Conference vmszoo::rc

    Interesting you should mention Mark Allen's Eagle, I was looking throug
    an old 1988 Model Builder and Bill Forey's column was mentioning new 
    soaring offerings.  Among these was the Nisus, now known as the Swift
    400, and the Eagle, billed as the first U.S. made production f3b ship.
    What really stood out in Forey's description of the Eagle was the
    strength of the wing, exemplified by placing it between two chairs 59"
    apart and letting 215 pound Mark Allen sit on it.  They claim the wing
    cannot be broken by winch launching.  The airfoil is supposed to be
    a special adaptation of the Selig 3010, developed for the Eagle by
    Michael Selig himself.
    
    As a side note, does anyone know a good source for 1 piece foam core
    wings, presheeted, F3b airfoils?
    
                                                 Regards,
    
                                                 Jim

    The first of a series. Thanks to Phil Renaud, '87 Nat'l team member,
    for this outline.
    
    F3B is the international class for soaring competition.
    
    F - FAI designation for model aircraft.
    3 - FAI      "      "   R/C     "
    B - FAI      "      "   thermal/duration sailplanes.
    
    Event designed to measure all around performance of pilot, airplane,
    launch equipment, and team.
    
    Thermal/duration and spot landing performance.
    Distance performance.
    Speed performance.
    
    Competition is man on man.
     Eliminates luck factor due to weather conditions.
     Winner is contestant with highest number of total points.
    
    World championship events are flown to F3B rules.
      "         "      are held every two years.
    
    
    Next: Americans in F3B.
    
    Terry

    Americans did quite well in the early years, pre- 1979.
      Competitive aircraft designs were similar to existing AMA thermal
    duration models.
      Good thermal duration and spot landing experience.
    
    Americans have not done well in recent years because of:
      Lack of F3B contest experience. AMA thermal duration is dominant
      event in U.S. contests
    
      Lack of F3B equipment. (Radios, planes, winches, etc.)
    
      Seeming inability of the American modelling community to:
      -Design and build competitive, molded fiberglass models
      -To accept the fact that F3B is no longer a competition between
       pilots, but is truly a TEAM event where all team members share
       an equal role in winning and losing.
    
    Sport multi-task designed to bridge gap between AMA  and F3B events.
       Introduction of distance and speed tasks.
       Improve all around sailplane performance.
       Wing loading limit to keep speeds reasonable.
    
    
    Next: What constitutes an F3B contest?
    
    Terry
    

    Two or more rounds where each round consists of:
    
    Duration
    Distance
    Speed
    
    Pilot may enter up to two planes but must use the same plane for
    the entire round( ie, pilot can only swap planes between rounds)
    
    Airplanes are limited to:
    
      Max. weight: Less than 5 kg. (11 lbs.) with ballast
    
      Max. wing loading: Less than 23 oz./ sq. ft.
    
    
    Contestants supply their own winches.
      Winches must have an internal resistance of at least 15 milli-ohms
      and are therefore less powerful than Ford longshaft starter motors.
    
      Winches must have and use an anti-kiting device (brake).
    
    
    Each pilot is limited to four helpers, one of which is designated
    the team manager. Team manager is the official spokesman for the
    team, ie, all protests, arguements, and brawls must be routed through
    him.
    
    Next: Contest organization/field setup
    
    
    Terry

    Contest Director:
      Responsible for overall contest organization and direction.
    
    Task Leaders:
      Responsible for organizing contest helpers for each task (duration,
    distance, and speed).
    
    Timers/flaggers:
      Responsible to their respective Task Leader for timing the
      contestants in duration, distance and speed.
    
      Responsible for flagging the models on the distance and speed
      course. ["flagging", is a misnomer as turns are signaled with
      audio tones].
    
    Flight Line Helpers
      Responsible for general flow and organization at the winch line.
    
    Winch Set-UP:
      Provisions will be made to set up all winches into the wind.
      Turn-arounds may be placed no more than 200 m (656 ft.) from the
      winch.
      Each team will be allocated about 1.5 m of space on line for their
      winches. [such tight spacing is necessary to prevent the row of
      winches from becoming unresonably long, at the larger contests.
      Even so, the contestants down the line are at a disadvantage being
      so far from the sighting rings and having to walk up to them after
      the launch on speed and distance tasks].
      
