FREE FLIGHT DURATION
Louis Joyner, 4221 Old Leeds Road, Birmingham, AL 35213
The 1997 Sympo
The 1997 Symposium Report of the National Free Flight Society, better known as the Sympo, is now available. Believe it or not, this is the 30th Sympo!
Some of the articles that editor Matt Gewain has put together include:
- "Where Does Lift Come From?" by Hewitt Phillips
- "FID—60 Minutes the EZ Way," by Hermann Andresen
- "Dynamics of F1A Towing and Bunting," by Andrew Bauer
- "Composite Construction of F1B Propellers," by Louis Joyner
- "Development of Computer Electronic Timers," by Roger Morrell
- "Reflections of a 1930s Model Airplane Designer," by Joseph Konefes
- "20 Years of Electronic Timers," by Ken Bauer
- "Chasing and Retrieving," by Len Sherman
- "Dynamics of Pylon Effects," by Andrew Bauer
Also included are the Ten Models of the Year and Hall of Fame selections. Only a limited number of Sympo issues will be printed, so get your order in today. The price is $20 for NFFS members plus $4 surface postage. Nonmembers pay $25 plus $4 postage. Order your copy from Fred Terzian, NFFS Publications Director, at 4858 Moorpark Ave., San Jose, CA 95129-2132. Please make checks payable to the National Free Flight Society.
Superior Props
Bob Gordon is the new owner of Superior Props. If you fly rubber-powered models of any size and hate to carve propellers, you need to check out the Superior catalog. Features include:
- Machine-cut helical-pitch blades in diameters from 4 to 24 inches. Larger blades (15–24 inch) are shipped as two separate blades with a finger joint at the center for strength and accurate alignment. Prices work out to about $0.50 per inch of diameter.
- Folding blades (for wire hubs) available in diameters from 12–24 inches, with helical distribution or popular nonhelical pitch distributions (Doring, Schwartzbach, Maxwell, Andriukov, Zeri). A 24-inch-diameter pair of blades is about $12, with an additional $3 for shipping.
- A simple Z-bar prop hub and a Montreal stop in sizes for Coupe and Wakefield.
- Machined blades for Gollywock and Korda Old-Timer models.
For a catalog and price list, send a legal-sized SASE to Superior Props, 60375 W. Spruce Ln., Lacombe, LA 70445.
Mark Wood's Model Works
Mark Wood's home page shows Power models in action and his well-equipped machine shop. An e-mail to Mark produced an extensive product list. Samples:
- VIT/Bunt unit ($45): Variable Incidence Tailplane (VIT) allows the stabilizer of a power model to be pulled down near 0° incidence for the climb, giving a straighter, faster power pattern without energy-wasting turns. Just after the engine cuts, the bunt mechanism pulls the trailing edge of the stab down further to bring the model from vertical climb to horizontal for the glide, then the stab returns to the preset glide position. Any hesitations or malfunctions in the VIT/bunt mechanism could be disastrous. Mark's unit includes pulleys on the glide and DT (dethermalizer) lines to assure smooth operation and reduce wear. The glide post features an M3 x 0.5 metric thread for precise glide adjustment. Weight is about 3.5 grams. A new VIT/bunt unit with two-stage glide is $55. (More about the two-stage glide later in this column.)
- Rudder Adjuster ($12.50): Machined from 6061-T6 aluminum and fitted with 2-56 screws and nuts. Each locking nut has six small slots for a spring lock, allowing precise 1/6-turn adjustments. Weight is 1 gram.
- Carbon Fiber–Aluminum Fuselage Tubes:
- $50 for 1/2A & F1J
- $60 for A size
- $70 for F1C & B size
- $80 for C–D size
Front fuselages use a wet layup of unidirectional carbon fiber with an outer wrap of fiberglass. Tailbooms use an inner and outer layer of thin aluminum. These are custom-made so weight and strength can be adjusted to suit your needs. The lighter the boom, the more easily it can be damaged—check with Mark before ordering.
- Engine Mount ($45): Two-piece construction—an adapter glued to the front of the carbon-fiber fuselage. The engine mount attaches to the adapter with three or four screws. Mount has provisions for a wire skid and fuel bladder; the engine is held to the mount by its backplate screws.
For more information, contact Mark Wood Model Works, 5923 Hopi Rd., Danville, IN 46122.
Two-Stage Glide
For power models, the transition from high-speed powered flight to a slower glide can be upsetting, often producing a series of stalls that (hopefully) settle down before too much altitude is lost.
A popular solution is the two-stage glide. This allows a faster, slightly under-elevated glide for the first 15–30 seconds to get the model through the rough recovery spots. Then the stabilizer moves up slightly to a slow-glide position for maximum duration.
This requires a timer-operated VIT system. The two-stage glide usually uses a second Z-shaped hammer and an additional line to the timer. Some F1A glider fliers are using the two-stage glide—often in conjunction with an electronic timer.
The biggest advantage is the ability to crank the stab up slightly more than with a standard single-stage-glide model. For flyoffs, that could be the deciding difference.
A-B-C Free Flight Supplies
Jos Melis in Belgium sent a copy of his latest catalog of free-flight parts imported from Russia and Ukraine. Included are:
- F1A supplies by Victor Stamov and M&K (Sergei Makarov and Mikhail Kochkarov)
- F1B (Wakefield) parts from Igor Vivchar, Alexander Andriukov, Andrey Burdov, Vladimir Fedorov, and Yuri Blazhevich
- F1J items by Alex Maximov and Andrey Burdov
- Small tools and metric screws from Yuri Blazhevich
Just about every conceivable component, as well as complete ready-to-fly models, are available. For example, the Stamov long-wing glider, with electronic timer, lists for $1,950 plus postage and handling (about 15%). A set of carbon D-box F1J wings from Andrey Burdov is $140 plus P&H. These model wings are 18 sq dm (about 280 square inches) and weigh 52 grams, presumably uncovered. Lots of interesting items here for the serious FAI flier.
Catalogs are available from Jos Melis, Winterbeekstraat 1, 3730 Hoeselt, Belgium. The catalogs are free; Jos would appreciate a couple of international reply coupons to offset mailing costs.
1999 Team Selection Program
If you’d like to try for the United States team for the 1999 World Championships, you need to start accumulating the required 75 minutes of flight time to advance to the Finals. There have been a few changes for this cycle; the flight-time accumulation is the biggest.
The old semifinals have been eliminated. Instead, each participant has from April 1, 1997, to 45 days before the Finals to accumulate 75 minutes of flight time in AMA-sanctioned contests. Only the first seven rounds will count (not flyoffs or rounds eight through 14 at two-day contests). There is a provision to prorate time accumulated at contests where maxes less than 180 seconds are flown.
The intent of this rule is to get people flying. Hopefully many local contests will start including the three FAI events (F1A, F1B, and F1C), or even an FAI combo. This will allow program participants to accumulate the needed flight time and expose more free flighters to the FAI events.
The Finals will be a three-day affair, with each event flying on two of those days and timing on the third. The Finals site had not been selected at the time of writing but should be firmed up later. One site being considered is Palm Bay, Florida—the site of the 1995 selection. The Finals will probably be held in late September or early October 1998. The 1999 World Championships will be held in Israel during the summer of 1998.
For more information, contact the Competitions Department at AMA Headquarters. To enter the program, include a check for $80, your name, address, and event being entered. In addition to your AMA membership, you must also possess an FAI Sporting License, also available through AMA.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
