Working 100% Lego glider

[Davidz90]

After release of the 42174 yacht set, I wondered if these large sails could be used as wings. Turns out - absolutely yes!

With a lightweight frame made out of the long technic axles from botanicals sets, I built this:

The structure is minimal to save weight, but still fairly heavy by airplane standards. Nevertheless, initial tests were promising:

and after some tweaks, I got it to glide decently:

Unfortunately the conditions were quite windy, I'm gonna do more tests indoors soon. Nevertheless, Lego can fly! (about as good as paper airplane and better than space shuttle XD)

[2GodBDGlory]

That's a pretty cool idea! The "Fly Better" branding on the sail pieces fits well here!

[Jurss]

Nice. 

Play with some added weight at back or front, and You will get better results

[SNIPE]

Very nice,

I actually had the idea of using these vinyl pieces to make a small fast helicopter with a buwizz motor so I'm glad someone had the initiative to make an aircraft using the same vinyl pieces.

[Davidz90]

2 hours ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

That's a pretty cool idea! The "Fly Better" branding on the sail pieces fits well here!

Thanks! Yes, the branding is on point.

43 minutes ago, Jurss said:

Nice. 

Play with some added weight at back or front, and You will get better results

It is already balanced properly; I need to do some testing indoor, or just in more calm air, to really fine-tune it. Right now it flies just fine but wind gusts cause it to stall, so possibly it's a little tail heavy.

29 minutes ago, SNIPE said:

Very nice,

I actually had the idea of using these vinyl pieces to make a small fast helicopter with a buwizz motor so I'm glad someone had the initiative to make an aircraft using the same vinyl pieces.

Thanks! Helicopter is a cool idea; buwizz has better power/weight ratio than regular Lego motors, but is that enough to take off?

[piterx]

that's pretty cool :) maybe add a couple of strings connected to a central axle to reduce the bending!

 

[Davidz90]

1 hour ago, piterx said:

that's pretty cool :) maybe add a couple of strings connected to a central axle to reduce the bending!

 

Yes, that would definitely help. 

[Davidz90]

Next round of testing. I found out that the sails are actually heavier than the supporting structure, so the said structure can be made a little beefier without affecting total mass too much.

Whole thing is, as expected, rather heavy which results in high glide speed. This, in turn, produces large forces that the structure needs to handle. Most of the current erratic behaviour can be attributed to wings nad/or tail twisting one way or another. Also, no vertical stabilizer. I'll need some sail part from a different set.

 

 

[Jurss]

Maybe for vertical stabiliser could be enough part 61800, yes it is small, so who knows.

Some sail or something with supporting structure also wont be lite. Maybe make wings more like V shaped?

[Davidz90]

3 hours ago, Jurss said:

Maybe for vertical stabiliser could be enough part 61800, yes it is small, so who knows.

Some sail or something with supporting structure also wont be lite. Maybe make wings more like V shaped?

That part would be too small and too heavy. Yes, normally making wings v-shaped (wing sweep) is enough for stability, but only when the wings keep their shape. A little twist of one of the wingtips is enough to turn the airplane.

I'll need something from Lego pirates, or the recent Endurance/Black Pearl etc.

Another option is to increase wing sweep and then turn the wingtips up, so they act as vertical stabilizers.

Finally, if I manage to get two more big sails, then something like Dunne D8 is an option:

Biplanes are far more rigid than monoplanes.

[Shiva]

Tail or V-tail from the sails of Travel Boat Adventure 42664.?

[Davidz90]

8 hours ago, Shiva said:

Tail or V-tail from the sails of Travel Boat Adventure 42664.?

Great find! Thanks!