Duration
Bob Meuser
Beyond Belief: Before you take me to task for my lousy spelling, let me explain that Dan Belieff is the lad who has held the Category I Open Indoor H.L. Glider record for the better part of a decade. I can't help it if he can't spell! Getting beyond Dan Belieff in Cat I H.L.G. will take some doing, and I'm sure he won't lose any sleep over my implied threat. My glider, shown in the drawing, may or may not be a great design, but it has done well on several occasions, recently beating former low-ceiling record holders Ron Wittman and Lee Hines in competition, and it has some interesting features.
Before you make any wisecracks about the fuselage looking like the hind leg of a dog, you had better be sure my pooch is not within earshot, as I don't think she would take it kindly. It started out looking pretty normal. But then I swooped it up under the wing to save weight, and later intentionally broke it and re-glued it to get sufficient turn and incidence without warping the tail surfaces all out of shape.
Its 24-in. span and 10-gr. weight give it a far greater overall size, weight, and even a far greater wing loading than anything anyone in his right mind would fly in a 22-ft. ceiling. More typical would be a 16-in. span, and a weight of 4 or 5 gr.
The airfoil is a combination of a lot of things. It bears some resemblance to the one used on a model Erv Rodemsky built: very thick near the leading edge, but thinning rapidly aft. The very front of the wing is vertical, and the lower front corner of the leading edge is sharp. This notion came from the foils Hank Cole and George Xenakis have used on Nordics, FAI Power models, Wakefields, and Wakefield props.
Undercamber is easily overdone, and my glider has more than most. Previous experience with smaller gliders seemed to indicate that the best way to add camber is to bend down the trailing edge to form a flap, rather than to distribute the camber uniformly. The through-hole turbulators were the result of a 20-year-old article from Aero Modeller, recently sent to me by Prasanta Banerjee of India. I figured that if they didn't work, I could always plug them with dabs of glue. The Cole leading edge and the hole turbulators were intended for models flying at Reynolds numbers three or four times as high as that of my model, so if they really worked on my model it would be rather fortuitous. All I can say for sure is that they couldn't have hurt the performance much. And the model did seem more stable and less susceptible to gusts than it was when it had a more conventional leading edge. Having a model suddenly come to a stop and fall from an altitude of four feet can be rather disconcerting.
The model started out in life as an eyeballed Supersweep. I had Ron's original model, and made a rough, much lighter copy with plain dihedral. Since the model was originally built, the stabilizer area and rudder area have been decreased, and the tailboom has been shortened. I think transition from launch to glide would be improved if the dihedral were increased, and the rudder area decreased still further.
Almost everyone who flies low-ceiling gliders uses a left-left pattern. I'm right-handed, and I can't throw a glider with the wings level, let alone banked to the left. So right-right it is.
My model has only been flown on three occasions, but with rather drastic modifications between flying sessions. All three sessions were under competition conditions. In such circumstances, one does what he thinks will maximize his chances of bringing home a trophy. For me, that means play it cool, and don't take any unnecessary chances. But if you have a few flights remaining and first place is not assured but is within sight, then go for broke! That is a far different tactical game than one plays if he is developing a model for future competition; and so, the model has not been highly developed. But, like I said, it has some interesting and unusual features. And over 31 sec. in a 22-ft. usable ceiling height is not bad.
Ron Wittman called tonight, and expressed an interest in doing some practicing. That is almost cheating! I don't think any of the I.H.L.G. fliers have heretofore done any flying between the annual Free-Flight Championships. It would be nice to see some real competition going on the West Coast in low-ceiling Indoor H.L.G. again. Ron and Lee have let Dan hang on to that record far too long! Getting beyond Dan Belieff, Cat. I.H.L.G., will take some doing. I'm sure he won't lose sleep over my implied threat. The glider shown in the drawing may not be a great design, but has done well on several occasions recently, beating former low‑ceiling record holders Ron Wittman and Lee Hines. The competition has some interesting features.
