#Glider plane how to#

Reluctantly I settled for the closest I could find but he's too small by far - so I have a malnourished teenager at the controls! But the whole job gives the right impression. I think the cockpit turned out quite well but sadly I just couldn't find a suitably sized pilot.

#Glider plane how to#

The large canopy of the Graupner Swift S-1 just lends itself to some scale detailing a couple of images found on the internet gave me an approximate idea of how to make the cockpit look so I crafted a balsa instrument panel and seat back from some scrap (note the canopy release latch in the photo below, far right): The curved leading edge of the rudder fits inside the back 1/4' or so of the hollow fin, the whole thing works very well. The servo linkage isn't anything other than the metal inner wire of the Bowden cable bent 90 degrees to enter the bottom of the rudder, offset from centre, and glued in place. The rudder completion was a bit fiddly on the Graupner Swift S-1 the rudder isn't hinged in the conventional way but instead is vertically pinned at the top and bottom. The ball and socket connections (as opposed to a standard clevis type) on all servos except rudder make for strong and secure linkages between servos and control surfaces.

Quite why Graupner chose this latter one is beyond me, but I stuck with it and made up the control rod with the tube and a length of medium gauge wire rod bound and epoxied to each end, the rod being threaded on one end to take the plastic socket that locates on to the servo ball joint. Servo linkage on the Graupner Swift is a mixture of Bowden cable (plastic outer/metal inner) for the rudder, wire rods for the ailerons and a relatively large diameter aluminium tube for the elevator. Once those formers are in place you can then concentrate on the ply canopy plate, I used Gorilla Glue on all the ply/GRP joints which secured everything very well.Ībove: radio installation in the Swift S-1 is not complicated. This was easier said than done and proved to be a bit tricky - don't use quick-setting glue for that little job! But before this needs to be done there are two ply fuselage formers which must be glued into place fore and aft of the wing seat area. Installation of the two standard servos in the nose is easy a 1/8' ply plate is supplied and needs to be cut to shape before being glued into the glider canopy area. Servo covers are supplied, but don't work too well. Installation of the HS-85Ms into each wing was fairly straightforward, the plan calls for standard servos to be used but it's really not necessary with today's choice of high power micro ones.Ībove: HiTech HS-85M servos power the Swift's ailerons. The aileron servos require an extension lead which I soldered to be sure. My choice of servos for my Graupner Swift S-1 was the Spektrum DS821 standard servos for elevator and rudder control, and HiTech HS-85M metal geared ones for each aileron. But overall it's a good quality rc sailplane that anyone with some intermediate modelling experience can throw together. The plan, or rather instruction sheet, is a good reference but it had its faults and the kit had some minor issues along the way. There's really not a great deal to do to assemble the Graupner Swift S-1 and mine took a few evenings to complete. I duly parted with my money, took the glider home and got to work. Fortunately for me there is an rc plane and glider shop close to home and the Graupner Swift caught my eye it was sat on the top shelf and judging by the layer of dust on the box had been there for quite some time! I settled on the Swift after shopping around for a 2 meter (or thereabouts) wingspan aerobatic glider to compliment my collection of smaller gliders. The Graupner Swift features a GRP fuselage (and fin) and foam core/veneer wing panels with balsa sheet tailplane, so is a relatively simple build. It's the 2.1m wingspan version of the famous Swift S-1 aerobatic sailplane which was developed in the early 1990s from the Polish SZD-21 Kobuz sailplane, and the Swift S-1 is a popular scale aerobatic glider for radio control enthusiasts. This is a bit of info on my Graupner Swift S-1 rc glider. *See Pete's popular Beginner's Guide ebook here.* RC Graupner Swift S-1 Home Site search Site Map About Me Contact Me Site FAQ Privacy/Cookie Info Testimonials