Building Joshua Finn's Aleda Catapult Glider Kit 

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

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

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

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! 😜

OK! Staying in "Stealth" mode! :D

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?!? 🤔

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! 😀

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.

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!

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

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!)

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!

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

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! 😊

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: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jm-pE7U9Coo.html. People reading this comment should pay him a visit!

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!

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.

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.

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! 😊

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,

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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. 😀

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

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.

Around 5 grams with nose weight.