How To Improve Elastic Launched Glider Transitions
What is a transition
The transition is the phase of a glider’s fight wherein the glider shifts from the launching phase to the gliding phase. The transition of the glider can be adjusted by increasing the launch angle, bank angle, or launch power.
To learn more about why transitions are important, check out our other post “3 Secrets to Win Elastic Launched Glider”:
improving transitions
Step 1: hand launch
Before you attempt any launches with the rubber band, it is important to conduct multiple simple hand launches to determine if your glider has the correct center of gravity and will turn when gliding.
To conduct a hand launch, simply hold the glider’s fuselage at the glider’s center of gravity and then softy launch the glider by a soft flick of your wrist. This will show your glider’s characteristics when it is gliding.
Step 2: 0° low-power launch
After performing hand launches, it is time to begin low power launches a 0°. By completing these launches, you are able to see how your glider transitions from high to low speeds and if your glider will automatically turn into its glide when launched. This information can be used to gauge the needed bank angle for the glider’s transitions or and other imperfections with the glider’s incidence or center of gravity.
When doing these launches, it is important to look for the glider go upwards and then turn into its glide. If this does not occur, then changes to the glider’s incidence or rudder offset should be made.
Step 3: 45°-50° low-power launch
After perfecting straight launches it is time to experiment with launches into the air. However, rather than go all out with your launches, it is best to begin with low power launches and adjust your glider’s bank angle to get a feel for the baseline bank angle of your glider necessary to achieve a smooth transition.
During this step, You want to achieve a smooth transition from the launch to the glide. If the glider stalls, increase the glider’s bank angle and vice versa if the glider is nosediving.
Step 4: 60°-70° high-power launch
After perfecting low power launches it is time to experiment high power launches into the air. However, compared to low power launches, high power launches at a higher angle require a larger bank angle to achieve a smooth transition.
During this step, You want to achieve a smooth transition from the launch to the glide. If the glider stalls, increase the glider’s bank angle and vice versa if the glider is nosediving.
Step 5: repeat and record launches
To achieve consistent results in competitions and in practice, I is best to record every sing launch you perform because it will let you analyze areas to experiment with and change to achieve the best flight results.
Many competitions require competitors to create a flight log but only require students to record a few flights. To significantly improve your consistency it is best to record your flight bar beyond the outlined test flights required to be recorded by competition rules.