Weekly Challenge #37: Build a Glider

[blissful river]

Rules: The glider must be completely unpowered and launched into the air by a powered rover.
The rover may use any propulsion system to build speed before decoupling the glider, and must stay on the ground until decoupling.
The glider must carry at least one kerbal pilot.

Primary: Launch your glider and land safely back on the runway

Secondary: Fly your glider under the R&D bridge

**Jeb: **Land (Crash?) your glider on the VAB or Training Center helipads.

Val: Glide as far as you can from KSC and record your best distance!

[static spire]

Could have gone further but this was the first flight so i wanted to land. stall speed under 20 m/s

[static spire]

annnnnnnd done

[visual schooner]

that's such a cool challenge !

[supple jay]

Flew under the R&D bridge, and flew for roughly 6.5 kilometers while gliding.

[fast pier]

works half the time and can't land 👍🏻

[unborn notch]

My glider's accelerating enough to fly before it separates from the rover

[restive spade]

I'm planning on adding solar panels and electric fans... hope it works!

not unpowered tho 😦

[static spire]

big one went slightly further

[gusty mural]

Good thing we all have rocket rovers from the last challenge to launch the gliders...

[static spire]

surpised there have only been a couple glider made for this

[restive spade]

I'm almost finished with my unpowered version in ksp1

[restive spade]

GGU "wingspam" went 23.5km

[cosmic latch]

mission 1

[cosmic latch]

and two. Actualy one of my best planes

[normal veldt]

Jeb-level and secondary just for fun!

[earnest cave]

Ya this is not easy...

[tiny charm]

It took a few attempts, but I made it to the island runway.

SAS had to be disengaged to avoid control surface oscillations, so I ended up having to give the wings and elevator a small dihedral angle to keep it from rolling slightly over time(and thus lose energy to correct for it).
Best glide speed seemed to be around 48 m/s, or about 2.5 degrees below the horizon. Stall speed was down at 12.5 m/s, so it didn't need landing gear to survive the touchdown.

This was a really fun one!

[rustic jasper]

Center of mass ended up at the front so why not put the wings there eh? I thought the wings were going to clip going under the bridge so screenshot was a bit late

[ripe veldt]

not the most impressive time, but at least got to the end of the runway without spinning or crashing into the KSC and she seems so happy 💚

[shrewd notch]

I considered making "Make it to the Island Runway" the Val level for this challenge, but my test attempt only made it about 1/3 of the way and I wasn't sure it was possible.
I guess it's now Tim Level.
Well done!

[meager oxide]

Kraken Level: circumnavigate Kerbin

[static spire]

imma try both

[restive spade]

I could in my ksp1 glider with wings twice as wide as the SPH but I don't want to.

[mystic spruce]

Still a work in progress 82km

[meager oxide]

fun challenge! made it the lenth off the runway, but probably could have gone further if the tail control surfaces didnt start oscillating right after release

[woven island]

First attempt 35 km

[woven island]

Made it to 65 km

[reef mirage]

I love this design so much. Legit the prettiest I’ve seen, and the paint job too

[meager oxide]

Thank you! :)

[restive spade]

All the other ones are just fighter planes with huge wings

[static spire]

[meager oxide]

nahh there are some beautiful gliders in here

[restive spade]

some

[mystic spruce]

Mine was based of a real glider with some adjustments for ksp. The upturned wingtips seemed to just add drag in ksp for example

[mystic spruce]

I made a new one and it went a bit further than my last 149km

[ripe veldt]

that is crazy, how is this launched?

[reef mirage]

Heck, I need to work on this more. My 2-33 replica had an awful glide ratio worse than irl

[mystic spruce]

my glide ratio is still pretty bad for a real life glider, I think I'm around 25:1 here's the lawnchair. With a better one, much further is possible. I have one more design I want to try.

[blissful terrace]

I needed to do this challenge since I used to fly on a Glider with my father. And I decided to make small glider and flew 18 km ) but I think I can do better )

[blissful terrace]

second attempt )

[blissful terrace]

third attempt... the game shrunk my glider into a small pile

[static spire]

damn i thought my 16km was pretty good

[cerulean viper]

This is my best so far 🙂

[blissful terrace]

I decided to fly under the bridge and then on the next flight I landed (crashed) on the roof )

[blissful terrace]

turns out that I can do better )

[blissful terrace]

Does this count as a glider? )

[gilded atlas]

Please post a video

[mystic spruce]

will do, in the mean time I reflew the mission and got a hair further at 155km

[mystic spruce]

#◽ksp_media message Here's a video I made, sorry it took so long.

[gilded atlas]

Wow this is awesome! I was curious about how you launched and your strategy of gliding. Your launch is surprisingly stable. Nice job!!

[mystic spruce]

Thanks! Believe me they weren't all that stable lol. I'd say the ratio of complete disaster to a quality launch was about 1 in 10, but those kinds of odds are good enough for Jeb

[shrewd notch]

That launch was crisp

[mystic spruce]

Thanks! Wish all of my attempts went that smooth

[lilac osprey]

This is my type of challenge! Its quite slow at the moment, not a great glide angle. So a bit more tinkering to get it right is needed.