Electronic Second Wind 93-1
Second Wind 93-1
The NEWSLETTER for Thermaling Craftsmen in a Plastic World!
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18 year-old college sophomore, Megan Dodgson, modeling our new Sprite in 1993.
You've come a long way Baby!
Heather Dodgson (the taller one) and Megan Dodgson (the littler one) holding our multichannel Maestro MK III in 1975.
Introducing the first advancement in 2-meter glider design since the 1883 Pixy --THE ALL NEW SPRITE!
The History:
It has been along time since we have seen any dramatic design innovation in the neglected 2-meter class. Not since 1980 and the advent of the K-Minnow (the first incarnation of the Pixy) bringing the introduction of full multichannel control, the fiberglass fuselage and foam core wings has anything of significance control-wise or performance-wise or construction-wise occurred. Isn't it about time that something significant happen? Well, meet the Sprite!
The Name:
Needless to say, the Sprite 2-meter glider was not named after the soft drink. It was named after the mythological elf (or pixie). Sprite was used by my famous artist/illustrator grandmother, F. Y. Cory, as an illustration in her beautiful, "Fairy Alphabet" book. The book's illustrations were painted and the poems were written over 60 years ago. The books have recently been published, with the 26 original water color paintings in glorious color, and are available from American & World Geographic Publishing, P.O. Box 5630, Helena, Montana 59604. The phone number ~s (406) 443-2842. The last I heard, the cost of this collector's hardbound edition was $15.00 including shipping. Should you order it through your book store, it is titled The Fairy Alphabet of F. Y. Cory by Fanny Y. Cory. F.Y. Cory was one of the prominent illustrators around the turn of the century. She did covers for Harpers, Liberty, etc. as well as illustrating many books. She had a second career as a syndicated cartoonist with King Features during the 30s, 40s and 50s.
S is for Sprite,
who rings the bells
that call the fairies from woods and dells. --F.Y. Cory
Now that I have that name thing explained, don't you think that a Sprite 2-meter glider kit is a logical successor to a Pixy 2-meter glider kit? Now, on to more important things --the Sprite design itself!
The lnnovations:
The MonoSeam Fuselage:
One of the most innovative features of the Sprit is its new fiberglass fuselage construction. It is our own invention and it couples the single seam "MonoSeam" technique that I created for the fiberglass tailbooms in the 1970s Maestro series of multichannel gliders. The Maestro gliders included the MK III, the Talisman, the Caliente and the Megan. These tail booms were laid up as a single partially rolled piece --so they only needed one seam to join the two edges into a continuos cone boom. I have never seen this technique used elsewhere before or since. For the Sprite fuselage, this single seam technique was mated with another of our inventions --the famous "taco shell" fuselage. This proof of the validity of "cold fusion" provides the ultimate merger and evolution of the taco shell into a complete fuselage. No one else has ever done anything like this before. We lay-up the Sprite fuselage in one piece and then put one seam down the turtle deck to complete the tailboom section. The wing saddle and canopy areas are left open, since they are covered by the wing and the canopy. To complete the fuselage, we provide a pre-molded fiberglass nose top deck that you can easily install yourself with glass tape provided with the kit and resin or else we will install it for a %10.00 charge for the "nose job". What this engineering breakthrough means is that you get a basically complete fuselage for the cost of a taco shell fuselage. All that you have to do to complete the fuselage (except for the optional "nose Job" is build and insert the fin into the rear slot in the fiberglass boom! The $155.00 cost of the complete and deluxe Sprite kit (without the %10.00 nose job) is not much more than you would expect to pay for just a dinky hand-launch glider "short kit" with a fiberglass fuselage. But --a deluxe 2-meter competition giant with a fiberglass fuselage for this price is miraculous!
The Wing Attachment Method:
Another design breakthrough, that sets the Sprite apart from any other glider is its "so simple and so right" wing attaching method. In the past, I had seen wing attachment methods that attempted to take the load directly from the wing into the towhook. The solutions I had seen were complex, heavy and cumbersome. Tom and Ian Brightbill were visiting the house one evening and Tom felt strongly that a direct structural tie-in between the Wing and the tow-hook was the ideal thing to do. I agreed, but since I had never experienced any structural problems in my kits by letting the fiberglass fuselage absorb the load transfer, I did not pursue it further at that time. However, as the Sprite design evolved so did the seeds of Tom's structural purity idea. Suddenly, I was able to mount the wing easily, have a direct tie-in to the tow-hook and maintain a minimalist structure that was extremely light weight. This was the fruition of my old truism that "less is more". Anyone can think up complex and convoluted ways to solve problems. What is difficult is to find the simple and easy solutions. The Sprite is the embodiment of splendid simplicity.
Wing Mounting Details:
1) The wings plug together in the center section via a wing rod and a wing alignment pin. However, When the wing rod and the pin are installed, a brass fitting is slipped onto the rod and fits between the wings. Another fitting is slipped onto the alignment pin. 2) The wing halves are now held tightly together with a rubber-band going between the halves on the wing bottom. The rubber band is concealed inside the fuselage when the wings are in place. With the wing halves tightly together, the two brass fittings, attached to the wing rod and alignment pin, project down from the wing bottom. 3) To install the wing onto the fuselage, the projecting fittings from the wing bottom sip into brass tubes mounted vertically along the center line of the fuselage. The fitting projecting down from the wing that is connected to the wing rod, has a threaded insert in the base. 4) The tow hook mechanism contains a threaded shank that extends upward through a hole in the bottom of the fuselage and bolts into the fitting connected to the wing rod. When the bolt is tightened up, the tow hook is held firmly in place and is directly connected to the wing rod --yielding an ideal transfer of load directly from the tow hook to the wing spar. 5) For transportation to the field, the wings can be left joined together and then mounted onto the fuselage with a single bolt when you arrive. On the other hand, you can totally and easily slide the two wing halves apart for extremely compact travel. This tiny travel package is further enhanced with the Sprite's slip off stab halves.
