Dollar Tree Foam DLG (proof of concept)

I had never flown a DLG but they looked like fun so I ordered an inexpensive one to try out and crashed it the first day simply because of learning to launch and fly. I decided it was time for a really inexpensive DLG for learning. The question was, would Dollar Tree foam board handle the launches?

 I decided to start with a 48 inch wingspan, and built the wing in a manner similar to Bloody Wonder and Baby Blender. The only difference was I made it in two 24 inch halves and overlapped spar halves in the middle for extra strength. I also wrapped the spar on the left end with three wraps of packing tape for extra strength for the dowell.

The final decision was how to make the boom. Since I am also an Archer, old arrow shafts just happen to be lying around the house, however, I think you could make a foam boom similar to my arrow shaft mount. To attach the boom to the wing I made a square of foam with the inside a fairly tight fit for the arrow shaft.

Then I cut a 4 inch piece, hot glued the shaft into the foam and then later glued the foam to the underside of the wing. I also needed a way to attach horizontal and vertical stabilizers. So I also cut and glued two two inch pieces to the opposite end of the boom. I glued all three pieces to the boom at the same time which insured that the stabilizers would be lined up correctly.

 In the photo you can see the two extra layers of foam board to raise the horizontal stab. Both Stabs were cut using an existing DLG as a model. This plane only had an elevator and ailerons. Finally for the fuselage. This is just a box with a rectangular cross section. I have it sticking out 11 inches in front of the wing. I wanted to be sure that I could balance the plane by moving the battery and reciever and would not have to add any weight.

The final question, is would it survive a launch, and would it fly. It survived about 20 launches starting with easy launches and working up to throwing as hard as possible. Flight was ok but not great. We could get it about 30 feet in the air and circle it around once and land it. It does not have the lift of a decent DLG, but it did its job. My son and I can both throw and fly a DLG, and we learned without spending a fortune for a plane.

I think I can increase lift without adding much weight by going to a 60 in two piece wing, or even up to a 72 in three piece wing. This should make it glide better, but that will have to wait until version 2. I also think that if you do not have a carbon arrow shaft handy, you could make the boom out of the foam the same way I made the square tube for mounting my boom.