March 2004 113
THIS MONTH I will list Thermal Soaring printed references with
brief, opinionated descriptions. If you know of a notable book that I
missed, E-mail me. I’ll provide a Web address for where to check
for additions to this list. If a source is not included for the book, try
Amazon.com.
Books: If you buy only one model-airplane book, Model Aircraft
Aerodynamics by Martin Simons (ISBN 1-85486-190-5) is the
essential reference. It explains in layman’s terms how and why
airplanes fly. The assumed education level is high school.
This book goes into great detail about the physics of wings,
propellers, and airplane design in general. It is complete and
accurate. Segments about gliding flight, wing planforms, tail shapes,
airfoils, and stability are relevant. The current edition is the fourth. It
has more illustrations and grayscale images than the previous
editions. At 344 pages and approximately $25, it is a real bargain.
Stop Abusing Bernoulli! How Airplanes Really Fly by Gale Craig
sets out to explain the physics of flight and debunk some of the
intuitive myths about how lift is created. The author tries to limit the
Mike Garton, 2733 NE 95th Ave., Ankeny IA 50021; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SOARING
The author reviews these books and more in text. At the top are
new (L) and old versions of one of Martin Simons’ books.
Some of the reviewed books are fairly technical.
These have wind-tunnel data, info about how things are tested
and why, and which airfoils to use for certain applications.
114 MODEL AVIATION
use of math, but a bachelor’s degree in a technical field would be
helpful in understanding the concepts. As an engineer, I did not like
the physicist perspective. I would not replace this one if I lost it.
Old Buzzard’s Soaring Book by Dave Thornburg is a Soaring
classic. Dave Thornburg gives a bunch of Thermal and Slope
Soaring tips. It is fun to read and requires no math knowledge. It
should be in any glider pilot’s collection.
Fundamentals of Sailplane Design by Fred Thomas is a
hardbound translation of a German book. It is clearly about fullscale
gliders—not models. It has a brief overview of aerodynamic
theory, sailplane requirements, and
optimization. The sections do not go into
enough detail to actually apply the
knowledge. It seems more intended to just
give a flavor of the methods. If you did not
already know it, you are not going to learn it
here.
The book is useful to get a high-level idea
of what is involved in glider design. One
gem is a comprehensive table of modern
gliders. It includes enough dimensional
information for an aeronautical engineer to
model the basic performance and basic
stability. For instance, the airfoil, planform,
and twist of the wings are given. Also
included are tail airfoils, areas, and moment
arms. This book is a good purchase for an
aeronautical engineer with an interest in
sailplanes.
Sailplane Designer’s Handbook by Eric
Lister was originally published in 1974
(Library of Congress control number
74079870). It was still available on the
Internet the last time I looked. Eric’s stated
intent was to distill the higher-level math of
All vintage scale fans should own a Simons book. Quiet Flyer special edition has
reprints of the better articles that have been printed in the magazine.
design into a series of tables that a broader audience can understand.
The approach is sound, but the material is dated. If you follow
the examples and design a glider to fit in the tables, it may look
much like the gliders did in the early 1970s. They had relatively
short fuselages and were slow to respond to turn inputs.
Airplane Design by Donald R. Crawford: A Series of Articles
Printed First in Kitplanes Magazine is published by Crawford
Aviation. This reference does not even mention gliders, but it
contains some interesting tools.
Most of the articles about airplane performance have full listings
March 2004 115
of short computer programs. This provides
an excellent hands-on way for an interested
person to learn about aerodynamics.
Engineering students often learn better when
they make a computer program. Software
bridges the gap between theory and
application. The language (listed in BASIC)
is irrelevant; the programs could easily be
written in any computer language.
There are programs for standard
atmosphere calculations, power airplane
performance, stability and control (including
neutral point), and even lifting line theory.
The latter is a method to calculate lift
distributions on finite wings, such as John
Hazel’s Lift-Roll spreadsheet. The printing
of the book is poor, but the unique content is
invaluable for those who want to get their
feet wet in applied aerodynamics.
Cross Country Soaring by Helmut
Reichmann and Thomson is currently out of
print, but it is the bible of full-scale crosscountry
soaring. It has been reprinted seven
times, and I hope it will be printed again. If
you can find a copy, buy it. It is my favorite
soaring book.
Although it is intended for full scale,
70% of the book is applicable to models too.
It has excellent technical descriptions of
many soaring topics, including slope
soaring, wave soaring, thermal soaring,
tactics, speed to fly, meteorology, and
equipment. If you fly Radio Control (RC)
Cross Country, this book is an awesome
reference.
Theory of Wing Sections Including a
Summary of Airfoil Data by Ira Abbott and
Albert Von Doenhoff is another book with
no mention of gliders or models. This text
has a great deal of college-level math in it
but may still be worth the $14 for anyone
who wants to learn more about airfoils.
This book has a large body of
experimental data of old airfoils in its 693
softbound pages. It is a standard reference
for learning the general trends in airfoils. I
found the sections on high-lift devices (flaps
and slots) incredibly interesting.
