kick ring ¼ ″ wide and 8 ″ long ( file folder paper wrap ) engine wrap ( file folder paper ) ¾ of an inch wide and 11⅝ inches long docking pin ( 4 per engine ) 1½ ″ long ⅛ ″ thick square basswood dowel glider ( 4 per rocket ) 8½ ″ wide and 11 ″ file folder paper docking lug stand - off 1½ ″ long × ¾ ″ wide × ⅛ ″ thick balsa wood docking lug 5 / 32 ″ square brass , ½ ″ long k & amp ; s engineering part number k + s152 fin — only one fin is needed , to break the fall of the body tube . the glide - a - raptor — flying model rocket is a rocket falls under the category “ boost gliders ”. it carries four parasite gliders which are simple steep angle delta wing paper airplanes made in the conventional way , but they are made out of card stock paper instead of notebook paper or copier paper . please refer to the parts legend in the “ drawings description ” section of this document , as it may help in understanding the necessary components of this invention . this invention begins with selecting the right card stock paper to make the gliders . with the first prototype i flew , the gliders were made of simple file folder paper stock . for the production models , i chose michaels arts and crafts to get the card stock paper , because they carry a special brand called “ recollections ”. this card stock paper is of the same thickness as file folder paper , but it comes in different colors , and the dimensions are precise at 8½ ″× 11 ″. i chose apogeerockets . com to purchase both parts for the prototypes , and the production model . the key point here is that the inside diameter of the body tube is only slightly larger than the outside diameter of a standard estes model rocket engine . or in plain english , a standard estes model rocket engine fits inside of the body tube just right , without the need to install a special engine adapter . part no . 19802 outside diameter 0 . 736 ″ ( 18 . 7 mm ) nose length 2 . 25 ″ ( 57 mm ) part no . 10086 18 ″ long inside diameter 0 . 71 ″ ( 18 mm ) outside diameter 0 . 736 ″ ( 18 . 7 mm ) this is what i believe is the patentable component of this invention . the engine / release mechanism has two unique components — square basswood dowel stock which is used to make the docking pins for the gliders ( legend part number 9 ) and square brass tube stock which is used to make the docking lugs on the gliders themselves ( legend part number 14 ). the square brass lug on the glider docks on the square basswood pin on the engine assembly for flight . the square basswood dowel stock is ⅛ ″ thick , and the square brass tube stock is 5 / 32 ″ thick . when the square basswood dowel is gently sanded on all sides , it slides perfectly into the square brass tube stock with no binding or side play . this is critical . the gliders must remain motionless for flight , yet they must be released quickly after the rocket reaches its peak altitude . square docking pins and square docking lugs make this possible . the engine ejects from end the bottom of the body tube after the fuel runs out , setting all four gliders free . yet since the gliders remain motionless during flight , they also act as fins for the rocket during flight , keeping its trajectory nearly strait up . 1½ ″ long ⅛ ″ thick square basswood dowel stock midwest products 24 pieces per bundle . ⅛ × ⅛ × 24 basswood sku # 4044w $ 6 . 96 qty : midwestproducts — web link ½ ″ long 5 / 32 ″ inside diameter square brass , k & amp ; s engineering part number k + s152 http :// www . ksmetals . com / products . html http :// www . hobbylinc . com / htm / k + s / k + s152 . htm now it &# 39 ; s time to talk about legend part number 6 , this is the engine wrap . the underside of the four 1½ ″ long ⅛ ″ square basswood docking pins must stand above the surface of the body tube about 3 / 32 ″. to make this possible , a ¾ ″ wide and 11½ ″ long strip is cut out of typical file folder card stock . this strip is wound around and glued to the bottom of the engine . four 1½ ″ long ⅛ ″ square docking pins are glued on top of the engine wrap facing up with the bottom of the pins flush with the bottom of the engine . ¾ ″ of the pins protrude up above the engine wrap . the pins are glued on perpendicular from each other in a square pattern . the engine assembly is now complete . drawing 5 of 9 shows this . the most important part of the body tube is legend part number 4 , the kick ring . it is a ¼ ″ wide and 8 ″ long strip of file folder stock paper , and it is wound around and glued flush to one end of the body tube . when the engine assembly is inserted into the bottom of the body tube , the underside of the four docking pins ( legend part no . 9 ) rest flush against the outer surface of the kick ring . the outer surface of the engine wrap ( legend part no . 