Page 1April 2002

April, 2002Vol. 19, No. 4

U.S.A. $3.50

R/C Soaring DigestPage 2

ABOUT RCSD

R/C Soaring Digest (RCSD) is a reader-written monthly publication for the R/C

sailplane enthusiast and has been publishedsince January, 1984. It is dedicated to sharingtechnical and educational information. Allmaterial contributed must be exclusive andoriginal and not infringe upon the copyrightsof others. It is the policy of RCSD to provideaccurate information. Please let us know ofany error that significantly affects themeaning of a story. Because we encouragenew ideas, the content of all articles, modeldesigns, press & news releases, etc., are theopinion of the author and may notnecessarily reflect those of RCSD. Weencourage anyone who wishes to obtainadditional information to contact the author.RCSD was founded by Jim Gray, lecturerand technical consultant.

RCSD should not be considered to endorseany advertised products or messagespertaining hereto. An advertising rate card isavailable for businesses, and clubs.

Feature ColumnistsBill & Bunny Kuhlman (B2),

Lee Murray, Tom Nagel, Mark Nankivil,Dave Register, Steve Savoie, Jerry Slates,

Greg Smith, Gordy Stahl

ArtworkGene Zika is the graphic artist

who designs the unique ZIKA clip art.

RCSD StaffJerry Slates - Editor/Technical EditorJudy Slates - Managing Editor, SubscriptionsLee Murray - RCSD Index/Database

(available on-line)Bill & Bunny Kuhlman - RCSD Web Masters

PayPal Coordinators

Copyright © 2002 R/C Soaring Digest.All rights reserved.

R/C Soaring Digest556 Funston Drive

Santa Rosa, CA 95407phone: (707) 578-7871

e-mail: rcsdigest@aol.comhttp://www.b2streamlines.com/RCSD.html

OTHER GOOD STUFF

19 Classified Ads - New Products - Schedule of Special Events

Monthly Feature Photography & Web Version of the Printed Article (where appropriate)Highlights & Mailing Status of the Current IssueAbout RCSD......................................................................................... Subscription Information...................................................... Advertising Rate Card (Adobe Acrobat PDF format)................................................. RCSD Feature Columnists, Reporters, and Editors........................ (E-mail/web addresses, plus general information about their areas of interest)"Getting Started in RC Soaring" .......... Getting started guide - Adobe Acrobat PDF formatLinks to Organizations, Special Interest Groups & ClubsOn-Line Articles - Great articles originally written for the printed version of RCSD......................................... "Trimming Your Sailplane for Optimum Performance" by Brian Agnew.................................................................................................. "Flys Faster" by Dr. Michael Selig.............................. "The Square-Cube Law and Scaling for RC Sailplanes" by Dr. Michael Selig.................................. "Modifying & Building the MB Raven (Parts 1-4)" by Bill & Bunny KuhlmanBookshelf Listings - A listing of recently published books of interest to aeromodelers.Complete RCSD Index, 1984-2001

RCSD ON THE WEBhttp://www.b2streamlines.com/RCSD.html

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3 "Soaring Site" ............................................................................................ Judy SlatesEditorial ............................................................................................................... RES Regulations

4 "Jer's Workbench" ...................................................................................... Jerry SlatesSafety ................................................................................................... Safety First: Using a Mask......................................................................................... Update: Custom Building a Workbench

5 Kit Building Experience ............................................................................... Paul Cox................................................................................................ Rookie Comments on the Majestic

6 "On The Wing..." .......................................................................... Bill & Bunny KuhlmanFlying Wing Design & Analysis .................................. Twist Distributions for Swept Wings, Part 1

10 Slope Combat ...........................................................................................Loren Blinde..................................................................................................... Midwest Slope Challenge 2002

14 "Gordy's Travels" .......................................................................................Gordy StahlBalancing a Sailplane .......................................................... Gordy's Sailplane Balancing System

`16 "Have Sailplane Will Travel!" .................................................................... Tom NagelTravel Saga ......................................................Flying at the Lakeside Mayfly Festival - July 2002

3 Aerospace Composite Products9 B2 Streamlines5 Cavazos Sailplane Design4 Hobby Club13 R/C Soaring Digest

Special Interest Groups19 Eastern Soaring League (ESL)19 International Scale Soaring Assoc.19 League of Silent Flight19 Sailplane Homebuilders Association19 T.W.I.T.T.19 Vintage Sailplane Association

Events18 Last Fling of Summer - Oklahoma

Advertiser Index

Don't forget to check out the Midwest Slope Challengephotography, by Dave Garwood & Joe Chovan, on the website. This month, in addition to the front and back covers,the MWSC article will be available in pdf format in full color!

Page 3April 2002

TheSoaring

Site

Happy Flying!Judy Slates

Back CoverMIDWEST SLOPECHALLENGE 2002

Joe Hosey’s DAW Foam-51 overWilson Lake during MWSC 2002.

Photography byDave Garwood, New York.

MIDWEST SLOPECHALLENGE 2002

Joe Hosey’s DAW KA-6E overWilson Lake. The dam spillway

in the background is probably themost recognizable feature of theshoreline and says “Wilson Lake”to all who have seen it.

Photography byDave Garwood, New York.

ZIKA

RES Regulations

We received the following request fromBelgium.

“In view of promoting our fine hobbyto the less experienced modelers, andkeeping costs down at the same time,our club (MACH, from Herentals-Belgium) made a small scale researchearly this year on the interest for aRES/Open Class. More or less to oursurprise, the response was ratherenthusiastic, so we went a step furtherand sent a letter with our intentions tothe Belgian clubs - again with aremarkable positive reaction. So, wehope to organize a first contest earlynext year.

“However, rather than to invent ourown rules, we feel that a lot can belearned from experience - and there-fore we would be very grateful for asurvey of your regulations for thisOpen/RES Class. Could you, or one ofyour readers, help us out? Of course,we’ll be happy to refund any expenses.

“Many thanks in advance! And if wecan be of any assistance from this partof the world, just let us know.”

(signed) Roger J. SegersHoeksken 25, B-1745 Opwijk, Belgium

rrsegers@worldonline.be

We’ll see what we can do, Roger! We’llinclude your request in the next issueof RCSD. However, you might want tocheck out some of the club pageswhich can be accessed from our webpages. Some of the clubs hold RESevents and may have the informationposted to their web sites or you can e-mail the webmaster. Soaring League ofNorth Texas (SLNT) and TULSOARare two that come immediately tomind. The ESL and LSF may havesomething posted, as well.

Anyone have suggestions for Roger?His addresses are included above.

Web Page Updates

All of the pdf files and addresses, aswell as the club & organization pageshave been updated. And, all of thelinks should be working properly. Ifany of you have difficulty with anylinks or files, please let us know!

R/C Soaring DigestPage 4

Jerry Slates556 Funston Drive

Santa Rosa, CA 95407RCSDigest@aol.com

Jer'sWorkbench

Safety First: Using a Mask

As most of you know, I have beenworking in and around fiberglass

for much of the last 40 years. It wasback in 1954, in my senior year of highschool, that I discovered fiberglass, awonderful building material, and I justhad to try it out.

My first fiberglass project involvedcustom work on a 1941 Buick. Imolded the rear fenders and trunk lid.While it wasn’t much of a custom job,it served to get my feet wet workingwith fiberglass.

In addition to the Buick, there was alsoa 1940 Mercury lounging in the backyard, simply begging to become acustom hot rod. This project was a bitmore extensive. The molded partsincluded fenders, hood, and trunk lid.Door handles for electric doors wereremoved, as well as the runningboards. I built new lower body panelsto cover the car frame. All this infiberglass, of course.