The Control System:
Perhaps the biggest news in control system innovation since our landmark 1982 Windsong kit and its introduction of the full-blown Crow control system that is still "state-of-the-art" today, is the control system options offered on the Sprite. Our first kit, the 1972 '"Todi" popularized the use of flapperon control on gliders as did our later Maestro series of glider kits. The main trouble we found with flapperon control was that when positive (down) flap went beyond about 40 degrees, the aileron control would become most ineffectual and would, in fact, appear to start working in reverse. This made controlled "flap-down" contest landings very unpredictable. It was found necessary to use spoilers in conjunction with flapperons to approximate the landing control that we now have with separate 90 degree flaps. The big advantage of flapperons was their simplicity in effecting both aileron control and trailing-edge (TE) camber control. In the 1970s, however, part of this simplicity was lost, due to the fact that you had to mechanically mix the flap and aileron channels with a sliding servo tray or a mixer such as the Dodgson Coupler (the Dodgson Coupler [1972] was the first two control mixer available to the model industry). Now, with electronic mixing in the transmitter. all you have to do is stick a servo in each wing, mix them in your computerized transmitter and you have flapperon control! This is where the Sprite enters the picture. The Sprite's Auto Cad drawn plans show the glider setup for flapperon control or it can also be setup with the now standard separate flaps and aileron control. The trick with the Sprite flapperon configuration is that the flaps do not go down, as they did on our Todi and Maestro gliders, for landing --they go up to a negative 45 degrees. The negative flapperon Position provides excellent glide-path control and rapid altitude loss. With reverse aileron differential setup, in landing mode on your computer radio, there is still quite good landing directional control in the negative flapperon position. In fact, with a little practice, you can just "pancake" the Sprite onto the spot where it instantly squats and stays put. The trick part is that the negative flapperons, do not slow down the speed like positive flaps do so you must keep your speed down on final and use the negative flaps to control the glide-path. Speed-wise, they work much like spoilers. The big payoff in building the Sprite with flapperons is that you only need to put two micro servos in the wings. Even low-cost nylon geared servos work great with the negative flapperons and do not have the common gear-stripping problem that is common with positive flap landings. The most exciting benefit with flapperons is the several ounce weight savings that eliminating the two heavy metal-geared flap servos, pushrods, electrical leads and plugs produces! On a tiny 2-meter glider, a few ounces can make the make the difference between feeling that your dancing glider is Miss Piggy or a Prima Ballerina. I decided that it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that six servos in a 2-meter glider is a bit of "overkill". ________________________________________________________________________________
Photo shows the radio compartment with the pre-molded and factory trimmed canopy removed. Notice the classy canopy recess and the structural curving of the rear of the nose top deck. Unlike with many of the other new kits, there is ample fuselage room in the Sprite for an easy radio installation. It is difficult to see and fly a 2-meter glider at great distances but the Sprite can be flown farther away than can its "pencil fuselage" contemporaries. If you are a serious cometition flyer, you know the importance fo the old adage "you can't fly 'em if you can't see 'em!"
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Don't get me wrong, the Sprite is still the best performing 2-meter out there, even with the six servo option. However, we recommend that you use the lightest weight servos available to keep the weight to a minimum.
In general, we feel that flapperons, on the Sprite, provide the lightest possible wing loading and thus the best potential light lift capability. For slope and general sport and thermal flying, I would not even consider adding the weight and complexity of separate flaps and ailerons on this agile 2-meter glider. The negative flapperons provide good landing and glide path control --with glorious simplicity and lightweight effectiveness. However, for serious contest spot landing the flapperons require learning a different landing technique than you have learned when using positive flaps with separate flaps and ailerons. Instead of making a high final approach and using the 90 degree positive flaps to control the speed as you angle the nose down at the spot, with negative flapperons as your landing control you must come in low and slow and control the altitude down to the spot using the flapperons to control your altitude as you make your pancake approach. While the flapperon system works great --when you learn it, if you are also flying an open class glider with separate flaps, in competition, you may have trouble bouncing back and forth between the two different landing techniques. In this case, separate flaps and ailerons my be a better choice for you than flapperons. If you do go to separate flaps and ailerons, use the lightest weight servos you can find for all functions, keeping in mind that you may need metal geared servos for flap control (with flapperons, you do not need metal geared servos). On the other hand, if your Sprite is your primary contest glider, then flapperons is a good competition choice, yielding good landing potential and spectacular light lift performance that will give you better light lift and thermal performance than most of the open class "super ships". Out-flying the big, expensive, prefabricated open class ships with a beautiful, scale-looking, low cost, lightweight and fast building diminutive 2-meter glider can provide for a seriously fun afternoon of flying. What is more, killing the bumblebees with a gnat makes your piloting skills seem prodigious!
The Radio Requirements:
The Sprite can be flown with any radio, from a simple four channel to a full-blown computerized radio.
The Simple 4 Channel Radio Installation:
With a simple four channel radio, you will probably want to build the Sprite with the optional separate flap and aileron control. You would install the two tiny aileron servos in the wings for the ailerons and plug them into your receiver with a "Y" harness. Unless you wanted the rudder servo on its own channel, you would also have to "Y" the rudder servo into a leg of the aileron "Y" giving you three servos plugged into one channel. In order to get all three servos throwing in the desired directions without having to rewire your servos, use Ace servo reversers plugged in-line with the servo as needed. You can use two flap servos in the wings and "Y" them into the flap channel of the receiver. You could Save weight and cost by mounting a single flap servo in the fuselage behind the rudder and elevator servos and "Y" two pushrods together that connect to the flap servo but extend out of a slot in either side of the fuselage to connect to the flap horns on the flap root. With the single nap servo method, you would have to connect the flap links to the flap horns when you mounted the wings onto the fuselage. However, you would only need one servo and you would be keeping the weight forward --saving precious ounces.
The Non Computer Radio (With Mixing Functions) Installation:
If your radio has flapperon mixing, you can set the Sprite up with flapperons as shown on the plans. With all simple radios and with most non-computer radios, however, you will have to give up such niceties as automatic elevator compensation with flap camber changes etc. To operate the Sprite in its ideal form, a computer radio is desirable. Happily, outstanding performance can still be had by pairing the Sprite with even a simple radio. For your information, the plans show the standard computer radio installation.
