Foam-X 80" Glider(Build Flight and Plans)

by andreasbe | October 25, 2013 | (0) Posted in Projects

I started off this project as a prototype build for a UAV/Drone contract that one of my aquantances acuired to do Aerial photography.

 

The requirements were to build a plane that could fly an extended distance with a payload of up to 1000 grams.

so what happened....  I built a foam glider.. 

 

 Here is the 1st 3 flights.

 

The Material used is 2 A1 sheets of 3mm foamboard, a 70cm 5x20mm hard wood beam as a wing spar, 

2 x 100mmx6mm wooden pins for the rubber band holders of the wing.

4 x 9gram servos.

Outrunner motor with 1.1Kg thrust with a 10x4.7 APC propeller

I use a 2200mAh battery and a 20Amp ESC.

 

I have now flown the plane in ideal conditions and it handles extreemly well, I can glide without thermals for 5 minutes from an altitude of about 300 meters only working the head winds.

 

With the current setup the glider can sustain altitude and fly at 10% power, I am estimating to get about 60 minutes of flight at that rate. 

 Here is my latest Video:

 

The prototype plans can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B73hvPNPBVHpaVJNcmM5Ykt1M0U&usp=sharing

COMMENTS

andreasbe on November 11, 2013
Here is the Last Video with on board and external camera:
http://youtu.be/ufF7yEWWEQ8
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alibopo on November 7, 2013
Hi, what's missing for me is a picture of the plane! :)
I do like the POV flight stuff, but I also like to see the plane in flight and how it performs and handles.
Cheers.
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andreasbe on November 7, 2013
Hi There, as soon as I can get a buddy to film it I will post a link to the you tube video.

Here is a late build image in the meantime.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BW18IhDCUAABOJ7.jpg


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alibopo on November 7, 2013
Hi andreasbe, thanks for that. Functional! But that's what you were after :)
I could never find anyone to film for me either so I bought a set of those camera spectacles. They're no good for distant objects but fine up to about 100m. I can usually patch together enough 'close' flight time to make it worth posting. The only thing you have to remember is to 'head-track' to keep the camera in line with the subject. Other than that it's pretty much wear and forget.
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andreasbe on November 11, 2013
http://youtu.be/ufF7yEWWEQ8

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andreasbe on November 11, 2013
Ok so my son managed to film this weekend, so I am in the process of editing and mixing together the in-flight and external video.


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adergotardo on November 7, 2013
I don't find the rudder or elevator in plans… Maybe if you colored different shades on lines to cut and fold it's help us to build. Besides, an image of the plane will be good.
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andreasbe on November 7, 2013
Hi there I will update the tale section of the dwg files and make sure I add the crease,score and cut lines in color on the pdf files.
You can expect the new plans up in 24h.
The original link will still be valid to my public google drive share for this project.
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walkerr on November 7, 2013
Thank you very much for sharing! And for making an effort with the plans.
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sailorJohn on November 7, 2013
We need a new category called flite videos .
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andreasbe on November 7, 2013
dwg CAD files updated (Used DraftSight) PDFs Updated.
The fuselage Plans now include the tail section that I left out by mistake.

Have fun!!
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larz001 on March 31, 2014
hi andreasbe, you plane looks to fly very well thanks for sharing, I tried to download your plans but when I print them out at 100% the wingspan is just over 63" am I doing something wrong?
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andreasbe on April 1, 2014
Hi Larz001,
There is an issue when I export from Draftsigt that does an auto fit action, please download the DWG files and do a direct print from the plans.
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larz001 on April 1, 2014
awesome thanks for the info,, I suppose I could printed at 125% but that may not be accurate either,, I will download the dwg files thanks again
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larz001 on April 1, 2014
i tried downloading the dwg files but there seems to be a problem with them as i cannot open them, a window pops up and says there is no association files, ,, whatever that is
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andreasbe on April 1, 2014
You can download DraftSight it is a free CAD software.
http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/download-draftsight/#xtor=AD-508-[swfreetools]-[middle]-[intext]-[www.solidworks.com]


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larz001 on April 1, 2014
i tried the draft sight, I even found a dwg file reader and neither of them work for me,, its no biggy i'll just print them at 125% it will get me close, its all good, thanks for the plans
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Foam-X 80" Glider(Build Flight and Plans)