Airfoils at Low Speeds by Michael Selig,
John Donovan, and David Fraser; Summary
of Low-Speed Airfoil Data Volume 1 by
Michael Selig, James Guglielmo, Andy
Broeren, and Phillipe Giguere; Summary of
Low-Speed Airfoil Data Volume II by
Michael Selig, Christopher Lyon, Phillipe
Giguere, Cameron Ninham, and James
Guglielmo; and Summary of Low-Speed
Airfoil Data by Christopher Lyon, Andy
Broeren, Phillipe Giguere, Ashok
Gopalarathnam, and Michael Selig contain
the most extensive campaign of
experimental low-speed-airfoil testing ever
published.
Most of the space in the books is devoted
to graphs of drag and lift coefficient versus
angle. The data is available on the Internet. I
included these titles because of the good,
practical information in the first 50 or so
pages of each book.
Michael Selig and his colleagues
describe in great detail how and why they
tested the airfoils. Michael also provides
comments about what he was trying to
achieve with many airfoils and how they
turned out. It is useful to see the effect of
building errors on the airfoils’ performance.
Proceeds of these inexpensive books support
more testing. You can find the books and
data at www.aae.uiuc.edu/m-selig/.
Hard-to-find German books
Profilpolaren Für Den Modellflug and
Profilpolaren Für Den Modellflug Band 2
by Dieter Althaus predate the Selig tests but
are similar. They contain volumes of
experimental data on airfoils for models.
The airfoils are older, and the text is in
German. The test data lacks information
about the models’ accuracy. The data is not
directly comparable to the Selig data
because the turbulence levels of the wind
tunnels are different. These books are useful
only to hard-core airfoil aficionados.
The World’s Vintage Sailplanes 1908-45
and Sailplanes 1920-1945 by Martin Simons
feature a large amount of overlapping
content but are authoritative references on
early full-scale sailplanes. Martin Simons is
a masterful researcher and writer. The
photos and illustrations are excellent. If
vintage Scale is your thing, buy one of these
books. The scope of the second book is
slightly smaller, but the illustrations are
improved.
SoarTech (many volumes) began
roughly 20 years ago as a series of technical
116 MODEL AVIATION
papers in the Tidewater Model Soaring
Society newsletter and were called the
TMSS Technical Journal. Before the
Internet, this infrequently published
collection was one of the best references for
soaring tech-heads.
According to the Web site—
http://members.cox.net/hstokely/soartech.ht
m—“It is an English language technical
forum for Radio Control Soaring,
containing papers submitted by interested
modelers, and from other publications. It’s
intended to provide a vehicle for the
publication of information and data which is
too lengthy or too technical for publication
in the popular press.” The available issues
make good reading.
Magazines: Editors control magazine
content; they choose what topics they will
allow and what length the pieces will be.
Editors also have the right to cut text they
think is inappropriate. Price paid per article
affects the submissions they attract.
Model Aviation (http://modelaircraft.org/
mag/index.htm) features a token amount of
Soaring coverage, with alternating Slope
Soaring columns by Dave Garwood and
Thermal Soaring columns that I write.
Glider-flying Model Aviation
subscribers are typically those who need
AMA membership to attend sanctioned
contests or belong to a power sailplane club
that requires it. More Soaring features and
Soaring construction articles can be
published. E-mail Aeromodeling Editor
Bob Hunt with an abstract before writing.
Quiet Flyer (www.quietflyer.com/),
previously called Sailplane and Electric
Modeler, mostly covers Electrics but has a
fair amount of RC Soaring content. Editor
Wil Byers has been wise to ride the crest of
the electric-powered-airplane wave. This
magazine is worth the money for the ample
color pictures. Don Bailey’s column is
consistently good. I often wish the articles
were longer.
Quiet Flyer published a special edition
in May 2003, in which some of the better
articles from previous issues were reprinted.
I thought it was uncool that the authors’
names had been removed, but this issue is
worth the roughly $12 price..
As does Model Aviation, Radio Control
Modeler (www.rcmmagazine.com/) only
features a token amount of Soaring
coverage, with Mike Lee’s monthly
column. This is a general-interest RCairplane
publication. It is a good alternative
to Model Aviation for non-AMA members
with broad interests.
RC Soaring Digest (www.b2streamlines.
com/RCSD.html), also known as RCSD, is
a small Soaring magazine published in the
US. It features grayscale images, and the
editor does not pay contributors.
Die-hard columnists continue to put
their hearts into RCSD. Dave Register
writes about technical issues, Gordy Stahl
writes “Gordy’s Travels,” Lee Murray
writes about the meteorology of Soaring,
and Bill and Bunny Kuhlman write about
tailless gliders. Mark Drela’s
contributions—which started in November
2003—will breathe new life into RCSD.
Back issues are inexpensive. Editors Jerry
and Judy Slates welcome new content.
Aufwind (www.aufwind-magazin.de/) is
an excellent magazine about gliders and
Electrics if you can read German. The
articles’ technical density and photo quality
are high. I wish they published it in
English!
I will keep a running list of relevant glider
books at www.eiss.cnde.iastate.edu/articles/.
