From: Mark Drela <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> If we were all launching on 12v winches with correspondingly lighter lines, the light 2m gliders would likely be competitive with the 3m ships, because the 2m ships would launch higher. Their maneuverability and lower speeds on landing is another advantage.
========================================= The "LIGHTER LINES" item is a major consideration. A 300 lb test braided nylon towline is a lot for a 2M wing to haul up. This beef goes back at least as far as 1974. In the SOAR Nats that year, Mark Smith requested (but did not get) permission to replace the tow-ring on the winch line with a lighter aluminum ring when he launched his 555 sq in Windfree (he won anyway). I think that having the extra square inches to lift the line is an important reason for the apparent primacy of the low AR designs in 2M. I have a 21 oz Allegro that is plenty strong enough for a full pedal launch with a Real-Balls winch -- you can hold the pedal down without pulsing from toss to zoom if you want to. What DP sez about sensing light lift is definitely true; the Allegro is great for that. But launch height is about the same as a big plane, and it definitely isn't competitive when starting from the same height. Maybe Mark is on to a great idea. It would be cool to provide light lines for those who wanted them and see if things evened out between the two classes. RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
