RC Slope Soaring

This Page is always under construction.

Another one of my great hobbies is flying RC gliders. I started some years ago by purchasing a two-channel RC balsa glider, and now I design and build some all fiberglass sailplane models by myself. I fly with my friends as time permits. Our soaring group, called V.I.P., is not really a Club, but just some people with the same fanatical hobby interest that meet together every weekend to fly in silent tranquillity. Our group is composed of a large number of different people with the same interest in R/C soaring. We would rather not fly competition, but we prefer to exchange ideas and help one other . It's amazing how many people are fascinated with this hobby and come to see us fly and perform aerobatic tricks.
Below are construction details for the © SBAM sailplane, a small 3 channel RC glider (wing span 170 cm. and RITZ 2-30-10 airfoil) that I have built.

Here we are.....

Specifications SBAM

Wingspan 1680 mm.

Fuselage Length 700 mm.

Wing Area 20,16 sq dm.

Weight 910 gr.

Wing Loading 45,1 g/sq dm

Wing Section RITZ 2-30-10

Tailplane Section Flat Plate

Here is the plan of the © SBAM. The fuselage is fiberglass, reinforced with carbon fiber. The wings are polystyrene foam core covered with Obece (light weight).
After many tests, I decided to use the RITZ 2-30-10 airfoil instead of the more traditional Eppler. The Ritz is bi-convex, but if you pay attention during construction to the planarity of surfaces, incidence, etc., the model will be stable and it will fly well in adverse conditions too.
If the wind is strong enough, the © SBAM can be totally aerobatic (loops, snaps, rolls, inverted flight, etc.).
Although the © SBAM is easy to fly, it's not recommended for beginners.

Construction's plan

The model was totally designed using Computer Aided Design (AutoCad v.12) and plotted to a scale of 1:1.
After having finalized the design, I started construction by cutting out the wing rib templates from Vetronite, a material used to make printed circuit boards. To get better precision in wire cutting the wing's airfoil, I divided the RITZ 2-30-10 airfoil into two halves, upper and lower. (look at the plan)
The fuselage is made of hand layed fiberglass and took me a lot of work. I started by making a wooden plug model from balsa. If you do the same, pay great attention to the finest detail because even the smallest imperfections here will be visible in the final molded model.
The second step was to make the two female half molds for the fuselage. Make sure to use a good release layer when doing fiberglass work (I use polyvinyl alcohol), otherwise it will never come apart and you'll throw away all your work!
If everything turns out OK, then you can mold the final fiberglass fuselage. I used 180 gr/mq fiberglass cloth reinforced with carbon fiber. After curing, open the mold and behold your fuselage! (I know that it's easier said than done). With this method, you can make a lot of fuselages, but if you need only one, there are easier ways to go. For more information and comments please E-mail me.