Which Control Configuration to use in Conjunction with a Computer Radio:
Since this is a tiny 2-meter glider, it is most important, for top thermal performance, to keep the Sprite as lightweight as possible. With this in mind, you will need to decide whether you want to build the Sprite with flapperons and two servos in the wings, as shown, or if you wish to build it with optional separate flaps and ailerons and with 4 servos in the; wings. With four servos in the wings, you are giving away ounces so you must use the lightest of the micro servos. Unless you have installed a four servo system in the wings of a glider before, we suggest that you stick with the flapperon system shown on the plans. In order to further keep the weight of the Sprite to a minimum, we use a unique adaptation of the tiny 1/32" diameter cable and sleeve pushrod system. The 1/32" diameter cable system is very lightweight and it is more trouble free than a pull-pull system but normally the cable system has a slop problem when used in serious, tight and finely tuned competition machines. We have eliminated this problem by replacing the cable with a solid core rod of the same diameter. As a result, the elevator and rudder controls on the Sprite are "light and tight"
The Specifications:
Wing span - 78".
Wing area -585in2.
Airfoil - SD7037.
Wing sheeting - obechi.
Wing core - precision cut white foam.
Stab and rudder construction - built-up.
Flying wt - 37 oz.
Aspect ratio -10.4 to 1.
Groundbreaking MonoSeam rolled fiberglass
fuselage, canopy and nose top-deck.
Fuselage cross section - sleek but roomy
Fiberglass fuselage length w/o rudder-44".
Controls - elevator, rudder and a new, integrated-flapperon directional, camber and reflex landing control! Only 2 wing servos needed! Separate flaps and ailerons are optional, for 6 servo system
Hardware - complete.
Universal 2-meter fuselage:
The Sprite fuselage, with its top wing mounting, is an ideal fiberglass fuselage for most 2-meter wings. It can accommodate bolt-on wings or split wings such as is on the Sprite. The full-sized Sprite fuselage plan sheet is included at no charge with each Sprite fuselage so that you can utilize the Sprite information on your own concoction. The Sprite wing has a 9" chord and the that chord is the ideal fit on the fuselage, however, 8" to 9.5" root-chord wings would work great too. The Sprite fuselage is strong and lightweight --weighing under 6 oz. It has a slot in the fiberglass for the fin of your choice and shape. Without a prebuilt fin, it is an ideal fuselage for a "C"' tail configuration glider. The fuselage comes completely seamed along the turtle-deck. The premolded fiberglass nose top deck needs to be installed, however. This is an easy task and does not take long. If you prefer us to install the nose top deck, send an extra $10.00 ($60.00 total for fuselage and canopy) with your order and we will do the "nose job" for you. The best part about using the Sprite fuselage, however, is that due to the new cost-effective MonoSeam technology, we can sell it for only $50.00 (including the pre-molded fiberglass canopy and nose top deck) plus shipping. Even at the %60.00 price with the "nose job" it is a great bargain. This fuselage is undoubtedly the best fiberglass fuselage value in soaring today!
The Changing of the Guard:
The Pixy Kit is being discontinued as of July 1, 1993. It has been replaced by the Sprite! The Camano and Lovesong kits are being phased out by August 1, 1993. We anticipate that this will be the last chance to add one of these classic kits to your collection.
Our Kit Line Will Include:
The 132" Anthem, the 121" Saber, the 78" Sprite and the 60"-72" Pivot,
Note to Dealers:
Like the Pivot, the new Sprite will not be available for sale through dealers. It will be available solely from Dodgson Designs.
Quantity Discounts:
No discounts will apply to the Sprite kit. As with the Pivot kit, the Sprite kit may be used to pad the quantity to get quantity discounts on the Saber or Anthem kits but no discounts will apply to the Sprite or to the Pivot kits.
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Letter Rip
Going Bonannos and Getting Stoked over the Saber.
November 9,1992
"The Saber cuts a mean path!"
Dear Bob, the Saber is flying and flying well. As advertised, it has a wide speed range and for a high performance plane, it is easy to fly. The most surprising thing is how well it slows down on landings. It's total weight is 74 oz.
I replaced the steel rod with a carbon rod and saved 4 oz. So far it is working out fine, but as in full-sized aircraft, if ever you have a hard landing, inspect for damage. An additional benefit to the carbon rod is that it fits so snugly that I didn't have to use springs or rubber bands to hold the wing tight to the body. The connector in the body floats, so, if the wing does move out. electrical continuity remains. Of course, as the rod wears, I might have to add a retainer. I like the idea of installing the servos in the wing before sticking on the wing obechi. It makes a real smooth wing. Just remember to set your servo output arms in the right position with radio on before skinning. The jury is still out on the method of hinging the rudder. As a matter of preference, I used epoxy circuit board material for the aileron and flap control horns. Best regards --Tony Bonanno - Palos Verdes, CA December 15, 1993 Dear Bob, just wanted to drop you a short line to let you know that the Saber arrived in great shape. Tony wasn't exaggerating when he said it would be one of the most beautiful and most complete kits that I had ever seen. I hope to have the plane flying in time for the start of SC square competition. This is a series of monthly contests hosted throughout the year by a different club in the Southern California area. We usually get 80 to 120 of the top fliers in the area, including the current F3B team, competing in these events. I'11 give you a report on the plane after I have had some significant stick time with it. In the meantime, don't be surprised if you start to hear from some folks in the area. Several people have been as impressed as I was with the detail and completeness. Best wishes for the holiday season --Patrick Stoker - Los Alamitos, CA
A Goodman --no bent rod hath he!
December 16, 1992 Hi Bob. A couple of bucks for another year of Second Wind. Keep, up the good work. I've enjoyed reading it. I read with interest where they have been flying the Anthem. I've been flying with the C.G. some what off of that position and was never happy with it. And I agree. Forget the dive test. The results can be misleading. Also, I've found that if your a little easier on the launch peddle, you don't have to go through life with a bent rod. --Terry (P.D.) Goodman
The Old Songs --at the Top of the charts Since 1982.
A Swan Song For The Classic Song.