      Line retreiving is only on foot, and the line is pulled down to
      the turn-around after each launch to prevent fouling adjacent
      lines.
     
    
    Next:Contest Operations-Definitions
    
    Terry

    Flight Group:
    
    A group of pilots (usually 4) assigned to fly against each other.
    Flight groups are assigned by the CD in such a way that team members
    do not fly against team mates.
    
    Preparatory time:
    
    Prep time (normally 5 min.) is the time allocated for each flight
    group to set up their winches and prepare for their flight.
    
    
    Working time:
    
    The actual time window in which each flight group must fly their
    task. No score, including landing points, will be allowed for that
    portion of the flight completed after working time has expired.
    Working time for each task is:
    
         Duration: 9 minutes
         Distance: 7 min.
         Speed:    5 min.
    
    
    Protest: 
    
    A seven letter expletive.
    
    
    Reflight:
    
    A second attempt/flight awarded to a pilot as a result of winning
    a protest or being interfered with in some way. Most reflights are
    a result of crossed or fouled winch lines during launching, or as
    a result of a contest officials error. If the reason for the reflight
    is not the pilots fault, he gets to keep the highest score of the
    two flights.
    
    Terry

    Task Objective:
    
    To remain airborne for exactly 6 minutes to the second. One point
    is deducted from 360 for every second over or under 6 minutes.
    Time starts when the model is released from the tow line and stops
    when the model comes to a REST on the ground. [time spent sliding
    on the ground is counted as flight time. You'll never see an F3B
    plane with saw tooth landing skids.]
    Additional landing points (up to 100) are awarded for spot landings.
    
    Working time: 9 minutes.
    
    Number of relaunches: No limit, last flight counts for score.
    
    Scoring: Man on man within flight group. Highest scoring pilot's
    score is normallized to 1000 points. Other pilots receive a percentage
    of winner's points.
    E.g.  if A =460 points and B = 400 points, then A's score would
    be 1000 and B's score would be (400/460)*1000= 870 points.
    
    Terry

    Task Objective:
    
    To complete as many legs (laps) of a 150 meter long course as possible
    in 4 minutes. The 150 m course is established by two sighting hoops
    (plane A and plane B) located 150m apart. The contest helpers (aka
    callers) signal the pilot when the nose of the fuselage of the glider
    passes the sighting plane established by the sighting hoops. The
    4 minute clock starts when the glider passes plane A in the direction
    of plane B.
    
    Working time: 7 minutes.
    
    Number of relaunches: No limit, last counts for score. Four minute
    clock restarts with each relaunch. No points awarded for laps completed
    after four minute clock or working time clock expire.
    
    Scoring: Same as duration task. Most number of laps normallized
    to 1000 points.
    
    Terry

    Task Objective:
    
    To complete 4 legs (2 laps) of a 150 meter course in the shortest
    time.
    Sighting hoops and signals, the same as in distance task.
    
    Pilots receive 0 points if safety line is crossed. (line running
    parallel to course, between winches and course.
    
    
    Working time: 5 minutes.
    
    Number of relaunches: No limit, however the pilot may only enter
    the speed course once.
    
    Scoring: Not man on man. Otherwise the same as distance and duration.
    Lowest time for 4 legs normallized to 1000 points.
    
    
    Th-h-h-ats all folks.
    
    Terry
    

    What is a competitve time for the speed task?
    
                                                    Thanks,
    
                                                    Jim

    <19 seconds to have a chance; 17 to 18 seconds to be with the front
    runners.
    

    Just to put the F3B speed task into perspective, I figured out the
    speed as follows:
    
    time in sec          speed in mph
    ***********          ************
        17         =         72.2
        18         =         68.2
        19         =         64.6
        20         =         61.4
        21         =         58.4
        22         =         55.6
        23         =         53.4
        24         =         51.1
        25         =         49.1
    
    
    The actual speeds are higher because I could not calculate the added
    distance the for the 3 turns. This is close enough though.
    
                                              Regards,
    
                                              Jim

    re.12
    
    Thanks Jim, I was hoping someone would calculate those out.
    
    Minimizing the added distance in the turn is what making a good
    speed run is all about, plus minimizing horz. and vert. deviations
    on the straights.
    
    A good caller is essential. The caller yells "roll", just at the
    right time before the turn is reached. The pilot stands the plane
    on a wing tip. The caller then yells "turn", and the pilot
    pulls it around with the elevator.
    