E-mail me if you want another book
included on the list. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/03
Page Numbers: 113,114,115,116
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/03
Page Numbers: 113,114,115,116
March 2004 113
THIS MONTH I will list Thermal Soaring printed references with
brief, opinionated descriptions. If you know of a notable book that I
missed, E-mail me. I’ll provide a Web address for where to check
for additions to this list. If a source is not included for the book, try
Amazon.com.
Books: If you buy only one model-airplane book, Model Aircraft
Aerodynamics by Martin Simons (ISBN 1-85486-190-5) is the
essential reference. It explains in layman’s terms how and why
airplanes fly. The assumed education level is high school.
This book goes into great detail about the physics of wings,
propellers, and airplane design in general. It is complete and
accurate. Segments about gliding flight, wing planforms, tail shapes,
airfoils, and stability are relevant. The current edition is the fourth. It
has more illustrations and grayscale images than the previous
editions. At 344 pages and approximately $25, it is a real bargain.
Stop Abusing Bernoulli! How Airplanes Really Fly by Gale Craig
sets out to explain the physics of flight and debunk some of the
intuitive myths about how lift is created. The author tries to limit the
Mike Garton, 2733 NE 95th Ave., Ankeny IA 50021; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SOARING
The author reviews these books and more in text. At the top are
new (L) and old versions of one of Martin Simons’ books.
Some of the reviewed books are fairly technical.
These have wind-tunnel data, info about how things are tested
and why, and which airfoils to use for certain applications.
114 MODEL AVIATION
use of math, but a bachelor’s degree in a technical field would be
helpful in understanding the concepts. As an engineer, I did not like
the physicist perspective. I would not replace this one if I lost it.
Old Buzzard’s Soaring Book by Dave Thornburg is a Soaring
classic. Dave Thornburg gives a bunch of Thermal and Slope
Soaring tips. It is fun to read and requires no math knowledge. It
should be in any glider pilot’s collection.
Fundamentals of Sailplane Design by Fred Thomas is a
hardbound translation of a German book. It is clearly about fullscale
gliders—not models. It has a brief overview of aerodynamic
theory, sailplane requirements, and
optimization. The sections do not go into
enough detail to actually apply the
knowledge. It seems more intended to just
give a flavor of the methods. If you did not
already know it, you are not going to learn it
here.
The book is useful to get a high-level idea
of what is involved in glider design. One
gem is a comprehensive table of modern
gliders. It includes enough dimensional
information for an aeronautical engineer to
model the basic performance and basic
stability. For instance, the airfoil, planform,
and twist of the wings are given. Also
included are tail airfoils, areas, and moment
arms. This book is a good purchase for an
aeronautical engineer with an interest in
sailplanes.
Sailplane Designer’s Handbook by Eric
Lister was originally published in 1974
(Library of Congress control number
74079870). It was still available on the
Internet the last time I looked. Eric’s stated
intent was to distill the higher-level math of
All vintage scale fans should own a Simons book. Quiet Flyer special edition has
reprints of the better articles that have been printed in the magazine.
design into a series of tables that a broader audience can understand.
The approach is sound, but the material is dated. If you follow
the examples and design a glider to fit in the tables, it may look
much like the gliders did in the early 1970s. They had relatively
short fuselages and were slow to respond to turn inputs.
Airplane Design by Donald R. Crawford: A Series of Articles
Printed First in Kitplanes Magazine is published by Crawford
Aviation. This reference does not even mention gliders, but it
contains some interesting tools.
Most of the articles about airplane performance have full listings
March 2004 115
of short computer programs. This provides
an excellent hands-on way for an interested
person to learn about aerodynamics.
Engineering students often learn better when
they make a computer program. Software
bridges the gap between theory and
application. The language (listed in BASIC)
is irrelevant; the programs could easily be
written in any computer language.
There are programs for standard
atmosphere calculations, power airplane
performance, stability and control (including
neutral point), and even lifting line theory.
The latter is a method to calculate lift
distributions on finite wings, such as John
Hazel’s Lift-Roll spreadsheet. The printing
of the book is poor, but the unique content is
invaluable for those who want to get their
feet wet in applied aerodynamics.
Cross Country Soaring by Helmut
Reichmann and Thomson is currently out of
print, but it is the bible of full-scale crosscountry
soaring. It has been reprinted seven
times, and I hope it will be printed again. If
you can find a copy, buy it. It is my favorite
soaring book.
Although it is intended for full scale,
70% of the book is applicable to models too.
It has excellent technical descriptions of
many soaring topics, including slope
soaring, wave soaring, thermal soaring,
tactics, speed to fly, meteorology, and
equipment. If you fly Radio Control (RC)
Cross Country, this book is an awesome
reference.
Theory of Wing Sections Including a
Summary of Airfoil Data by Ira Abbott and
Albert Von Doenhoff is another book with
no mention of gliders or models. This text
has a great deal of college-level math in it
but may still be worth the $14 for anyone
who wants to learn more about airfoils.
This book has a large body of
experimental data of old airfoils in its 693
softbound pages. It is a standard reference
for learning the general trends in airfoils. I
found the sections on high-lift devices (flaps
and slots) incredibly interesting.