February 11, 1993 Dear Bob, I have to relay this story to you for a number of reasons not the least of which is that the Lovesong remains at the pinnacle of thermal performance sailplanes. About a month ago, Galen Davis, who has been smitten by the full size bug, brought a fellow he met while flying to the field to reintroduce him to R/C. Apparently, Russell has been out of the sport for approximately 15 years. Yesterday, I went to the field at the behest of a fellow flier to see the maiden flight of his new creation. Well, yesterday turned into an advertisement for many of the new age wonders which included but was not limited to an R&R Synergy, an Alcyone, an absolutely impeccably finished Warrior and an equally stunning Falcon 880. The list goes on but these were the headliners. Well, I gotta tell you Bob that my Lovesong has seen better days. A number of depth-of-field mistakes show badly and after several seasons the covering has been removed leaving bare wood on the wings. But by following directions correctly when she was built she is still tight and straight. Needless to say I took my share of hits for the appearance of my plane but perhaps the most stinging comment was "Hey Steve, you know the Lovesong is obsolete". And in gazing down the flight line my resolve was momentarily shaken. Enter Russell, who came to the field to get a little flying in and to survey his options for his next upgrade. Well, after several hand launches and a couple of good flights he came over to me and started to fawn over this admittedly shaggy looking airplane. Normally, this would have been tempered by the fact that this was a beginner who is easily impressed but this guy has many hours in full-sized ships and his comments were very astute. He was impressed with how coordinated the turns were, how well it tracked and in short, how scale-like it's flying characteristics were. And then the kicker --how attractive it was! All of this out of earshot of the "up-to-date ear-to-the-ground, cutting-edge" folks. Well Bob, suffice to say my confidence in this classic plane is restored and while the wheel is indeed reinventable, you can't improve the circles that it cuts. P.S. You probably have toyed with the idea of discontinuing the Lovesong, if in fact you haven't already, but when the time comes to replace mine, I will ask you for another. Happy Days --Steve Cameron - Seattle, WA June 14, 1993 Mr. Dodgson, finally I have my Anthem in the hands of a competent builder at a price I can live with (read handle). This bird has been beneath a large pile of dream planes to be built. Actually, at the current time, I am placing well in local contests using my Song. Anyway, things are finally moving forward at a pace that should have me flying it before the snow falls. I have not received Second Wind's Spring edition. So, I guess I am in arrears at the point. My last copy is number 92-2. 1 am including a check for three dollars that should bring me around to this time next year. Yes? Thanks for being there. Your planes are wonderful, especially as long as they keep me in the top three! A satisfied customer --N. Christopher Knowles - Omaha NE November 5,1992 Hi Bob! Sure did enjoy talking with you yesterday. As promised, I have two pictures that I took of Buddy Roos with his Dodgson Saber at the LSF National Sailplane Contest in Vincenes, Indiana. I think that you will agree that Buddy has a pretty colorful Saber. Also, I have enclosed a copy of standings for the 1991 AMA Nats where I placed 9th in unlimited with my ten-year-old Windsong. Just wanted to let you know that at least a Windsong was in the "Top Ten" and that it's ten years old. As I told you, I have built a Legend. But, when I fly competition, I fly my Dodgson Windsong. My Anthem should be finished within the next two weeks and I am very anxious to fly it. If it's half as good as my Windsong, I know I'11 like it. Very shortly I will probably be talking with you about a Saber kit. My friend Sam Smith, in Florence, SC, is also building an Anthem and is also contemplating the purchase of a Saber. Take care and I look forward to talking with you again very soon. Thermals always! --Bernie Coleman- Dundee, IL
The Pivot --Steeling the Thunder from Down Under:
January 11, 1993 Dear Bob, thanks for sending the Pivot 7037 kit so promptly following my order. The box arrived on my desk at work only 10 days after my order, a quite excellent achievement. On opening the kit I thought it was like a mini-Windsong in construction. The construction took about 3 working days from start to finish The new computer plans are excellent. You can fit them on the building board without having to cut or fold. I notice that you are using the rubber band system to hold the canopy on similar to the Windsong. I used a slightly different method here that may be of interest to you as it eliminates the rubber band and is probably more secure. The canopy is spread apart and the retaining wire is slid through the hole in F6 and then the 1/8" wood dowel is engaged at the font and the canopy slides forward to achieve a very tight fit. It is easy to remove to access the radio switch by simply slipping it back until the 1/8" dowel is released and then sliding the canopy forward to remove it. It is also very cheap to construct and does away with the fiddly rubber band. Because I used a mini JR Servo 3021 for the aileron (wingeron) and a Futaba 133 for the elevator, I made a 1/8" plywood frame to hold the servos in place and then used the cross pieces in the kit to raise the servos high enough to clear the canopy sides. Overall, I am very pleased with my little Pivot. It stores in the kit box extremely well and I don't have to worry about any "hanger rash." So far I have used it for slope and thermal work and it Performs very well. (I built the 72" version with full length spars as the kit material was long enough. The spar was built with 0.4 mm ply on both sides rather than the Obechi as the splits in this item were quite common. The spar weight would only be a few grams more than the foam/spruce alternative.) I will take my Pivot to this year's Camperdowa fly-in and see what reaction there is to it. To date, most wingeron models are considered too difficult/unreliable for thermal use in Australia. I hope to change this view with the Pivot. Many thanks -John Berry - Malvera Victoria, Australia
Don't Cast-agn-Oly, Toss a Pivot!
May 25, 1993 Dear Bob, I was quite impressed one breezy day last winter when I watched a beautifully crafted Dodgson Designs Pivot race around the sky here in Marin County, California. Having never seen the plane or pilot before, I found out that they were from Washington and that the kit had been modified somewhat by using custom-cut wings of a non-original airfoil. The building job was the most immaculate I've ever seen with a perfect epoxy and fiberglass finish throughout including the fuselage, with all left clear to let the wood show through The thermaling ability of this plane was amazing. Due to its ability to turn on a dime, i~ seemed very versatile and it packed up neatly in its original shipping box for easy transport. I was impressed and would have loved to have ordered one right away. But, not being a vacuum bagger or a foam cutter, it seemed impossible at the time. I recently found out differently upon receiving my first copy of your newsletter (92-2). Not only did I learn that the Pivot is available with a new and improved airfoil, but also that the pilot I met that day, named Phil Pearson, had written you to describe the results of his experiments with the very same airfoil that you now offer. So, sign me up for the Pivot Plus! I have some previous experience with your designs, having purchased a K-Minnow from you in 1982. I still fly it and it still performs with incredible versatility ranging from hanging around with flaps in light lift to really scooting around the sky when the wind gets blowing. I fly mostly inland slopes with combination slop and thermal conditions in which the K-Minnow excels. It's a little beat up, but has been quite durable, and I plan to keep on fixing it and flying it for some time to come. I look forward to having even more fun with the Pivot. Please send me a complete Pivot Plus kit. Also, do you have any information or ideas about the removable tips mentioned by Craig Angus in your last newsletter? This sounds like a great idea for maximizing the versatility of your design. I've had a similar idea before, but would like to hear how someone else has made it work. Sincerely --Mark Castagnoli - San Rafael, CA
The 2-meter Champion from the Land of Pixy --in Sprite of His Flying Acumen.
