Yes, I'll agree with John that it wasn't Addiction weather at the SWC, at least not the kind of weather where the Addiction was designed to excel. However, that having been said, the Addiction and other light wing loading gliders can be and certainly were competitive at the SWC. I was flying my newly introduced Compulsion with a wing load of 8.8 ounces per square foot and the 7037 airfoil. I flew fairly late in the flight order on Saturday. Normally you would consider that an advantage as lift can be hard to come by in February in the desert at 0900. However, as the first round progressed and the wind got worse, it became apparent flying late was actually a disadvantage and that ballast would be necessary. Since I'd only completed my Compulsion a few days before the contest, I'd made no provisions for ballast. I could have substituted a 9/16" stainless steel joiner rod available at www.hilaunch.com and gained 16 ounces, but I didn't think the wind was severe enough to warrant that much weight. With the help of Don Richmond, we quickly fabricated (within five minutes) a ballast system that positioned seven ounces exactly over the CG. This increased the wing loading from 8.8 to 9.9 ounces per square foot. Seven ounces turned out to be the perfect amount of weight for the conditions as I was able to easily make the required times during the brutal first three rounds. In fact, I had to dive down to land to ensure that I didn't exceed the window times during all three flights.
So, a light wing loading isn't necessarily an insurmountable handicap during windy conditions. You just have to be prepared to ballast. As I like to say, "it's easy to add weight when it's windy, but almost impossible to remove unnecessary weight when the air is flat". Many thanks to Don Richmond who helped with the ballast installation and to the CASL crew for a great contest. Next year, I'll bring an MH32 Compulsion as a backup to be even better prepared. Fred RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
