Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
Ron Van Putte 111 Sleepy Oaks Rd. Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32548
Looking for deBolt Kitten and Kazmirski Taurus plans
A.J. Hansen (32 E. Columbus Ave., #5, Phoenix, AZ 85012) asked for help locating copies of deBolt Kitten and Kazmirski Taurus plans. The Kitten was his first RC airplane 27 years ago and he wants to build another using modern radio components. Coincidentally, my first RC airplane 35 years ago was also a deBolt Kitten. Unfortunately, I no longer have Kitten or Taurus plans.
I put him in touch with Tom Dixon (1938 Peachtree Rd., Suite 401, Atlanta, GA 30309). Tom sells many items not generally available through local dealers, including control-line and RC model plans, Bolly props, and Merco, Fox, Royal, and Magnum engines. I know Tom has Taurus plans, but his plans catalog does not list the Kitten. If anyone has Kitten plans or knows where they can be obtained, please write to A.J. Hansen at the address above.
Spread the word that Tom Dixon carries many CL and RC plans. If you want to contact him, write to the address above. Please do not call him—model supplies are not his primary business and he cannot take office time for modeling phone calls. He promises to reply as quickly as possible by mail.
Conquest kit source
If you are interested in a Conquest kit, write to: Phillips Aircraft Co., 2158 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills, MI 48309.
K-factors for Novice, Sportsman, and Advanced events
Tony Stillman (Radio South, 9003 N. Davis Highway, Suite B, Pensacola, FL 32514) proposed using K-factors for Novice, Sportsman, and Advanced events. Expert, Master, and FAI events have used K-factors for years.
A K-factor is a measure of a maneuver's difficulty. Judges score each maneuver on a 0-to-10 scale; with K-factors, each maneuver score is multiplied by the maneuver's K-factor and the resulting values are summed to determine the flight score. This gives more weight to difficult maneuvers so a mistake on an easier maneuver (for example, a landing) will not hurt the final score as much as a mistake on a higher-difficulty maneuver (for example, a double stall turn).
Using K-factors emphasizes maneuvers that deserve more practice. Contest directors can adopt this scoring immediately by announcing in advance that K-factors will be used for the affected events; an official AMA rule change would otherwise take two years under current procedures.
At the NSRCA District 3 Championships (Baton Rouge, LA, Oct 14–15), clubs from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana agreed in principle to use K-factors for all classes in Gulf Coast Pattern contests in 1990–91. What remains to be settled is the accepted list of K-factors. Many maneuvers already have K-factors assigned elsewhere in the rule book; only a few need determination. Below is how I think the accepted lists will turn out.
#### Novice (Total K = 13)
- Takeoff — 1
- Straight Flight Out — 1
- Procedure Turn — 1
- Straight Flight Back — 1
- Stall Turn — 2
- Immelmann Turn — 2
- Three Inside Loops — 2
- One Horizontal Roll — 2
- Landing — 1
#### Sportsman (Total K = 15)
- Takeoff — 1
- Double Stall Turn — 3
- Cuban Eight — 2
- Immelmann Turn — 2
- Three Inside Loops — 2
- One Horizontal Roll — 2
- Landing — 3
#### Advanced (Total K = 32)
- Takeoff — 1
- Non-Rolling Figure M — 4
- Cuban Eight — 2
- Double Immelmann — 2
- Four-Point Roll — 4
- Three Reverse Outside Loops — 3
- Slow Roll — 3
- Three Inside Loops — 3
- Three Horizontal Rolls — 3
- Square Loop — 2
- Knife-Edge Flight — 3
- Landing — 2
What's your opinion on using K-factors for these three classes and on the K-factor listings above? I hope many contests adopt Tony Stillman's idea in 1990.
Trimming tips — Pitch adjustment for pattern airplanes
Many fliers recognize that trimming an airplane is not easy. Some pilots only trim pitch; others find airplanes almost unflyable because the trim is so poor. John Fuqua (Niceville, FL) and I often discuss trimming during long drives to contests. John is an F3A (Turnaround) flier who has competed in team selection finals and is the AMA District 12 RC Aerobatics Contest Board representative. He wrote the following notes on solving a common pitching problem.
John's notes — "Pitch Adjustment for Pattern Airplanes"
At one time or another everyone has a pitching problem in knife-edge flight with their newest pattern creations. I had a run of bad luck on three airplanes (an Aurora and two Beetles) where the aircraft pitched to the canopy (top) with one rudder input and to the belly (bottom) with the opposite rudder input. Interestingly, all three pitched to the canopy with right rudder and to the belly with left rudder.
The easy workaround is to use the mixing feature found in most radios. However, this is not always desirable. After reviewing many articles and ideas (including examples from Jim Kirkland, Dave Brown, Bud Weber, Dean Pappas, Bob Hunt, and others), only Dean Pappas provided a real clue. For a discussion of possible causes see Dean's article in the July 1988 edition of Flying Models magazine.
After trying conventional approaches (CG adjustment, ailerons up/down, thrust-line changes, etc.), the only way to fix this condition—short of rebuilding the airplane—is to adjust the elevator-half alignment or the stab-half alignment.
Try this procedure:
- Pick one elevator half (or one stab half).
- Move that half up or down two or three turns on the clevis.
- Fly some knife-edge passes and observe the pitching response.
If you adjusted in the correct direction, the aircraft may pitch but should do so only in the same direction (i.e., always to canopy or always to belly). If you went the wrong way, the original problem may worsen. Through trial and error you can eliminate the problem.
There is a drawback: loop tracking will be affected to some extent. After correcting the knife-edge pitching, re-adjust loop tracking by adding weight as required so the plane tracks properly in inside and outside loops.
Advantages of this method over radio mixing:
- It works better over varying speed ranges and stick-deflection limits.
- Mixing is proportional to stick throw (amount of mixing varies with stick deflection), whereas elevator/stab adjustment works consistently across the flight envelope.
Anyway, try it and see what happens. Anyone who wishes to talk to John about this problem can contact him at (904) 678-4923.
Thanks to John for the advice. I just need to finish my latest airplane so I can try his technique.
A note on "Independents"
By the way, I consider myself an Independent as defined by Ron Ellis, editor of the Florida Pattern Association newsletter. Ron defines an Independent as a person who has a full-time job, pays his own way, builds his own airplanes, and does his own maintenance. With many new team entries in pattern flying, Independents seem to be declining in numbers.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
