FREE FLIGHT SPORT - 2003/02

WHAT AM I Doing Here? I have always loved this hobby. I am not
sure why. Maybe it has something to do with my father being a pilot in
World War II. Maybe it’s because when I was 15 dad told me I would
outgrow model airplanes, and I am just too stubborn to quit. I don’t
spend much time trying to figure it out. I just continue to enjoy building
and flying model airplanes. Philosophy just isn’t my Nietzsche.
This column will cover many things Free Flight, including rubberpowered
models up to P-30 size, some Free Flight Scale, and Free
Flight Gas. I like what I call “simple competition models”; that is any
model that can be built with balsa and doesn’t have an engine large
enough, fast enough, or expensive enough to scare the bejeezers out of
me.
I grin when I see a Satellite clawing for altitude in a steep, sweeping
turn. I enjoy the sight of a Ramrod making graceful circles overhead. I
like winding P-30 motors. It’s fun to start with some sticks of balsa and
turn them into a rubber-powered Scale model that really flies. I think
Flying Aces Club (FAC) mass-launch events are a hoot—especially
WW II mass launches.
If you have similar interests, please send any questions, comments,
suggestions, or photos to me for possible use in this column.
May I Play a Mulligan? Oscar Smith built his great-flying Mr.
Mulligan from Dave Rees’s plans. Oscar got back into modeling when
he retired 18 years ago. His primary interest is Free Flight Scale. You
can see that he really likes the Mulligan.
Dave Rees sells plans for electric and rubber-powered Scale models,
as well as electric motors and accessories. For a catalog, send $1 to
HiLine models, Box 11558, Goldsboro NC 27532.
Flying on a Low Wing and a Prayer: While walking back from
retrieving my Marcoux Bromberg at the FAC Nationals (Nats), I
encountered a gentleman who was holding his nicely done high-wing,
Old-Time Rubber model. He said “I don’t know how you guys get those
low wingers to fly.” Sometimes I am not sure how I get them to fly, but I
do follow certain guidelines which have minimized my problems
trimming low-wing aircraft.
My first low-wing, rubber-powered Scale model was Don Srull’s
Heinkel He 100D which I built from the Flyline kit. I had limited
success with that model; the limitation was no fault of the design or the
kit, but rather my lack of experience.
My first real breakthrough came when I ordered a set of plans for the
Fiat G.55 from David Smith. Much to my surprise and delight, there was
a handwritten how-to article enclosed with the plans. It covered building,
February 2003 109
Gene Smith, 1401 N. Husband St., Stillwater OK 74075; E-mail: [email protected]
FREE FLIGHT SPORT
Oscar Smith shows what sport Free Flight is all about; look at the
grin on his face. His Mr. Mulligan was built from Dave Rees plans.
David Barfield photo.
The Fiat G.55, built from David Smith’s plans, was the author’s
first successful low-wing, rubber-powered Scale model.
This Reggiane 2005, also built from David Smith plans, is a great
flier. It has had several flights exceeding four minutes.
Another low winger—the Marcoux Bromberg Thompson Trophy
racer—was designed by Tom Nallen Jr. It is a veteran competitor.
02sig4.QXD 11.21.02 1:31 pm Page 109
110 MODEL AVIATION
flying, finishing, and propeller and rubber-motor tips. The 22-inch-span
Fiat was my first really successful low-wing Scale model. I referred to
the how-to article many times in subsequent years.
The Fiat plans and tip sheet are still available for a reasonable $5.
Also available for the same price are plans and a tip sheet for David’s
awesome Reggiane Re 2005. Write to David at 6715 Lake Arcadia Ln.,
Columbia SC 29206.
For several years I labored under the following mantra: High
wingers fly to the right and low wingers fly to the left. This rule,
seemingly set in stone, didn’t come from one individual, but from
several sources. I followed the left-turn mantra for years and had some
success with my Fiat.
However, there was a price to pay if the model’s adjustments were
off slightly. If you had too little washin of the left wing panel, the model
would climb steeply, do a beautiful wingover, and come zooming back
in the general direction of the launch site, often in the direction of terra
firma. Too much washin of the left panel and the power phase would be
beautiful, but once the model transitioned into the glide, the extra
washin would push it into a right turn and an ever-steepening right
spiral to the ground. Ouch!
Even with these problems, the left pattern can certainly work.
However, I was about to learn that the scientific method employed to
prove that low wingers couldn’t fly to the right was probably the same
method used to prove that bumblebees couldn’t fly.