Airfoils at Low Speeds by Michael Selig,
John Donovan, and David Fraser; Summary
of Low-Speed Airfoil Data Volume 1 by
Michael Selig, James Guglielmo, Andy
Broeren, and Phillipe Giguere; Summary of
Low-Speed Airfoil Data Volume II by
Michael Selig, Christopher Lyon, Phillipe
Giguere, Cameron Ninham, and James
Guglielmo; and Summary of Low-Speed
Airfoil Data by Christopher Lyon, Andy
Broeren, Phillipe Giguere, Ashok
Gopalarathnam, and Michael Selig contain
the most extensive campaign of
experimental low-speed-airfoil testing ever
published.
Most of the space in the books is devoted
to graphs of drag and lift coefficient versus
angle. The data is available on the Internet. I
included these titles because of the good,
practical information in the first 50 or so
pages of each book.
Michael Selig and his colleagues
describe in great detail how and why they
tested the airfoils. Michael also provides
comments about what he was trying to
achieve with many airfoils and how they
turned out. It is useful to see the effect of
building errors on the airfoils’ performance.
Proceeds of these inexpensive books support
more testing. You can find the books and
data at www.aae.uiuc.edu/m-selig/.
Hard-to-find German books
Profilpolaren Für Den Modellflug and
Profilpolaren Für Den Modellflug Band 2
by Dieter Althaus predate the Selig tests but
are similar. They contain volumes of
experimental data on airfoils for models.
The airfoils are older, and the text is in
German. The test data lacks information
about the models’ accuracy. The data is not
directly comparable to the Selig data
because the turbulence levels of the wind
tunnels are different. These books are useful
only to hard-core airfoil aficionados.
The World’s Vintage Sailplanes 1908-45
and Sailplanes 1920-1945 by Martin Simons
feature a large amount of overlapping
content but are authoritative references on
early full-scale sailplanes. Martin Simons is
a masterful researcher and writer. The
photos and illustrations are excellent. If
vintage Scale is your thing, buy one of these
books. The scope of the second book is
slightly smaller, but the illustrations are
improved.
SoarTech (many volumes) began
roughly 20 years ago as a series of technical
116 MODEL AVIATION
papers in the Tidewater Model Soaring
Society newsletter and were called the
TMSS Technical Journal. Before the
Internet, this infrequently published
collection was one of the best references for
soaring tech-heads.
According to the Web site—
http://members.cox.net/hstokely/soartech.ht
m—“It is an English language technical
forum for Radio Control Soaring,
containing papers submitted by interested
modelers, and from other publications. It’s
intended to provide a vehicle for the
publication of information and data which is
too lengthy or too technical for publication
in the popular press.” The available issues
make good reading.
Magazines: Editors control magazine
content; they choose what topics they will
allow and what length the pieces will be.
Editors also have the right to cut text they
think is inappropriate. Price paid per article
affects the submissions they attract.
Model Aviation (http://modelaircraft.org/
mag/index.htm) features a token amount of
Soaring coverage, with alternating Slope
Soaring columns by Dave Garwood and
Thermal Soaring columns that I write.
Glider-flying Model Aviation
subscribers are typically those who need
AMA membership to attend sanctioned
contests or belong to a power sailplane club
that requires it. More Soaring features and
Soaring construction articles can be
published. E-mail Aeromodeling Editor
Bob Hunt with an abstract before writing.
Quiet Flyer (www.quietflyer.com/),
previously called Sailplane and Electric
Modeler, mostly covers Electrics but has a
fair amount of RC Soaring content. Editor
Wil Byers has been wise to ride the crest of
the electric-powered-airplane wave. This
magazine is worth the money for the ample
color pictures. Don Bailey’s column is
consistently good. I often wish the articles
were longer.
Quiet Flyer published a special edition
in May 2003, in which some of the better
articles from previous issues were reprinted.
I thought it was uncool that the authors’
names had been removed, but this issue is
worth the roughly $12 price..
As does Model Aviation, Radio Control
Modeler (www.rcmmagazine.com/) only
features a token amount of Soaring
coverage, with Mike Lee’s monthly
column. This is a general-interest RCairplane
publication. It is a good alternative
to Model Aviation for non-AMA members
with broad interests.
RC Soaring Digest (www.b2streamlines.
com/RCSD.html), also known as RCSD, is
a small Soaring magazine published in the
US. It features grayscale images, and the
editor does not pay contributors.
Die-hard columnists continue to put
their hearts into RCSD. Dave Register
writes about technical issues, Gordy Stahl
writes “Gordy’s Travels,” Lee Murray
writes about the meteorology of Soaring,
and Bill and Bunny Kuhlman write about
tailless gliders. Mark Drela’s
contributions—which started in November
2003—will breathe new life into RCSD.
Back issues are inexpensive. Editors Jerry
and Judy Slates welcome new content.
Aufwind (www.aufwind-magazin.de/) is
an excellent magazine about gliders and
Electrics if you can read German. The
articles’ technical density and photo quality
are high. I wish they published it in
English!
I will keep a running list of relevant glider
books at www.eiss.cnde.iastate.edu/articles/.
