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Originally Posted by Solomoriah
According to the instructions, airfoiling is optional for the Hawk, although it is recommended to round the fin edges.
Not that I know a darn thing about the subject... that is the point of this thread.
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None of these things are as critical as you may think. Not only do flat plate wings work (although not as well as airfoiled ones), but even
symmetrical airfoils (those typically used in balsa fins; they produce zero lift at an angle of attack of 0 degrees) work well in boost-gliders and rocket gliders--they only need to be mounted at a slight angle to the glider's fuselage. (Aerobatic airplanes--model and full-size--often use symmetrical airfoil wings as well.) Also:
Please read the chapter about boost-gliders (B/Gs) and Rocket Gliders (RGs--he also explains about using symmetrical as well as flat-bottomed airfoils in these models) in G. Harry Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry" (and also see "Centuri TIR-24, Model Rocket Lifting Bodies," see:
http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/tir-24.htm ,
http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/tr/tir-24.pdf , and
http://sargrocket.org/documents/Res...turi/tir-24.pdf [these are three copies of the same--just two-page--Technical Information Report]), and:
"Estes Technical Report TR-4 Rear Engine Boost Gliders" (see:
https://www.modelrockets.nl/downloa...t%20Gliders.pdf ) and "Estes Technical Report TR-7 Front Engine Boost Gliders" (see:
http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/EstesTR7.pdf ) are very helpful--and a later, revised Estes B/G publication can also be accessed here (see:
https://estesrockets.com/wp-content...ost_Gliders.pdf [this is the new "Estes Educator TR-4 Model Rocket Technical Report Boost Gliders," which covers all--or nearly all--B/G and RG types], *and*
https://www.google.com/search?q=Est...sclient=gws-wiz [which shows various old and new B/G and RG kits]). All of the Estes Technical Reports are also included in their "Classic Collection" (see:
https://estesrockets.com/wp-content...ction_TR-TN.pdf ). Also:
Boost-gliders (B/Gs) separate the motor (or the motor pod, or an entire rocket in its own right [with parasite B/Gs]) from the glider portion of the model. Rocket gliders (RGs) don't separate *anything* in flight; what goes up glides back, as a single unit, including the spent motor or motors (clustered--and even staged--B/Gs have been built and flown [there is--or was--a clustered Edmonds B/G kit]; front motor models like the Estes Falcon are also easy to cluster or stage). As well:
The B/G & RG chapter in Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry," Centuri TIR-24, and the three Estes B/G and/or RG Technical Reports explain ^why^ and *how* boost-gliders and rocket gliders fly--and stably--in both flight modes ([1] vertical, rocket-powered ascent, and [2] the horizontal, un-powered glide back down to the ground), and how they transition from the first flight mode to the second one. None of these things are as complicated as they may sound (Stine even included a set of simple, basic B/G design rules in that chapter of his "Handbook of Model Rocketry"--the resulting model looks very much like the MPC--and later Quest--Flat Cat kit, which he designed [his Unicorn contest B/G was rather similar, but had a V-tail, see:
http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/Mo...02n06_03-70.pdf and
https://www.rocketreviews.com/plang...0703153800.html ].)
No one need "suck at gliders."