10 months ago I bought this 7€ chuck glider from the Lidl. I immediately thought to convert it to an RC slope soaring plane. The only downside was that I needed to wait 10 months to test it. because I have no hills here to slope soar on. So I had to wait for the next holiday to the coast to slope soar on the dunes.
Build
For the control surfaces, instead of cutting them in foam I glued some foamboard to the tail.
I’ve cut the servos out but didn’t glue them in place so when it hits the ground hard they pop out and don’t break. Also because I don’t use the plane for the other 12 months, it is easy to use them for some other crazy projects.
For the pushrod I used a trick from my flying buddy. I made 1 pushrod from 2 parts that cross each other for like 5 cm over each one. You hold them together with the inside of a screw terminal so you can adjust the control surfaces. So my screw terminals come in handy! Using it for connecting my esc to my motor is a bad idea because they melt completely.
To keep the pushrods on the plane I used some straws that I glued on the fuselage.
To protect my electronics I made a cap of 1mm Plexiglas and secured I with some Velcro.
First test
When the plane was ready, I did some testing on the field. It flies actually great so I thought I try to discus launch it. that even worked better! But the second time it dived in the ground with a bad throw and it broke in halve… . I glued it back in place and reinforced it with a carbon fiber stick.
mounting my camera
To get a nice camera view I thought to place my runcam on the wing tip. I 3D printed a camera holder and a holder for my counter weight. I secured I whit some Velcro on the wing.
Testing it for real
I went on vacation to the coast but the only problem was that there was no wind in the 3 days I was there. so I don’t had the chance to slope soar but I had some fun with throwing it from the top of the dunes. But slope soaring is much more fun!
Last year there was wind enough to slope soar and that was really fun. Hopefully, next year I have another chance!
my video of last year
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