    It takes a lot of practice and good depth perception to know the
    right moment to call, especially when looking at it from an angle,
    150 meters away. 
    
    The near turn is easier since the sighting hoop is right in front
    of you. Even so, the pilot relies on the caller, because he doesn't
    have time to watch both the plane and the hoop and keep them both
    in focus.
    
    Surprisingly, they keep the rudder coupled to the ailerons when
    rolling up and the yaw couple isn't noticeable in the  second
    or so before he pulls around the turn.
    
    Terry

My personal best attempt at F3b Speed was with my KING and it was 24 seconds, 
I'll never forget it!!!!!!

    Could the use of the sighting device mentioned be more clearly 
    explained.  Who uses it (pilot,caller,judge), who provides it,
    what is it made of, how is it positioned?
    
                                              Thanks,
    
                                              Jim

    The sighting device is a hoop of ~ 1/4" wire bent in a ~15" circle
    and mounted on top of a camera tripod. The tripod is extended to
    eye level.
    To use it, you sight across both sides of the hoop, ie, one side
    of the hoop is hidden behind the other so that only one side is
    visible when your eye is correctly positioned.
    This insures that the callers line of sight is exactly
    perpendicular to the flight path.
    
    A hoop is placed at each end of the 150 m course. The caller at
    each end, signals the pilot when the nose of the fuselage cuts the
    sighting plane. The signal is by audio tone, and is meant to insure
    that the pilot doesn't cut the turn short; no tone, no turn, go
    back and do it again.
    
    The caller at the near end actually tells the pilot when to turn
    by voice. If the pilot waited until he heard the tone to turn, reaction
    time would cause him to add many meters to the actual distance flown.
    On a perfectly called turn, the pilot doesn't go more than one fuselage
    length beyond the sighting plane. This is why a good caller is
    essential for setting fast times.
    
    Terry

They mearly represents two planes (geometrically speaking) that are parallel to
each other, in the distance task you may fly on either side of the sighting 
device and even you are not limited where you fly, just as long as you cross
the planes, now in speed the same is true but there is a saftey line involved
that is usually on the winch side of the course or easier said you have to
fly on the side of the course that is away from the winch, this also allows
you the pilot to line yourself up with the sighting device on the pilot end.

You refer to the planes as BASE A being the one closest to the pilot and BASE B
as the one farthest away.

At the Denver 1991 team qualifier we used a telescoping pole with two strings
that came down to the ground and you used the two strings to sight on.

    I just heard about this:
    
    A week ago at the Macintosh, N.M. sod farm, Seth Dawson from Phoenix
    set a new AMA F3B speed record with his Omega of 15.8 seconds on
    the 600 meter speed run.
    They met all the AMA requirements of immediate remeasurement, number
    of timers, AMA CD present, etc., so it will go into the books as
    a new record.
    This is also faster than the present FAI record, but it won't be
    recognized because they didn't have all the prerequisite FAI conditions
    in place.
    
    Terry
    

    re: reply #12
    
    When I calculated the speeds for the f3b speed task in reply #12,
    I mistakenly based the calculation on a distance of 600 yards instead
    of 600 meters.  The corrected calculations, including the new record
    aree listed below:
    
    TIME IN SECONDS   SPEED IN MPH
    ***************   *************
         15.8       =   84.9
         16         =   83.9
         17         =   78.9
         18         =   74.5
         19         =   70.6
         20         =   67.1
         21         =   63.9
         22         =   61.0
         23         =   58.3
         24         =   55.9
         25         =   53.7

    F3B World Champs. concludes this weekend. As of last night, no word
    on how the U.S. team is doing.
    
    Terry

    One thing I have noticed about our hobby, is how it tends to "polarize"
    many participants.  Some do thermal duration and scoff at F3b, some
    fly slope only, many power flyers won't even look at a glider and vice
    versa.  This year's F3B team really shows how diversity apparently
    makes for an excellent all around flyer.  Lary Jolly is probably the
    most consistent glider flyer in America, you can't look at a major
    contest and not see his name high up in the rankings.  He is
    competitive in F3B, Slope racing, Thermal duration, X-Country, and
    handlauch.  I have seen his picture in old mags for pylon racing,
    and he also flys RC helicopters.  HE really has done it all!  Joe
    Wurts is always competitive in any type of glider competition from
    hand launch to slope racing to X-Country.  Daryll Perkins also fits
    the bill.  I think we all can learn alot from these guys- that being
    that all types of flying can improve your skills.  I think Larry Jolly
    is due to win in F3B, his consistency has got to pay of sooner or
    later.  My question is what the h*ll do these guys do for a living?
    They seem to have so much time available to fly/build, I really envy
    them in this regard.  Seriously does anyone know what these guys do to
    pay the bills?
    
