Lidl gliders available again

They stay up by magic!
Martin
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Lidl gliders available again

Post by Martin »

These are sold as free flight toy chuck gliders for kids, but they're good for R/C conversion. I just bought three at my local Lidl. £8 each so a bargain for an airframe of this size (86cm span - 34 inches).

Image

I put this in the slope soarers section as that is what most people will do, but I'm going to try to add a motor and propeller to one of mine this time. My existing glider one from last year has "wingerons": two small servos sunk into the fuselage under the wing leading edge, with the wing panels pivoting on a 'spar' about half wing chord. It's surprising how much movement is needed for aerobatics - fit long servo arms if you go this route. Mine is capable of loops, rolls and sustained inverted flight. It needs better lift to stay up than the most floaty of purpose-designed slope soarers, but not too strong a wind or it gets blown over the back.
Last edited by Martin on 22 Apr 2019, 13:34, edited 1 time in total.
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Carl
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Re: Lidl gliders available again

Post by Carl »

Funny you posting this Martin, as I passed Lidl today and wondered if they would have them again. Didn't have tremendous success last year with mine, and was looking at it earlier in the week at the possibility of having another go. I have a second one still in the box I thought about putting a motor on, so I'll see how a more experienced modeller/pilot approaches this first.....

Carl
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Martin
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Re: Lidl gliders available again

Post by Martin »

Flew my pulse-proportional magnetic actuator conversion today. Unfortunately no cameraman to video the flight. It flew well - I did a few loops and some nice landings. Needs more dihedral though for better steering response - it was controllable but generally it was a case of applying full rudder one way or the other and then waiting several seconds before it began to turn or straighten up.

Here's Dennis holding it for its pre-test flight shot.
LidlPulser.jpg


... and here's a short video clip showing it flapping in the pits before the test flight.

Spike S
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Re: Lidl gliders available again

Post by Spike S »

Easy way to improve Rudder effect on these is to chop off the tips at the moulding mark and Re-glue them with about 20 to 30 degrees of "tip dihedral". I used Uhu-Por on mine and no dihedral brace needed (so far!)
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Carl
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Re: Lidl gliders available again

Post by Carl »

:shock: Wow you're not going to see many Lidl conversions like that, and great you had successful flights. Stick an action cam on a cap then you don't need someone to film the flight for you. Would have loved to have seen that flying.
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Martin
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Re: Lidl gliders available again

Post by Martin »

I've done the extra dihedral modification now.

I marked a line on the top of each wing at the dihedral break position and then used a hacksaw to saw most of the way through from the top. I put the wing flat on a plank (so that the hacksaw ends wouldn't hit the table) and put a penny at the front and back of the wing, on the plank, in line with the cut. Then I sawed down till the hacksaw blade hit the pennies. I made a second cut at a slight angle to remove a thin wedge of foam. That created a nice foam "hinge" at the bottom surface of the wing (the thickness of a penny) and I could fold the wing tips down using that hinge for a final bit of sanding of the newly cut surfaces with a sanding block. Then applied the Uhu Por, waited for it to dry (it's a contact adhesive) and folded the wing tips back up.

The method seems to have created very neat and strong dihedral breaks. I'm waiting for a delivery to arrive, but if it gets here before dark, I'll nip round to the field and shoot some flying video by sticking my camera on a tripod - if the delivery doesn't get here in time, I'll try tomorrow, weather permitting.
Martin
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Re: Lidl gliders available again

Post by Martin »

Spike S
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Re: Lidl gliders available again

Post by Spike S »

Love it ! :)
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GarydNB
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Re: Lidl gliders available again

Post by GarydNB »

I got a red one as well...red ones go faster...
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Phil_G
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Re: Lidl gliders available again

Post by Phil_G »

Thats right Gary
Some pics of my own twisty-wing setup, this does brilliant twinkle rolls, the response is instant and very quick. Another advantage of twisty wings is that there is no extra weight at the back, and nothing back there to break. Twisty-wings has been an eye-opener for me!

IMG_20190324_095451.jpg

IMG_20190324_095510.jpg

lidl_glider_box.jpg



Mine all fits in a small "Really Useful Box" with the little 2+1 tranny and my sarnies:


IMG_20190324_095428.jpg





Heres a video taken by Steve at Nont Sarahs, its actually of his (identical) glider but mine comes into shot occasionally! You can see the roll-rate at 2:05

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