Electronic Second Wind 94-1

Second Wind 94-1

The NEWSLETTER for Thermaling Craftsmen in a Plastic World!

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Wee-gilante

The two meter version of the V-gilante is now shipping --as has been the very popular V-gilante for several weeks now.

The V-tail and the lightweight flap linkage worked out so well on the V-gilante that a 2-meter version was inevitable. This is an extremely happy situation, where you can buy either a V-gilante 100" glider or a Wee-gilante 2-meter glider and then ad the wing for the other span. The wings are totally interchangeable on the same fuselage without any stab or CG changes required.

There is no reason to use a smaller stab on the Wee-gilante because the fuselage of the V-gilante requires little or no nose weight to achieve the proper CG. Some V-gilantes actually have to have weight added in the tail cone! Therefore a smaller stab would not save weight as it did with the Pixy. The Wee-gilante weighs in at a surprising 38 oz. or less with the full 5 servo control system. This yields a wing loading of about 9 oz. per ft2. The neat thing with the Wee-gilante is that you do not have to construct a vertical fin. In effect, you just build the "two stabs". We plan to temporarily continue production of the 2-meter Sprite, which shares the same wing and basic fiberglass fuselage, as does the Wee-gilante. However, we expect the Wee-gilante configuration to be so popular that there will be no reason to continue carrying the Sprite for long. Naturally, the Wee-gilante can also be set-up with the same flapperon control system that is shown with the Sprite if you prefer that control system.

Specifications:

Wing Span: 78 in.

Wing Area: 585 in2.

Flying Wt: 37 oz

Wing Loading: 9 oz/ft2.

Airfoil: SD7037.

Wing Construction: Foam core, spruce/carbon fiber spar, obechi skin.

Fuselage Construction: Rolled fiberglass MonoSeam.

V-Tail Construction: Lightweight built-up.

The Wee-gilante is available as a complete kit for $165.00. It is $175.00 with the "nose job". The 100" V-gilante wing kit is $105.00.

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The V-gilante

Specifications:

Wing Span: 100 in

Wing Area: 750 in2

Flying Wt: 42 oz

Wing Loading: 8 oz/ft2

Airfoil: SD7037

Wing Construction: Foam core, spruce/carbon fiber spar, obechi skin.

Fuselage Construction: Rolled fiberglass MonoSeam.

V-Tail Construction: Lightweight built-up.

The strong and lightweight fiberglass fuselage features the exclusive MonoSeam technology introduced with the Sprite. The V-gilante can accommodate any control system from the 4 servo in-the-wings standard system to the Sprite flapperon system. However, the plans show the best of all worlds. They show the aileron servos in the wings and they show the flap servo forward in the fuselage along with a special instant connect linkage system. With the flap servo forward in the fuselage, several ounces are saved in flying weight and a standard and inexpensive servo can be used. This is one reason that the flying weight is only 42 oz!

The Wing construction is similar to the that of the Sprite. The V-gilante utilizes a foam core wing with carbon fiber reinforced spars and obechi sheeting. The wings must be assembled by the builder. The tail surfaces utilize built-up construction techniques. They are lightweight and easily removable for convenient and compact transport of the model. However, even fully assembled, this glider will fit in a 1993 Ford Escort Station Wagon! You can carry it to the field ready-to-fly and still have fully competitive open class performance when you get there!

Controls:

The plans show the ruddervator servos forward in the fuselage with a light and reliable pushrod system similar to that used on the Sprite. There is a single flap servo shown forward in the fuselage with an innovative and reliable linkage system. There is no need for a pair of expensive metal geared flap servos in the wings. Small servos are recommended throughout --even in the fuselage, to keep the flying weight to a minimum. Some V-gilantes are actually coming out nose heavy and require ballast in the tail cone! This flap servo forward control set-up saves about 3 ounces over a typical six servo system. However, the six servo system can be used, if desired. The flapperon system as is detailed for the Sprite can also be used.

Universal 2-Meter and Standard Class Fuselage:

The fuselage, with its top wing mounting, is an ideal fiberglass fuselage for most 2-meter wings and standard class wings. It is used on both our 2-meter Sprite and on our 100" V-gilante. It can accommodate bolt-on wings or split wings, a regular fin or a "V" tail. A full-sized fuselage plan sheet is included at no charge with each fuselage so that you can utilize our kit information on your own concoction. The fuselage is designed for a wing that has a 9" chord. However, 8" to 9.5" root-chord wings would work great too.

This 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 pre-built fin, it is an ideal fuselage for a “V” tail configuration glider such as our V-gilante and Wee-gilante. The fuselage comes completely seamed along the turtle-deck. The pre-molded 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 with your order and we will do the “nose job” for you. The best part about using this unique 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 or for only $60.00 including all of the above plus a tail cone for the V-tail configuration. Shipping and the optional “nose job” are extra. This fuselage is undoubtedly the best fiberglass fuselage value in soaring today! When ordering a fuselage be sure to specify whether you want the V-tail plans included or if you desire the plans for a conventional fin and elevator assembly.

