawkGliders]

Thanks, FGM! To be totally honest, I need to tinker more on the design with the glider in the “Building Another Glider” video before I pass along the details. That requires more time for me to build and some good weather. Ugh, winter! But, stay tuned!

[@MentaIPatient]

Nighthawk Gliders, I apologise I should of been more clear. It was how you marked out the leading edge of the wing, I have a really hard time making ellipses with the string and pin method etc and the way you did it by measuring, marking, then cutting and sanding looked to be a much easier way to do it. Thank you again for your time.

[@NighthawkGliders]

In the “Building Another Glider” video, the leading edge of that glider is a parabolic shape. Every inch from the wing centerline, the mark I make for leading edge is doubled. 1/16”, 1/8”, 1/4”, 1/2”, 1”, and then 2”. After I fine tune that Gliders design and make tutorial, I’ll be sure to demonstrate.

[@mrmirech4795]

How big of a wingspan do you recommend for 18 grams of electronics?

[@AeroCraftAviation]

What airfoil do you guys use? I have been using the Stanfoil by Stan Buddenbohm on my most recent designs and I've found that with an elliptical wing I'm getting glide ratios of almost 11:1!

[@NighthawkGliders]

We just “wing it” when we shape our airfoils. Nobody’s design in particular. We haven’t tried Stan’s yet... I think we need to! 11:1 is pretty good! 😊

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Yeah the one by Stan is pretty easy. Basically the main goal is to get the trailing edge taper equal on both top and bottom and make it start to taper about 25-30% of the way back from the leading edge. Also it will maximize the performance if the leading edge is rounded on the bottom but sanded straight at an angle on the top. This will move more of the laminar airflow over the top of the wing, causing the air to speed up more over the top of the wing and give some Bernulian lift without all the drag of a flat bottom completely non symmetrical airfoil. So actually once you get the hang of it it's really simple. But I've heard that it's best to use a wooden sanding block so that the taper is as even as possible. This works because a foam sanding block will dig in more to the lighter less dense areas of the wood and form small irregularities in the surface whereas a wooden sanding block will not bend and will disperse the sanding forces evenly,

[@NighthawkGliders]

Words from a young, future engineer! You’ll hear no arguments from me on this topic! Well said! 👍😀

[@AeroCraftAviation]

Thank you! Any other aeronautical principles you'd like to be lectured on? Lol!

[@rileyhowe9610]

Another great video I’ve loved watching your channel grow I’ve been here since 40 subs 😁

[@NighthawkGliders]

Yeah, Riley... We, you, and GrandadIsAnOldMan go way back! Lol 😆. Thanks for sticking with us. I think you might have been first person to attempt building our Sandpiper! Keep flying, my friend!

[@rileyhowe9610]

Nighthawk Gliders thanks and yeah I think I was haha keep up the good work

[@michaelkarnath7556]

How and where can you purchase the Aleda glider kit

[@NighthawkGliders]

I’m not certain Josh sells them anymore, but in sake of friendly competition, check out his website at jhaerospace.com. Also, be sure to stop by our website at NighthawkGliders.com for our kits, too.

[@kathyanderson8462]

Awesome video. Keep up the good work. Congrats on your Hollywood editor nod! I watched his video with your cameo in it.

[@NighthawkGliders]

Yeah, thanks Kathy. I did not expect him to do that. What a surprise! 😊 His name is Jeff Bartsch and the link to his video is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ6QoXhtip52pdE. People reading this comment should pay him a visit!

[@JohnBorlaug]

That does it! I'm calling the "fun police" right now! :D You guys need some RC equipments to totally 'mess' things up! XD

[@NighthawkGliders]

Shh... please don’t narc us out to the “fun police.” We’re keeping Bruce’s RC stuff on the down low. If we get caught, we’ll be required to publish more fun videos- a horrible “punishment” for having such contraband! Ugh! 😜

[@JohnBorlaug]

OK! Staying in "Stealth" mode! :D

[@goldenfish77]

8:52 very nice ballance

[@NighthawkGliders]

Yeah, that is what we strive for. I wish I had recorded Bruce’s full flight of that, so we published what we had of it. Buttery-smooth! 😊

[@newskyflyersbhopal916]

Very Nice

[@lancaster5077]

Nice video - the sanding is something I struggle with, but you seem to have it down.

[@NighthawkGliders]

Something that certainly takes time and practice. You’ll get better at it. The trick is stopping frequently and *feeling* your progress so you don’t over do it and have uneven spots.

[@AeroCraftAviation]

What are their flying weights?

[@NighthawkGliders]

Just a bit over 5 grams. I think Josh Finn did a good job selecting the balsa for his kits. We could have gone more on sanding but wanted not to chance it.

[@achmaddj]

It's very cool! Would it be possible to get the plans? Hihihi

[@NighthawkGliders]

I'm not the maker of this glider model, but, jhaerospace.com is...

[@flightdog1807]

nice plane

[@joewoodchuck3824]

What do they weigh?

[@NighthawkGliders]

Around 5 grams with nose weight.

[@johnmarktamano8834]

nice maiden flight. You shuld have brought your sandpiper.

[@NighthawkGliders]

Thanks! Yeah. I always want to fly my gliders. I would have, too, but we had so little time to fly. 😊

[@johnmarktamano8834]

I started with the balsa and foam gliders, now im learning the ropes of rc planes. thanks to you guys.

[@NighthawkGliders]

That is fantastic! Yeah, balsa and foam are a good place to start building inexpensive airplanes and learning about flight. Thanks for sharing your interest and watching us. 😀

[@namafitness4879]

Pp