From time to time, in addition to theodd jobs here and there involvingfiberglass work on other cars, I didfiberglass work on old wooden boats.And, of course, I operated VikingModels, U.S.A. for 25 years.

So what, you say?

Well, 40 years is a heck of a lot of

cutting, grinding, sanding, and paint-ing of fiberglass. It can be detrimentalto one’s health.

Recently, I had the usual medicalcheck-up by a doctor, including a chestX-ray, and was pleased to get a “cleanbill of health.” I like to think that thereason is because I try to think safetyfirst. I have always worn a dust maskor respirator of some sort whenworking with fiberglass. There arenumerous ones on the market today,usually available at a home buildingsupply or paint store. Some are inex-pensive, costing around $1.50 each,while others are more expensive.

Personally, $1.50 is a heck of a lot lessexpensive than a doctor’s visit thatdoesn’t give one a “clean bill ofhealth.”

So, this month, I wanted to remindthose of you that work with fiberglassor other types of composite material, towork safely. Even if you are onlyexposed for brief periods of time,protect yourself. If you don’t, after 40years, it might make an importantdifference!

n

Now available: complete line of glider accessories: Canopies, Markings, Retract L/G, Airbrakes, etc.

Nimbus 4-D130" Wingspan$599.95

Duo Discus98" Wingspan$499.95

P.O. BOX 6004, SAN CLEMENTE, CA 92674 - Phone (949) 425-1362/FAX 349-0829WWW.HOBBYCLUB.COMCALL FOR FREE CATALOG

Galler

y of

Glider

s

Specs. ASW-24 PILATUS B-4 LUNAK LF-107 DISCUS (1:3.5) DG 800 (1:4.5) NIMBUS 4-DWing Span: 64 in. 57 in. 66 in. 168 in. 137/165 in. 130 in.Length: 28.3 in. 29.5 in. 28 in. 74 in. 62.5 in. 46 in.Wt: 11 oz. $159.95 10.5 oz. $149.95 15 oz. $159.95 200 oz. $1395.95 123 oz. $999.95 54 oz. $599.95

ZIKA

GONE SOARIN’

Custom Buildinga Workbench

Last month, I shared my plansfor building a new work-

bench and asked for suggestionsfrom anyone that has designedand built a ‘perfect’ workbench. Ihave since received input fromtwo modelers who have somevery good ideas.

The first is from Mark Nankivilin St. Louis, Missouri.

Mark says, “Got my new RCSDyesterday and Jerry, your work-bench sounds much like mine. Ibuilt a new one over this pastwinter that is 8 feet long, 30”wide and 42" high. I wanted itthat tall for precisely the samereason - hunching over the tablesI had was killing my back as Irarely sit down to work onmodels. It sure is nice to standthere or lean against the barstooland do what I need to do withoutback pain. The back of the benchis pegboard as is the right side. Ihang the soldering irons, cover-ing irons & heat guns, etc., on theright side and there is a powerstrip along that side too. I alsohave a second power strip on theback side and use for the charg-ers that rest on the floor thereand when the vacuum pump isneeded for bagging wings. I havetwo shelves under the table toptoo - sure nice to store full lengthwing cores and panels withoutworry of hangar rash. Wings thathave been bagged and need tocure/harden further go underthere as well. I’ll try and takesome photos and send them yourway soon.”

And the next idea was fromBruce Abell in Australia. Brucecalled to suggest that a cable bestrung across the shop. A lightcan be hung from the cable, on aswivel, so that it can be movedeasily wherever more light isneeded!

Thanks, Guys! Your ideas andsuggestions are most appreciated!

Page 5April 2002

by Paul CoxFairdale, Kentucky

LSF1/LASSSoarCrashnburn@aol.com

Without the help of the following, I’d stillbe struggling to get this plane in the air. Abig thanks (alphabetically) to: BruceDavidson, Tom Hall, Ellis Howell, GordyStahl, and Ed Wilson.

After seeing in person the grace,and ease of ground covering of

the LaserArts Majestic, I decided tobuild one as my next project. It has a110" wingspan, and it is currently acontest winning model in the R. E. S.class. It is a built-up plane with a V-tail.

Before purchasing my own, I began toquestion Tom Hall, who had justfinished building his own; he thenimmediately went out and won the“Day after Derby” TD contest inLouisville. (Tom was very helpful, andI wish I had followed all of his instruc-tions on building mine more carefullyand with a removable tail.)

To answer further questions in myquest for more knowledge about the

plane, I communicated on aweekly basis with Dave ofLaserArts. He responded tome quickly, and completelyto the point, on all of my e-mail questions.

15 days after sending mycheck, I received my Majestic.Upon opening the wellpacked and uncrushed box, Ifound that most of theindividual parts fell out oftheir sheets. Each piece cut toperfection by a laser ratherthan a dull-edged punchpress. I felt that only a few ofthe pieces needed anysanding, other than thewooden spurs on the ply-wood parts.

The entire building processwas easily followed, and itsconstruction was aided by awell detailed instructionmanual. The building processrequires the use of aliphaticresin (wood glue), and C/Athin and thick. I addedcarbon fiber tape and heavy

On the first full launch it climbed verywell, straight up with very littleadjustment necessary. I flew forapproximately 5 minutes, with the newplane jitters running though me.Learning to fly such a large wing wasnew to me, and I had to be told morethan once to make larger turns. Havingvisually found some thermal bumpson a crosswind tack, I laid the winginto a 40 degree angle and rode thethermal for a bit; it climbed easily and Ibegan to drift downwind and upwardswith the thermal. I was reminded thatthis was a test flight, and to just learnto fly it for now. The Majestic flewback upwind in the 6-8 mph gustswithout a whimper. Upon setting upfor the upwind landing, I transmittedfor full spoilers. The response wasquick and the airspeed bled off like Ihad thrown out an anchor. It laiddown nice and easy, without anyflaring and was begging to go back upfor more.

I highly recommend this plane toeveryone looking for their next step,and from the comments of the re-spected and experienced flyers in myclub, I assume they too would agree.

How many hours till the next clubflying day?

For more info from the manufacturer:http://members.aol.com/laserartco/

index.html

My previous kit building experiencesincluded a Gentle Lady, and an OLY IIfor my son.

-in regards to soaring-“The truth will set you free!...or get you committed...”

n

upholstery thread to the main spar. Iused HiTec 85’s in the spoilers, andHiTec 422’s on the ruddervators. Ipainted the pod and boom, andcovered the wings and tail withmonokote.

During building I had hoped that Ihadn’t been using too much glue, orpaint and that my plan to build it witha permanent tail would be worthwhileeffort; however, after beginningbalancing for the starting CG point, Ifound myself adding a full 9 oz. ofweight to the nose. (Sighing deeply...)And CG now correct, I balanced theplane’s wings, completed my radiochecks and configurations, and lookedforward to a fairly calm day.

I have always looked forward to theflying days in Louisville at the L. A. S.S. club. Witty comments, and theoccasional sideways pokes at eachother are always followed by theextremely knowledgeable help fromthe very same people. My “first flightday” with the “Majestic” was nodifferent; no less than 4 other memberscame over to help me out with the finalsetups.

Rookie Comments on the Majestic

R/C Soaring DigestPage 6

bsquared@appleisp.nethttp://www.b2streamlines.com

Twist Distributions forSwept Wings, Part 1

Our curiosity got the better of us, and weasked “Why are designers of swept wingtailless models placing proportionally moretwist in the outboard portion of the wing?”This series of articles will provide acomprehensive answer to that question.