June 15, 1993 Bob, thank you for the mention in your newsletter, and the discount coupon. I thought you might like to pass-on the change I made on my Pixy, and mention my new 7037 Pixy. Of course, now that I have two good 2-meter sailplanes, you come out with the new Sprite. I really enjoyed flying the Sprite. That new one-piece fuse is going to be a plus in building times. It will be interesting to see if it can outdo the Pixy in competition. It will probably come down to who's the best pilot. The Sprite's performance will be a plus. It will make an excellent slope and thermal combination plane. I'm sure just the fact that it will cut out a lot of building time will help sell it. Bill Hanson's 1992 NWSS Season Championship winning Pixy.
I usually don't make any real changes to your kits, but in this case I was having control problems. I just couldn't fly the pixy as smooth in thermals as I thought possible. The main problem seemed to be over-controlling. Reducing the throw helped, so on this Pixy I decided to reduce the aileron length. I took 1" off of each side. It really worked out better than I thought. A shorter aileron worked out too, less disturbance of the air over the wing. The proof, of course, is in the results. I know that if some of the other people like Dave Friant would have competed with it, I would have lost season points to them. It was pretty embarrassing those times when Friant took my radio and flew it so much better than I did. You know, Bob, kind of like the day we were out flying your new Sprite and I climbed out with it.
I also would like to mention my new Pixy. With its 7037 wing, there is a definite improvement in performance. I still don't have enough time to say which I prefer, but they both have pluses. One other change the 7037 Pixy has is a larger wing rod. The fact that I bent three wing rods last year was the main reason for building a new plane. I used a 5/16" rod. If I had to do it over, it would have been a 9/32" rod. It really seemed to add a lot of weight putting in the larger spar. If I had used the 9/32" rod I could have stayed with the 1/4" spar you supply. Of course, if l wasn't so abusive on the winch, I probably wouldn't bend those so-called unbendable wing rods. Then I wouldn't need a stronger wing rod. I always try to build as light as possible, so adding more weight is always a last resort. Well, I better get back to more important things like finishing my new Lovesong. Sincerely --Bill Hanson - Lynnwood, WA. ________________________________________________________________________________
The Harley Davidson Lesson:
by Bob Dodgson
A while back I was at a meeting of the Seattle Area Soaring Society. The featured speaker was the new "high-tech" glider kit manufacturer of the month. We were told all about the amazing materials that his glider kit utilized. One thing that the starry-eyed manufacturer said that stuck with me was that there were even more tantalizing materials in the pipelines that would momentarily become available. When we had these materials, then we could really build great gliders!
This boundless faith in the "Holy Grail" of technology reminded me of stories I had heard about doctors telling families of terminal cancer patients that ". . . there is no known cure right now. However, I am in contact with the latest research developments and so if a breakthrough occurs, I will immediately utilize this new treatment on the patient. After mulling over the mad dash for "me-too" high-tech glider kit production that has taken place over the past couple of years, I began to realize that soaring is changing so profoundly in its emphasis, its goals and its philosophy that it is paralleling what happened in motorcycle manufacturing in the 1970s and early 1980s. The Japanese caught US manufacturers off guard by producing lightweight, inexpensive and reliable motorcycles that took over an ever larger market share. Before they knew what had hit them, US companies were going out of business. Soon, Harley-Davidson was the only US manufacturer left and they were just hanging on by a prayer. In the meantime, the Japanese were becoming ever more obsessed with performance technology. They added cylinders and increased compression ratios. They even seated the drivers in the most aerodynamic positions. You still see some motorcycle drivers zipping along curled up in a near fetal position. As technology took over and peformance-to-weight became the driving force, something very basic was lost. What was lost was the main reason that had made motorcycling popular in the first place. Somehow, the people at Harley-Davidson figured this out just in time. They went to work to improve the quality of their machines while maintaining the human appeal of the old Harley motorcycles. You see, it was learned that people like motorcycles for the personal freedom it gives them. They like the throaty sound of the large cylinders, they like a machine that lets the human body relax and enjoy the ride. The resurgence of Harley-Davidson was so dramatic that the industry knew it had veered way off course and had lost sight of why people enjoy the hobby/sport of motorcycling. Now, the Japanese motorcycles look more like Harley-Davidsons than genuine Harley-Davidsons do and motorcycling has once again discovered its soul. ________________________________________________________________________________
Megan Dodgson in 1982 with the Windsong --the first glider kit to incorporate the current state-of-the-art features including: crow, full camber control of flaps and ailerons, solid core wing construction and a glass fuselage. Soaring has not looked back since the Windsong introduced it to the future.
Oh yes, for those who have followed the growth of my daughters through my ads, Megan is a college sophomore and Heather is now a college graduate. She has the tough duty of working as cruise staff on the Holland American cruise ship "Westerdam". She tours the world in luxury and gets paid for it! Last time she was home, she couldn't wait to go "back on vacation" on the ship!
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A common theme that I am hearing from people is that soaring is not as much fun now as it used to be. Some people have come back to flying my gliders because they say that they have never had as much fun soaring before or since. What attracted most of us to soaring was the simple joy of being able to put a heavy sculpture into the air and watch the miracle of it remain airborne with no motor. We cheered as better designs and control systems appeared because we could stay up longer in less favorable conditions and cheat Mother Nature even further. Many believe that this performance curve hit its zenith in 1982 with the advent of the Windsong. Nothing new or significant in surface controls, max L/D or minimum sinking speed has occurred since to help the hapless pilot achieve better air times.
