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International Hand Launch Glider Festival
June 3-4, 2001

Tailbooms

There are several tailbooms that are in use by designers. This tailbooms are:
     1) Avia tapered carbon fiber tailbooms,
     2) SkyShark Carbon Fiber tapered tailbooms,
     3) Allegra carbon fiber tapered tailbooms, and
     4) Andriukov Aluminum Carbon Fiber tapered tailbooms

Mounting of the tail booms in the fuselages (see below)

Avia Carbon Fiber Tapered Tailbooms
There is a series of Avia tailbooms used by designers. There is the G-Force and the Stiffer G-Force SUL. Avia tailbooms are available from PoleCatAero (see resources page). They are 32.5" long with a diameter of 0.24" at the small end, and 0.35" at the larger end. They weigh 14 grams. They are quite flexible as compared to the Allegra tailbooms. For more information see: http://www.polecataero.com/products/supplies/index.html.

SkyShark Tapered Carbon Tailbooms
SkyShark tailbooms are originally made for Kite spars. They come in many different sizes and strengths. They are available form Thermal-Gomit Works at http://www.tgworks.com/carbon_tail_booms.htm

Allegra Tapered Carbon Tailbooms
Allegra tailbooms are sold only by Pat Sloan, psloan@yahoo.com, of the Seattle WA area. The tailbooms weigh approximately 15 grams. The wide end has a OD of 0.625" (5/8") and the small end is 0.375" (3/8"). They are 27" long. Pat quoted the following prices to the general designer: $30 each, or 3 for $75, shipped in the lower 48 states. Contact Pat for more details as required. Allegra tailbooms were used by Craig Greening in his XTerminator Pro from PoleCatAero, and by Chris Adams in original designs.

Andriukov Aluminum Carbon Fiber tapered tailbooms
Alexander Andriukov offers a wide range of tailbooms, mainly designed for the free flight community. Alex has given me permission to present his brochure describing the tailbooms and products. Please contact him directly for more information. Andriukov tailbooms were used by Bill Watson in his Sidewinder HLG series.

To view the catalog in a PDF format, click here: Andriukov2001.pdf. For a Word document format click here: Andriukov2001.doc
or Visit his web site at:  Andriukov Web Site

Alexander Andriukov
2766 Currier Ave
Simi Valley, CA 93065, USA
Phone 1 - 805 - 577 1349 (home)
E-mail: andriukov@pacbell.net

Many composite structures are used by free flight flyers as shown below. Composite structures of this type are available form Andriukov and Matt Gewain of Composite Structures Technology.



Mounting of the tail booms in the fuselages

Mounting of the tailbooms depends on the the fuselage used. Often just a small hole is required in the rear of the fuselage. The tailboom is glued in place with epoxy and cabosil, microballoons or another filler. Care should be taken with the amount of epoxy that is used as weight can be added easily.
Alternatively, the tailboom can be mounted in the fuselage, surrounded by plywood bulkheads. This method was originally shown to this user by Phil Pearson, of MapleLeaf Designs and used on the encore series of HLGs. This user has also tried this method and it has proven to be strong. The pictures below easily show how the tailbooms are mounted.

This is the jig used to mount the tailbooms on the Encore by Phil Pearson of MapleLeaf Designs. Note the light encasing of the tailboom and how the forces are transferred to the sides of the fuselage.

This is an example of the mounting of an Allegra tailboom to a fiberglass pod. This example is from this user's Gridnac HLG series. This is overkill. The plywood is threaded to accept a nylon wing hold down bolt. Grooves in the bulkheads permit control linkages to exit the fuselage.

©2001 Crawford-Adams Enterprises All Right Reserved.
Permission to use any of the pictures and information on this CD is Required.

International Hand Launch Glider Festival June 3-4, 2001
Tailbooms There are several tailbooms that are in use by designers. This tailbooms are: 1) Avia tapered carbon fiber tailbooms, 2) SkyShark Carbon Fiber tapered tailbooms, 3) Allegra carbon fiber tapered tailbooms, and 4) Andriukov Aluminum Carbon Fiber tapered tailbooms Mounting of the tail booms in the fuselages (see below)
Avia Carbon Fiber Tapered Tailbooms There is a series of Avia tailbooms used by designers. There is the G-Force and the Stiffer G-Force SUL. Avia tailbooms are available from PoleCatAero (see resources page). They are 32.5" long with a diameter of 0.24" at the small end, and 0.35" at the larger end. They weigh 14 grams. They are quite flexible as compared to the Allegra tailbooms. For more information see: http://www.polecataero.com/products/supplies/index.html.
SkyShark Tapered Carbon Tailbooms SkyShark tailbooms are originally made for Kite spars. They come in many different sizes and strengths. They are available form Thermal-Gomit Works at http://www.tgworks.com/carbon_tail_booms.htm
Allegra Tapered Carbon Tailbooms Allegra tailbooms are sold only by Pat Sloan, psloan@yahoo.com, of the Seattle WA area. The tailbooms weigh approximately 15 grams. The wide end has a OD of 0.625" (5/8") and the small end is 0.375" (3/8"). They are 27" long. Pat quoted the following prices to the general designer: $30 each, or 3 for $75, shipped in the lower 48 states. Contact Pat for more details as required. Allegra tailbooms were used by Craig Greening in his XTerminator Pro from PoleCatAero, and by Chris Adams in original designs.
Andriukov Aluminum Carbon Fiber tapered tailbooms Alexander Andriukov offers a wide range of tailbooms, mainly designed for the free flight community. Alex has given me permission to present his brochure describing the tailbooms and products. Please contact him directly for more information. Andriukov tailbooms were used by Bill Watson in his Sidewinder HLG series. To view the catalog in a PDF format, click here: Andriukov2001.pdf. For a Word document format click here: Andriukov2001.doc or Visit his web site at: Andriukov Web Site Alexander Andriukov 2766 Currier Ave Simi Valley, CA 93065, USA Phone 1 - 805 - 577 1349 (home) E-mail: andriukov@pacbell.net Many composite structures are used by free flight flyers as shown below. Composite structures of this type are available form Andriukov and Matt Gewain of Composite Structures Technology.
Mounting of the tail booms in the fuselages Mounting of the tailbooms depends on the the fuselage used. Often just a small hole is required in the rear of the fuselage. The tailboom is glued in place with epoxy and cabosil, microballoons or another filler. Care should be taken with the amount of epoxy that is used as weight can be added easily. Alternatively, the tailboom can be mounted in the fuselage, surrounded by plywood bulkheads. This method was originally shown to this user by Phil Pearson, of MapleLeaf Designs and used on the encore series of HLGs. This user has also tried this method and it has proven to be strong. The pictures below easily show how the tailbooms are mounted.
	This is the jig used to mount the tailbooms on the Encore by Phil Pearson of MapleLeaf Designs. Note the light encasing of the tailboom and how the forces are transferred to the sides of the fuselage.
	This is an example of the mounting of an Allegra tailboom to a fiberglass pod. This example is from this user's Gridnac HLG series. This is overkill. The plywood is threaded to accept a nylon wing hold down bolt. Grooves in the bulkheads permit control linkages to exit the fuselage.
©2001 Crawford-Adams Enterprises All Right Reserved. Permission to use any of the pictures and information on this CD is Required.