What's the best way to start in aeromodelling? Well i decided to start with a basic chuck glider. Got the simplest one i could find from India Model Makers , ISRO. Its a rubber powered foamie and it cost my pocket a mere Rs.150. Assembling it took just 10 minutes but fixing the wing took quite some time. The surface on which the wing had to be stuck was curved and was difficult to get it to form a dihedral.
Havent tested it yes - waiting for the glue to dry.
What kind of glue is used on foam models?
Have to figure out how to fix the rubber band. Its just one long 1 meter strand. Anyone tried anything like this before? Pics would help

I have attached snaps of it unassembled and partially assembled. The prop, rubber, and wheels are to be attached.

1. Easily available glues for foam - Fevicol, Fabric glue, Epoxy (araldite) etc. Expensive ones that have to be imported are Foam safe CA glues. Check the Hobbyking site.

2. The two ends of the rubber band have to be tied into a loop. I will try and post a pic of what I have. Else shoot off a mail to Saikat, he's a champion at building these things. only his scratch built models are way above this quality.

By the way, thats a nice model for 150/-. Let me see if the ISRO guys will sell me one.

Hmm... need to get myself some good old fevicol
Ya he will ship them. Contact details are included in the rc outlet list

Tested it today. It glides or i think it does. Well when i give it a gentle push and launch it horizontally it doesn fall like a stone. It moves downwards slowly and falls about 4 ft away from me. Is this good enough?

i saw some vids of bubberband powered gliders (but they were bigger in size)
after twisting the bubberband to maximum extent, they released it by hand, n it almost flew like the electric planes!
only diffrence was that the time period of flying was less!

also would like to add, that was RC rubberband powered plane!

Yup you can make them rc
There is another method i was told about. They use a rubberband to hold the rudder. A wick of appropriate length is attached to it and ignited prior to launch. The model will fly away from you and when the wick reaches the rubber band, the rubber will melt causing the rudder position to change and it turns and glides bact to the flyier Any one tried anything like this?

this is nice one,
i bought sameone for just Rs100 in Nagpur in March this yr, it gave me pretty good flight!!!

i was planning to convert it into electric RC. but find it too fragile so droped the idea!!!!!

Ashish

Any snaps? Was it a fomie?

Finished assembling it today.
I had problems with placing the rubber. Called Mr.Gupta (The person whom i bought it from). He is very encouraging and explained what was to be done. The 90cm rubber was made into a loop by tying it. The single loop was made into two loops and placed in the model. (shown in pics). Then applied oil throughly to the rubber, prop shaft (if you can call it that) and the wheels. The prop rotates very smoothly now.
Attached the landing assembly and tried it on the floor with 45 turns. And it moved fwd for quite a distance to my surprise! Was really nice to see my first model move even though its on the floor (you guys must be thinking- "what a noob" )
Tried it with 60 turns and it took off and dropped.   It sort of went into a partial loop so im guessing the tail is heavy?
Have to try it in the field next and learn to trim it well

PS: Im presenting everything with details hoping it helps other beginners like me.

Two more...

You need to give it 200 turns and launch it into the wind at an angle of 30 degrees or so. She should fly on power for about 7 - 10  secs and then glide back. Have fun!

Will do Coll starts tomorow so wont be able to try it in the field for some time

Quote from: rajathv8 on August 01, 2010, 06:29:08 PM
Any snaps? Was it a fomie?

from the picture i could say it was same one, even prop looks same!!!!! i dont hav any pics!!!

it flys gentle!!! gave it gentle and level push.......

i think i bought it for only Rs 75!!! it was more than 6 months so cant remember exact price!!!

That's a nice one, Had one for my son, who ultimately destroyed it. I had picked it up in Bangalore but do not remember from who.
And BTW that is not a chuck glider 

Ya true boxcar

Couldn't resist trying it out so tried it in the hall when mom wasn't looking It flew for a distance of 20 feet with ease then crashed into the wall. So tried it on the street with 70 turns approx. It flew like a charm for a distance of 30 feet and to a height of 20 feet, then crashed into my neighbours window with a bang! Picked it up and ran for dear life

The rubber is very stiff and prop doesnt spin with ease without oil. I used coconut oil for the rubber as of now. Any other suggstions on oil that can be used?
Today when i tried it the wings were flat, as in it doesnt form a dihedral. Will the flight be better with the dihedral or shall i leave it flat?

Did someone order for this from Indian Model Makers? If so pls call him again as he has misplaced your number. ( he called now and said so). Im not sure who has ordered as the only thing he told me was that the caller was from Gujarat (he was not sure).
Just trying to help. If found inappropriate, moderator kindly delete this post.
Thanks

Quote from: rajathv8 on August 02, 2010, 07:22:31 PM
Did someone order for this from Indian Model Makers? If so pls call him again as he has misplaced your number. ( he called now and said so). Im not sure who has ordered as the only thing he told me was that the caller was from Gujarat (he was not sure).
Just trying to help. If found inappropriate, moderator kindly delete this post.
Thanks

hi Rajathv

can u pls give detilas from whr did u get this, i again planning to buy one!!!! and if possible will convert to brushless!!!!!

Quote from: rajathv8 on August 02, 2010, 07:19:12 PM
The rubber is very stiff and prop doesnt spin with ease without oil. I used coconut oil for the rubber as of now. Any other suggstions on oil that can be used?
Today when i tried it the wings were flat, as in it doesnt form a dihedral. Will the flight be better with the dihedral or shall i leave it flat?

Use of any oil will soon spoil the rubber unless you take proper measure to wash it with soap and condition it with talcum powder etc.
Or you could use silicon oil I do not know where to get that but it does not affect rubber. One probable source is the cherry instant shoe polish (the one which has a sponge and contains silicon oil) 

Quote from: rajathv8 on July 31, 2010, 01:47:08 PM
What's the best way to start in aeromodelling? Well i decided to start with a basic chuck glider. Got the simplest one i could find from India Model Makers , ISRO. Its a rubber powered foamie and it cost my pocket a mere Rs.150.

Hi,
i want to buy some models, can you please tell me who to contact and his contact details. the mail is bouncing back.
Sandeep

Try this site for rubber powered model preparations. Especially, rubber band care, winding etc. - http://www.hbci.com/~bkuhl/rubber_energy.htm

Any idea if sprays for "car wheels" are available locally??

Try this -http://www.freeflight.org/index.htm - for some truly serious free flight. There must be many links like this one. At least gives a lot of detail on what is surely not just a "beginner" level in this hobby.

@ashJR : You can check the RC mega list for the details
@sandeepam: sorry i mistyped. The mail id is wrong as you pionted out

Plans for gliders http://www.freeflight.org/JLF/beginners_corner/index.htm

tg +1

For the info all the recent Rubber power fans / aficionados,  we used to employ a simple hand drill (used by carpenters) fitted with a curtain hook, to wind the rubber in the good old days.

I'm mighty surprised that Saikat isn't contributing to this thread. This is right up his street!

VC,
Do you remember flying the Bazzoka (the one kitted by Aurora long back)?