At an FAC Nats in the early 1990s, Charlie Sauter was my
roommate. He had a nice Keith Ryder Firecracker built from Tom
Nallen’s plans. Charlie won the event flying his model to the right. How
could that be? It was heresy. It must have been an illusion. No, it really
flew to the right. That was the first chink in the armor of the left-flying
low-winger mantra, but it wasn’t enough to make me change my ways.
Jeff Englert (leader of the Sunflower Squadron in Wichita, Kansas)
really opened my eyes. Not long after Charlie’s win at the FAC Nats,
my squadron—the aptly named Kamikaze Squadron—hosted an FAC
event which included WW II Combat. For those of you who are not
familiar with Flying Aces events, mass launches involve the
simultaneous launch of several models, and the last one down wins.
I had been knocking the Kansas guys cold with my Fiat, but Jeff
brought a new weapon: a beautiful P-51 built from the Golden Age
Reproductions kit. Confident that I still had the event in hand, I put in
approximately three-quarters winds, launched, and watched in
amazement; Jeff’s P-51 flew so well that it made my Fiat look like a
Brewster Buffalo caught in a swarm of Zeros.
Jeff won the event with ease, and he let me examine the model after
his win. That model was straight; there was no washin, no washout, and
no rudder offset—just some down- and right thrust. How was that
possible? I knew you had to have washin in the left wing panel, but
Jeff’s model had none. It just flew in large circles. I don’t recall if they
were left or right, but they were so big and gentle that large trim
adjustments were unnecessary.
The final piece of the puzzle was in an article written by Mike
Midkiff. He wrote that he trimmed his models to fly straight for the first
50 feet after the launch and didn’t care much which direction they went
Bill Henn’s Spitfire low winger, finished and ready for test flights,
flies better to the left. Photo by Bill Henn.
Author’s granddaughter Kylie holds a Pollywog which was lost
out of sight on its second flight. Plans are free this month.
after that. (I hope I am quoting Mike correctly; it has been a few years
since I have read the article.) I tried it. It worked. I no longer fly low
wingers to the left. They all go right/right. If you have success flying
low wingers to the left, I am happy for you. This is just what works for
me.
Build everything flat and straight. An exception is elliptical or highly
tapered wing planforms. For those, use a bit of washout in both
wingtips. Start with 2° of right thrust and 2° of downthrust. Use thrust
adjustments to make the model fly straight for the first 50 feet after
launch.
As the torque burns off, the model will start a large right circle,
tightening a bit as it goes into the glide. If the model attempts to spiral
down to the right in the glide, I tweak in a touch of left rudder.
Sometimes this requires a small amount of additional right thrust to
keep the first 50 feet in a straight line after launch.
Is that all there is to it? Sometimes it is that simple and sometimes
not; each model has a personality of its own. I can’t stress enough how
important it is to build warp free and be able to remove warps that creep
into the flying surfaces. I am making the assumption that the model is a
good design with adequate stabilizer area, and the balance and decalage
are as per the plans. Trimming a model to maximize its flight
performance can be frustrating or fun. The trick is to do your best to
prepare the model for success before the first flight.
A few years ago Bill Henn got back into Free Flight rubber-powered
Scale in a big way. In the last few years Bill has had several articles
published featuring his original Scale plans. He recently built a model of
the Reggiane 2005 from Dave Smith’s plans and wrote a nice report
with pictures for Free Flight Quarterly.
Bill’s Spitfire Mk XIV is a great flier. Although Bill also likes to fly
his low wingers to the right, the Spitfire wouldn’t fly to the right, so he
tried left and it flies great in a left, left pattern. Go figure.
The Mk XIV Spitfire is scheduled for a future issue of Free Flight
Quarterly. Check out the publication at
www.chariot.net.au/~bluejay/freeflightquarterly.html or write to Sergio
Montes at Free Flight Quarterly, 37 Windsor St., Kingston Beach 7050,
Tasmania, Australia.
Free, Free, Free: To kick off this column I am offering a freebie plan
for the Pollywog. Bill Warner designed this model, and it was published
in the short-lived Sig Aeromodeller magazine. The little beauty (the
model, not my granddaughter) was lost out of sight on its second flight.
Because of the undercambered wing, the model is a bit technical for
a 6-year-old to build. However, the marked tip dihedral makes it stable
and easy to fly. My friend Karl Gies tells me that you can simplify the
building process by leaving out the central dihedral break, and it will fly
fine with only tip dihedral.
If you send a request for the plans, be sure to enclose a selfaddressed,
stamped, 4 x 9-inch envelope. Return envelopes without
postage will end up in the Bermuda Triangle.
Thermals! MA
02sig4.QXD 11.21.02 1:31 pm Page 110