Our intense interest in taillessaircraft now spans twenty years.

Over those two decades, we have builta number of “plank” type ’wings andseveral swept ’wings. As we explainedin a recent column, there are advan-tages and disadvantages to both ofthese planforms.

An introduction totwist distributions

The impetus to begin designing ourown swept wing tailless aircraft wasthe presentation given by Dr. WalterPanknin at the MARCS (Madison AreaRadio Control Society) Symposiumheld in 1989. Dr. Panknin provided arelatively simple method for determin-ing the geometric twist required for astable planform when given the span,the root and tip chord lengths, the rootand tip airfoil zero lift angles andpitching moments, the sweep angle ofthe quarter chord line, the designcoefficient of lift, and the static margin.

Dr. Panknin assumed that the wingtwist would be imparted across thesemi-span. That is, the root would beheld at zero degrees and the tiptwisted at some angle of washout, withthe wing leading and trailing edgesforming straight lines. Dr. Panknin’s’wing, the Flying Rainbow, along withKurt Weller’s Elfe II, utilized this typeof twist distribution on tapered wings.

In looking at other swept wings of thattime period, we were also attracted toHans-Jürgen Unverferth’s CO2. TheCO2 was different from the Flying

Rainbow and the Elfe II in that thewing was not tapered but rather ofconstant chord. Additionally, CO2utilizes a twist distribution in whichthe inner half of the semi-span has notwist at all. All of the geometric twist is

in the outer half of the semi-span.While the actual twist angle is identicalto that computed for the Panknin twistdistribution, pitch stability is notadversely affected and in fact may beslightly better.

Page 7April 2002

More recently, Hans Jürgen and otherswept wing designers have taken toimparting wing twist across threesegments. From the root to one third ofthe semi-span there is no twist. Aboutone third of the total twist is then putinto the second third of the semi-span,and the remaining two thirds of thetotal twist is put into the wing betweentwo thirds semi-span and the wing tip.

Our curiosity got the better of us andwe asked, “Why are designers ofswept wing tailless models placingproportionally more twist in theoutboard portion of the wing?” Thisseries of articles will provide a compre-hensive answer to that question.

Lift distributions

Nearly all aerodynamics text booksdevote pages to what is called the “liftdistribution.” The lift distribution forany straight (quarter chord line at 90degrees to the centerline) wing can begraphically represented by a curvedline superimposed over a standard X-Ycoordinate system. The lift distributioncurve traces the local circulation — thelocal coefficient of lift times the localgeometric chord.

How is the lift distribution deter-mined? Let’s start by taking a look atthe construction of the elliptical liftdistribution. Assign the aircraft wingtips to the points 1.0 and -1.0 on the Y-axis of the coordinate system. Draw acircular arc above the Y-axis using theaircraft wing tips to define the diam-eter. A semicircle is formed which hasthe radius b/2 (the semi-span) and thearea π/2(b/2)2 which in this specificcase is simply π/2 = 1.57.

Now drop vertical lines from thesemicircle circumference to the Y-axis.Mark the mean (halfway) point oneach vertical. Connecting these identi-fied points creates an ellipse. (SeeFigure 1). This elliptical lift distributionis predominantly promoted as beingthe ideal, as represented in the plan-form of the British SupermarineSpitfire fighter of the World War II era.

Why would the designer want the liftdistribution of his arbitrary wing toclosely match that of the elliptical liftdistribution? Because with the ellipti-cal lift distribution, a discovery ofLudwig Prandtl in 1908 which hepublished in 1920, each small area ofthe wing is carrying an identical load

R/C Soaring DigestPage 8

and so is operating at the same localcoefficient of lift, the downwash off thetrailing edge of the wing is constantacross the span, and the coefficient ofinduced drag (drag due to lift) is at itsminimum point.

To construct the lift distribution for anarbitrary wing without twist or sweep,lay out the wing outline over theelliptical lift distribution with chordlengths proportioned such that thearea of the wing is equal to that of theellipse (one half that of the semicircle,in this case π/4 = 0.785). Draw a curvealong the mean of the ellipse and thewing planform outline. (See Figure 2.)

With some graphical experimentation,we find that the lift distribution for awing with a taper ratio of 0.45 almostexactly matches that of the elliptical liftdistribution described by Prandtl. (SeeFigure 3.) The tapered planform has atleast one advantage over the ellipticalplanform — it’s far easier to build. Butthe elliptical planform has a stallpattern in which the entire wing issubject to stalling at the same time. Athigh angles of attack, small gusts canserve to trigger a stall on any portionof the wing span. A tapered wing witha nearly identical lift distribution willtend to behave in the same way.

Lift coefficient distributions

As stated previously, the lift generatedby any wing segment is directlyproportional to the coefficient of liftand the local geometric chord. Thismeans that there is also a coefficient oflift distribution. For Prandtl’s ellipticalwing lift distribution, as has beendescribed here, the local coefficient oflift is identical across the span. On theother hand, if the taper ratio is zero(the wing tip comes to a point), thecoefficient of lift will be zero only in atruly vertical dive, but otherwise it willbe infinite because the wing tip chordis nil. Any time this wing is calledupon to produce lift, the wing tip willbe stalled. From this extreme example,we realize the tip chord cannot be toosmall, as it will then be forced tooperate at a higher coefficient of lift,leading to a local stalling of the wing.(See Figure 4.)

So called “tip stalling” can be inhibitedby one or both of two methods. Thefirst involves increasing the local chordnear the wing tip, the second consistsof imparting washout.

As we intuitively know, enlarging thewing tip chord reduces the localcoefficient of lift. An enlarged wing tipchord is not so efficient as the trueelliptical planform, but the penalty forusing a perfectly rectangular wing isjust 7% and so it may be an acceptabletrade-off for a machine designed forsport flying.

Washout, on the other hand, while alsoreducing the coefficient of lift in thearea of the wing tip, is good for onlyone speed. As the twist angle in-creases, the deleterious effects becomestronger much more quickly as thecoefficient of lift for the entire wing,CL, moves away from the designpoint. If washout is too great, the wingtips can actually be lifting downwardat high speeds. This puts tremendousloads on the wing structure.

Adverse yaw

One other effect of utilizing theelliptical lift distribution comes aboutas we add control surfaces to the wing.Outboard ailerons, for example, createdifferent coefficients of induced dragdepending on whether the surface ismoved up or down. The controlsurface moving downward createsmore lift and hence more drag than thesurface moving upward. When rollinginto a turn, therefore, the aircraft isforced into a yaw away from thedirection of the turn. (See Figure 5.)

In conventional aircraft, this tendencycan be reduced to some extent by whatis called aileron differential. Theupgoing control surface travelsthrough a larger arc than thedowngoing surface. While this tends toincrease the drag on the downgoingwing, reducing adverse yaw to a greatextent, many pilots find that someamount of rudder input is necessary toobtain a coordinated turn.

Reduction of rudder input is animportant consideration in the quest toreduce overall drag while maneuver-ing, but the associated induced dragfrom the fin and rudder, a low aspectratio flying surface, cannot be entirelyavoided. For a swept flying wingwithout vertical surface, elimination ofadverse yaw is obviously imperative,but aileron differential cannot be usedin this case because of its effect onpitch trim. Some other means ofeliminating adverse yaw must bedevised.

