District XI — 2014/12
Chuck Bower — Vice President
This month, I learned a couple of new terms in model airplane speak. The first is "the loop." This isn’t the aerobatic maneuver; it’s a term used in aerotow.
It’s a loop of line roughly 6 inches long that attaches to the tow plane’s release mechanism. There is also one on the glider release, and the towline connects the two loops. During launch, normal procedure is the glider unhooks and the tow plane keeps the towline. When things go bad, the tow plane can also release the towline.
I learned this at the glider aerotow event at the Red Apple Flyers field in Wenatchee, Washington. If you haven’t attended an aerotow event, you’re in for a treat. It’s a graceful dance between the tug and the glider. There were four tugs to spread the workload:
- Two smaller tugs
- Two extra-large tugs for the big gliders
The Willamette Modelers Club held the season’s last of three FF (free-flight) contests 10 miles south of Albany, Oregon. This is where I learned the second term: "good air." That’s where the active thermal air lifts the airplanes for a longer flight.
This event brought back memories of my youth. Check out a FF event if you don’t have your own memories of the FF art of modeling. Get more information at the Willamette club’s website at willamettemodelersclub.weebly.com.
Until next month, happy building season.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
