indoor free flight – Page 2 – Stealth Squadron FAC#49

Jan 15 Indoor Meet a Big Success!

Indoor Flying: February 5, in Georgetown, MA & February 12 in Glastonbury, CT

Click to Enlarge Images

The Skelly’s prepare for a mission in the WW2 mass launch event

Rich Z’s Spitfire & George S’s Typhoon battle it out in final WW2 event sortie. Typhoon emerged victorious!

Tom N flew his new Texas A&M AG-1 scale model

WW2 mass launch action at Jan 15 Georgetown indoor meet

Highlights & Results

The Stealth Squadron kicked off the 2023 indoor flying season with a terrific meet on January 15 in the Penn Brook school gymnasium.

The areas top indoor free flight flyers were there and the competition was hot – but always light-hearted in the FAC way.

George S won the premier FAC Scale event with his very pretty and lightweight Waco cabin model, edging out Tom N’s Heath Parasol by a half a point. That’s about as close as it gets skysters! George also took the top spot in the always popular WW2 mass launch event, outlasting Rich Z’s smooth flying Spitfire.

Team Skelly had yet more success with son William winning the WW1 combat event with his Rickenbacker SPAD 13, Embryo, and the Golden Age mass launch event with his new Lockheed Vega in Earhart colors. Boy, we’re lucky there are only two of these guys!

There were 4 or 5 Guillow’s Bird Dogs flying around the gym at the meet. Most flyers had trouble keeping their Dogs off the walls, but Connecticut flyer Sam B’s model flew in nice tight circles, notching a 41 second flight, good enough for first place.

Intrepid indoor flyer Ray H. put up long flights with his amazing Voisin Hydro peanut biplane floatplane winning the Pioneer event, but his Comet Corbin Super Ace fell a few seconds short of Tom N’s BAT Monoplane in the hotly contested Dime Scale event.

Ray’s Pussycat model won the popular Pussycat mass launch event, but the real news was Jon C’s win in the Pussycat NBM (non Blue Max) section. Jon earned his first Flying Aces Club Kanone with this win. Jon also handed out sheets of nicely laser cut stick model wing parts to the gang. Rumor is some new Pinkham Field Stick models are already under construction using these parts. Thanks Jon and congrats on the Kanone!

Click on the Event scoresheet images at left to view the detailed results. And be sure to pencil our next indoor flying date in on your calendar – it’s Sunday Feb 5. Word is we’ll be flying the Bird Dog “12 Minutes of Georgetown” event which is almost as much fun to watch as to fly in. Don’t miss it!

See you in the gym skyster!

1st Georgetown MA Indoor Meet Sunday 1/15/2023

FLy Indoors at the Penn Brook School!

The Stealth Squadroneers will host their first indoor meet of the season this coming Sunday January 15, Martin Luther King Day.

Check out the Contest Flyer for the roster of flying events. We look forward to seeing several Guillow’s Bird Dogs get some air time.

Come on out to the gym if you’re interested in learning more about rubber powered free flight model airplanes.

Full Contest Flyer

with Directions & Contacts

High Performance Indoor Scale Model Comparison

Indoor Contests: January 8 in Glastonbury, CT & January 15 in Georgetown MA

Click to Enlarge Images

Key Specifications for J Daly Indoor Flying Scale Models

Lessons from the Glastonbury Gym

Do you remember when we used to fly free flight rubber models in the MIT Dupont Gym in Cambridge MA? Perhaps you flew there with us.

One of the top flyers there, Jim D., built a couple of flying scale models from the popular Golden Age Reproductions kits and plans. One was the 25″ wingspan Scientific Curtiss Robin and the other was the Megow 20″ span Caudron C460 Racer. They were fabulous flyers with flight times of 80sec to 2min duration indoors.

Being an engineer, Jim documented the key specifications for his models – weights, wing area, motor dimensions, etc. He also charted the empirical results from a number of flights on each model in the Glastonbury high school gym. Yes, this is the same gym we’ll be flying in on January 8, 2023!

In his analysis (click link below), Jim compares the performance of the two models and draws some insightful conclusions. He comments on high wing vs. low wing configuration, the effects of drag and wing undercamber among other things.

There’s lots of great information in this brief analysis for both experienced and newer modelers. If you can replicate Jim’s specifications, you’ll be very competitive in indoor meets like the ones coming up in January 2023. Good luck skyster!

Read performance Comparison Now

Those Crazy Bird Dogs!

Bird Dog high time event at first Georgetown Indoor Meet Jan 15. Send pics of your Dog.

click images to view larger

Johnny R’s Dog looks great in Khaki fatigues!