Three major problems

And so we are forced to solve threeproblems when designing a taillessaircraft:

1. Achieve and hopefully surpass thelow induced drag as exemplifiedby the elliptical lift distributionwithout creating untoward stallcharacteristics,

2. Reduce the adverse yaw createdby aileron deflection withoutadversely affecting the aircraft inpitch, and

3. Maintain an acceptable weight tostrength ratio.

A relevant historical tidbit

The Wright brothers, along with theirother accomplishments, were the firstaircraft designers to determine thatbanking was necessary to turn, an ideawhich no doubt came from theirexperience with bicycles. While otherearly aviation pioneers had studiedbird flight, the perspective of theWrights while watching birds wasvery much different because of theircycling experiences. (Interestingly,their direct competitor, Glenn Curtiss,built and raced motorcycles.)

The Wrights also had the ability toseparate the major problem of con-trolled powered flight into manageablecomponents. Propulsion was separatedfrom the production of lift, andstability was separated from control,for example. In fact, their solution tothe problem of flight incorporated onlyone integrated system, the wing, whichprovided lateral control, structure, andlift. It was Wilbur’s twisting of theinner-tube box, through which the ideaof wing warping was derived and theinternal bracing of their wing structurewas devised, which provided theinsight needed to create a controllableflying machine capable of carrying ahuman pilot/passenger.

But the flying machine they created,while tremendously successful, for allpractical purposes ended the use ofbirds as models for aircraft design. Asan indicator of this, the Wrights sawtheir early successes and records inpowered flight quickly surpassed bythe inventions of others. Curtiss, forexample, solved the problem ofbanking turns with separate controlsurfaces rather than wing warping. Hisaileron system is still in use today.

Page 9April 2002

The Wright’s separation of a hugeproblem into smaller more easilysolved problems has continued to bethe hallmark of aircraft design for 100years, and aviation has made nearlyunbelievable strides during thatcentury. But there are a growingnumber of aircraft designers who wishto go back to the bird model. Theywish to design an aircraft which is theminimum required for efficientcontrolled flight by integrating lift,stability and control into a singlestructural component.

A bird is a biological system which hasbeen very successful for a very longtime. To be successful in the competi-tive environment of nature, a flyingbird needs more than just lift, stability,and control. A bird must also beefficient at flying. That is, it must havea very low energy expenditure.Minimum drag while moving throughthe air is of course of major importancein this regard, as is a very light air-frame because extra weight increasesthe energy drain on the system.

We can see through direct observationthat birds have no vertical surfaces, yetbirds are able to make beautifulcoordinated banked turns without anyevidence of adverse yaw. Perhapsbirds do not make use of Prandtl’selliptical lift distribution.

What’s next?

As a prelude to future installments, letus ask a series of provocative ques-tions:

• What if we found that the ellipticallift distribution does not lead to theminimum induced drag, as hasbeen dogma in most aerodynamicstexts since Prandtl introduced theconcept in 1920?

• What if we found a way to pro-duce “induced thrust” in additionto, and without increasing, the“induced drag” produced by thecreation of lift?

• What if we could increase the wingspan and aspect ratio withoutincreasing the required strength ofthe spar at the wing root?

• What if the answers to all of theabove questions are related?

We’ll cover all of this and more infuture installments!_______________

Ideas for future columns are alwayswelcome. RCSD readers can contact usby mail at P.O. Box 975, Olalla WA98359-0975, or by e-mail at<bsquared@appleisp.net>.

References:

Anderson, John D. Jr. Introduction toflight. McGraw-Hill, New York,1985.

Anderson, John D. Jr. Fundamentals ofaerodynamics. McGraw-Hill, NewYork, 1984.

Bowers, Al. Correspondence within<www.nurflugel.com> e-mail list.

Hoerner, Dr.-Ing. S.F. and H.V. Borst.Fluid-dynamic lift. Hoerner fluiddynamics, Vancouver WA USA,1985.

Horten, Dr. Reimar. Lift distributionon flying wing aircraft. Soaring June1981, pp. 40-42.

Hurt, H.H. Jr. Aerodynamics for navalaviators. Published as NAVWEPS00-80T-80 by the U.S. Navy, 1965.

Kermode, A.C. Mechanics of flight.Pitman, London, 1980.

McCormick, Barnes W. Aerodynamics,aeronautics, and flight mechanics.John Wiley and Sons, New York,1979.

Raymer, Daniel P. Aircraft design: aconceptual approach. AIAAEducation Series, Washington, DC,1992.

Shevell, Richard S. Fundamentals ofFlight. Prentice-Hall, EnglewoodCliffs NJ USA, 1983.

Simons, Martin. Model AircraftAerodynamics. Argus Books,Hemel Hempstead Great Britain,1994.

The White Sheet, Spring 1986, No. 36.Sean Walbank editor. White SheetRadio Flying Club, Dorset/Somerset Great Britain.

n

R/C Soaring DigestPage 10

Moment of Impact: DAW Foam Wulf-190Dgreets a Composite Specialties Bandit.

Foamie Combat. DAW KawaFoamieKi-61 = Jim Harrigan.

Foamie Combat. DAW Foam-51 = Greg Smith.

By Loren BlindeLincoln, NebraskaLBlinde@alltel.net

www.alltel.net/~mwsc

Photography by David Garwood(except as noted) & Joe Chovan

Kansas slope soaring with a sideorder of gravy. Take a great site

like Wilson Lake, mix in some relaxedcountry culture and spend three daysin May flying with friends from coastto coast. That’s the Midwest SlopeChallenge. I’ve been the contestdirector and concierge for the past 3years and will try to give you a per-spective of what the event is all about.

MWSC isn’t really a trophy event or agathering of the soaring elite; it’s morelike a family reunion. Aunt Peggy isdrinking a bit too much and cousinBob is doing cannonballs in the pool.You’re on a first name basis with thebartender at the local tavern and canalmost feel those arteries snapping

Midwest Slope Challenge 2002

shut as you order breakfast at the cafe.We’ve tried to maintain a “somethingfor everyone” (well, maybe except F3F)approach with honest competition forthose so inclined and plenty of time forfun flying and socializing.

One of the good people associatedwith MWSC is Alden Shipp. Aldenactually lives in Lucas, our adoptedheadquarters town, several months ofthe year. During his stay in Lucas,Alden has done wonders to make thetownsfolk slope soaring aware. It’s notuncommon for a stranger to stop youon the street and ask how the flyingwas today. Five minutes later thestranger is a friend telling you aboutthis hill he has in one of his pastures.And one of those pastures came inhandy this year...

The Slope Challenge has had the same

weather pattern for 3 years straight…It’s perfect several days before theevent, followed by a north wind day ortwo (and the big hill faces south), acalm day and somewhere a passableday for racing. Several fliers showedup early in the week and the main hillwas bustling by Wednesday, thanks to25-mph winds right up the pipe.

Thursday, the traditional cold frontcame through, so it was off to a pasturehill north of Lucas for an afternoon offun flying. There were cattle in thepasture and an abundance of pieshaped landing targets. Many city folkgot their first opportunity to open andclose a barbed wire gate. Importantfarm boy tip for next year: you openthe gate, swing the gate out of the way,then drive through - not drive over thegate on the ground.

Friday was combat day and once againthe north wind had us at the samepasture. This is a blessing in disguisefor Combat. It’s a smaller and moreaccessible hill that makes for closeraction and easier retrieval of downed

Page 11April 2002

Some guys willtravel half theworld to find adecent slope.

New York SlopeDogs: RichLoud, Joe

Chovan, TerryDwyer, Jim

Harrigan, andWayne Rigby.

Not pictured andbehind the

camera: DaveGarwood.

Unlimited race. Hard-workingJoe Chovan at the back of the line.

Does Slope Combathave a future?

As previously reported, the AMAExecutive Council considered the

following Safety Code proposal fromthe Safety Committee at their July 15meeting:

“Any flight activity involving theintentional collision between modelaircraft is prohibited.”