Before you make wisecracks about the fuselage looking like the hind leg of a dog, be sure the pooch within earshot doesn't think you'd take kindly to it. The model started out looking pretty normal, then was swooped up under the wing to save weight. Later I intentionally broke and re‑glued bits to get sufficient turn incidence, and in the process warped the tail surfaces out of shape.
It's 24‑in. span, 10‑gr. weight — far greater overall size and weight and far greater wing loading than anything anyone in his right mind would fly for a 22‑ft. ceiling. A typical model would be 16‑in. span and weigh 4–5 gr. The airfoil combination and a lot of other things bear some resemblance to that used by Erv Rodemsky. The wing is very thick near the leading edge, thinning rapidly aft, with a very front wing vertical lower front corner and a fairly sharp leading edge. The notion for this came from foils Hank Cole and George Xenosakis have used on Nordic FAI power models and Wakefields.
Undercamber is easily overdone. My previous experience with smaller gliders seemed to indicate the best way to add camber is to bend down the trailing edge to form a flap rather than to try to distribute camber uniformly through the whole section. Turbulators — the result of a 20‑year‑old article in Aero Modeller — were recently tried by Prasanta Banerjee in India, who figured they didn't work; you can always plug them with dabs of glue. Cole's leading‑edge hole turbulators were intended for models flying at Reynolds numbers three or four times higher than model use. That they really worked on my model was rather fortuitous; I can only say I am sure they couldn't have hurt performance much. The model did seem stable and less susceptible to gusts than a conventional leading edge.
Having a model suddenly come to a stop and fall from four feet of altitude can be rather disconcerting. The model started out life eyeballing Supersweep — Ron's original model — and I made a rough, much lighter copy with plain dihedral. Since the model was originally built, stabilizer area and rudder area have been decreased, the tailboom has been shortened, and I think the transition from launch to glide would be improved if the dihedral were increased, the rudder area decreased still further.
Almost everyone who flies low‑ceiling gliders uses a left‑left pattern. I'm right‑handed and can't throw a glider wings level, let alone banked left. So right‑right it is.
My model has only been flown on three occasions, with rather drastic modifications between flying sessions. All three sessions were under competition conditions. In such circumstances you do what you think will maximize your chances of bringing home a trophy. For me that means play it cool and don't take any unnecessary chances. But if you have a few flights remaining and first place is not assured but is within sight, then go for broke! That is a far different tactical game than one plays if he is developing a model for future competition; and so the model has not been highly developed. But, like I said, it has some interesting and unusual features. And over 31 seconds in a 22‑ft. usable ceiling height is not bad. Ron Wittman called tonight and expressed an interest in doing some practicing. That is almost cheating! I don't think any of the I.H.L.G. fliers have heretofore done any flying between the annual Free‑Flight Championships. It would be nice to see some real competition going on the West Coast in low‑ceiling Indoor H.L.G. again. Ron and Lee have let Dan hang on to that record far too long! applying liquid onto the wood. Let dry, sand, and apply one or more coats of urethane varnish. Let dry and wet sand. Alternatively, styrofoam can be dipped in dope thinner and immediately rubbed into the wood. The styrofoam film (I suppose by then it is a polystyrene film, eh, chemists?) is hard and tough. The urethane varnish gives a relatively chemically impervious barrier to which almost any paint or resin coating may be applied. Enamel—the only exception I know of—doesn't adhere very well.
Other Hints and Tips: Again, from Squire Openshaw: "Ethanol is excellent for raising the grain on balsa. It dries quickly and causes practically no warpage." You might try methanol too, or perhaps a water-alcohol mix such as rubbing alcohol, or Vodka.
"Water-diluted White Magic vinyl floor polish seems promising as a sealant for Japanese tissue." Who would have thought it?
Bob Meuser, 4200 Gregory St., Oakland, CA 94619.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
