THE BIRDY....... 2018
JEEZ what a day to hold a flying comp !..... Gale force winds, driving rain and freezing temperatures all added up to a thoroughly rotten day, so it was a good job the flying was to be done indoors! El Presidente, John Julian, had compiled a set of rules confining the free fright models to be made from one sheet of A4 depron type “stuff” with two flying sections to be performed. A distance task and a time aloft one. So what happened? Surprisingly there were quite a few different designs, most emanating from those members who’s fingers had diligently searched the nether regions of Dr Google. Mostly they consisted of standard designs with wings at front and tails at the rear and varying wing shapes. BUT .....Peter Mac had a novel take on the design parameters with a delta winged canard machine that stayed aloft for quite a while and even scored a noggin or two as it circled gently all the while descending into the crowd of spectators. No doubt it will be a superb addition to his fleet when fitted with a pair of differential thrust motors or even a couple of his little screamers. Who spotted the moving mass balanced elevator ???? Don Bladier, as might be expected from one of the “below stairs” brigade, also created a rule stretcher with a swept flying wing aided no doubt by the miniscule stabiliser thingy out the back to conform to the rules.....good fun and with a LOT of set-up work could be a fine flyer........Hmmmm, memo to self to consult Dr G about that one. First up was the distance task, or who could bung it farthest in a straight line using the three attempts as allowed by the rules. Most of the field fell at the first hurdle and circled valiantly but behind the halfway line. That was until David Hipperson on his third attempt pulled out a mighty bung that flew straight and true almost reaching the far baseline. Cheers and clapping were heard. However, not to be outdone, Wes Hoffman stepped up to the plate and lofted a superb flight that overtook David and only just came up short of the base line. Competition was heating up. Next up was the bloke with a sore shoulder from too much test bunging and he actually almost very nearly hit the far wall with his first throw.......Gasps of astonishment were heard or perhaps they were actually groans and he couldn't outdo himself with his last two throws but conceded that the first one was down to pure “rear end luck” .....( work that terminology out yourself ) Winner by a mile .....OK only four to six feet......but I am reliably informed the flight was actually 98 feet....... A good glide by any standards.
Next round was thermal or rather time aloft and Russ Holden added humour and a novel method of sycamore leaf flight with his much modified version of a flying machine......OK to be more precise he had broken the nose and tail off so used the remainder for a bit of fun.....stick a cuppla diffy-frust motors on the wreckage Russ, and call it a Ford !!!!! Anyway, most circled valiantly but sadly lacking in much performance until that “rear end man” again hurled a monster ....albeit in a straight line but actually recording a handsome time aloft. That was until Wes had another go and blitzed the field with a monster thermal flight. Crafty so-and-so had used the middle of the two courts and was obviously using the huge slope and thermal lift generated by all the sit-upon’s that had graced that centre seat......truly a magnificent flight. Down to the judges and it was a tie. Colin Smith winning the distance and second in the thermal and Wes Hofffffffffffffffffman second in distance and winner of thermal. All down to a fly-off and Wes produced another masterful thermal flight that was clearly head and shoulders above the rest (Me) to take the trophy. Well done Wes!
One thing worth noting about the two finalists was that the amount of testing and flight trimming was considerable. In my case I had gone “down below stairs” and wondered at how Brian Ealy had got his models to fly so far and for so long....he even gave me a copy of his plan scaled from Dr G....learnt a lot down there. I know I spent a whole Wednesday flying session testing and modifying along with Wes who was doing exactly the same thing.....its always great to bounce ideas of one another. In that session alone my plane went from being a half courter to a three quarter courter and that was before finally admitting I was bunging it wrongly...... Most important that bunging action, and I am sure Wes will agree.
Well what have we all learned.......First it was light hearted and good fun competition, couple that with a learning experience that had our fingers pounding our confusers and of course “DR Google” and then drawing up shapes to get the most out of that A4 sheet of “stuff”. Test flights were, in hindsight, essential to trim your plane to perfection and ensure a good performance. Tedious and time consuming and it helped to bounce ideas off others while modifying your own thing. Kline-Fogelman, Jedelsky and what the heck is the Magnus effect or circle wing and slat planes all about.....I will let you lot look them up and of course expect to see some at an indoor meet sometime in the future......till then have fun flying. Finally a big thanks to the organiser, timekeeper and measurer and the camp staff for providing a triffik spread of nosh to keep us going in our endeavours and the Bird family for the cakes and presenting the prize.
Next year will be a ripper .......wont it!
