Free Flight: Duration
The Coot: I guess I have a soft spot in my head for low-ceiling indoor hand-launch gliders. You don't have to drive for five hours to get to a place where you can fly them; any school gym or cafeteria will do. In fact, we once held a meet in a fellow's living room! The cost of the materials is negligible, although finding suitably soft wood might be a problem. Sig's Contest Balsa is often suitable, particularly if you can pick and choose a little. A contest-grade model can be built in four hours. They look like they would take even less time, but it is the sort of thing that shouldn't be rushed. And lastly, with little experience, and a 53-year-old arm that never could throw very well, I have been able to give big names, such as Ron Wittman and Lee Hines, a run for their money. A dedicated 12-year-old could do as well. Bob Hayes, Jr., who has done rather well in Indoor Hand-Launch Glider meets, winning the Nats and setting records and all that good stuff, sent me some info about a low-ceiling IHLG that has been cleaning up in Midwest competition for the last few years in the hands of its developers, Mike and Stan Stoy. It has some features-besides winning a lot-that put it in a class by itself.
Free Flight: Duration
Max-Aid Circle-Tow Device: A glance at the literature that has piled up over the past five years about various circle-tow, catapult-launch, and line-keeping devices for towline gliders leaves one with the impression that it is all part of a master plan contrived by the Devil himself either (a) to condemn the hapless modeler to an eternity of fussing with cantankerous hardware instead of engaging in more enjoyable pursuits, or (b) to render the modeler totally and permanently mad! Fortunately, two series of articles have appeared recently in British publications, which make some sort of order out of the chaos: one by Ex-World Champ Elton Drew in Aeromodeller, and another by the Editors of Free Flight News.
Free Flight: Duration
WILL THE REAL Peter Allnutt please stand up. Remember that terrific movie "African Queen"? With Humphrey and Katherine What's-Their-Names? And what was the name of the hero? Peter Allnutt! Well, kiddies, today we're going to talk about the real Peter Allnutt, the one from north of the border up Canada way, who flies FIA (Nordic towline glider) and Unlimited Rubber and all that, and who won the FIA event at the U.S. Nats twice in a row just to warm up for the World Champs, where he took second place last year in the FIA event. Here is how Peter describes the occasion: "Fantastic! The organization, the weather, the flying field, the food and drink, the fellowship among the competitors...it will take some topping.
Free Flight: Duration
UNOFFICIAL EVENTS: "Hey, let's have a contest for..." is the way it starts out, and the next thing you know a new free-flight event is born. Some die a `borning or in early infancy, some go into hibernation for long periods to enjoy occasional rebirth, and a few grow and mature into official events. But growth into official status is not often a goal; if such an event provides pleasure and satisfaction on even one occasion it has served a purpose. An event that enjoyed some popularity within the Oakland Cloud Dusters in the fifties, and becomes re-born at five-year intervals, is the Half-A FAI event. Engine displacement is limited to a maximum of .051 cu. in.; Cox Racing Fuel, or the equivalent, is permitted, since stock Tee Dee engines don't run well on straight FAI fuel; a 10-sec. engine run is permitted; and the "max" is 3 min.
Free Flight: Duration
`COPTER CAPERS: Awhile back, when Outdoor Rubber-Power Helicopter was added to the Nats program as an unofficial NFFS-sponsored event, I got to scratching my head about the problem. Outdoor helicopters, for some 40 years, have employed twin fixed-pitch rotors revolving in opposite directions. When the rubber unwinds, they fall out of the sky. The record was set with an ultra-light-weight indoor type 'copter. Somehow that didn't seem like the right way to do the job. Outdoor models should glide and catch thermals and get lost, and such. How do you make a 'copter glide? . . . or autorotate? The gas-powered 'copter lads figured that out decades ago. The vanes, rather than being fixed, are pivoted in such a way as to let them seek the proper angle of attack, depending on the motor torque. This includes zero torque-autorotation.