In his headlong dash for the most "Bullshitically Correct" (BC) glider, the soaring pilot has become the big loser. The market has become a cookie cutter of sameness. To be BC, the glider wings must have a Schumann planform, the fuselage must have a strip of kevlar in it somewhere and the wings must be pre-built. To carry BC to even new levels of absurdity, in a recent soaring column in Model Aviation, the soaring editor was defining the "new breed" (read bullshitically correct) as having 4 servos in the wings and a wing span of between, 112" and 118". What dribble! As long as the control surfaces are moving properly, the glider does not care where the servos are. Why 112" to 118" span? Perhaps for F3B, the launching device restrictions makes this size optimal --but for thermal duration flying come on! In short there is nothing new about this breed, from the controls they use to the swept wing planforms. People like Dwight Holley, Dick Pike and Bob Baugher were putting servos in the wings of swept-wing Maestros in the 1970s for gosh sake! Rather than the BC gliders being an example of a "new breed", they are an example of a trendy style where everyone is copying the same design --with creativity going to seed. I fear that the real reason for the standardization around the 112" to 118" wingspan is that the copycat "designers" are not even skilled enough to alter the scale of the design they are copying! Anyone who thinks that a 121" Saber or a 132" Anthem won't outperform a 112" BC glider is just the guy that I want to be flying against in competition! In most cases, there is little or no evidence that the BC truisms are correct even though they may be musings of respected aerodynamicists. The historical path of RC soaring is littered with the remains of the wrong-headed notions of prominent aerodynamicists. This is one reason that I had the multichannel glider kitting field all to myself for over 15 years! It is also why no other manufacturer would touch the Eppler 214 airfoil for years. I laughed as I read theoretical articles by the "experts" demeaning the E214 airfoil. They were dishing out "theoretical truths" that Windsong flyers were proving wrong in contests all across the country. Having had the, now fully vindicated, E214 airfoil all to myself for all of those years was fine with me! Most recently, when the Saber was about to be the first competition glider kit to use the officially ignored and even denigrated SD7037 airfoil, I was advised not to use it based on writings of Michael Selig himself, and in a personal admonition from Harley Machalis who built the wind tunnel prototype. Based upon the wind tunnel test results and upon my own prototype evaluations, the Saber came out with the SD7037 rather than the Selig recommended SD7032. The result of the Saber's success opened the floodgates for the SD7037 which is now the most popular airfoil in thermal soaring. My 25 years of experience in the hobby has taught me to do my own homework and to not blithely take the accepted truisms of the day as fact. Interestingly, in a recent magazine soaring column, even Michael Selig conceded that "tips up" contributes to increased tip stall problems in slow speed turns. Tell me this is not so! I thought that every BC glider design from "here to eternity" would have to be tips up! A few days ago, I was amazed, while at the flying field, to hear a flyer extolling the virtues of an original set of wings that he had designed. These wings used the BC (Schumann) planform but they even had the TE of the tips swept. With a knowing look, I was informed that Martin Simons had said that swept tips provided a dihedral effect. I was blown away with this earth-shattering crumb of knowledge from the great expert of the Outback. I guess that with BC design, even the most basic knowledge has taken on a "mystical-techno" quality. I told this well researched flyer that any wing sweep provides a dihedral effect. He was dumbfounded to hear that even normal sweep, including sweep of the inboard section contributed to the dihedral effect Whatever happened to the dispensing of knowledge without mysteriously shrouding it within our favorite theories of BC aerodynamics? It may even surprise you to know that BC gliders have not taken over areas of the country by outperforming the gliders that are designed to fly the farthest and stay up in the lightest lift. They have taken over areas because the best flyers started flying them --so the BC gliders started winning contests. Had the less skilled pilots kept flying the better performing designs, they would have improved their chances against the "top dawgs" but alas, they too fell off the tree of wisdom like over ripe fruits. With no respectable flyers in an area flying the better performing gliders, the BC gliders look good. No one is aware that they are hotshots in a sea of mediocrity. Humorously, in parts of the county where all the good flyers did not abandon the great thermal ships like the Saber, Anthem and Windsong/Lovesong, the ones who did change over to the BC gliders, amidst great hoopla and fanfare, have been soundly getting their fannies fairly well trounced this contest season. None of the new gliders is as good in light air as is a Windsong/Lovesong, Saber or Anthem. None of them appears to have an advantage in maximum L/D at reasonable thermal searching speeds. What is most significant is that the new ships, with the high-speed compromise airfoils, zoom right through light lift, giving the pilot no indication of buoyancy, in air that a Saber, Anthem or Windsong/Lovesong would sense and could even climb out in. Getting air times is not about jetting aimlessly around the sky listening to your glider whistle. Getting your air times is about having a glider that is adroitly feeling its way through the medium of air while it is faithfully telegraphing back even the most subtle information to the pilot. I guess the real question is: "What is glider flying really about --and what is it about glider flying that originally captured our Imaginations and that has held us transfixed for months and even years?" For most of us, the art, the mystery, the outdoors, the freedom, the challenge and the oneness with nature are some of the captivating forces. However, if soaring continues down the path toward "new breed, bullshitically correct copycat sameness" and the dubious pursuit of technology as an end in itself, Soaring will end up like the motorcycle industry of 1978. For our sport to continue to evolve, to grow and to bring the maximum pleasure to its participants, we need to have the Hogs and the Choppers --not just the wound-up-tight Kawasakis. ________________________________________________________________________________
Camano Bearly Survives:
by Peter Lemieux
Dear Bob, well, I guess it had to happen sooner or latter. My original, nine year-old Camano finally bit the dust. The wings may live on in some other form, but my favorite flyer will no longer cruise the Rocky Mountain skies.