We have received a temporaryreprieve. The EC deferred takingaction on the proposal until moreinformation can be gathered.

The feedback and input the ECreceived from many of you wasinstrumental in heading off a pre-emptive action that would have putslope combat out of business as aninsured activity. We owe a debt ofgratitude to the Radio Control CombatAssociation (RCCA) for their supporton the issue. It was the RCCA whobrought this to the attention of thesoaring community and who spoke onour behalf at the July 15 meeting.

Now before we all relax, rememberthis is still an open issue and the ECwill consider it again, sometime in thenear future. We need to monitor theprogress of the issue and continue toprovide constructive input to ourrepresentatives in the AMA.

Loren Blinde

planes. There were 50 pilots entered inthis event which says a lot about thedrawing power of combat. My guess isthat without combat, we would havehad maybe 30 people show up.

The combat action was intense andafter three qualifying rounds, the top14 fliers advanced to the final. Thefinal resulted in 5 pilots still tied, so a5-minute playoff heat was conducted.Since watching 5 planes in combat isabout as exciting as watching the cattlegraze, we put all 14 finalists on the hill,the goal being to weed out the top 5. Ifany of the 5 were still flying at thehorn, most kills would win. LocalKansas flier Randy Mohr of GreatBend outlasted the 2001 winner DuaneJenkins of Tennessee and took tophonors.

A lot of guys build planes just for theWarbird Race. Trouble is, we’d neverhad one. For some strange reason, thewind didn’t die after Combat asplanned, so in a panic, the Warbirdcourse was set up. The pylon pole onone end was thirty feet of galvanizedsteel pipe; the kind used as a top railon chain link fences. Ironically, thepole material was salvaged from ascrap heap at the local power clubclean up day. It survived numerousdirect encounters, never wavered andeven emitted a derisive “clank” whenhit.

The pasture hill was great for combat,but challenging for Warbirds flyinghorizontally across the face. Four planeheats were flown with additionalpoints for “kills” during the race. Mostof the heat winners were more survi-vors than combatants. But in any case,this event was an absolute crowdpleaser and the mandate was do itagain and do it more. In the battle ofthe final four, Garland Hanson ofArizona was the winner over JoeChovan from New York and declaredthe 2002 “Ace of the Base.”

Saturday was race day, but there wasnothing but a gentle breeze until verylate in the day. At noon, we made thecall to postpone the races till Sundayand call the day a fun fly. And yeah, itwas fun. At least four people told methis was the best day of the entireweekend. One of the nice things aboutWilson is there are spacious E-W andN-S oriented areas for fun flying. Therewas a winch, several bungees, lots ofelectrics, hand launch and thermal

R/C Soaring DigestPage 12

It’s the pilot, not the plane! Wayne Henning’s Jouster inUnlimited final; nose droops from excess weight.

The Stillman Recovery Net. Pat Mcleave flys, FredStillman watches. (Net designed by Fred Stillman

and Rick Stillman of Lakeland, Colorado.)

One-Design isn’t what it used to be; Hammerhead, Fun-1, and Cobra make theturn. Hammerhead designer, Denny Maize’s backside closest to camera.

planes plus a rocket assisted ME-163.The thermal action was outstanding,just what you look forward to for aslope event.

The Saturday night banquet is the realreason we have the event, flying is justan excuse to be there. With a crowd of75, this was the largest feast yet. Lucasmayor Dave Urban and his K-18 Cafecrew did a superb job of stuffing thecrowd with some of the best prime ribyou will ever find. Several legendaryappetites in the group were seenwaving the white surrender dinner

napkin halfway through their thirdpound of beef.

If you come to MWSC to clean up oncompetition prizes, you’re at thewrong contest; they are all given awayby raffle at the banquet. There wasfantastic sponsor support this year andat least half the pilots present walkedaway with a goodie. It should be notedthat every maker of a new One-Designracing kit was present and kindenough to donate a kit to the raffle.

Sunday is supposed to be fun flying

and go home early day, but this year itwas race day. The forecast was promis-ing for the main hill and by 10:30 wehad sufficient wind to fly One-DesignRacing. One-Design used to be theexclusive domain of the CR Fun-One.This year, the rules were cleaned up abit and we now have a new flock ofcompetitive kits on the market. All fourwere represented and performed well.You might as well go ahead and buildone because this event is now carvedinto the proverbial Kansas limestonefence post. After three rounds of heatraces, Todd Martin of Topeka, Kansaswon the final going away.

It should be noted that the race course

Page 13April 2002

(Above) Bungie Launch! FredStillman releases his foam F-86.

Mike Bailey on the sticks.

(Right) Those new One-Design kitslook better than their makers: Mike

Bailey, Foam-One, and LarryBlevins, Cobra.

(Below)Denny Maize’s Hammerhead in farturn; ODR. Photo by Joe Chovan.

ONE-DESIGN KITS

Cobra RacerMagnum ModelsPO Box 47Lake City, TN 37769Phone: 865 426-4826E-Mail: info@magnum-models.comWebsite: www.magnum-models.com

Foam-OneMike s Models610 West Third St.Valley Center, KS 67147Phone: 316 755-0924E-mail: jbailey19@cox.netWebsite: members.cox.net/jbailey19

HammerheadPole Cat Aeroplane Works797 Polecat RoadLandisburg, PA 17040Phone: 717 789-0146E-Mail: denny@polecataero.comWebsite: www.polecataero.com

One Fun DesignSoaring Specialties1403 Lincolnshire RdOklahoma City, OK 73159Phone: 405 692-1122E-mail: gavoss@swbell.netWebsite: www.soaringspecialties.com

was far more efficient and pilotfriendly than past years thanks to theaddition of a pylon turn light systemand a recorded audio countdown tostart the races. Both worked flawlesslyand we all owe a big “attaboy” toLincoln Area Soaring Society member,Tom Wild, for creating them.

Unlimited Racing was planned as a 2-plane, man on man, double eliminationtournament. That would have ex-tended the contest till suppertime andwe were flat out of prime rib. To givesome people a decent chance of actu-ally being at work on Monday, the racewas changed to single elimination.

The final came down to WayneHenning of Bellevue, Nebraska flyinghis thermal Jouster (granted, with alead brick inside) and former MWSCCD Paul Wright from England witha Brisk. Don’t laugh, Wayne beatskilled pilots with slope specificmachines to reach the final; some of thefinest flying I’ve ever seen. In real life,Wayne flies Med-Evac helicopters anddoes just as well with a machine thatdoesn’t have to beat the air intosubmission. In the end, new technol-ogy prevailed and Paul (who is noslouch himself when it comes to sloperacing) was the winner after making upWayne’s big early lead on the 4th lap.

If you’d like to see complete results,more pictures and learn about nextyear’s event, go to www.alltel.net/~mwsc. Be sure to check out thesponsor links and tell them thanks.

Oops, I just said “next year”, one of thetop-10 things CD’s have to be carefulabout. Okay, let’s do it again. 2003 willbe the 10th anniversary of the eventand it will be special. See you there…

n

R/C Soaring DigestPage 14

GORDY’S TRAVELS

Gordy StahlLouisville, KentuckyGordySoar@aol.com

“Gordy’s SailplaneBalancing System”

In my travels I get to meet lots of RCSailplanes.... And their owners. It

amazes me how little we all knowabout trim and balance.

So often, I see a plane flying that Iknow is way out of balance. It bal-loons, lands like a rocketing rock, andfalls out of low speed, down windturns, or just ends up in a tree, some-where, with its owner saying, “I don’tget it! It just wouldn’t turn!”

