Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1197609
tion of the unique landing skid that is need- ed to keep the high-dihedral wing from self destructing on landing. A 12" x 1.25" piece of beefy 1/4" plywood, with ends tastefully scalloped and lightening holes drilled, is glued to the bottom strip of plywood sheeting. Figure 14 shows the placement of dowel rods placed through holes drilled fore and aft of the wing, in proper RC fashion. I use at least five new rubber bands per side to securely attach the wing. The wing is covered in a suitable heat-shrink film, as are the tail feathers. For this size, rudder and elevators are hinged with a strong teflon hinge material at the ends and the gap beween stabi- lizor and control surface is hinged with plastic tape. I installed the RC servos just forward of the wing, with the servo arms exposed for easy access. The nyrods used for linkage to the control surfaces are left exposed and fastened to the tailboom, also for easy access (See Figure 15). I fabricated an all-wood launch tower as described in the Aero- Tech Phoenix builders manual (available online), as shown in Fig- ure 16. The builder and his creation are shown in Figure 17. I test flew the "Straight Wing Phoenix" at out club high-power range in late 2016. The first twitchy flights were flawless, although my 25-year-out-of-date RC flying skills were were not flawless. Nonetheless, it survived, and I managed a two-minute flight that day on an AeroTech F27, my longest since 1992! No photos from that day, but I recently rebuilt the bird with a much strengthened glider wing (2x4) and managed a couple photos from that flight (Figure 18). Now...what about that "stabilizer and wing" assemblies refer- ence from above—how do we built those? Well, this is a concept article, not a detailed step-by-step construction piece. Any number of kits or plans for 45"-50" flat-bottom glider wings will work— you don't have to use the Midwest 2x4 I used. Ditto for the tail feathers, although the EZ II plans I mentioned work really well and are simple. See those plans for how to build such assemblies. Still want a detailed step- by-step construction article? I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the Big Brother of Straight Wing Phoenix (Figure 19), which was my real motivation for starting this project. Scaled up by a factor of 1.6, it has a 78" x 15.5" wing, it will be powered by H, I, and the J94 Mellow motors. I hope. Online References 2x4 glider plan: https:// outerzone.co.uk/plan_ details.asp?ID=6544 EZ-II glider plan: https:// outerzone.co.uk/plan_ details.asp?ID=6663 34 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 SPORT ROCKETRY Figure 19. Teaser photo of the author with a 1.6x upscale version expected to fly on H, I, and J power. Figure 17 (Right). The author with his completed Straight Wing Phoenix RC rocket glider. Figure 18 (Above). The Straight Wing Phoenix launching on a single-use AeroTech F23FJ motor. No need for specialized motors or casings.