FF Junior World Championships Team
by Louis Joyner [email protected]
As you read this, nine young fliers from across America will be competing with youth from around the world at the Free Flight Junior World Championships in Salonta, Romania. The contest, which runs from July 28 through August 3, consists of three events: F1A Towline Glider, F1B Wakefield Rubber, and F1P Power.
Individual and team prizes will be awarded in each event, as well as overall team awards. US team members are:
- F1A: Alex Stalick, Logan Tetrick, Garrett Tremayne
- F1B: Sevak Malkhasyan, Jace Pivonka, Troy Davis
- F1P: Cade Fedor, Colby Fedor, Taron Malkhasyan
George Batiuk will be team manager.
FF DURATION
The 2014 Free Flight Symposium includes a variety of papers from around the world. Included are articles about dimple tabulators (think golf balls) by Yury Avdeev (Ukraine); a series of reports on the state of free flight from China, Serbia, Sweden, New Zealand, and several other countries; and a piece on low-drag airfoils for the P-30 by Tapio Linkosalo (Finland).
Dutch glider flier Allard van Wallene discusses advances in carbon structures. American contributions include Gene Ulm on free flight in social media and Jim Bethea on securing and keeping sod farms as flying sites.
Frank Perkins describes his electronic timers for Catapult Glider, and Moe Whittemore investigates methods of thermal detection. Tiffaney O'Dell profiles women who fly free flight, while Julie Parker chronicles her move from supporter to F1Q National Cup and America's Cup champion. Articles of interest to indoor modelers include one about rubber by Don Slusarczyk and another on stress analysis of motor sticks by Jeff Annis.
Also included are the Models of the Year selection and profiles of the 2014 FF Hall of Fame inductees: Stan Chilton, Don DeLoach, Ray Harlan, Chuck Markos, Ralph Ray, and the late Henry Spence.
The 2014 Symposium is available from NFFS Publications. The price is $35, plus $5.60 postage for one to two copies within the US.
BMFA Free Flight Forum Report
The 2014 BMFA Free Flight Forum, now available, is the 29th in the series. Edited by Martin Dilly, this year's Forum includes articles ranging from "P-30—Does Size Matter?" by Chris Redrup to Alan Jack's detailed account of building flapped F1C power models, titled "What's All the Flap About?"
Gavin Manion offers a simple approach to the F1G Coupe event, while Peter Tolhurst and Tony Shepherd provide information about getting started with E-36 electrics. John Carter covers building and flying F1A Towline Gliders with low-drag airfoil wings, and Ian Kaynes explores the use of GPS tracking systems for locating models.
Ivan Taylor's article about his F1B Wakefield-based BMFA rubber model introduces modern building techniques and auto surfaces to the event. (BMFA Rubber replaced Open Rubber in Great Britain a few years ago, limiting the weight of the rubber motor to 50 grams.)
Mike Woodhouse's thought-provoking piece about the future of free flight in Great Britain addresses concerns similar to those faced in the US, such as declining participation and an excess of events. Alan Jack offers suggestions to reduce the complexity, cost, and performance of FAI-class models. His proposals include banning auto surfaces, gears, and variable-pitch propellers and suggest ways to implement such a rules change while softening the impact on modelers with significant investments in high-tech models.
Also included are drawings and descriptions titled "A Few Successful British Models." These include a P-30 by Chris Redrup; an E-36 Ramrod by Chris Strachan; power designs by Steve Barnes; a small Catapult Glider by Steve Brewer; and Dave Hipperson's 1/2A power model.
Hipperson's Cox Tee Dee–powered model utilizes autorudder and a variable-incidence tailplane to control the powered-flight phase. An undercambered wing helps the glide. Note the diagonal ribs in front of the wing spar for rigidity. All-up weight for the model is 6.2 ounces and the wing area is 257 square inches.
Copies of the 2014 Free Flight Forum can be ordered by email from Martin Dilly or from NFFS Publications. If ordered through NFFS, the price is $25, plus $5.60 shipping within the US for one to two copies.
SOURCES
- Magic Timers — [email protected] — www.magictimers.com
- Hubin Timer — Will Hubin, 719 Cuyahoga St., Kent, OH 44240 — [email protected]
- NFFS — www.freeflight.org
- NFFS Publications — Box 1775, Albany, OR 97321 — [email protected]
- Martin Dilly — [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
