Just for the Fun of It: Plane Talk
PICTURE A WORLD without magazines. Would the "hobby" exist? You'd have to say no, but the answer is yes. It would thrive. There would be clubs, contests, and many companies-most of them tiny, it's true, but some would be giants. And out of that would come magazines and spiraling growth. It has happened before, beginning with pre-1910 clubs and things in passing Aero magazines, long gone. Suppose you acquire your first model plane in 1986. No one in your town has one, and except for a tiny ad in some general magazine and a catalog you order, there is no evidence that yours is not the only model in the world. It will be two years before you see anyone else with a model. If in 1986 you are 16, and you made your model only two years ago, it will be 59 years before you will see a photo of "your" model built by another.
Simitar Slow Motion
Evans. I've spent most of the past 14 years specializing in high-performance, fully aerobatic flying wings. I've also been a faithful follower of Bill Winter's "Just For the Fun of It" column, so I was more than a little shocked when, during a chance phone call to Winter, I heard him say he'd like to build a Simitar. It didn't sound like Winter's type. Was he joking? Some of the Simitar variations have hit 160-plus mph. He wasn't joking at all. What he wanted was a wing that had a range of from 15/20 to 60/80 mph; one that would fly on either two, three, or four channels and on rudder or ailerons. He wanted a Free Flighter capable of 360s, hands off, without losing altitude or spiraling down. He wanted a wing that would soar!
Heron
Realistic cabin and landing gear typify this model's sport features, but it provides near-competition performance. A slim, clean fuselage and airfoil of 10% thickness (with an elongated Phillips entry allowing 4 incidence for high L/D) provide low drag to make possible a good climb-out rate and minimum glide sink at a wing loading of 12 ounces per square foot. Handling is positive and smooth both under power and in the glide. This is the kind of flight the author enjoys. Take offs and touch-and-goes are exceptionally easy to execute. Winter says.
