Wonderful Summer of Model Airplane Flying

It sure has been a great summer for me with lots of model airplane flying including contest flying in both radio control sailplanes and free flight.  I made it to the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie Indiana to compete in the Free Flight Nats and also to Minneapolis Model Aero Club for the August contest. For the most part the wind was rather light for those events, which is a really good thing. I also did some sport RC electric flying on a private flying field.

Flying at Free Flight Nats in Muncie Indiana

Friend's Large Cub Landing

Flying with MMAC FF Club in MN

My Pearl E202 at MMAC

In the spring and fall it seems the likelihood of windier weather is more prevalent and that is when I do more RC slope soaring. Last weekend I flew slope both Saturday and Sunday, on Sunday flew at a new to me flying site.  As the daylight gets shorter I spend more time building model airplanes and I have started on a couple of projects, one is a free flight hi-start glider the Gnome kitted by Retro RC. This is not a regular contest event but should be fun just to try. I have also started on a nostalgia rubber free flight the Wilbur with plans and parts from Jim O' Reilly's Model Plans.  The fuselage consists of all diagonal pieces, Jim O’Reilly said this is Warren Truss type of construction that is much stiffer for the weight. 

Slope Flying on New Small Slope

To improve my free flight contest performance I am trying to learn more about certain aspects of free flight contest aircraft such as DT timing and propeller free wheeling. I have worked with adjusting the spring tension on the viscous timer in my NJAPF P30 model so that it trips the DT after 2 minutes. To learn about a rubber power free wheeling setup I purchased a Gizmo Geezer and I have been running it in a stationary test setup. This looks like a neat product that not only free wheels the propeller but keeps enough tension on the rubber that the nose should stay on and allows easy thrust adjustments. I also purchased some DT fuse and have been lighting and timing the burn times.

Gizmo Geezer on Test Run

Thank you to everyone that has been reading my blog which just went over 150,000 views this week from starting in 2013. Now that school is starting my website traffic is picking up quickly too. 


Bill Kuhl
http://www.ideas-inspire.com


Links Related to this Article

Academy of Model Aeronautics

Gizmo Geezer

Jim O’Reilly Plans Service  

Retro RC  FF Gnome