                                                      Regards,
    
                                                      Jim

Don't know about the rest of the dudes but Larry Jolly runs a business flying
models for the movie industry. That and the fuselage/kit business he has means
he gets to write at least some of his fun off as 'business' expenses.

    Joe Wurts is an aerodynamicist for one of the Calif. aerospace
    companies.
    
    Not sure about Jolly and Perkins, but I know who to ask to find
    out.
    
    Seth Dawson is a helicopter aerodynamicist for the big aerospace
    co. that has the plant at Tempe, AZ. , not MacD. , the name always
    escapes me.
    
    Your right about the polarization, but I've noticed that it falls
    into two types: 
    #1 is the person who is fairly (or very) new to R/C and simply thinks
    that what they are doing is all there is.
    
    Type 2 is the person that has been in acft. modeling a long time
    and tried many facets, and has settled in their present niche for
    various reasons, presumabably because that's where they get the
    most enjoyment.
    
    Our club has a lot of type 2's and some fly power on sat. and gliders
    on sun. (or vice versa) and others rant and rave about noise pollution
    and fuel mess, etc. but when you go in their garages you see great
    honking class C free flight brutes, and even control line thingies
    lurking in the corners.
                                      
    It's a funny world.
    
    Terry

    Interesting to hear Joe Wurts makes a living in the Aerodynamics field.
    As you all probably know, Joe is a modifier of kits and often flys
    his own designs.  I read somewhere in a magazine that he uses the
    "that looks about right" method of design.  
    
                                                    Regards,
    
                                                    Jim

    1st--Joe Wurts--F3B Eagle.
    
    
    2nd--Daryl Perkins--F3B Eagle or Comet 89T. Not clear yet, which
    plane he used.
    
    29th-Larry Jolly--Comet 89T.
    
    Team Award:
    
    1st--Germany
    
    2nd--U.S.
    
    That's all the finishing positions I have at the moment. More as
    I get them.
                                
    The U.S. would have had a good chance at capturing the team award
    if Jolly had finished higher.
    On the speed run on the 6th day (4 rounds per day) he cut plane
    B short, twice, and had a bad distance round.
    
    Wurts held on to his 150 point lead, out of a total possible of
    16K +, and Perkins broke free of a pack of challengers for 2nd place.
    
    It's not unprecedented that a brand new design in its first world
    champs would take 1st place, a British team member did it recently,
    but I can't recall when a team placed 1-2.
    
    Weather was cold and windy, ie, a Holland summer.
    
    More later.
    
    Terry

    The local and Phoenix F3B guys will make another attempt to set
    the FAI speed record at the sod farm this fall.
    They have gotten the FAI registration, or whatever it's called,
    good through the rest of the year for $2! through the AMA.
    
    Timing and course measurement requirements are the same as for AMA
    reords.
    
    Last months AMA record by Seth Dawson of 15.8 seconds, broke the
    old AMA and FAI records by over 1.2 seconds.
    
    Seth was flying an Omega lightly ballasted (400 grams, 14.1 oz.)
    at a wing loading of ~ 16 oz., so there is probably more speed to
    be had from that plane, although the Omega fliers think that it
    does better when loaded more lightly than typical.
    
    Also, they feel that the separate stab and elev. of the Omega gives
    them more consistent turns than the stabilator of the Comet. It's
    in the turns that Dawson has the advantage.
    
    Our mass order of Omegas will be here by the end of Sept., possibly
    in time to get mine ready for our Oct. 13, SMTS event, although
    it would be illegal wing loading wise, so will fly the Legend in
    competition and just shake down the Omega.
    
    Terry

    Terry,
    
         Let's hear more about the Omega.  Who makes it, airfoil,
    winspan/area, weight, cost, etc.  My prediction for LArry Jolly
    sure proved wrong, although he sure did well in the USA F3B
    trials.  I think it is safe to say that at the moment Joe Wurts is
    the world's top glider guider.
    