JEEZ what a day to hold a flying comp !..... Gale force winds, driving rain and freezing temperatures all added up to a thoroughly rotten day, so it was a good job the flying was to be done indoors! El Presidente, John Julian, had compiled a set of rules confining the free fright models to be made from one sheet of A4 depron type “stuff” with two flying sections to be performed. A distance task and a time aloft one. So what happened? Surprisingly there were quite a few different designs, most emanating from those members who’s fingers had diligently searched the nether regions of Dr Google. Mostly they consisted of standard designs with wings at front and tails at the rear and varying wing shapes. BUT .....Peter Mac had a novel take on the design parameters with a delta winged canard machine that stayed aloft for quite a while and even scored a noggin or two as it circled gently all the while descending into the crowd of spectators. No doubt it will be a superb addition to his fleet when fitted with a pair of differential thrust motors or even a couple of his little screamers. Who spotted the moving mass balanced elevator ???? Don Bladier, as might be expected from one of the “below stairs” brigade, also created a rule stretcher with a swept flying wing aided no doubt by the miniscule stabiliser thingy out the back to conform to the rules.....good fun and with a LOT of set-up work could be a fine flyer........Hmmmm, memo to self to consult Dr G about that one. First up was the distance task, or who could bung it farthest in a straight line using the three attempts as allowed by the rules. Most of the field fell at the first hurdle and circled valiantly but behind the halfway line. That was until David Hipperson on his third attempt pulled out a mighty bung that flew straight and true almost reaching the far baseline. Cheers and clapping were heard. However, not to be outdone, Wes Hoffman stepped up to the plate and lofted a superb flight that overtook David and only just came up short of the base line. Competition was heating up. Next up was the bloke with a sore shoulder from too much test bunging and he actually almost very nearly hit the far wall with his first throw.......Gasps of astonishment were heard or perhaps they were actually groans and he couldn't outdo himself with his last two throws but conceded that the first one was down to pure “rear end luck” .....( work that terminology out yourself ) Winner by a mile .....OK only four to six feet......but I am reliably informed the flight was actually 98 feet....... A good glide by any standards.
Next round was thermal or rather time aloft and Russ Holden added humour and a novel method of sycamore leaf flight with his much modified version of a flying machine......OK to be more precise he had broken the nose and tail off so used the remainder for a bit of fun.....stick a cuppla diffy-frust motors on the wreckage Russ, and call it a Ford !!!!! Anyway, most circled valiantly but sadly lacking in much performance until that “rear end man” again hurled a monster ....albeit in a straight line but actually recording a handsome time aloft. That was until Wes had another go and blitzed the field with a monster thermal flight. Crafty so-and-so had used the middle of the two courts and was obviously using the huge slope and thermal lift generated by all the sit-upon’s that had graced that centre seat......truly a magnificent flight. Down to the judges and it was a tie. Colin Smith winning the distance and second in the thermal and Wes Hofffffffffffffffffman second in distance and winner of thermal. All down to a fly-off and Wes produced another masterful thermal flight that was clearly head and shoulders above the rest (Me) to take the trophy. Well done Wes!
One thing worth noting about the two finalists was that the amount of testing and flight trimming was considerable. In my case I had gone “down below stairs” and wondered at how Brian Ealy had got his models to fly so far and for so long....he even gave me a copy of his plan scaled from Dr G....learnt a lot down there. I know I spent a whole Wednesday flying session testing and modifying along with Wes who was doing exactly the same thing.....its always great to bounce ideas of one another. In that session alone my plane went from being a half courter to a three quarter courter and that was before finally admitting I was bunging it wrongly...... Most important that bunging action, and I am sure Wes will agree.
Well what have we all learned.......First it was light hearted and good fun competition, couple that with a learning experience that had our fingers pounding our confusers and of course “DR Google” and then drawing up shapes to get the most out of that A4 sheet of “stuff”. Test flights were, in hindsight, essential to trim your plane to perfection and ensure a good performance. Tedious and time consuming and it helped to bounce ideas off others while modifying your own thing. Kline-Fogelman, Jedelsky and what the heck is the Magnus effect or circle wing and slat planes all about.....I will let you lot look them up and of course expect to see some at an indoor meet sometime in the future......till then have fun flying. Finally a big thanks to the organiser, timekeeper and measurer and the camp staff for providing a triffik spread of nosh to keep us going in our endeavours and the Bird family for the cakes and presenting the prize.
Next year will be a ripper .......wont it!