Colorful Guillows Bird Dogs by Bobby B (foreground) and Matty K

Here they come!

Hey! Who Let the (Bird) Dogs Out!

Yeah, this is one pack you want to be running with, so get those balsa chips flying. Don’t miss out. The gang will be flying these in the Penn Brook school gym in Georgetown, MA soon.
And shhhhh – don’t tell the town Dog Catcher! Hawww

That’s right. The first Stealth Sqdn indoor meet is just after the New Year rings in – January 15, 2023 to be precise.

Check out the Flyer HERE and mark your calendar now.

Send those pics of your Bird Dog – whether it’s all finished up or still under construction. No matter. These things are FUN and your pic will inspire your fellow clubsters to get theirs over the finish line.

See you on the flightline skyster!

Giving Thanks!

In appreciation

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George Nason (foreground) and Richard Zapf – Two Happy Guys! **Scroll to Read Tribute**

Guillows 18in Bird Dog – the indoor one design

A Class Act – happy graduates from the 2022 Roudenbush Model Building Class ready to test fly their new models.

To Friends Old and New

Our simple hobby is really all about the people. You already knew that, right? We have a common love of things that fly.
Our friendships are long lasting. We keep and sometimes lose old friends, but then we make new ones. It is nature’s way.

Let’s start with the new. Clubster Steve E. reports that graduates of his latest Model Airplane Class at the Roudenbush in Westford, MA successfully flew their new Tomahawk Embryo models at the Texas Road field. The smiling cadets in our heading photo are (L-R) Alan M, Rob L, Bill B and David A. Way to go gang, and thanks Steve for leading the class. We look forward to seeing our new friends and their models at our meets.

Now for some sad news. We recently lost longtime clubster and pal George Nason to Parkinsons disease. George was a creative soul, quick with a smile and a good word – a fixture at our flying meets and club meetings. Richard Z shares stories from his many years of close friendship with George, his modeling mentor.
Click the link below to read his tribute.

Read “Two Happy Guys” Now

Happy Thanksgiving skysters!

Stay tuned to this site for info on the Guillows Bird Dog one design for the upcoming indoor season.

Nov 5 Woodsom Meet Results & Pics

Georgetown Indoor Flying & Contest Dates added to Calendar
(View Flyer for Events)

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Tristan & Sam ready the BE2e for WW1 combat

William’s Laird fuselage suffered some wind damage while on the stooge

Clive ready to launch his GB2 twin flying boat into the wind. Flew great

Steve put in some great flights with his Condor

Bill launches his new Tomahawk Embryo into the Autumn sky

A Perfect (Windy) Day!

Results Page 1

Results Page 2

Wow, near 70 degree temps on a November day in New England with blue skies! A perfect day for flying free flight rubber models – well, except for the wind. Yep, it blew 12-15mph most of the day for our outdoor season close meet at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA.

Still, many outstanding flights were made. Flyers had to wind their motors carefully lest they fly their models off even the big green fields of Woodsom Farm. Several models were lost with at least one OOS (out of sight) flight into a cloud. The mass launch events were hotly contested with several very close and unexpected finishes.

Carlisle ace George S. had a great contest with three wins for the hat trick. Son William S. was not so lucky, his Tomahawk Embryo stomped by a stick & tissue loving dog and his beautiful Laird Solution racer smashed by a Hungly gust while on the winding stooge. Oh, the carnage! All wail!

Steve E continued his winning ways in Pinkham Stick with his high flying Goose canard and copped a second Kanone with his Mad Maxine Embryo Endurance model. Clive G.’s Debut was hot on Maxine’s heels, but made a bee line downwind for the tree line at the hill and was lost on its first official flight. Oh Hung, hath thee no mercy??

Clive settled the score somewhat with a win in the Golden Age Civil event.

Sam and young Tristan trekked to the meet and flew several events. No Kanones (first place finishes) at this meet, but they had big fun flying with the gang and that’s really what it’s all about.

There were lots more flyers and models to see, but we’re running out of room here. Our roving photog did capture some of the action and we’re happy to share it below.

Oh, one more thing. The Georgetown indoor dates have been set. Check the Calendar and the flyer at the top of this post. Get building and see you on the flightline skyster!

October 8 Results & Indoor Season Kickoff

Outdoor season finale at Woodsom Farm is Saturday Nov. 5
(View Flyer)

click images to view larger

Tons of Flying Fun!

Whew, there’s so much going in our local free flight model airplane clubs that it’s tough to keep up!