E-mail me if you want another book
included on the list. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/03
Page Numbers: 113,114,115,116
March 2004 113
THIS MONTH I will list Thermal Soaring printed references with
brief, opinionated descriptions. If you know of a notable book that I
missed, E-mail me. I’ll provide a Web address for where to check
for additions to this list. If a source is not included for the book, try
Amazon.com.
Books: If you buy only one model-airplane book, Model Aircraft
Aerodynamics by Martin Simons (ISBN 1-85486-190-5) is the
essential reference. It explains in layman’s terms how and why
airplanes fly. The assumed education level is high school.
This book goes into great detail about the physics of wings,
propellers, and airplane design in general. It is complete and
accurate. Segments about gliding flight, wing planforms, tail shapes,
airfoils, and stability are relevant. The current edition is the fourth. It
has more illustrations and grayscale images than the previous
editions. At 344 pages and approximately $25, it is a real bargain.
Stop Abusing Bernoulli! How Airplanes Really Fly by Gale Craig
sets out to explain the physics of flight and debunk some of the
intuitive myths about how lift is created. The author tries to limit the
Mike Garton, 2733 NE 95th Ave., Ankeny IA 50021; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SOARING
The author reviews these books and more in text. At the top are
new (L) and old versions of one of Martin Simons’ books.
Some of the reviewed books are fairly technical.
These have wind-tunnel data, info about how things are tested
and why, and which airfoils to use for certain applications.
114 MODEL AVIATION
use of math, but a bachelor’s degree in a technical field would be
helpful in understanding the concepts. As an engineer, I did not like
the physicist perspective. I would not replace this one if I lost it.
Old Buzzard’s Soaring Book by Dave Thornburg is a Soaring
classic. Dave Thornburg gives a bunch of Thermal and Slope
Soaring tips. It is fun to read and requires no math knowledge. It
should be in any glider pilot’s collection.
Fundamentals of Sailplane Design by Fred Thomas is a
hardbound translation of a German book. It is clearly about fullscale
gliders—not models. It has a brief overview of aerodynamic
theory, sailplane requirements, and
optimization. The sections do not go into
enough detail to actually apply the
knowledge. It seems more intended to just
give a flavor of the methods. If you did not
already know it, you are not going to learn it
here.
The book is useful to get a high-level idea
of what is involved in glider design. One
gem is a comprehensive table of modern
gliders. It includes enough dimensional
information for an aeronautical engineer to
model the basic performance and basic
stability. For instance, the airfoil, planform,
and twist of the wings are given. Also
included are tail airfoils, areas, and moment
arms. This book is a good purchase for an
aeronautical engineer with an interest in
sailplanes.
Sailplane Designer’s Handbook by Eric
Lister was originally published in 1974
(Library of Congress control number
74079870). It was still available on the
Internet the last time I looked. Eric’s stated
intent was to distill the higher-level math of
All vintage scale fans should own a Simons book. Quiet Flyer special edition has
reprints of the better articles that have been printed in the magazine.
design into a series of tables that a broader audience can understand.
The approach is sound, but the material is dated. If you follow
the examples and design a glider to fit in the tables, it may look
much like the gliders did in the early 1970s. They had relatively
short fuselages and were slow to respond to turn inputs.
Airplane Design by Donald R. Crawford: A Series of Articles
Printed First in Kitplanes Magazine is published by Crawford
Aviation. This reference does not even mention gliders, but it
contains some interesting tools.
Most of the articles about airplane performance have full listings
March 2004 115
of short computer programs. This provides
an excellent hands-on way for an interested
person to learn about aerodynamics.
Engineering students often learn better when
they make a computer program. Software
bridges the gap between theory and
application. The language (listed in BASIC)
is irrelevant; the programs could easily be
written in any computer language.
There are programs for standard
atmosphere calculations, power airplane
performance, stability and control (including
neutral point), and even lifting line theory.
The latter is a method to calculate lift
distributions on finite wings, such as John
Hazel’s Lift-Roll spreadsheet. The printing
of the book is poor, but the unique content is
invaluable for those who want to get their
feet wet in applied aerodynamics.
Cross Country Soaring by Helmut
Reichmann and Thomson is currently out of
print, but it is the bible of full-scale crosscountry
soaring. It has been reprinted seven
times, and I hope it will be printed again. If
you can find a copy, buy it. It is my favorite
soaring book.
Although it is intended for full scale,
70% of the book is applicable to models too.
It has excellent technical descriptions of
many soaring topics, including slope
soaring, wave soaring, thermal soaring,
tactics, speed to fly, meteorology, and
equipment. If you fly Radio Control (RC)
Cross Country, this book is an awesome
reference.
Theory of Wing Sections Including a
Summary of Airfoil Data by Ira Abbott and
Albert Von Doenhoff is another book with
no mention of gliders or models. This text
has a great deal of college-level math in it
but may still be worth the $14 for anyone
who wants to learn more about airfoils.
This book has a large body of
experimental data of old airfoils in its 693
softbound pages. It is a standard reference
for learning the general trends in airfoils. I
found the sections on high-lift devices (flaps
and slots) incredibly interesting.