    Re: full flying stabs - I think that it takes a real deft touch on
    the sticks to fly a machine with a full flying stab, particularly
    if you do not have dual rates and the glider is short coupled(ie
    Sagitta 600).  A small deflection of a full flying stab sure creates
    a tremendous change in pitch.  I recently set my Sagitta 600 up with
    greatly reduced stabilator throws and it really made it a much more
    enjoyable ship to fly-much smoother.
    
    Hats off to Wurts and Perkins!!!
    
                                                  Regards,
    
                                                  Jim

    The new RCM(October '91) shows a picture of of Mark Allen's f3b
    design, the Eagle.  It is kind of hard to tell but this ship looks
    basically like a Falcon 880 fuselage and empennage.  The wing which
    will be ofered on the commercial version is the SD7003.  Another
    picture shows Joe Wurts with his prototype which is said to use
    the RG15 airfoil.  With the release of this ship(not knowing the
    pricing) the search for these esoteric(Kings,Comets,etc) designs from
    foreign countries may be over.  The thing that really looks different
    about this design is the lack of a T-tail.  I also notice the new F3b
    Synergy from Rich Spicer and his partner(R&R designs?) no longer has
    has a T-tail either.  Is this the start of a trend?  I thought the T-
    tail was supposed to have many advantages over the conventional design.
    
                                                         Regards,
    
                                                         Jim

    The Eagle fuselage is a strengthened and narrowed version of the
    Falcon, ~1" wide. It will sell for ~$1000.
    
    Popularity of tail design seems to surge back and forth between
    T-tail and non-T tail.
    Muller has several designs of both types which have all done well,
    and the Omega is a T-tail.
    
    Performance wise it's hard to point to any clear cut advantage of
    either type. Theoretically the T-tail has the advantage.
    
    A lot of times I think it comes down to constructional reasons,
    ease of building, etc.
    
    For $1000 the Eagle had better be pretty darn esoteric. Actually
    there is nothing particularly esoteric about European F3B designs.
    They are after all merely the evolution of  thermal duration
    designs flown to FAI rules. The speed run requirement causes them
    to address the strength/low drag side of the equation a little more
    throughly than would otherwise be the case. The result is something
    that could never be a mass market item, by American hobby industry
    standards. 
    
    When I pick one up and fondle it (ok, ok, get it out of your systems!)
    esoteric isn't the word that comes to mind. "Hernia", maybe...
    
    Terry

    At our club meeting last night, Phil and Tom reported in with the
    details of their trip to Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland, and the
    F3B contest in Munich.
    Whoooeee !, what adventures they had ! I'll enter them in installments
    as I have the time.
    
    First: Sport flying and talking theory with Dr.Quaback.
    
    Terry

    Upon arriving in Germany (Tom detoured to Sweden to pick up a new
    Volvo at the factory) Phil and Tom visited Dr. Quaback. He spent
    1 1/2 days with them explaining his theories, and showing them his
    new book on launching and speed techniques. 
    He says that 1/3 of the available altitude should be lost on each
    leg of the speed run, his research shows that this is the best
    compromise.
    For example, entering the course at 300 meters
     would give a step of 300, 200 ,134, 90, and crossing the finish
    line at 60 meters, which is at least 15X what most people do it
    now, but is exactly where most pilots have the most trouble, being
    slowest on the last leg due to lack of altitude. So it seems he
    may be on to something.
    
    The next day he took them to a Luftsport club near Frankfort
    (Bobinghausen ?). Luftsport clubs are where most of the serious
    R/C soaring pilots fly. Club members have their choice of full scale
    or R/C, and both are done at the same field at the same time, with
    no problems. While Phil, Tom, and Dr. Quaback , and others, were
    launching and flying off the grass, full scale sailplanes were
    launching off the runway 100 meters away. Several hundred meters
    in the opposite direction was a Patriot missile battery and a 155mm
    howitzer.
    When the gun crew begin to raise and lower the barrel in training,
    Tom says to Phil, "See, I told ya they didn't like us flying here."
    
    Next: Slope soaring the Alps with Martin Bammert.
    
    Terry
    

    After leaving Frankfurt, Tom and Phil headed for Switzerland to
    visit with Martin Bammert, one of the leading European slope gurus.
    
