Control Line: Aerobatics
HOW LIGHT is light? How good is light? All Stunt freaks talk about building that "all-time light plane that will win the Nationals," but what happens when you finally get that "super-light airplane?" Let's look at the plane pictured this month that belongs to Larry Robertson (Louisville, KY). Larry has been flying Stunt since the early Sixties and usually finishes high in the standings around the Midwest contest circuit. He has just missed qualifying a couple of times at the Nationals. He is a good builder. I think that anyone who knows Larry will attest that he is a serious Stunt flier who knows how to build and fly.
Control Line: Aerobatics
THE SUBJECT is control line handles. What can we Stunters do, now that the supply of E-Z Just has been exhausted, and Bob Hunt and Gene Martine are no longer producing their handles? No manufacturer or prospective manufacturer I've talked to in the past couple of years has wanted to risk the liability lawsuits that caused the demise of E-Z Just. So, we must improvise if the Fox, Tatone, or Sullivan handles that are available do not fit our needs. Let's examine some of the characteristics of a good handle. By far the most popular handle has been the very inexpensive small E-Z Just; actually it was a tight fit for most adult hands, but we all liked the 3-15/16-in. line spacing. The leadout line was adjustable (on the ground) for inside/outside turning equivalence. Bob Hunt went one step further with his C.S.C. Trujust handle that allowed in-the-air adjustment of inside/outside turning equivalence. The Trujust has line spacing of 4-3/8 in., mainly because the space on the handle was plenty big for most any size hand-which should have made the handle much more sensitive than the small E-Z Just. However, the Trujust handle had considerably more "overhang" than the E-Z Just, which tended to dampen the sensitivity of the handle (we will examine "overhang" below).
Control Line: Aerobatics
Good news for Old-Time Stunt fliers. The 1983 Nationals will probably have a fantastic turnout in OTS, especially since the Massachusetts location will attract many Stunt fliers from the New York-New Jersey-New England area where OTS is very popular. Event Director of CL Precision Aerobatics Lanny Shorts is trying to lure John Miske to be the Event Director for Old-Time, and the event will probably be held on Tuesday of Nationals week.
Control Line: Aerobatics
SO, you want to build a Stunt plane that has dihedral in the wing? That Spitfire or Bearcat that you've always admired is just itching to jump off the drawing board onto your workbench. "But, how do I set up the dihedral and the leadouts so that it doesn't fly crooked?" Let's take a look at the subject. Assisting in this article is Scott Bair, Atlanta, GA, a research engineer who, over the past four years, has built six Stunt planes with dihedral in the wing. In addition to the use of dihedral in his planes, Scott uses unique building methods which include a Free Flight-like fuselage structure of longerons and 1/8-in. bulkheads covered with paper, which gives a strong yet featherweight finished result. In the future, we will see some of his masterful building projects that result in 46 oz. airplanes with 670 sq. in. of wing area!
Control Line: Aerobatics
CAMOUFLAGE. Or, how to cover up your mistakes. Or, how to hide some of the "bad spots" on an old plane. Let's suppose it's June 1, and you haven't even begun a new airplane for the summer. You have last year's 12-pointer hanging on the wall; the wing is straight, you have a good engine, you know how to fly this plane; but, it'll be lucky to get 10 points at the Nationals, and even your best friends will keep saying, "Build something new, you can't fly that old wreck again!" Well, maybe you can. You could quite possibly repaint the entire plane, which entails very liberal use of alcohol and K2R Spot Lifter to get all the fuel off the plane and make the surface ready to take paint. This would also require sanding most of the old finish off and probably making spot repairs in some areas, for instance: fillets, around the cowling, some dings in the wings, around the canopy, and perhaps the wing tips. To give the impression that you have a new plane, you might try to change the overall color; remember, reds and blues are very difficult to spray over. You may also have to switch to one of the epoxy-type paints in order to get good adhesion to the old surfaces.
