INDOOR THERMAL DURATION
By Thayer Syme | thayer@flying-models.com
I RECENTLY WATCHED AN INTRIGUING YouTube video that featured an example of Indoor Free Flight (FF) Thermal Duration (TD) flying. Yes, you read that right: Indoor FF TD. Apparently, it’s a thing. It turns out that on a sunny day in Eagar, Arizona, there is enough differential heating of the floor of the Round Valley Dome to create conditions that can actually lift a model skyward.
The video was shot and posted by Josh Finn and features Ross Clements flying a glider that is made from a retired 35cm Indoor TD airframe.
For those who don’t know, Josh runs J&H Aerospace with his wife, Hope, from their home in Georgia. They offer an extensive line of unique models and products that are made in the US from high-quality materials. They regularly post to their YouTube channel, which has more than 14,000 subscribers and 2.8 million views to date.
Ross is an enthusiastic young modeler who has been collaborating with Josh and Hope for a while. He currently holds a dozen or more Junior and Senior Indoor FF records. Ross also flies a variety of RC models and, as you might recall from previous columns, inspired the Hansa Brandenburg W.29 group build at the 2021 Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology (NEAT) Fair.
Ross and Josh always seem to be working up exciting, new, and intriguing projects, and the Indoor FF TD video is a perfect example. I suspect that this was more of a one-time opportunity but who knows?
When Life Gives You Lemons
I was recently stranded while working on the road and thought that some of you might find interest in how I salvaged some of the day.
By chance, I had picked up a nail in my truck’s tire and found myself with a few idle hours within a mile of the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Virginia.
The museum is in an interesting state these days because the original building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is currently closed for renovations. Quite a few exhibits have been moved to Udvar-Hazy and, as you might imagine, there is a little bit of squeezing going on.
That’s not to say that the experience is compromised—it is just different. As I walked the floor, I found many individual displays of great interest, as has always been my experience. I also was struck by a number of what might be termed “compositional juxtapositions.”
Normally, while visiting a museum, I focus my attention on the details of one specific aircraft at a time, and that was certainly part of my experience during this occasion as well. As an example, I was struck by the Sikorsky JRS-1, the museum’s only survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack. My immediate impression was one of wonder, imagining the view out of the small observation port in the bow just before touchdown. I presume its primary purpose was to secure the aircraft to a mooring.
There’s no question; the Sikorsky JRS-1 has an incredible tale to tell. As it sits silently in the northern end of the exhibit hall, largely unrestored, you can easily imagine the decades slipping away as it sat outside, patiently awaiting the interest and recognition that it now enjoys.
During this visit though, I paid much more attention than usual to how the exhibits played off of each other. Perhaps
the most obvious example is the view of the SR-71 Blackbird and space shuttle Discovery as you walk in the entrance. It is a spectacular view to be sure. Although some might lament the necessary walkways that partially block Discovery from that point, I found the obstructed view to be more of an invitation for additional promises yet to be discovered and revealed.
One image that I found particularly compelling was the juxtaposition of Chuck Yeager’s iconic Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis, which seemed to peek in on Discovery. It was as though the X-1 was looking over its progeny and the future promises that they both pursued.
Another classic generational pairing was Henri Mignet’s Pou du Ciel, or Flying Flea, with the Concorde in the background. Alas, both are now relegated to days past, although we will inevitably carry their dreams forward as we design and build our models, however modest or grand they might be.
It is always an emotional moment to see an aircraft in a museum while also recalling its time in the air. As with the Concorde and the SR-71, both of which I was fortunate to see fly, I was a bit startled to see Bob Hoover’s Rockwell Shrike Commander on the floor, along with his flight suit and straw hat. Has it really been that long since Annie and I saw him perform at EAA’s AirVenture Oshkosh in Wisconsin?
I guess that time marches on for us all …
SOURCES:
J&H Aerospace
www.jhaerospace.com
YouTube
Indoor hand launched glider world record flight in a dut devil!
https://youtu.be/yACxUncZY4c
National Air and Space Museum
www.airandspace.si.edu