But at least it packed it in in memorable style, hence this letter. I thought I'd relate to you and perhaps some of your clients via your newsletter some of the hazards of flying in the Canadian Rockies, hazards not normally found elsewhere. The summer of '92 wasn't a memorable one for flying in this neck of the woods. July was almost a complete washout with rain and low cloud layers, and only in the early part of August were weather and wind conditions suitable for slope soaring at my favorite site. Parker Ridge lies at the northern end of Banff National Park, in the Columbia lcefield region. An easy half hour hike brings one to the crest of the ridge, an open alpine meadow overlooking glaciers and icefields. (No need to journey to Europe for such scenery!) Here the winds blow steadily off the icefield providing one of the finest soaring sites I know. I often come up late in the afternoons, after gliding on the Athabasca Glacier during the day. Then, the stronger winds of the day are moderating and the slope lift is silky smooth. August 18th this year I headed up, looking forward to another evening of fine soaring with my good ol' Camano. The wind was light that evening, lighter than I prefer, but I decided to risk it anyway. (Hint: Always trust your intuition on these things! Don't fly if you're not happy with the lift.) I launched the Camano and in a few moments it was about a hundred feet above me. I had just begun to relax when I realized the Wind had dropped even more and shifted along the slope. i.e. no lift. The Camano began to sink. The next landing site was the Saskatchewan Glacier gravel flats two thousand feet below and al most a mile away. Uh-oh . . . Parker ridge is flat on top, but as it descends, it steepens. It's easy to lose sight of a glider if it descends too far, which is exactly what happened! In a bit of a panic now, I pulled full flaps and started to jog down cringing inwardly at the thought of what I'd find. I bounded down the slope, heedless of anything but the condition in which I might find the aircraft. About two hundred feet further down I Stopped to reconnoiter --and got a surprise! Down and to the left thirty feet lay the Camano and yes, it was in a few pieces. Down and to the right about a hundred feet was a grizzly staring up at me, as if to say "Just what, pray tell, are you doing here? Can't you see I'm eating?" Well, we had a bit of a standoff, that bear and I. I certainly wasn't about to abandon my favorite glider to the jaws of an overgrown omnivore. She might have developed a taste for gliders, and then where would I be? So, I simply said "I've just come to pick up the pieces Bear." And you know, Bob. she went back to eating! And I went to picking up the pieces... Needless to say, I didn't spend a lot of time analyzing the crash scene. A quick check when back on the ridge-top revealed a split rear fuselage and another, more serious fracture just below the wing rods. So, Bob, if your receive an order for an new Camano Fuselage from some character up here in Banff, Alberta, you'll know the reason why! Thanks again for a series of great aircraft, Bob. I've gone back to flying my old Maestro Megan, and am amazed how docile it can be. (I'm also amazed I had the nerve to undertake such a massive project twelve years ago.) Your newer machines go together so much quicker, it's a joy to behold. Keep up the great work! All the best --Peter Lemieux ________________________________________________________________________________
On the left, Peter Lemieux is assembling his multichannel Maestro Megan in the late 1970s. On the right, the Megan is flying over the Rockies --near Banff, Alberta. Peter carried his Megan into the high country in a backpack! The first Maestros came out in 1974 and had near-full-span flapperons --utilizing the Dodgson Coupler to mix them. The Maestro Megan had a 128" wingspan with optional tip extensions to bring it out to a total span of 140".
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Is Soaring Up to Its Glass In Hi-Tech? --or What to Ex-spectra In The Future?
by Bob Dodgson
I have been in R/C soaring about 25 years and I have never seen such a flurry of new kit manufacturers as I am seeing now. In the past a modeler had only a handful of kits from which to choose if he wanted a serious open class competition glider --and only one choice if he wanted a serious open class competition glider with full multichannel control. Now there are probably IS choices!
In the years around 1970, there was a great creative surge in the newly discovered sport of soaring in the U.S., culminating in the magnificent hi-tech Nelson Ka6 out of "Huming-Bird Haven" California and Earl Pace's Labelle from Seattle. The Ka6 utilized a scale fiberglass fuselage and composite hollow-core molded fiberglass and foam wings with ailerons just like on the most exotic of today's gliders. It was sold as a complete glider, pre-painted and ready for radio gear. It was also sold as a package deal with an E.K. Logitrol radio installed. There were several of these beauties flying locally --most notably the ones in the hands of Doc Brooks. When the wild Doctor was flying his huge Ka6 on the slope, I landed --both to watch his daring antics and because the heavy glass bird in Doc's hands took up the whole slope and would effortlessly slice through the gliders of the uninitiated like a hot knife through butter. Many of these Ka6s were sold around the country. The Labelle was a "short kit" and was sold only to a few lucky friends of Earl Pace who never really put his kit into serious production. The Labelle sported an immaculately molded, white gelcoated fiberglass fuselage. It had glass and blue-foam vacuum bagged wings. This was my first introduction to the vacuum bagging process. The Labelle flew well. The only criticism that I had with it was that it had too much flex in the wing rod by today's standards. A larger diameter wing rod would have easily taken care of the unscalelike flexing. Alas, Earl Pace was a full sized soaring pilot and soon completely gave up model development and Jerry Nelson sold his Ka6 kitting operation and moved on to another career, leaving the Ka6 and Labelle as searing memories of a light that shown too brightly and too soon for a country that would not be ready for them for another 20 years. What is worse, Europe is given the credit for the development of and first applications of this technology several years later --while the poor U.S. is always described as playing "catch-up"! While impressed with these amazing all glass birds, I as a kit designer, surmised that it would never be feasible to kit such exotic craft due to the labor intensive nature of the medium. It was also evident to me that these glass ships were not well suited to thermal competition flying and spot landings. As it was, my multichannel gliders were already more expensive than my polyhedral competition. Even now, knowing the price of materials and the time involved, I do not see how manufacturers can be making any money while selling their all glass kits. for surprisingly low prices. As a footnote to this "golden age" of glider development, it was during this same q1970 era that I saw my first rotating or pivoting wing glider fly. It was on the slope at Fort Lawton. The innovator was Sandy McAusland, a mechanical engineer who later gave up R/C for full sized soaring. Sandy did not stick with the concept to refine it but he was one of the first to try it. ________________________________________________________________________________
Featured Flyer: Buddy Roos and his Saber. A few months ago I read a big article about a major contest in the South. The article spent endless column inches telling about the celebrities in attendance, including the designers of the Saturn. Photos of Saturns abounded. In the final standings I was surprised to see a name I recognized --Buddy Roos. He had won a contest day! Since there was no mention of any of my designs even flying the contest, I could only conclude that Buddy Roos must have changed gliders. Not so! Buddy Roos and his Saber cleaned house with 69 contestants in the 1992 MidSouth Soaring Championships! He says (and I ever so loosely quote), "never mind what gliders get the glory in the magazines --what counts is what gliders bring home the hardware!" When Buddy made his LSF III distance run with his Saber, he was low at the turnaround --but he put in a couple of clicks of down elevator and ran away from the chase-car traveling at 60 mph. Moreover, the Saber was higher at the end of the run than it had been at the turn! --Bernie Coleman photo
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Unfortunately, after this great creative era, which also spawned the Todi, the first serious multichannel thermal competition glider, most parts of the country fell into a polyhedral slumber lasting for about fifteen years. The most innovative that the crowd with polyhedral paralyses got was putting "blimp-like" 20% thick airfoils on their polyhedral dinosaurs. As one fan of old Broadway musicals put it "Put the blame on Bame." The 1981 F3B World Championship contest is an illustration of the extent of the polyhedral paralysis in mainstream soaring. Except for the flyers from the two main pockets of multichannel dominance, Carl Blake - a NWSS flyer, and Dwight Holley from the North East U.S. the third U.S. team member - a California flyer, was still flying a polyhedral ship without ailerons [This was a memory error on my part. The California flyer was flying an aileron ship]. No wonder the U.S. was Seen as lagging behind the rest of the world in glider development! This was a year after we had introduced our Camano with full flaps and aileron control and only a year before the advent of the Windsong and the birth of full-blown crow capability. It was over ten years after Jerry Nelson and Earl Pace introduced the world to hi-tech composite soaring!