When I ask about how they balancedtheir sailplanes, they say, “Just wherethe plan said!”

Aside from the science involved indetermining Center of Gravity, Centerof Pressure and all those other coolterms, I find that to get a sailplane tofly at its optimum, you have to get thelead out.

After balancing one fella’s plane,which moved its ‘balance’ point backabout a full 1 1/2" from what the planshowed, I asked him a simple ques-tion....

“You see that your plane flies thesame at virtually any speed, itdoesn’t porpoise, and it lands superslow. It turns on a dime and showsthe smallest thermal... But it’sbalanced way behind what the planshows. Are you going to put thelead back in, so it balances wherethe plan showed, so it flies goofyagain?”

He said, “Yes, because the designermust know the right spot to balance it

at, since he designed it.” So, he put allthe lead back in and proceeded to putit in the top of a tree on the subsequentflight. Go figure...

I hear guys say things like, “I like myplane a little nose heavy; it makes itmore stable.” Or, “If you get thebalance point too far back, it gets tootwitchy.”

The first statement implies that ‘morestable’ is a good thing, so we should allfly an unbalanced plane. The secondstatement has a negative connotation,because of the word ‘twitchy’.

The ‘more stable’ statement impliesthat the guy has through trial and errorfound the farthest balance point backbehind or at the ‘neutral’ balancepoint, then added lead to the nose toget it just right. Which he didn’t. Guyslike this add lead to get the plane tobalance slightly ahead of where theplan showed... Really nose heavy. Aplane balanced forward of the neutralpoint, takes more elevator to get thenose to raise, as in when you are lowand slow, going down wind. Thatcondition causes you to add more upto get that heavy nose to raise whenthere is very little air for your elevatorto react against... Causing you to pulleven more elevator. All that up causesthe airflow to stop traveling over thesurface, which causes a ‘snap roll’,what other guys would blame on a “tipstall”.

The second statement has a negativeconnotation because of the word‘twitchy’. How about substituting adifferent word... And stating that aneutrally balanced sailplane is ‘control-lable’? Doesn’t sound like a bad thingnow does it? So if, when the plane is‘balanced’, it doesn’t need much upelevator to raise the nose, you canreduce the travels or use dual rates to‘calm’ the plane down at high speeds.

You’ve heard of the ‘Dive Test’?Probably the dumbest thing anyoneever came up with for checkingbalance. I hear modelers talk about itsaying that when the plane is noseheavy, it will cause the model to pullup quickly and, one that is neutrallybalanced or tail heavy, will ‘tuck’ orincrease its dive angle as speed in-creases.

All probably true but goofy to betalking about in the context of balance.A nose heavy plane has to fly with UPelevator trim, so naturally it willballoon with airspeed. More airpassing over the elevator’s surfacegives it more authority. A tail heavyplane tucks because it has some downelevator — since a tail heavy planeflies a lot better backwards, that’swhere the weight is!

But lots of things affect what a sail-plane does at high speeds. Tail boomflex causes a reaction on the pushrods,changing the position of the rudder.The shape of the stabs can put hugetwisting down loads on its tips. Pushrod flex can also create things liketuck....But all this is still goofy to beused for determining optimum bal-ance. Since when do we ever achieveand maintain those kinds of speedswhen circling in a thermal?

There is never a good reason to havean unbalanced plane. Because the planshows a CG, that doesn’t ever mean itis the optimum balance point for theplane you built. (A lot of what we havedone with CG comes from the FreeFlight days, where planes were bal-anced forward so that if they gottipped into a dive they would pull up.We don’t fly free flight, we pay bigbucks for a transmitter so that WE candecide when or if we want our plane topull up.)

Here is a simple way to get your planealmost perfectly balanced beforelaunching. (Keep in mind that this systemis easiest to use with a sailplane equippedwith a full flying stabilizer, as fixed stabsbring decalage, or the alignment (usuallymis-alignment) of the horizontal stabilizerto the wing, leaving the elevator to attemptto compensate for the two surfaces fightingeach other.)

It’s called “Gordy’s Sailplane Balanc-ing System”, named after a brilliant,intuitive RC soaring legend.

On the bench, balance the plane on acouple of pencils, or your finger tips, atabout 40% of the root chord, from theleading edge of the wing. (Root chordis the width of the wing panel at thecenter of the wing).

(No I don’t care what the plan says;

Page 15April 2002

R/C Soaring Digest556 Funston Drive

Santa Rosa, CA 95407

e-mail: RCSDigest@aol.comhttp://www.b2streamlines.com/RCSD.html

A MONTHLY LOOK INTO THE WORLD OF SAILPLANE ENTHUSIASTS EVERYWHERE

R/C Soaring Digest Subscription Form

R/C Soaring Digest (RCSD) is a reader-written monthly publication for theR/C sailplane enthusiast. Published since 1984, RCSD is dedicated to thesharing of technical and educational information related to R/C soaring.

RCSD encourages new ideas, thereby creating a forum where modelers canexchange concepts and share findings, from theory to practical application.Article topics include design and construction of RC sailplanes, kit reviews,airfoil data, sources of hard to find items, and discussions of various flyingtechniques, to name just a few. Photos and illustrations are always inabundance.

There are RCSD subscribers worldwide.

USA: $30 First Class (CA res., please add $2.25 tax.)Canada & Mexico: $30 AirEurope/U.K.: $45 AirAsia/Africa/Pacific/Middle East: $52 Air

Check or Money Order, only, please. U.S. funds.

Name_________________________________________Address___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

unless it says 50%, then go ahead.)

Go do a few hand tosses to get theplane trim, so that hands off, it flies flatand level, not diving nor ballooning…Just a long flat glide. If your glide isheading downward, it’s not trimmedfor a long flat glide!

Now, once trimmed as stated, give it agood toss, get it flying straight andkeep your hands off of the elevatorstick! The only important part of thissystem is the last 10’ of its glide, sowatch what the nose does very care-fully. If at the end when the sailplaneslows, the nose suddenly drops to theground, GET THE LEAD OUT.

The nose dropped because the elevatorran out of power (air moving over it)to hold all that lead in the nose up. Sostart pulling lead. (Note! With eachchunk of lead you pull out, you willneed to take some up trim out, as theelevator is having to do less work.)

When finally your plane flies flat offthe toss, and at the very end, the towhook touches first, YOU ARE BAL-ANCED, or at least as close as you cantell this close to the ground.step, launch the plane and get it

trimmed in the air for flat and levelflight. Then flip it over inverted. Yourgoal is to pull lead until almost no(thats like almost NONE) downelevator is required to hold the planeinverted in level fight.

Now when your plane enters lift it willpop its tail up like a dog in heat, as it isnot being forced downward withcompensating up elevator, trying tohold a lead laden nose from divingdown. It will land like a feather,because it can be slowed to incrediblylow flying speeds without the nosedropping like a descending rock.

The bottom line is that it doesn’tmatter where the balance point of yoursailplane measures. What matters isthat your sailplane is optimized to beas ‘clean’ in the air as possible, andthat it reacts when told, always main-taining its attitude, regardless of airspeed.

So get rid of that plan and get thatplane balanced! Once balanced, youcan reduce surface movement travel,use your dual rates or expo, and getthat plane tuned up for attempts at thewinner’s circle!

MWSC 2002

RCSD writer Greg Smith’sDAW Foam-51. Mike Bailey

launches. Photography byDave Garwood.

Next trip is a flight! An electric flight atthat. I’ll be reviewing Hitec’s new SkyScooter Pro Version 2. An EPP speed400 electric that has me grinning lately.

