blackshire:
I don't want to start an argument with you about what you said about Ward Conley's Mini-bird, but according to G.Harry Stine's description of it in his 1965 Handbook of Model Rocketry and earlier description of it in an American Modeler magazine article, I believe that some of your information may be incorrect.
For example, all 3 fins to the best of my knowledge were the same size. The Centuri Black Widow Booster and the Free Estes Plan Tiger Shark both used gliding boosters that had one or two fins larger than the others.
The Mini-Bird had "wedges" on one side of each fin resulting in a spinning motion during boost and a rolling, coning motion much like the Flyin Stovepipe.
G Hary Stine, thusly says, " After many model rocketeers had seen lower stage booster bodies glide back to earth rather than flutter, it became obvious that a gliding booster configuartion could be converted into a B/G.
Paul Hans was the first to do this, in 1962. His Aeolus design, in Figure 9-16 , was a ballistic rocket adapted to glide,
Ward Conley, of White Plains, New York, brought simplicity to this "minibird" B/G variety by eliminating elevons altogether, balancing for proper CG-CP during powered-boost phase and for proper trim during the glide phase, after engine ejection."
The drawing of the Min-Bird looks to me like 2 of the 3 fins were slightly larger than the 3rd; i.e. 2 wing fins and a smaller rudder fin. It may be just the perspective of the drawing.
G. Harry Went on to say this about the Min-Bird in a 1964 article, "Ward also used spinnerons, actually, wedge spoilers-on each wing-fin trailing edge so that his bird corkscrews up and glides back in graceful slow rolls. "
Perhaps the original 1962-ish Mini-Bird didn't have these wedge spinnerons on them; maybe they were a later addition, I can't tell by the context in which G. Harry is speaking.
I've also thought the Mini-Bird worked like the Flyin Stovepipe: spin on boost and a slow rolling motion on glide. I could be wrong.
MArk II:
http://www.lunar.org/docs/LUNARclips/v6/v6n2/Stove.html
I created a Flyin Stovepipe glider a few years back and although I never flew it, I did test glide the "tube"..... I also did some extensive background research into its aerodynamics especially patent searches. During the test glides, you will get a sort of corkscrew effect.
hth
I'm attaching a few drawings/pics of Paul Hans Aeolus.