Airfoils at Low Speeds by Michael Selig,
John Donovan, and David Fraser; Summary
of Low-Speed Airfoil Data Volume 1 by
Michael Selig, James Guglielmo, Andy
Broeren, and Phillipe Giguere; Summary of
Low-Speed Airfoil Data Volume II by
Michael Selig, Christopher Lyon, Phillipe
Giguere, Cameron Ninham, and James
Guglielmo; and Summary of Low-Speed
Airfoil Data by Christopher Lyon, Andy
Broeren, Phillipe Giguere, Ashok
Gopalarathnam, and Michael Selig contain
the most extensive campaign of
experimental low-speed-airfoil testing ever
published.
Most of the space in the books is devoted
to graphs of drag and lift coefficient versus
angle. The data is available on the Internet. I
included these titles because of the good,
practical information in the first 50 or so
pages of each book.
Michael Selig and his colleagues
describe in great detail how and why they
tested the airfoils. Michael also provides
comments about what he was trying to
achieve with many airfoils and how they
turned out. It is useful to see the effect of
building errors on the airfoils’ performance.
Proceeds of these inexpensive books support
more testing. You can find the books and
data at www.aae.uiuc.edu/m-selig/.
Hard-to-find German books
Profilpolaren Für Den Modellflug and
Profilpolaren Für Den Modellflug Band 2
by Dieter Althaus predate the Selig tests but
are similar. They contain volumes of
experimental data on airfoils for models.
The airfoils are older, and the text is in
German. The test data lacks information
about the models’ accuracy. The data is not
directly comparable to the Selig data
because the turbulence levels of the wind
tunnels are different. These books are useful
only to hard-core airfoil aficionados.
The World’s Vintage Sailplanes 1908-45
and Sailplanes 1920-1945 by Martin Simons
feature a large amount of overlapping
content but are authoritative references on
early full-scale sailplanes. Martin Simons is
a masterful researcher and writer. The
photos and illustrations are excellent. If
vintage Scale is your thing, buy one of these
books. The scope of the second book is
slightly smaller, but the illustrations are
improved.
SoarTech (many volumes) began
roughly 20 years ago as a series of technical
116 MODEL AVIATION
papers in the Tidewater Model Soaring
Society newsletter and were called the
TMSS Technical Journal. Before the
Internet, this infrequently published
collection was one of the best references for
soaring tech-heads.
According to the Web site—
http://members.cox.net/hstokely/soartech.ht
m—“It is an English language technical
forum for Radio Control Soaring,
containing papers submitted by interested
modelers, and from other publications. It’s
intended to provide a vehicle for the
publication of information and data which is
too lengthy or too technical for publication
in the popular press.” The available issues
make good reading.
Magazines: Editors control magazine
content; they choose what topics they will
allow and what length the pieces will be.
Editors also have the right to cut text they
think is inappropriate. Price paid per article
affects the submissions they attract.
Model Aviation (http://modelaircraft.org/
mag/index.htm) features a token amount of
Soaring coverage, with alternating Slope
Soaring columns by Dave Garwood and
Thermal Soaring columns that I write.
Glider-flying Model Aviation
subscribers are typically those who need
AMA membership to attend sanctioned
contests or belong to a power sailplane club
that requires it. More Soaring features and
Soaring construction articles can be
published. E-mail Aeromodeling Editor
Bob Hunt with an abstract before writing.
Quiet Flyer (www.quietflyer.com/),
previously called Sailplane and Electric
Modeler, mostly covers Electrics but has a
fair amount of RC Soaring content. Editor
Wil Byers has been wise to ride the crest of
the electric-powered-airplane wave. This
magazine is worth the money for the ample
color pictures. Don Bailey’s column is
consistently good. I often wish the articles
were longer.
Quiet Flyer published a special edition
in May 2003, in which some of the better
articles from previous issues were reprinted.
I thought it was uncool that the authors’
names had been removed, but this issue is
worth the roughly $12 price..
As does Model Aviation, Radio Control
Modeler (www.rcmmagazine.com/) only
features a token amount of Soaring
coverage, with Mike Lee’s monthly
column. This is a general-interest RCairplane
publication. It is a good alternative
to Model Aviation for non-AMA members
with broad interests.
RC Soaring Digest (www.b2streamlines.
com/RCSD.html), also known as RCSD, is
a small Soaring magazine published in the
US. It features grayscale images, and the
editor does not pay contributors.
Die-hard columnists continue to put
their hearts into RCSD. Dave Register
writes about technical issues, Gordy Stahl
writes “Gordy’s Travels,” Lee Murray
writes about the meteorology of Soaring,
and Bill and Bunny Kuhlman write about
tailless gliders. Mark Drela’s
contributions—which started in November
2003—will breathe new life into RCSD.
Back issues are inexpensive. Editors Jerry
and Judy Slates welcome new content.
Aufwind (www.aufwind-magazin.de/) is
an excellent magazine about gliders and
Electrics if you can read German. The
articles’ technical density and photo quality
are high. I wish they published it in
English!
I will keep a running list of relevant glider
books at www.eiss.cnde.iastate.edu/articles/.