    He took them flying at Hohenmeuuswe (?) purportedly the best slope
    site in Europe.
    
    They had to ride an enclosed gondola to the ski area at the top
    of the mtn. Tom said it was entertaining to watch the scale flyers
    load their 1/3 scale planes (15-20 ft. wingspans) in the gondolas,
    which never stop moving at the turn-around point in the terminal.
    The 8-9 foot wing panels would stick through a hatch in the roof.
    
    The slope was 200-250 meters high, very steep at the top and curving
    gradually down to near level at the bottom.
    It was foggy that day, and after three flights with the Omegas,
    they gave up as the white and blue color scheme disappeared in the
    fog. Tom lost his three times but lucked out and recovered each
    time. 
    They did notice that the Omegas were waaay too slow to be serious
    slope planes at that site.
    
    Bammert belonged to another school of choice, the other being the
    1/3 scale guys, in that he flew a little dart like thing with <1
    meter wing span and painted flourescent red for fog visibility.
    With this device (don't know the name) he would fly inverted straight
    down the slope. At the bottom he would do half an outside loop
    and fly straight back up the slope ! He would rocket over the lip
    right in front of their faces, and shoot the h*ll-and-gone over
    into the next valley behind the ridge ! Then he would come screaming
    back around the end of the ridge where they were standing onto the
    first slope. Speed was always rocket-like. 
    There were several guys flying this type of plane. Tom said it was
    unbelievable.
    
    At the top of the ridge was a terminal/chalet type building where
    in the summer, various clubs held 3 week workshop/clinics in building
    and flying techniques. $70/week, the participants live right there,
    and when their planes are finished, they pitch them over the side.
    
    Next: A visit to Herr Fisher and his Omega assembly line.
    
    Terry

    Leaving Switzerland, Phil and Tom headed for Munich to visit
    Herr Fisher and see how our Omega order was coming along, and to
    get ready for the Oktoberfest contest.
    
    Fisher produces one plane per week in his workshop. His wife does
    all the laminating/layup. He does the designing, mold making,
    inspection, and joining of the wing shells.
    
    The mold making process is unbelievable. He spends 500-1000 hours,
    depending on size/complexity, making the molds. Of course once
    they're done he can crank out wings, stabs, pretty quickly.
    
    I won't describe the mold making process unless someone really wants
    to hear about it. Suffice it to say, it's not likely to catch on
    as a way to spend a chunk o your life. But it is becoming the standard
    way of hollow wing construction in Germany.
    
    Frau Fisher lays up the top and bottom wing panels in the female
    molds (formed from male molds) using a layer of glass cloth, a layer
    of 1 mm balsa and two more layers of cloth. These are vacuum bagged.
    The color, customer choice, is lacquar (sp?) brushed on the inside
    of the mold, then transfered to the cloth during the bagging. 
    I still can't believe he gets such a perfect finish using that
    technique.
    
    After the top and bottom shells are removed from the bag, Fisher
    inspects them, and adds the spar on the lower half. The spar is,
    suprise !, balsa !, albeit with CF top and bottom. It's ~3/4"
    wide and full depth between the panels, ~1/2-5/8".
    
    He epoxys the brass joiner tubes on the front of the spar, then
    joins the two halves together with epoxy. Then puts the whole
    assembly in the female molds which are then bolted together until
    cured.
    
    Next: The Oktoberfest contest.
    
    Terry

    Arriving at the Oktoberfest contest, Phil, Tom, and Seth find that
    there are 94 entrants.
    Each entrant has two winches (faster relaunch in case of a popoff)
    so the line of winches is >100 meters across the end of the field.
    
    With all lines out, the field is literally carpeted with monofilament
    sparkling in the morning sun, when there was no fog, which there
    was most of the time.
    
    When the master clock snapped over to 0800, the winch power buttons
    slammed home and the first round was away, no ifs, ands, or buts.
    Such discipline was maintained for the 2 1/2 days of the contest.
    
    The youngest entrant was 10 years old, he didn't win but he didn't
    finish last by a long shot.
    
    Phil managed a ~46th place, Phil and Tom were in the 70's. But they
    (insert standard disclaimer here).
    
    The current wing finishing fad is to use a lot of flourescent colors
    and embed cartoon characters in the top layers of the wing laminate.
    One guy had the entire bottom wing surface finished to look like
    a brick wall, with Snoopy hanging by his hands, peering over the
    top.
    