As always, you can reach me forquestions at <GordySoar@aol.com>.

n

R/C Soaring DigestPage 16

HAVE SAILPLANE, WILL TRAVEL!

By Tom H. Nagel904 Neil Ave.

Columbus, OH 43215tomnagel@iwaynet.net

Tiger Moth, flown by Tom and Rew.

The HEATHCLIFFE sign is displayed on the front ofthe family cottage. Tom’s wife’s last name is Heath.

Flying at the Lakeside MayflyFestival - July 2002

The stories I send to RCSDigest areusually about a vacation to some place thatis great to go for flying. Sometimes I don’tget to fly much, but that’s my family foryou. The sites are usually well worth avisit for the flying alone. This story isdifferent. This is about finding a way to flya little at a place that is worth visiting for avacation, even if the flying is not so great.The story starts over a hundred years ago.

My wife’s Great Aunt Lucretia wasa Methodist church lady living in

Chillicothe, Ohio, and she liked tohang out with her church buddies andgo to retreats and Chautauqua andstuff like that. (Chautauqua is anIroquois word that translates roughlyas “concentration camp for Protes-tants.”) Lucretia’s husband was afuneral director in Chillicothe wholiked to drink beer, smoke cigars andplay cards with his buddies. So,Lucretia’s husband built her a cottagein Ottawa County, Ohio on theMarblehead Peninsula, in the littleMethodist retreat center now known asLakeside. Lucretia would take the trainto Lake Erie and spend her summers atthe Lake with her church buddies andher husband stayed home, playedpoker, drank beer and smoked cigars.It worked out so well that Lucretia’scottage is still in my wife’s family overa hundred years later.

Now days, even Methodist churchladies play cards, drink beer andsmoke cigars. So the whole family goesto Lakeside. Now days, we drive up in

a Ford towing a sailboat andthree kayaks, with two dogsin the crew. (Yes, we take thedogs, too. They get rinsed offin the lake at least twice a tripand smell a whole lot betteron the way home.)

The Heath-Nagels are now incharge of opening andclosing the cottage each year,and we spend a couple ofweeks up there every sum-mer. Church stuff isn’tmandatory anymore, and theMethodists leave you alone ifyou keep the beer on theporch, and are otherwise andin all respects just the kind ofpeople you’d want owningthe lakefront cottage nextdoor to you. TheVictorian architecture is fun,the heavily wooded grounds

Brothers were as close as I ever got toflying at Lakeside, though. This year, Idecided to change that.

The problem with flying at Lakeside isall those 200 year old oaks and walnutsand ash. The whole place is heavilywooded. The Fox squirrels almost out-number the church ladies. The onlyopen space at all is the old “paradegrounds” up the hill by the clay courttennis club. The parade grounds arelaid out as a football field, but benefitthe schools that run their summerband camps at Lakeside. Nobody everplays football there. I considered it as aplace to try a handlaunch glider. Letme describe the parade grounds:

Bushes and trees crowd the southsidelines, never more than ten feetfrom the sidelines. There are no endzones –- just 100 yards of chalk lines.The tennis club’s chain link fencecrowds the east end. Tall power linesrun across the west goal line. And thewoods sort of sneak out onto the fieldfrom the south sideline. Trees over-hang the south sideline at the east 20yard line. By the 40 yard line, wholetree trunks are out in the field, and bythe time you march to the west goalline, the entire marching band is in theshade. The timber on the paradegrounds doesn’t seem to faze themarching bands much, but the flagtwirlers have to watch out for over-hanging branches. At best there was 2/

are cool and pleasant, and the fishingoff the 100 yard long concrete pier isastounding. You can catch one ofeverything if you stand there longenough. Right now the smallmouthbass are abundant, since their favoritefood is Lake Erie’s latest Europeaninvader, the round Gobi.

When you buy a pass into Lakeside, itis like buying a ticket into anothercentury, one where homes were small,nobody drove cars, and everybody lefttheir doors unlocked. Everyone travelsby bicycle. You can let the kids roamfree without concern. You can play asmuch free shuffleboard as you want,but just make sure you don’t getsnookered by an elderly Wesleyanshuffleboard shark. When ESPN2covers the Intergalactic ShuffleboardFinals, the venue is Lakeside, Ohio.

There is a sailing club where you canrent a slot for your Sunfish or Laser, ortake sailing lessons and get free rentalsfor the week. There are free tenniscourts. There are free swimminglessons for the kids. And every Junethere are hordes of free mayflys. Moreon that later.

Every night there is free entertainmentin a massive auditorium. Some of it ispretty good stuff —the PreservationHall Jazz Band, Celtic Storm, KarlaBonhoff, and the Flying KaramozovBrothers, for example. The Karamozov

Page 17April 2002

Scratch built PT-19 from the after-Toledo-Showindoor electric fly at Bowling Green State

University, another example of light electricsthat would work well on vacations.

The Spirit of St. Louis Park Flyer from theToledo Show, one example of light electrics that

would work well on vacations.

3rds of a football field in which to fly.No way was I going to get a HLG towork in there, even with my wimpyjavelin launches.

So I decided to do what any selfrespecting lawyer would do. I decidedto cheat. This year I hauled along myson’s park flyer, a little GWS TigerMoth. The TM rode safely all the wayto the lake, perched up on top of theluggage in the van and survived therisks of shifting loads and nosy familydogs.

Rew and I got started flying electricswith an indoor electric group puttogether by Terry Nitsch this lastwinter. It was the first interest Rewhad ever shown in actually flying amodel airplane. (As opposed tohanging out with the old guys at thefield and driving golf carts at theNATS.) Hethought the Pico Stick was way toougly for a cool kid like him to fly, butsuggested maybe the Tiger Mothwould be OK. Good choice. The TMnot only flies better than the Pico Stick,but it has a smaller wingspan andtravels better, too. And as it turns out,the indoor flying was great practice forflying out of Lakeside’s so-calledparade grounds. With a little concen-tration, I was able to take off and landin the tiny clearing, while amazing the

Methodists with my flyingskill.

I also amazed one of the localfrisbee dogs, who thoughtthe TM was fair game.Unlike a frisbee, the TMmanaged to climb andswerve until the dog ownergot a leash on the critter.

So, what has this got to dowith RC Soaring?

on layers of slick bug bodies, likeGordy through the landing zone. Itwas heart warming to see two gazillioncritters each of whom fly worse than Ido.

In closing, if you are looking for a greatplace to fly in the Midwest, tryMuncie. If you want to hang out withthe family in a quiet lake shore Victo-rian village with free shows, tennis andshuffleboard, and great fishing andsailing, call the folks at Lakeside tomake reservations.

Bring your park flyer, and don’t worryabout the Mayflies. They don’t bite.

Check at it out at:www.lakesideohio.com

The Lakeside Association236 Walnut AvenueLakeside, OH 43440Phone: 419.798.4461Fax: 419.798.5033Toll Free: 1-866-9 LAKESIDE

Accommodations:accommodations@lakesideohio.comExtension 234

REQUEST A COPY OF THE2002 CALENDAR!Schedule@lakesideohio.comExtension 0

Smith’s Realty213 W. Third StreetLakeside, OH 43440For reservations: (419)798-4415

Lakeside NorthCoast Realty317 Maple AvenueLakeside, OH 43440Info.: (800)494-5400 or (419)798-5400

Bolte Real Estate, Inc.209 West Second StreetLakeside, OH 43440Info.: (419)798-4779 or (800)464-5247

Fine dining:The Crow’s Nest (on Catawba Island)Jimmy’s Gotcha (with food much

better than Jimmy’s naming skills)Marina Del IsleBomba’s Fish Cleaning and Donuts, a

local legend

And of course:The Almost Official Mayfly Websitewww.cros.net/jlucas/june.htmlBugmeister John Lucas, Port Clinton, OH

n

Well, first off, if you are havingsailplane withdrawal symptoms, flyinga park flyer is better than not flying atall.

