The joy of building model airplanes, part two
by Dave Garwood
dave.garwood.518@gmail.com
My December 2016 column about building generated quite an enthusiastic response. Here is more material on the topic.
We build our own models so we can have exactly what we want in a Slope Soaring sailplane. If you haven’t built one yet, I encourage you to give it a go. Chances are that you’ll be amazed at the result, and it will pull you deeper into the hobby.
The following are words from Slope sailplane designers I have flown with:
“I want to fly a plane that I have built. Showing up at the hill with a plane any guy can have just doesn’t do it for me.”
—Jack Cooper
“Building gives you a sense of accomplishment that you cannot obtain from an ARF kit. You get to build exactly what you want, the way you want it.
“You tear down life stresses that have built up, and build up a project that you can then tear down flying!
“It makes us look forward to creating a flying model that we can be proud of and actually fly when done! Most hardcore designers love to build and shape our visions into reality. Most of all, it’s fun!”
—Carl Maas
“You’ve toiled over this thing for hours—sometimes hundreds of hours. You put the center of gravity where the plans, a calculation, or your best guess said it should be. [You] kept it as light as you could so it has an acceptable wing loading. [You] made all the hinges and linkages nice and clean, applied the color scheme that you’ve been devising or researching for weeks, and then, finally, the day comes.
“You stand at the edge of the slope, puckered to the max, and see how it feels on the air coming up over the top. It feels good? Then off she goes! She glides out clean, and you cut that first, nice turn, biting into the lift, and you get that big smile. Every flier who builds [his or her] own planes knows that feeling—that rush. Nothing else like it.”
—Dave Sanders
Expert RC Slope Soaring pilots Joe Chovan, from Syracuse NY, and Jack Cooper, from Knoxville TN. Jack owns Leading Edge Gliders, and Joe is often a guest writer for this column.
“The Leading Edge Gliders 60-inch Bell P-63 Kingcobra kit parts after unpacking. Building them into a strong, good-looking, and high-performance Slope Soaring sailplane is satisfying.”
Longtime Favorite is Back
The original Dave’s Aircraft Works (DAW) 2-meter Schweizer 1-26 is back in production. Dave Sanders has licensed Larry Blevins at Magnum Models to produce the original design with the skinny fuselage that is light enough to float like a butterfly, agile enough to dance like a ballerina, and tough enough to land on asphalt or in a bush when necessary.
The DAW Schweizer 1-26 can be built with a two-piece wing and
“The Leading Edge Gliders P-63 Kingcobra uses a Coroplast tube for improved access to the nose weight, battery pack, and radio receiver. Inventor Ken Hawkins explains how this works in his RCGroups P-80 build thread.”
removable horizontal stabilizer for compact storage and transportation. The Magnum Models version will stay true to the original design with two exceptions, both with Dave Sanders’ permission: carbon-fiber tube spars and carbon-fiber fuselage stiffener.
Innovative Idea
One problem with many EPP foam sailplane designs is that the battery pack, receiver, and elevator servo are mounted far forward in the fuselage for favorable weight distribution and buried deep under foam, tape, and covering for impact protection. All is cool until you need to rebind a receiver or replace a stripped servo or worn-out battery pack. Digging, cutting, swearing oaths, gnashing teeth, and moans of anguish can accompany these repairs.
Ken Hawkins, from Idaho, has designed an ingenious solution to this problem, which he demonstrated in an online build thread about the Leading Edge Gliders 60-inch P-80 Shooting Star. Ken fabricates Coroplast (the corrugated plastic sheeting that real estate signs are often made from) into a square tube to comfortably fit a receiver battery pack. The nose weight, battery pack, and receiver slide into the tube and pull out easily.
I have a Leading Edge Gliders P-63 Kingcobra on my workbench in which I’ve incorporated Ken’s invention. Soon I’ll have a flight report about the innovation—certainly no later than the Slope Soaring events scheduled for spring.
Spring Events
Here are four Slope Soaring events for which dates had been set at the time of this writing (January 2017). I have attended and participated in all three of these gatherings in years past, and I sure will be happy to attend again.
North Coast Glider Games: May 4-7, Cleveland OH
Midwest Slope Challenge: May 18-21, Lucas KS
Southern California PSS Festival: May 26-28, Cajon Pass CA
Katie Martin International Tribute 2017: June 3, Torrey Pines CA
Be sure to check the websites listed in “Sources” for the latest information before traveling to an event. If you have not attended or participated in a Slope Soaring gathering, give it a try. Camaraderie, excitement, and happy memories are all a part of the RC flying event game.
Sources:
League of Silent Flight (LSF)
www.silentflight.org
Leading Edge Gliders
(785) 658-6291
www.leadingedgegliders.com
Magnum Models
(865) 771-0821
www.magnumrcmodels.com
RC Groups Threads:
The DAW 1-26 2 Meter Is Back!
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2790912-The-DAW-1-26-2-Meter-Is...
Ken Hawkins’ P-80 Shooting Star build log
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2512688
North Coast Glider Games 2017
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2808448-2017-Glider-Games
Midwest Slope Challenge
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2620169-Midwest-Slope-Challenge...
Southern California PSS Festival
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2815230-2017-
PSS-Fest-sign-up
Katie Martin International Tribute 2017
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2791469-Katie-Martin-Internatio...
