FREE FLIGHT SPORT
Gene Smith 1401 N. Husband St., Stillwater OK 74075 E-mail: GRWhiskey@aol.com
What Am I Doing Here? I have always loved this hobby. I am not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with my father being a pilot in World War II. Maybe it's because when I was 15 dad told me I would outgrow model airplanes, and I am just too stubborn to quit. I don't spend much time trying to figure it out. I just continue to enjoy building and flying model airplanes. Philosophy just isn't my thing.
This column will cover many aspects of Free Flight, including:
- Rubber-powered models up to P-30 size
- Some Free Flight Scale
- Free Flight Gas
I like what I call "simple competition models" — any model that can be built with balsa and doesn't have an engine large enough, fast enough, or expensive enough to scare the bejeezers out of me.
I grin when I see a Satellite clawing for altitude in a steep, sweeping turn. I enjoy the sight of a Ramrod making graceful circles overhead. I like winding P-30 motors. It's fun to start with some sticks of balsa and turn them into a rubber-powered Scale model that really flies. I think Flying Aces Club (FAC) mass-launch events are a hoot—especially WWII mass launches.
If you have similar interests, please send any questions, comments, suggestions, or photos to me for possible use in this column.
May I Play a Mulligan?
Oscar Smith built his great-flying Mr. Mulligan from Dave Rees's plans. Oscar got back into modeling when he retired 18 years ago. His primary interest is Free Flight Scale. You can see that he really likes the Mulligan.
Dave Rees sells plans for electric and rubber-powered Scale models, as well as electric motors and accessories. For a catalog, send $1 to HiLine Models, Box 11558, Goldsboro NC 27532.
Flying on a Low Wing and a Prayer
While walking back from retrieving my Marcoux Bromberg at the FAC Nationals (Nats), I encountered a gentleman who was holding his nicely done high-wing, Old-Time Rubber model. He said, "I don't know how you guys get those low wingers to fly." Sometimes I am not sure how I get them to fly, but I do follow certain guidelines which have minimized my problems trimming low-wing aircraft.
My first low-wing, rubber-powered Scale model was Don Srull's Heinkel He 100D, which I built from the Flyline kit. I had limited success with that model; the limitation was no fault of the design or the kit, but rather my lack of experience.
My first real breakthrough came when I ordered a set of plans for the Fiat G.55 from David Smith. Much to my surprise and delight, there was a handwritten how-to article enclosed with the plans. It covered building, flying, finishing, and propeller and rubber-motor tips. The 22-inch-span Fiat was my first really successful low-wing Scale model. I referred to the how-to article many times in subsequent years. The Fiat plans and tip sheet are still available for a reasonable $5. Also available for the same price are plans and a tip sheet for David's awesome Reggiane Re 2005. Write to David at 6715 Lake Arcadia Ln., Columbia SC 29206.
For several years I labored under the following mantra: high wingers fly to the right and low wingers fly to the left. This rule, seemingly set in stone, didn't come from one individual, but from several sources. I followed the left-turn mantra for years and had some success with my Fiat. However, there was a price to pay if the model's adjustments were off slightly. If you had too little wash-in of the left wing panel, the model would climb steeply, do a beautiful wingover, and come zooming back in the general direction of the launch site, often in the direction of terra firma. Too much wash-in of the left panel and the power phase would be beautiful, but once the model transitioned into the glide, the extra wash-in would push it into a right turn and an ever-steepening right spiral to the ground. Ouch!
Even with these problems, the left pattern can certainly work. However, I was about to learn that the scientific method employed to prove that low wingers couldn't fly to the right was probably the same method used to prove that bumblebees couldn't fly.
At an FAC Nats in the early 1990s, Charlie Sauter was my roommate. He had a nice Keith Ryder Firecracker built from Tom Nallen's plans. Charlie won the event flying his model to the right. How could that be? It was heresy. It must have been an illusion. No, it really flew to the right. That was the first chink in the armor of the left-flying low-winger mantra, but it wasn't enough to make me change my ways.