    Phil noticed that the Omegas could launch as high as the best, and
    higher than most. Also, V-tails were pretty popular and did well
    but not in the winners circle yet. The rationale for V-tails is
    to reduce aft weight, thereby reduce nose weight and overall weight
    and get higher launches. Phil thought they yawed a bit on the speed
    runs.
    
    Everyone was very helpful, answered all questions, and there seemed
    to be no dark secrets held in reserve. Winch set ups were pretty
    simple, albeit with ~$150 Audi starter motors, exchange.
    The *secret* is really practice, practice , practice, with enough
    top level competition to judge your progress against.
    
    All in all they had a great time and are already making plans for
    next year.
    
    Terry

    At the RMSA speed trials in Denver last month Jack (?) Sasson
    did two back to back 15.5 second runs, followed with a 15.8 second.
    
    So Seth's record didn't stand long and now we're headed for *speed
    wars*, and everyone will flock out here to take advantage of the
    low drag atmosphere, a la bicycle time trialing, the greatest
    number of TT records having been set on the road that runs right
    past our sod farm. What does it all mean.......?
    
    Terry

    Our Omegas finally arrived last week, so friday night I went up to
    Phil Renauds house to pick mine up. 
    
    He had alread sent the 4 plane Phoenix order on, but the four
    local planes were layed out on his pool table, and an impressive
    sight it was.
    
    I ordered a white fuselage with white wing and stab on top
    and bright red on bottom.
    The other three had bright yellow fuse., yellow wing and stab tops
    and cobalt blue bottoms. Looked like a 1940 Naval training squadron.
    
    Phil spent over an hour briefing me on the basic assembly techniques,
    which takes ~40 hours, and explaining what all the hardware bits
    and pieces were.
    
    Fisher custom fabricates the stab bellcranks and installs the rudder
    and elev. pushrods; music wire running inside of double small diameter
    ny-rods.
    
    The wing rod is a ~3/4" X 12" CF rod with the 4 degree dihedral
    angle built in. Fisher has these made to his specs by an outside
    source.
    The rod is a removeable press fit through the fuselage walls,
    riding in steel sleeves molded in.
    
    Just behind the l.e. and ~2" forward of the t.e. are ~1" steel pins,
    two per side which plug into steel sockets in the wing root
    and fuselage sides and prevent the wing from rotating.
    The joint between the wing root and fuse. shoulder is pefect, top
    and bottom. Tape is used around the joint to secure the wing
    laterally.
    
    The t.e. of the wing is open in about 1/2". A full span vertical grain
    balsa spar seals off the hollow interior. The flaps and ailerons have
    a lip molded on their l.e. and this fits into the t.e. recess providing
    a gap free hinge line with the extra weight of arrow shafts.
    Hinging is done with Graupner Telsa tape which undergoes a change
    after being installed for a few days. I wouldn't have believed
    tape could be a viable hinge on an F3B plane but seeing is believing
    and noone has had problems with it.
    
    The transferred paint job is flawless. Shows the advantage of
    female molds vs. mylar. The method carries the paint around the
    l.e .perfectly. Of course it takes him 500-1000 hours to make
    the molds.
    
    More later as I examine this critter more closely.
    
    Terry

    With nothing to do last night, Janine having been preempted by
    a M.A.S.H. special, I decided to weigh all the Omega parts.
    
                            Oz.                  Grams
    
    
    Wings, inc. flaps/ail.
                
                     Right--20.55                  582.55
                     Left --20.27                  574.75
    
    Fuselage ---------------10.78                  305.7
    
    Stab/elevator------------2.17                   61.5
    
    Rudder------------------- .62                   17.5
    
    
                      Total--54.4 oz.              1542 grams
    
    Add to that, 8 oz. +/- .5 0z. of balance weight, and the radio/6 servos
    and <85 oz. flying weight is easily attainable.
    
    Terry 

    Last night at our club meeting we voted down by a 3:1 margin, the
    proposal that we host the U.S. team selection finals on Labor Day
    weekend in '92.
    
    It was felt that not enough people would commit to working 3 days
    in a row, 8-10 hours a day.
    
    Exactly what the AMA will do now to get a host club/site is uncertain,
    as they had already granted an extention to us to make a decision.
    
