ARIA: The Long Wing: Aria goes soaring with its new, longer wing.
THIS SEQUEL to the Aria article was only a gleam in the designer's eye when we wrote the article on the basic short-wing Aria in the September 1992 Model Aviation. We now know that the longer wing is completely successful, particularly in its own elements-calmer air and weak lift. Along the rolling foothill slopes of rural Virginia, the longer wing rides the river of air, as Dave Thornberg would say, with the turkey buzzards.
Flicker
The Flicker was designed to fly the way that I wish it could if I could fit into it. There are no mysteries to the parameters that enable an airplane to fly within the particular flight envelope envisioned, but there are many subtleties blended together for the "feel" or personality of the airplane. It helps to think of these things as people, not to be put down by a pears-and-apples comparison. There is intentional whimsy and nostalgia in Flicker's persona, which hopefully may prove to be irresistible.
Raptor
Raptor has the exceptional low-end performance of Cloud Niner and the RC Special, and was designed to extend the top end of the performance envelope. Raptor is different in appearance and performance from the usual airplanes that I have designed and published. Raptor moved a couple of notches up the performance ladder, although I can still fly it sedately with partial flaps. I wished to maintain a smoothly flowing blend of responses: adequate stability (without visual dihedral) with bank-and-turn characteristics to please any lightplane pilot. Raptor has a very wide speed range. It is fast enough to please a sport pilot who wants to bore holes, yet has landed (with flaps) with a two-foot roll in near calm conditions after a prolonged STOL approach (you would have to see it to believe it).
Pipe Dream: High-performance flying wing for Speed 400s
Pipe Dream is one of Bill Winter's final designs. It is a fitting final statement, being a culmination of many thought processes and resulting in an advanced and fine-performing model, designed around the popular Hobby Lobby geared Speed 400 motor. Bill Evans, father of the Simitar series of flying-wing models, had been "after" Bill Winter for many years to design a flying-wing model. The Pipe Dream is the result. Evans remembers that the younger Winter always smoked a pipe when editing Air Trails or Model Aviation, or when writing the "Just for the Fun of it" series. Evans theorizes that all of that smoke Winter generated during that time formed into this design, so he suggested the name Pipe Dream.
Aria
WHAT MOST of us want in an Electric model is the most for our money-long and high flights, more maneuverability, good pilot feel, great handling, smooth responses, an affinity for soaring, windy-weather capability, easy approaches and landings (with none of the awkwardness of Sailplane types). Not only do we want all this, but we want it all in one airplane. In his delightful Old Buzzard's Soaring Book (available from Pony X Press, 5 Monticello Drive, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123), Dave Thornburg warns us never to accept compromise in design. If we do, we'll end up with a model that does everything very well, but nothing superbly (Dave is into Soaring competition).