6 ) also aligns flush with the outer surface of the kick ring . the purpose of the kick ring is so that when the engine runs out of fuel and ejects out the bottom of the body tube , it does not carry the gliders with it . when the gliders are docked onto the rocket vie the docking pins for flight , the little brass lugs on the gliders stop at the kick ring . the engine separates from the bottom of the body tube easily but the gliders can &# 39 ; t move . after the engine falls completely away from the body tube , then all four gliders fall away and fly . the body tube is 18 inches long , and the nose cone is taped securely to the top of the body tube . it never separates . this provides good “ ejection ” pressure for the engine to eject rapidly out of the bottom of the body tube when the fuel runs out . a single small fin is glued onto the bottom of the body tube just above the kick ring . this fin is shown on drawing 9 of 9 only . this fin is simply there to break the fall of the body tube so it doesn &# 39 ; t fall strait down . the launch lug is installed next . it is simple round plastic tube stock at 5 / 32 ″ diameter and it is 2½ ″ long . it is glued ( or tapped ) the surface of the body tube , 3 inches from the bottom . the rocket is installed onto a launch rod via the launch lug , for flight . this rod is ⅛ ″ thick round steel and is three feet long . the launch lug slides the rocket along the launch rod after ignition and liftoff until it is free in the air . the body tube has a single fin glued onto it . after the rockets flight is complete , the engine / release mechanism , and gliders separate away from the body tube . the fin is there to break the fall of the body tube so it does not descend in a direct nose dive . the size and shape of this fin can vary . i chose to make the fin out of 3 / 32 ″ thick balsa wood . the shape is approximately that of a parallelogram . the leading edge is 3 - ⅛ ″ long , the trailing edge is 2 - ⅜ ″ long , the root edge is 2 - ¾ ″ long and the outer edge is 1 - ⅝ ″ long . now let &# 39 ; s return to the gliders themselves — legend part number 11 . these simple steep angle delta wing gliders . . . although they are made of card stock paper instead of notebook paper , are made the same way as the ones you made in grade school , threw them around in class , and then got in trouble for it . this is where the pictures i have provided will help understand the gliders , and the entire flying model rocket kit . the next components to discuss are on the gliders and they are the docking lug stand - off and the docking lug . these are legend part numbers 13 , and 14 . for the stand - off , a small piece if 1 / 8 ″ thick balsa wood is cut to 1½ ″ long × ¾ ″ wide . the ½ ″ long 5 / 32 ″ wide square brass docking lug is secured to one edge of the balsa wood with very strong tape . see drawing 8 of 9 to visualize this . a ¾ ″ long slit is cut in the underside spine of the glider at 4 ¾ ″ from the back of the glider . ¾ ″ or half of the stand off is glued inside the glider frame through this slit . ¾ ″ still protrudes out the bottom of the glider , reveling the exposed docking lug on it . this distance is just right so that the narrow body tube can still actually accommodate four gliders for flight . staples are used ( legend part number 19 ) to keep the paper folds tightly together in the nose , and at the back of the glider , to keep the wings from separating . scotch invisible tape may be used to secure and strengthen the shape of the glider even further , but it is not absolutely necessary . finally , the elevons must be mentioned . the elevons , legend part number 12 are what make the glider fly so beautifully . the shape and angle of the elevons are critical . the glider has two elevons . one for each wing . they are 3 / 16 ″ of an inch at the wing tip , and taper to zero at the glider center line ( legend part number 16 ). they are quite small , but that is quite enough to keep the glider from going into a nose dive when they are raised to 30 degrees up . just in case it is difficult to understand how to make a paper airplane , articles , images , and videos are easy to find on the internet . the two websites listed here below show how to make the steep angle delta wing paper airplane used in my glide - a - raptor flying model rocket . careful implementation of the elevons produced the following results with prototype 3 . i launched prototype 3 in a large field behind a high school . the field ended up being too small , but i didn &# 39 ; t know it until later . one of the gliders flew 25 feet above the tree line into the woods behind me . the tree line was nearly 100 feet high , and 50 yards away from me . another glider flew 50 feet above the high school , across the road , and into a creek on the other side .
no manufacturer of flying model rocket kits at present have a rocket that carries four gliders at once , have gliders that are dual purpose , have gliders that are released in the way glide - a - raptor &# 39 ; s gliders are released , or have the flight characteristics that glide - a - raptor has . glide - a - raptor releases its gliders in a fleur - de - lis pattern ; it often reminds you of a break away flight pattern that is preformed by the blue angels . it is a sight to see . all 4 gliders are long delta wing gliders with a steep angle . this steep angle enables 4 gliders to be mounted onto a single rocket with a symmetry that enables the rocket to use the gliders as if they were permanent fins for the stability of the rocket during acceleration and flight .