Let’s do a quick summary. First, despite a fair amount of wind at Woodsom Farm for the October 8 contest, there was a lot of good flying (and chasing). A number of flights flew off the field and into the rough, but fortunately most of these were found and retrieved. The Embryo Endurance event was hotly contested and sadly Steve E.’s Corvette was lost after putting in one of its best flights ever. All wail! Rumor has it Steve is already building a new and better Corvette.

We have one more outdoor meet at Woodsom on November 5 and the outdoor season finale at Whites Farm in Durham, CT is on November 13. We’re betting on good weather for these meets.

Next, we have real reason to celebrate – after two missed seasons due to Covid, we’ll be flying again in the Glastonbury H.S. gym (CT) this coming indoor season. The first flying session is this coming Sunday Oct. 23! See all of the flying dates on the official flyer at the top of this post, or on the Calendar page of this website.

On top of all this, we’ll be flying a full schedule in the Penn Brook school in Georgetown, MA this indoor season as well. Flying there will begin in January 2023 and run through April. Look for dates and flyers to be posted to the Calendar page soon.

On October 29, the Stealth Squadroneers will gather at Roma’s restaurant in Haverhill, MA to celebrate the 100th birthday of Golden Age Reproductions honcho and FAC Hall of Famer, Jim Fiorello. Hit us up via the Contact Us form on the site and we’ll share the details. We’d love to see you there!

Finally, keep your eyes peeled for more info, tips, etc on the one-design models for the indoor season. Clubsters will be building the Nallen Potez 34 dimer and the Guillow’s Bird Dog. Yessir, the balsa chips will be flying as the weather cools here in New England.

See you on the flightline skyster!

Sam’s Trimming Guide for Challenging Aircraft

Remember: Meets at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury on August 20, and September 10-11, 2022. See you there!

BY
Sam Brauer

Look for the “smile in the trailing edge of the port wing- but a straight line in the starboard wing

Advanced Flight Trimming Techniques

You may have seen clubster John Koptonak’s 10 Step Trimming Guide in a recent Flying Aces Club newsletter. It’s a great piece and has been helpful to many folks in getting their Free Flight models to fly.

Sam Brauer goes a bit further with his article presented here. Sam focuses on low-winged models which we all know can be tricky to trim out. In his article, Sam discusses on-field aerodynamic adjustments (washout, decalage, rudder, thrustline and weight) and their impact on model airplanes in free flight.

(NOTE: Webster’s defines decalage as the difference in angle of incidence of the two wings of a biplane, but for our purposes decalage is the difference in angle of incidence between the wing and the horizontal stabilizer of a model airplane.)

Sam knows what he’s talking about. At the recent 2022 FAC Nationals meet in Geneseo, he ran deep into the final heats of several very competitive mass launch events.

Great job carrying the torch for the Stealth Sqdn, Sam. And thanks for sharing your flight trimming techniques!

Click the link below to read the article.

Read Article Now

Supercapacitor Electric Power for FAC Models

Supercapacitors offer many advantages as power systems for lightweight Free Flight models

BY
Sam Brauer

Sam’s supercapacitor powered free flight models

Not Your Grandpa’s FF Model!

How often have you heard a bystander say “I used to build models like that as a kid”?

Of course we know our simple stick and tissue models are a combination of art, craftsmanship and engineering. And yes, that rubber strand power source has been around since the beginning of the hobby itself.

A rubber motor is a simple, cheap and incredibly efficient power source, but advances in small electric power systems provide us with an alternative.

Clubster Sam Brauer has been messing around fitting simple and cheap supercapacitor power systems to his small Free Flight models. And he’s had tremendous success as witnessed by our roving reporter at a recent Pinkham Field meet in Durham, CT.

Sam is back with another article sharing his learnings, explaining the advantages of supercap systems and even recommending where to get the components to make your own system. Many thanks to Sam for sharing!

Click the link below to read his article and do keep us posted if you try out a supercap power system!

Read Article Now

A Different Paradigm for Propeller and Rubber Motor Selection

“certain props work with certain motors”

BY
Sam Brauer

Using Plastic Props

Clubster Sam Brauer flies all types and sizes of free flight rubber powered model airplanes, both indoors and outdoors. In this article, he presents his experience with commercially available plastic propellers and the rubber motors that power them.

The prop and rubber motor combination is one of the strongest contributors to flight duration. Certain props and rubber motors work better with certain models.

Sam has tried most all of the combinations over his modeling career. His article presents many thought -provoking ideas (e.g., easily made prop mods) and includes an informative Table listing different plastic props, key specifications and suitable rubber sizes.

This is really good stuff for anyone starting out in the hobby.

Experienced modelers will benefit from a new perspective on prop/rubber that may help increase their models performance.

Click the link below and learn something new!

Read Article Now