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A Summer Job in a Glider Kit Factory

A few weeks ago I was approached for a summer job by a neighbor lad called Robbie. Now, Robbie is a quick study and a very smart fellow. He is fearless on the computer and knows his way around both Macs and PCs. He can totally reconfigure your PC in the time your eyes are closed during a good sneeze. When he is sitting at your computer, you don't dare blink! He has the fastest hands in the West!

Unfortunately I did not have any openings this summer —so Robbie’s dream of using a summer job to buy a Power Mac is still on hold. Oh yes, he has a 386 PC —but due to a character flaw he is partial to the Mac. I want you to know that I have done my best with the boy. I told him that Macs are for girlie men and school teachers who do not have enough mental acumen to operate a real man’s computer. Finally he confessed the real reason why he was partial to the Mac.

You see, his uncle is a PC whiz and he set up Robbie's computer. The uncle and Robbie's Dad run a tight ship and they won't let Robbie add new programs and make changes to his computer without a committee vote. They are sure that he is going to mess something up. As a red blooded American, Robbie chafes under limitations placed upon his creative computer activities. Since Robbie's uncle doesn't know diddly about the Mac, Robbie figures that he would have much more artistic license with that platform. As an outlet for his frustrations, Robbie had the Mac's at school to play with. There, he was a virtuoso in a field of neophytes. One teacher let Robbie on his computer and Robbie asked him if his computer was on the school network. The teacher said that he didn't think it was. Old "Fast Hands" swung into action and in a few seconds Robbie was accessing the library records on the teacher's computer. Robbie then told the teacher to follow him to the library where Robbie proceeded to call up the teacher's personal files on the library computer. This revelation startled the teacher to the point where he had Robbie setup a password system for his private files. Catastrophically for Robbie, the sun shown too brightly and too soon on his budding computer career for our modern "outcome based" educational system, that doesn't know what to do with a student not fitting the established profile. They decided to further his education by banning him from the school's computers. He can't even take any computer courses. It is no wonder that the schools are getting more money than ever before while the quality of learning is in a nosedive. Well, since Robbie is only 14 years old, he cannot drive a car and most places of business won’t hire anyone as young as he. He toyed with the idea of becoming a summer bicycle-powered computer consultant. I told him that the bicycle might be a limiting factor in his potential business. Undaunted, he was sure that he could overcome some of the transportation limitations by having a cellular phone on his bike —or at least a Seiko message watch —or a beeper as a last resort. At any rate, with the specter of limited resources looming, Robbie may have to temporally find solace in his interest in amateur radio —where he hopes to get his “tech” license in a month. Finally, Robbie tried one more creatively capitalistic ploy to salvage his lackluster financial condition for the summer. It so happens that he has a fixation with the weather. He has managed to acquire a sophisticated electronic weather station which he monitors constantly in his living room. In fact, he is a "weather watcher" for KOMO TV and gets up at 4:50 AM to report in to the station. Well, about the only thing lacking in this Hi-Tech weather station of Robbie's is a computer link that costs about $165.00. If he just had this link, he could chart out trends and manipulate all of the data that he is acquiring. Now, for the proposal. Robbie generously offered to allow me to hook into his weather station with my computer if I would buy the computer link software and give him a copy. He would then charge me only a nominal monthly "cable fee" for the service! I ask you, is that not the kind of thinking that has made our country great or what? Yes, I have great respect for Robbie's fast hands and I admire his creative approach to problem solving. Robbie has been very kind and has done many thoughtful and helpful things for me during my bout with Churg-Strauss Syndrome. But alas, I would lose what thread of sanity I have left if I had him around Dodgson Designs "helping" all summer. Good luck peddling your ideas around town this summer, Robbie. By the way, it wasn’t Robbie who accidentally erased the recently installed Word 6 from Robbie’s computer last week —it was his Dad. As a result, Robbie is considering legal action to ban his Dad from that computer! At any rate, I hope you survive your Mac withdrawals, Robbie! ________________________________________________________________________________

Why the Built-up V-tail Instead Using a Foam Core?

Several builders of both the V-gilante and the Wee-gilante have bemoaned the fact that they actually have to build the V-tail out of balsa pieces rather than simply sheeting over a foam core. Since there is no spar requirement in the V-tail, a foam structure would be extremely easy to construct.

However, I decided that I would not compromise weight for a foam core tail. It is becoming nearly impossible to consistently get good quality, lightweight balsa sheeting. If the 1/32" sheeting were from 9 oz per ft3 balsa rather than from 6 oz per ft3 sheeting, the stab weight increase would probably translate into 2 or 3 ounces more in the over all weight of the glider. In a small glider this is a significant increase.

