1. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

2. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Balsa Glider Construction
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

3. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Balsa Wood
Very high strength to weight ratio.
Easy to cut and sand
Grainy
Available in strips, sheets, or blocks
Not very durable for a fuselage… spruce is better.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

4. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Glider Components
Fuselage
Wings
Horizontal Stabilizer
Vertical Tail (or Stabilizer)
Nose Weight
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

5. Familiarize yourself with the plan
Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Familiarize yourself with the plan
Components
Dimensions
Materials
Outlines vs. Cuts
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

6. Building on a single sheet
Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Building on a single sheet
Wing
Vertical
Tail
Horizontal
Stabilizer
Leave extra space at these locations if material allows.
Notice the grain direction:
Always spanwise!
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

7. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Marking the fuselage
Cut for Length
Wing
Location
Center of
Gravity
Neutral
Point
Horizontal
Stabilizer
Vertical
Tail
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

8. Choosing a Wing Planform
Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Choosing a Wing Planform
Elliptical wings might be great for full size aircraft, but they are very challenging for small gliders.
Straight leading edges tend to work well for small gliders.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

9. Cut out all of the pieces
Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Cut out all of the pieces
Cut the wing with extra span if material allows. (See later note for reason)
Cut out stabilizers and sand leading and trailing edges with minimal rounding.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

10. Shaping the Wing Profile
Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Shaping the Wing Profile
The leading edge should have minimal rounding.
The trailing edge needs to have a taper on the top only.
Use a sanding block and the edge of a surface for uniform sanding.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

11. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Adding the wing
Center the wing on the fuselage.
Glue it on straight and square to the fuselage… this is critical.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

12. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Making a strong bond
Traditional method of lots of glue on an edge then stick it together is weak.
Light bond with reinforcing fillets increases the glue surface area and thus the strength of the bond.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

13. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
One Piece Stabilizer
Cut out the wedge from the glider plan.
Trace on to and cut out the wedge from a scrap of fuselage.
Glue the wedge (not the stabilizer) to the top of the fuselage.
Direction depends on tail or canard mount.
Front
Back
Side of Fuselage HS
Wedge
Stabilizer
Canard Position HS
Front
back
Tail Position HS
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

14. Add the horizontal stabilizer
Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Add the horizontal stabilizer
One piece stabilizer
Stronger
Only possible if mounted somewhere away from the vertical stabilizer.
Two piece stabilizer
Weaker
Mount anywhere else
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

15. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Check alignment
Hold the stabilizer on the wedge and check from the front or back that it is parallel to the wing.
If not, sand the wedge slightly and recheck.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

16. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Glue the Stabilizer
Glue to the TOP of the fuselage.
Align the lowest edge with the end of the wedge so it contacts the fuselage.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

17. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Two Piece Stabilizer
Cut out the wedge from the glider plan.
Trace an angled line onto the side of the fuselage.
Direction depends on tail or canard mount.
Front
Back
Side of Fuselage HS
Wedge
Canard Position HS
Tail Position HS
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

18. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Check alignment
Cut the stabilizer in two.
Doing one side at a time…
Glue one half to each side.
Canard Position HS
Tail Position
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

19. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Glue the Stabilizer
Glue to the SIDE of the fuselage.
Make certain that each half is straight and square to the fuselage.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

20. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Balance the Glider
Place a pencil on the table top and put the glider on top of it with the C.G. directly over the pencil.
Add clay to the nose until the glider balances at the C.G.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

21. Balsa Glider Construction
Aerospace EngineeringTM
Unit 3 – Lesson 3.1 Glider Design, Construction and Testing
Balance the Glider
Hold the glider on fingertips placed at the nose and the tail.
Add clay to the wingtips until the glider balances at the fuselage.
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007