Tag: flight trimming

High Performance Indoor Scale Model Comparison

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

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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!

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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.

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