    Personally, I feel that the U.S. team selection method should follow
    the European method of using the results from the contests over 
    the whole flying season, rather than a one-time do or die contest.
    
    They pick the top three pilots based on their cumulative season scores.
    This avoids having to have a special selection contest. Of course
    this is perhaps easier to do when you have hundreds of guys competing
    and traveling within a relatively small area.
    
    The few dozen U.S. F3B contenders have to travel more to compete at
    the few F3B contests during the season but have to meet only the
    minimal eligibility requirements (which in themselves, would not be
    sufficient to win any single contest) in order to qualify for the
    team selection finals.
    
    The minimum eligibility standards are:
    
    Speed run of 24 seconds or less.
    
    Distance of 16 laps or more.
    
    Duration event scoring at least 400 points(360 points is max. possible
    from flight time. Other 40 are landing points.)
    
    Do all this in a AMA sanctioned contest with at least 5 other entrants.
    
    
    Terry

    Looks like I'm going to  have to get started on finishing the Omega
    now that sod farm flying season is approaching.
    
    Last night I took the Omega over to Tom Thompsons house to find out
    what the latest ECOs and assembly technique were. 
    
    He immediately grabbed a hammer and chisel and knocked out the
    spruce servo mounting blocks from my wings, saying with an evil smirk,
    "Nothing like taking a hammer and chisel to your $1K airplane (a slight
    exaggeration) 'eh ?"
    
    Anyway they came out more or less cleanly, and must be repositioned
    over 1/2" to allow the ailerons and flap pushrods to meet the control
    surfaces at a different point which has been found to eliminate
    any tendency to flutter during sub 16 second speed runs, not that I'll
    be approaching such figures myself in this lietime.
    
    Also, all epoxying (Hobbypoxy II only) must be done with milled
    fiberglass added. Milled fiberglass looks like white micro-balloons
    but causes the epoxy to resist cracking better when under sudden shock
    loads.
    
    My rudder and elev. pushrod housings had to be lowered where they
    come through the forward keel baffle/cone assembly. There's
    probably some German word to describe this, and it might be short
    enough to fit on one line. ;^)
    
    Since I shouldn't have epoxied in the baffle/cone assy. until I
    had mounted the 5/16" CF wing rod in the fuse., I now have to cut
    access holes in it to allow access to the inner wing root so that
    epoxy can be packed between the grease coated rod and the fuse. with
    the wings plugged in and aligned until the epoxy cures, then the rod
    is withdrawn. 
    
    This sounds like real fun.
    
    My Airtronics heavy duty tow hook is hopelessly wimpy, a #10 nail
    threaded into a 10-32 blind nut sandwiched in a 4 ply spruce/ply
    5" X 1" slipper sanded to fit the bottom fuselage radius is the
    reliable way to go. Unfortunately this area is inacessable with
    the keel glued in, so will have to go with the Airtronics until
    I can think of a solution.
    
    Tom is assembling another Omega now, so we've agreed to get together
    and do each step in concert so that I won't waste time with
    my own outdated assembly schemes.
    
    Jeez, weren't those 10 cent Comet kit days nice ? Sigh.
    
    Terry 

    re .39
    
    Whoops! That should be a 7/8" CF wing rod.
    
    Also Phil R. generated a nice set of CAD drawings showing how to
    cut the PCB material for the control surface horns, which are now
    made from one piece of 5/16" rather than the three laminated 1/16"
    pieces used previously.
    
    The attachment point for the clevis is made from a regular Du-Bro
    threaded barrel fitting with the barrel portion cut off ~1/8" from
    where the threads start. At this point the barrel is solid, not hollow.
    
    A hole is drilled to take the clevis pin. The threaded portion
    of the barrel is then inserted in a hole drilled down the PCB horn
    front to back at an angle. The solid portion with the clevis hole
    then winds up being positioned just below the top leading edge of
    the horn, with everthing embedded within the surfaces and invisible
    when the surfaces are installed in the wing.
    
    This system can be used on any wing whether it be balsa, foam, etc.
    and the horns could be made from spruce or even balsa, if F3B style
    flight loads are not to be encountered.
    
    I intend to use this system on all my flap/aileron ships from now
    on.
    
    If I can figure out how to draw the barrel/horn assy. on a character
    cell terminal, I'll enter it in 399.
    
    No more excuses for having exposed horns/pushrods on your wings !
    
    Terry