Jeff Engler (leader of the Sunflower Squadron in Wichita, Kansas) really opened my eyes. Not long after Charlie's win at the FAC Nats, my squadron—the aptly named Kamikaze Squadron—hosted an FAC event which included WWII combat. For those of you who are not familiar with Flying Aces events, mass launches involve the simultaneous launch of several models, and the last one down wins.
I had been knocking the Kansas guys cold with my Fiat, but Jeff brought a new weapon: a beautiful P-51 built from the Golden Age Reproductions kit. Confident that I still had the event in hand, I put in approximately three-quarters winds, launched, and watched in amazement; Jeff's P-51 flew so well that it made my Fiat look like a Brewster Buffalo caught in a swarm of zeros.
Jeff won the event with ease, and he let me examine the model after his win. That model was straight; there was no wash-in, no washout, and no rudder offset—just some down- and right-thrust. How was that possible? I knew you had to have wash-in in the left wing panel, but Jeff's model had none. It just flew in large circles. I don't recall if they were left or right, but they were so big and gentle that large trim adjustments were unnecessary.
The final piece of the puzzle was in an article written by Mike Midkiff. He wrote that he trimmed his models to fly straight for the first 50 feet after the launch and didn't care much which direction they went after that. (I hope I am quoting Mike correctly; it has been a few years since I have read the article.) I tried it. It worked. I no longer fly low wingers to the left. They all go right. If you have success flying low wingers to the left, I am happy for you. This is just what works for me.
Build everything flat and straight. An exception is elliptical or highly tapered wing planforms. For those, use a bit of washout in both wingtips. Start with 2° of right thrust and 2° of downthrust. Use thrust adjustments to make the model fly straight for the first 50 feet after launch.
As the torque burns off, the model will start a large right circle, tightening a bit as it goes into the glide. If the model attempts to spiral down to the right in the glide, I tweak in a touch of left rudder. Sometimes this requires a small amount of additional right thrust to keep the first 50 feet in a straight line after launch.
Is that all there is to it? Sometimes it is that simple and sometimes not; each model has a personality of its own. I can't stress enough how important it is to build warp-free and be able to remove warps that creep into the flying surfaces. I am making the assumption that the model is a good design with adequate stabilizer area, and the balance and decalage are as per the plans. Trimming a model to maximize its flight performance can be frustrating or fun. The trick is to do your best to prepare the model for success before the first flight.
A few years ago Bill Henn got back into Free Flight rubber-powered Scale in a big way. In the last few years Bill has had several articles published featuring his original Scale plans. He recently built a model of the Reggiane Re 2005 from Dave Smith's plans and wrote a nice report with pictures for Free Flight Quarterly.
Bill's Spitfire Mk XIV is a great flier. Although Bill also likes to fly his low wingers to the right, the Spitfire wouldn't fly to the right, so he tried left and it flies great in a left, left pattern. Go figure.
The Mk XIV Spitfire is scheduled for a future issue of Free Flight Quarterly. Check out the publication at www.chariot.net.au/~bluejay/freeflightquarterly.html or write to Sergio Montes at Free Flight Quarterly, 37 Windsor St., Kingston Beach 7050, Tasmania, Australia.
Free, Free, Free
To kick off this column I am offering a freebie plan for the Pollywog. Bill Warner designed this model, and it was published in the short-lived Bill S. Aeromodeller magazine. The little beauty (the model, not my granddaughter) was lost out of sight on its second flight.
Because of the undercambered wing, the model is a bit technical for a 6-year-old to build. However, the marked tip dihedral makes it stable and easy to fly. My friend Karl Gies tells me that you can simplify the building process by leaving out the central dihedral break, and it will fly fine with only tip dihedral.
If you send a request for the plans, be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped, 4 x 9-inch envelope. Return envelopes without postage will end up in the Bermuda Triangle.
Thermals! MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