Had I gone the easy route and used obechi over the V-tail foam cores, the weight would have been consistently more than the weight of the built-up stabs. With a built-up tail system, slight variations in wood density do not make a significant difference in weight and the over all weight of the parts tends to average out to a consistently very lightweight V-tail system. Surely, there are still a few brave macho men who are not intimidated by having to build tail feathers! What is this sport coming to? ________________________________________________________________________________

An Optional Hinged "V".

While the plans show a permanently joined V-tail assembly on both the V-gilante and the Wee-gilante, a hinged "V" can be used --provided you are aware of the following disclaimer:

The hinged-V is probably not as strong as is the permanently joined "V". Therefor if you are a flyer who always pushes your plane to the limit when zoom launching, you may not want to use a hinged-V.

On the other hand, I have been flying mine with a hinged-V for several months and have had no sign of any problem. As you can guess, the main advantage to a hinged-V is that the tail assembly can be stored flat for travel or shipping. Therefore if portability is of prime concern to you, then you should consider the hinged-V. Both the V-gilante and the Wee-gilante fully disassemble for transport. The wings unbolt from the fuselage by unscrewing the tow hook. The wing halves come apart by removing two rubberbands and sliding them off the wingrod and alignment pin. The V-tail comes off the fuselage by removing two screws and popping two ball links. Since the wings do not suffer from polyhedral-tipsup-itis, they store flat and the glider can be transported in a very small box if the V-tail is hinged. To build the hinged V-tail, follow the steps below. 1) Build the two V-tail halves as shown on the plans but do not join them. Sand the 32 degree dihedral angle into the roots of each V-tail half. Final sand the V-tail halves and the ruddervators. 2) Apply two layers of 3/4 oz. cloth over the bottom of the V-tail an inch wide along the root to protect the balsa from the fiberglass fin sides. Use, resin, epoxy or CA glue to saturate the cloth. Final sand the cloth area. 3) Cover the V-tail halves and the ruddervators with Towerkote including the root ends of the V-tail halves. Take care to seal the covering to the balsa sheeting in the top and bottom root area. If the covering separates from the sheeting, you will lose the strength of your hinge. 4) Find some colored duct tape that will coordinate with your color scheme. I just used white " long. Apply the tape to the bottom of one V-tail half so that 3/4" of the tape runs continuously along the V-tail root. Carefully align the second V-tail half and attach it to the protruding 3/4" of duct tape. If you have done the job correctly, the tape is on the bottom, centered on the crack between the stab halves while the stabs are lying flat. When you fold the stabs into the "V", they should stop positively at or near the 116 degree "V" angle shown on the plans. 5) Cut a strip of Lite-Ply that is 3/8" wide x 3-1/4" long. Sand the bottom of it to match the "V" angle in the center of the top of the V-tail. Set the Lite-Ply piece in place with its back edge at the V-tail hingeline with the tail held firmly in the "V" configuration and drill two holes for the 8-32 nylon V-tail bolts that extend through the Lite-Ply and through the center of the root of the V-tail. Place the back hole center 1/4" forward of the hingeline and the forward hole center 2-1/4" from the back hole. 6) Place the V-tail in place on the rear of the fuselage. Move it from side-to-side slightly as needed to get it at the proper angle relative to the wings when looking at the fuselage directly from the front. When the proper spot is found, drill and tap the screw holes in the F12 V-tail support plywood. 7) Attach the hinged stab to the fuselage by (Continued on page 5) putting the nylon bolts through the two holes in the Lite-Ply, then through the holes in the hingeline of the V-tail and then screw them into F12 until the V-tail is held snugly into place pressing against the glass fin sides. The hinge keeps the V-tail from closing and collapsing toward the center and the Lite-Ply and the Glass fin sides keep the halves from collapsing downward. In fact the system is surprisingly strong and simple.

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Terminal Beagle

News Flash!

Bob Dodgson recommends Thermal Eagle over Falcon 880, 800, Saber, Anthem, etc.