Finally in the last half of the 1980s the U.S. soaring mainstream started looking at Europe and discovered that much had happened while they were in their polyhedral coma. Suddenly, some of those who had been snoring the loudest, grabbed the torch of technology and went leaping into the present with a vengeance. Since this time, technology has become the passion of the press. People who only a month ago were totally freaking out at having to apply fiberglass cloth to the turtle deck of a Lovesong were now amazingly and seemingly effortlessly whipping out vacuum bagged quadruple tapered flying surfaces! It is a miracle! I am reminded of a flyer who has built several of my kits --all the While complaining about how difficult it is to build the taco shell fuselage and apply the glass cloth to the nose and turtledeck. He then proceeds proudly to tell how he "improved on the design" by covering the wings, stabs and rudder with glass cloth and epoxy before MonoKoting them. Needless to say, his additions required much more effort than did the simple fuselage construction, the thought of which immobilized him with fear and panic. It is hard to take this kind of irrational "tacophobia" and the resultingly heavy 100 oz. Lovesong too seriously. However, since perception tends to drive reality and you can't effectively fight it, and since we have a reputation to uphold for innovative breakthroughs in soaring, we have developed our new MonoSeam fuselage technology that we have just introduced with the new Sprite!
Now on to what is happening today. There never has been so many high-end kits from which to choose! It is a great time to be a modeler. However, the often heard lament is "Oh, so many kits . . . Oh, so little time. For the first time, the modeler has a wide choice among nearly ready-to-fly open class gliders. For the first time a flyer can buy a glider off-the-shelf and with a minimum of building skill and time have a competitive contest glider. As I see if this is both good and bad (see the Harley-Davidson article). It is good because it puts high performance soaring into the hands of anyone with the bucks so it opens up high performance soaring to people who otherwise would not be able to partake in it. It is bad because it lets interlopers and neophytes into the high performance realm of soaring --forever piercing the veil of knowledge, craftsmanship and dedication that once separated the soaring gods from the rest of personkind. The instant plastic glider was inevitable. Its coming was foretold by the Nelson Ka6 and the Labelle more than twenty years ago. I guess the real question is, what took it so long! What does all this mean for the future of soaring? Believe me as a kit manufacturer, no one has thought harder about this question than have I. First of all, I see many new entrants continuing to join the kitting business. Since the very limited high-end market cannot sustain many companies, I see even more manufacturers leaving the business or diversifying into other products. Remember that for many years, Airtronics and Dodgson Designs had the bulk of that market pretty much to themselves. I don't know about Airtronics but Dodgson Designs never got rich. Imagine the same niche market split up 15 ways instead of just two or three. Another trend that I expect to see develop is a split between the instant off-the-shelf plastic model market which will appeal primarily to the non builder flash-in-the-pan "instant-gratification boomers" and the market that is geared to the traditional craftsman/builder/flyer. In order to survive, the builder market will have to continue to offer a performance, maintenance and a serious price advantage over the plastic herd. This is an ongoing challenge since the plastic "cookie cutter" birds are becoming ever more competitive and capable as the technology matures. As you might guess. it is the craftsman/builder/flyer market that continues to interest me. The plastic gratification end of the market is far too crowded already --and besides I am allergic to epoxy. With my new MonoSeam fuselage technology, I can offer a mixture of convenience, price and performance other's can't match. Watch for a Camano replacement, standard class glider utilizing the Sprite technology --soon! ________________________________________________________________________________
From the Archives: An ad for the revolutionary Todi kit in 1972. The Todi kit featured flapperon control and full TE camber control. We developed the first 2-control mixer in the model industry to mix the flaps and ailerons. The Todi was the first successful multichannel thermal competition glider. The experts of the day believed that rudder and elevator were the only directional control that a thermal competition glider needed or should have. The most advanced designs offered spoilers! The Todi was the lone voice to dispel that myth. Europe went to school on the Todi and it won many major European competitions. The US press all but ignored it! The original Airtronics Olympic 99 kit was its major US competitor at the time.
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The "Flying Blind" Award Winner!
John Oberto was flying his Anthem in a 1993 Seattle Area Soaring Society contest when he started flying the wrong glider. Meanwhile, his Anthem did many high-speed gyrations in its terminal descent --only to level off at high speed, about 5 feet above the ground. Unaided, it then did a roll without hitting a wing and landed inverted and unharmed in the tall grass at the end of the field!
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Dodgson Designs
21230 Damson Road Bothell, WA 98021
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