E-mail me if you want another book
included on the list. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/03
Page Numbers: 113,114,115,116
March 2004 113
THIS MONTH I will list Thermal Soaring printed references with
brief, opinionated descriptions. If you know of a notable book that I
missed, E-mail me. I’ll provide a Web address for where to check
for additions to this list. If a source is not included for the book, try
Amazon.com.
Books: If you buy only one model-airplane book, Model Aircraft
Aerodynamics by Martin Simons (ISBN 1-85486-190-5) is the
essential reference. It explains in layman’s terms how and why
airplanes fly. The assumed education level is high school.
This book goes into great detail about the physics of wings,
propellers, and airplane design in general. It is complete and
accurate. Segments about gliding flight, wing planforms, tail shapes,
airfoils, and stability are relevant. The current edition is the fourth. It
has more illustrations and grayscale images than the previous
editions. At 344 pages and approximately $25, it is a real bargain.
Stop Abusing Bernoulli! How Airplanes Really Fly by Gale Craig
sets out to explain the physics of flight and debunk some of the
intuitive myths about how lift is created. The author tries to limit the
Mike Garton, 2733 NE 95th Ave., Ankeny IA 50021; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SOARING
The author reviews these books and more in text. At the top are
new (L) and old versions of one of Martin Simons’ books.
Some of the reviewed books are fairly technical.
These have wind-tunnel data, info about how things are tested
and why, and which airfoils to use for certain applications.
114 MODEL AVIATION
use of math, but a bachelor’s degree in a technical field would be
helpful in understanding the concepts. As an engineer, I did not like
the physicist perspective. I would not replace this one if I lost it.
Old Buzzard’s Soaring Book by Dave Thornburg is a Soaring
classic. Dave Thornburg gives a bunch of Thermal and Slope
Soaring tips. It is fun to read and requires no math knowledge. It
should be in any glider pilot’s collection.
Fundamentals of Sailplane Design by Fred Thomas is a
hardbound translation of a German book. It is clearly about fullscale
gliders—not models. It has a brief overview of aerodynamic
theory, sailplane requirements, and
optimization. The sections do not go into
enough detail to actually apply the
knowledge. It seems more intended to just
give a flavor of the methods. If you did not
already know it, you are not going to learn it
here.
The book is useful to get a high-level idea
of what is involved in glider design. One
gem is a comprehensive table of modern
gliders. It includes enough dimensional
information for an aeronautical engineer to
model the basic performance and basic
stability. For instance, the airfoil, planform,
and twist of the wings are given. Also
included are tail airfoils, areas, and moment
arms. This book is a good purchase for an
aeronautical engineer with an interest in
sailplanes.
Sailplane Designer’s Handbook by Eric
Lister was originally published in 1974
(Library of Congress control number
74079870). It was still available on the
Internet the last time I looked. Eric’s stated
intent was to distill the higher-level math of
All vintage scale fans should own a Simons book. Quiet Flyer special edition has
reprints of the better articles that have been printed in the magazine.
design into a series of tables that a broader audience can understand.
The approach is sound, but the material is dated. If you follow
the examples and design a glider to fit in the tables, it may look
much like the gliders did in the early 1970s. They had relatively
short fuselages and were slow to respond to turn inputs.
Airplane Design by Donald R. Crawford: A Series of Articles
Printed First in Kitplanes Magazine is published by Crawford
Aviation. This reference does not even mention gliders, but it
contains some interesting tools.
Most of the articles about airplane performance have full listings
March 2004 115
of short computer programs. This provides
an excellent hands-on way for an interested
person to learn about aerodynamics.
Engineering students often learn better when
they make a computer program. Software
bridges the gap between theory and
application. The language (listed in BASIC)
is irrelevant; the programs could easily be
written in any computer language.
There are programs for standard
atmosphere calculations, power airplane
performance, stability and control (including
neutral point), and even lifting line theory.
The latter is a method to calculate lift
distributions on finite wings, such as John
Hazel’s Lift-Roll spreadsheet. The printing
of the book is poor, but the unique content is
invaluable for those who want to get their
feet wet in applied aerodynamics.
Cross Country Soaring by Helmut
Reichmann and Thomson is currently out of
print, but it is the bible of full-scale crosscountry
soaring. It has been reprinted seven
times, and I hope it will be printed again. If
you can find a copy, buy it. It is my favorite
soaring book.
Although it is intended for full scale,
70% of the book is applicable to models too.
It has excellent technical descriptions of
many soaring topics, including slope
soaring, wave soaring, thermal soaring,
tactics, speed to fly, meteorology, and
equipment. If you fly Radio Control (RC)
Cross Country, this book is an awesome
reference.
Theory of Wing Sections Including a
Summary of Airfoil Data by Ira Abbott and
Albert Von Doenhoff is another book with
no mention of gliders or models. This text
has a great deal of college-level math in it
but may still be worth the $14 for anyone
who wants to learn more about airfoils.
This book has a large body of
experimental data of old airfoils in its 693
softbound pages. It is a standard reference
for learning the general trends in airfoils. I
found the sections on high-lift devices (flaps
and slots) incredibly interesting.
