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Hi Ron, Mike, and all.
I have to agree with Ron that some of the best
times are had when pilots get together. I had not flown HLG
competitively since Dave Thornburg's HLG contest at SULA, in LA, however I have
been an advid follower of the designs while having a family. Last
Decemeber when I mumbled as we drove past Poway and said Hey, this is where the
IHLGF is held in June, my wife asked why I have not gone to compete? My
reply was it was on our Anniversary!. Well, to make a long story even
longer she said why not go this year. So I went. Guess I owe
something big time!
I have to reply to all that you do not need to have
the most advanced glider to do well, you need to know how to fly it and where to
look for lift. With apologies to Jerry Krainock, who took 6th, he would
admit that he is not in the best of shape to go after the young guns, as well as
the experienced. Yet Jerry was flying a composite built up plane!.
Yes, It had ribs, and open framework, covering was plastic with alot of CF in
spars etc.. The fuse was CF molded, however when you are in the company of
people who do it all the time, CF work is not hard. Tauil surfaces were
the lightest and cheapest I have seen, yet strong and durable.
For me, I had to balance building planes with 2
other jobs, so my time was limited. While not the best of planes, I build
2 composite ships, one with flaps, which had be eloquently described by Joe as
having a great amount of flutter. (BTW, both Joe and Gordon were brutal,
yet funny with their comments to me! :-) ) But my other ship flew
better than any other HLG that I had made previuosly, and yet it was moderately
competitive. (I didn't take last!)
The real issue is pilot practice. With some
people this may come more natural than others, but for others it is more
work. A built up ship may not have been able to compete in height, but it
could compete in sink. I think of it this way, if you throw to say 120 ft,
but have a sink rate of 1.5 ft/sec then your air time may be 80 seconds.
However, if your sink rate is 1.1 ft/min and you throw to 90 ft then your air
time may 81 seconds. I saw both schools of thought at the
contest. In the early AM the Raptors had to throw high to get times, yet
others could throw lower to get the same times. There was a balance of
ranging for thermals versus not being able to get out of down air.
I have to agree with Ron, Knowing that this
was my first time at an advanced contest in years, I went with the
expectations of finding out what people were doing, and building
techniques. I took over 150 digital pictures toward this goal, and have
alot of notes regarding how to build, mold, control the planes. You do not
need a gyro, as larger tail surfaces do control the wobble better. However
for the competitor, placing a gyro on the plane could yield an altitude gain of
10-15 ft. For low throwers this gain is a high percentage.
I also looked at design failures. These
failures can be more attributed to pilot induced issues rather than design
issues. So I, with my designs, may have to design a plane for my issues
rather than general all around issues.
Does weight make a difference, some may say yes,
other no. But what we are after is always a compromise. I now my
measurements will be looked at carfully. Maybe, just maybe, I will be able
to build a HLG for next year starting now. I know what I would not
do again. I would not go with just 2 planes.
As for the exchange comments that composites are
expensive, they are not. Definitely not. Dick Barker only
mentioned a few items. With vacuum bagging techniques you can
build a wing easily in about 3 nights. If you build more than one, you can
overlap what you do.
As for costs, I try to keep the cost of goods
down. And so do the manmufacturers like Brian Buass. He and others
would not be able to offer you such great ships without being able to make them
in a short time. Labor is the expensive part not the materials.
Oh well, so much for raving. I have started
my CD and hopefully will have it done soon. Eventually I will be putting
some of it on my web site, but the resolution will nt abe as great as having the
pictures on CD. I hope to have a description of the contest and other
trechnical stuff throughout, like control methods, shipping, launching
techniques, etc.
Thanks Ron and TPG for a very enjoyable
contest.
Thermals from a competitor on the 3rd
page!
Chris Adams
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- [RCSE] IHLGF and BAD LUCK Michael Conte
- ScrollSander