Secondly, it turns out that the TM is agreat little thermal hunter. You can usethe TM to practice your low levelthermal locating instincts. You justcruise around in a lazy circle, and theTM signals lift by going up, Up, UP!Then I got to practice my spin, to getback into the tiny field.

Thirdly, the TM is great for helpingyou locate other RC sailplane enthusi-asts. I found out that our elderlyLakeside neighbor, Amos, is a longtime RC flyer with a Gentle Lady andsome sort of flying wing in his past.Several vacationers, including lots ofkids, stopped to watch the middleaged dude and his son flying a biplane.We told all of them about light electricsand sailplanes. Nobody who stoppedhad any problems with the tiny electricRC biplane. We might have madesome converts.

And fourthly, even if you don’t get tofly RC you can still feel good incomparison to the Lake Erie Mayfly(genus Hexagenia megabunchabugga).Mayflies spend one to two yearsburrowing in lake bottom mud, thenemerge briefly at the end of June(hence the name Mayfly), mate, cloggutters and die. Not being able to eat,they don’t even get lunch.

This year we were at Lakeside in timefor the Mayfly Festival, which startedThursday night right after the CelticStorm concert. An hour and a halflater, Coast Guard radar was pickingup swarms of Mayflies emerging fromthe lake bottoms and the swarms wereeverywhere. Mayflies carpeted theroadways under the street lights, andcars were sliding through intersections

R/C Soaring DigestPage 18

Page 19April 2002

T.W.I.T.T.(The Wing Is The Thing)

T.W.I.T.T. is a non-profit organization whosemembership seeks to promote the researchand development of flying wings and othertailless aircraft by providing a forum for theexchange of ideas and experiences on aninternational basis. T.W.I.T.T. is affiliatedwith The Hunsaker Foundation which isdedicated to furthering education andresearch in a variety of disciplines. Fullinformation package including one back issueof newsletter is $2.50 US ($3.00 foreign).Subscription rates are $20.00 (US) or $30.00(Foreign) per year for 12 issues.

T.W.I.T.T., P.O. Box 20430El Cajon, CA 92021

The Eastern Soaring League (ESL) is a confederation of Soaring Clubs, spread across the Mid-Atlantic and New England areas, committed to high-quality R/C Soaring competition.AMA Sanctioned soaring competitions provide the basis for ESL contests. Further guidelines arecontinuously developed and applied in a drive to achieve the highest quality competitionspossible.Typical ESL competition weekends feature 7, or more, rounds per day with separate contests onSaturday and Sunday. Year-end champions are crowned in a two-class pilot skill structureproviding competition opportunities for a large spectrum of pilots. Additionally, the ESL offers aRookie Of The Year program for introduction of new flyers to the joys of R/C Soaring competition.Continuing with the 20+ year tradition of extremely enjoyable flying, the 1999 season will include14 weekend competitions in HLG, 2-M, F3J, F3B, and Unlimited soaring events. Come on out andtry the ESL, make some new friends and enjoy camaraderie that can only be found amongst R/CSoaring enthusiasts!

ESL Web Site: http://www.e-s-l.orgESL President (99-00): Tom Kiesling (814) 255-7418 or kiesling@ctc.com

The League of Silent Flight (LSF) is an internationalfraternity of RC Soaring pilots who have earned theright to become members by achieving specificgoals in soaring flight. There are no dues. Once youqualify for membership you are in for life.The LSF program consists of five “AchievementLevels”. These levels contain specific soaring tasksto be completed prior to advancement to the nextlevel.Send for your aspirant form, today:

League of Silent Flightc/o AMA

P.O. Box 3028Muncie, IN 47302-1028 U.S.A.

http://www.silentflight.org

Sailplane HomebuildersAssociation (SHA)

A Division of the SoaringSociety of America

The purpose of theSailplane HomebuildersAssociation is to stimulate interest in full-sizesailplane design and construction byhomebuilders. To establish classes,standards, categories, where applicable. Todesiminate information relating to constructiontechniques, materials, theory and relatedtopics. To give recognition for noteworthydesigns and accomplishments.SHA publishes the bi-monthly Sailplane Buildernewsletter. Membership cost: $15 U.S. Student(3rd Class Mail), $21 U.S. Regular Membership(3rd Class Mail), $30 U.S. Regular Membership(1st Class Mail), $29 for All Other Countries(Surface Mail).

Sailplane Homebuilders AssociationDan Armstrong, Sec./Treas.

21100 Angel StreetTehachapi, CA 93561 U.S.A.

Classified Advertising PolicyClassified ads are free of charge to subscribersprovided the ad is personal in nature and does notrefer to a business enterprise. Classified ads thatrefer to a business enterprise are charged $5.00/month and are limited to a maximum of 40 words.RCSD has neither the facilities or the staff to inves-tigate advertising claims. However, please notifyRCSD if any misrepresentation occurs. Personalads are run for one month and are then deletedautomatically. If you have items that might be hardto sell, you may run the ad for 2-3 months.

For Sale - Business

PARACHUTES: $12.50 (includes S&H U.S.A.)Send check or money order to Dale King, 1111Highridge Drive, Wylie, TX 75098; (972) 475-8093.

Summary of Low-Speed Airfoil Data - Volume 3 is reallytwo volumes in one book. Michael Selig and his studentscouldn’t complete the book on series 3 before series 4was well along, so decided to combine the two series ina single volume of 444 pages. This issue contains muchthat is new and interesting. The wind tunnel has beenimproved significantly and pitching moment measure-ment was added to its capability. 37 airfoils were tested.Many had multiple tests with flaps or turbulation ofvarious configurations. All now have the tested pitchingmoment data included. Vol 3 is available for $35. Ship-ping in the USA add $6 for the postage and packagingcosts. The international postal surcharge is $8 for surfacemail to anywhere, air mail to Europe $20, Asia/Africa$25, and the Pacific Rim $27. Volumes 1 (1995) and 2(1996) are also available, as are computer disks contain-ing the tabulated data from each test series. For moreinformation contact: SoarTech, Herk Stokely, 1504N. Horseshoe Circle, Virginia Beach, VA 23451 U.S.A.,phone (757) 428-8064, e-mail <herkstok@aol.com>.

Reference Material

BBS/Internet

Internet soaring mailing listserve linking hundreds ofsoaring pilots worldwide. Send msg. containing theword "subscribe" to soaring-request@airage.com. The"digestified" version that combines all msgs. each dayinto one msg. is recommended for dial-up users on theInternet, AOL, CIS, etc. Subscribe using soaring-digest-request@airage.com. Post msgs. tosoaring@airage.com. For more info., contact MichaelLachowski at mikel@airage.com.

Books by Martin Simons: "World's VintageSailplanes, 1908-45", "Slingsby Sailplanes","German Air Attaché", "Sailplanes bySchweizer". Send inquiries to: Raul Blacksten,P.O. Box 307, Maywood, CA 90270,<raulb@earthlink.net>. To view summary ofbook info.: http://home.earthlink.net/~raulb

There is a growing interest in scale soaring inthe U.S. We are dedicated to all aspects ofscale soaring. Scale soaring festivals andcompetitions all year. Source for informationon plans, kits, accessories and other peopleinterested in scale. For more information:

web site: www.soaringissa.org

InternationalScale SoaringAssociation

R/C Soaring DigestPage 20