Airfoils at Low Speeds by Michael Selig,
John Donovan, and David Fraser; Summary
of Low-Speed Airfoil Data Volume 1 by
Michael Selig, James Guglielmo, Andy
Broeren, and Phillipe Giguere; Summary of
Low-Speed Airfoil Data Volume II by
Michael Selig, Christopher Lyon, Phillipe
Giguere, Cameron Ninham, and James
Guglielmo; and Summary of Low-Speed
Airfoil Data by Christopher Lyon, Andy
Broeren, Phillipe Giguere, Ashok
Gopalarathnam, and Michael Selig contain
the most extensive campaign of
experimental low-speed-airfoil testing ever
published.
Most of the space in the books is devoted
to graphs of drag and lift coefficient versus
angle. The data is available on the Internet. I
included these titles because of the good,
practical information in the first 50 or so
pages of each book.
Michael Selig and his colleagues
describe in great detail how and why they
tested the airfoils. Michael also provides
comments about what he was trying to
achieve with many airfoils and how they
turned out. It is useful to see the effect of
building errors on the airfoils’ performance.
Proceeds of these inexpensive books support
more testing. You can find the books and
data at www.aae.uiuc.edu/m-selig/.
Hard-to-find German books
Profilpolaren Für Den Modellflug and
Profilpolaren Für Den Modellflug Band 2
by Dieter Althaus predate the Selig tests but
are similar. They contain volumes of
experimental data on airfoils for models.
The airfoils are older, and the text is in
German. The test data lacks information
about the models’ accuracy. The data is not
directly comparable to the Selig data
because the turbulence levels of the wind
tunnels are different. These books are useful
only to hard-core airfoil aficionados.
The World’s Vintage Sailplanes 1908-45
and Sailplanes 1920-1945 by Martin Simons
feature a large amount of overlapping
content but are authoritative references on
early full-scale sailplanes. Martin Simons is
a masterful researcher and writer. The
photos and illustrations are excellent. If
vintage Scale is your thing, buy one of these
books. The scope of the second book is
slightly smaller, but the illustrations are
improved.
SoarTech (many volumes) began
roughly 20 years ago as a series of technical
116 MODEL AVIATION
papers in the Tidewater Model Soaring
Society newsletter and were called the
TMSS Technical Journal. Before the
Internet, this infrequently published
collection was one of the best references for
soaring tech-heads.
According to the Web site—
http://members.cox.net/hstokely/soartech.ht
m—“It is an English language technical
forum for Radio Control Soaring,
containing papers submitted by interested
modelers, and from other publications. It’s
intended to provide a vehicle for the
publication of information and data which is
too lengthy or too technical for publication
in the popular press.” The available issues
make good reading.
Magazines: Editors control magazine
content; they choose what topics they will
allow and what length the pieces will be.
Editors also have the right to cut text they
think is inappropriate. Price paid per article
affects the submissions they attract.
Model Aviation (http://modelaircraft.org/
mag/index.htm) features a token amount of
Soaring coverage, with alternating Slope
Soaring columns by Dave Garwood and
Thermal Soaring columns that I write.
Glider-flying Model Aviation
subscribers are typically those who need
AMA membership to attend sanctioned
contests or belong to a power sailplane club
that requires it. More Soaring features and
Soaring construction articles can be
published. E-mail Aeromodeling Editor
Bob Hunt with an abstract before writing.
Quiet Flyer (www.quietflyer.com/),
previously called Sailplane and Electric
Modeler, mostly covers Electrics but has a
fair amount of RC Soaring content. Editor
Wil Byers has been wise to ride the crest of
the electric-powered-airplane wave. This
magazine is worth the money for the ample
color pictures. Don Bailey’s column is
consistently good. I often wish the articles
were longer.
Quiet Flyer published a special edition
in May 2003, in which some of the better
articles from previous issues were reprinted.
I thought it was uncool that the authors’
names had been removed, but this issue is
worth the roughly $12 price..
As does Model Aviation, Radio Control
Modeler (www.rcmmagazine.com/) only
features a token amount of Soaring
coverage, with Mike Lee’s monthly
column. This is a general-interest RCairplane
publication. It is a good alternative
to Model Aviation for non-AMA members
with broad interests.
RC Soaring Digest (www.b2streamlines.
com/RCSD.html), also known as RCSD, is
a small Soaring magazine published in the
US. It features grayscale images, and the
editor does not pay contributors.
Die-hard columnists continue to put
their hearts into RCSD. Dave Register
writes about technical issues, Gordy Stahl
writes “Gordy’s Travels,” Lee Murray
writes about the meteorology of Soaring,
and Bill and Bunny Kuhlman write about
tailless gliders. Mark Drela’s
contributions—which started in November
2003—will breathe new life into RCSD.
Back issues are inexpensive. Editors Jerry
and Judy Slates welcome new content.
Aufwind (www.aufwind-magazin.de/) is
an excellent magazine about gliders and
Electrics if you can read German. The
articles’ technical density and photo quality
are high. I wish they published it in
English!
I will keep a running list of relevant glider
books at www.eiss.cnde.iastate.edu/articles/.
E-mail me if you want another book
included on the list. MA