No, this is Not a misprint! In a secret interview with Bob Dodgson, Bob recommended "going all the way" with a Thermal Eagle. Its amazing what people will say when allowed to play guru! In a disguised conversation, Bob was approached with the infamous question of which sailplane is the best! He was told that the caller was ready to move up from those "gas-bag floaters": to "real" sailplanes. The caller stated that he approached Bob through a recommendation from a Dodgson convert and was told that Bob was highly thought of and would give an honest opinion. Bob in his cool and collected stature, answered all questions without so much as a stutter! That was until the bomb was dropped. You could almost see the buttons on his shirt pop (no not from a beer gut you ninny, from pride of being the guru of multichannel sailplanes). So, what does the guru say after 10 minutes of podium placement? The question is shot at "Mr. Sailplane". "So Mr. Dodgson, which sailplane do you recommend, the Falcon 800 or the Falcon 880? It was unfortunate that modern technology was (is) slow and I didn't have Bob on the video-phone. It was hard to tell exactly what happened next. I don't know if Bob had a seizure, swallowed his tongue, or choked on a piece of candy, but you should have heard the coughing, sputtering and moans on the Washington end of the phone! After several attempts, Bob finally states "well, you might as well go all the way and get a Thermal Eagle". I probably could have carried the conversation on longer, except I started laughing so hard, Bob asked "is this a put-on?" No doubt, it was! Now Al Doig, you know why your Dodgson Bust was facing the corner. It wasn't the earthquake. It wasn't Yetti in a spazmatic fit, But shame and degradation that caused the bust to retreat to the face-in-the-corner mode.

So, how is Bob now? Well before the conversation was over, Bob had settled down enough to pry $275 from my pocket for a V-gilante with both standard and 2-meter wings. Will he totally recover? Only time will tell. In the meantime, send me all the tiplets you can find. I'm trying to gather enough to give Bob a Christmas present for '94. Thermals. --George Voss - Oklahoma City, OK. 3/17/94

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Why do our V-tailed gliders handle like conventional tailed gliders?

We have all heard stories or have had experiences where V-tailed gliders have exhibited strange quirks. Many of them tail walk. Other V-tail designs throw weird elevator components into the turn requiring differential ruddervator throw to get them to behave properly.

With the V-gilante and Wee-gilante we have avoided all the potential V-tail problems through total design optimization. This involves utilizing an optimum angle for the "V" and designing a fuselage that affords significant vertical cross-sectional area in the tail-end.

Most V-tail gliders utilize a slender round tail boom that has no vertical area. These gliders are prone to tail walk. Our V-tail gliders, on the other hand, have a rear fuselage that is narrow but that has a dominate vertical component. The V-tail is not then plunked on top of a round boom, it sits majestically atop a gracefully raised platform that serves as a stub vertical fin. As a result, our V-tail gliders do not tail walk and directionally are very stable. The other area where many V-tail designs appear to get into trouble is in the angle of the "V". Many use an angle that is much too steep and they lose proper horizontal stabilizer and elevator function. If the angle is too steep, the V-tail must be huge in order to get enough horizontal stabilizer affect. As a result of this large V-tail, the vertical stabilizer component is too large and causes strange handling and turning characteristics. By integrating the fuselage design into the "V" equation and by optimizing the angle and design of the "V", our V-tail gliders handle just as well if not better than conventional tailed gliders and they are lighter weight and they are very pretty too!

This photo shows the flap servo in-the-fuselage installation for the Sprite, Vigilante & Wee-gilante. The radio compartment, shows the servos. The wing area shows the wing mounting post, the flap linkage and the wing alignment post.

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Walt's Brothel for Glider Flyers

Note: this article is not recommended for those who are offended by wholesome, bawdy part humor.

Walt Volhard, the guy who really got the Seattle Area Soaring Society off the ground, is in the process of moving to Las Vegas, NV. I will miss his cheery phone calls and our flying sessions. His particular Saber is probably the best contest glider in the Seattle area. Walt, in his new flying position in Los Vegas!

Remember, Walt is the guy who came up with the idea that safe soaring was putting a ribbed condom over the nose of your glider to replace those “dangerous” and scary shark’s teeth. However, another of Walt’s claims to fame is that through laborious testing procedures, he discovered the magic Saber CG position of 4-1/16” back from the wing LE at the root —with the plane ready to fly. Walt’s search for that magic CG position began when he pulled his old Saber out of six months worth of moth balls and had to reinstall the ballast and radio. Walt was hauling out his old Saber because his contest performance had taken a significant drop while he was flying his Terminal Beagle.

Since he was starting over with the Saber, Walt decided not to put the one or two oz. piece of lead back in the nose that he had used before for ballast. He later confessed that in actuality he had lost the lead piece. Rather, he decided to take the Saber out flying and then gradually add ballast through trial and error, as needed. I was at the field when Walt took his first unballasted flight. I was expecting to see the Saber flying erratically and to hear Walt muttering expletives. Shockingly, Walt and the Saber looked better than either had ever looked before. He was Out-flying everything at the field and his Saber was handling beautifully. Since I am also a mode 1 flyer, Walt then let me fly the Saber —less the nose weight. It was about the best flying and handling glider I had ever had my hands on! Since that day, I have incorporated Walt’s CG location discovery into my Saber building instructions and Walt has gone on to recapture his contest winning ways with his revitalized Saber. Walt may be leaving us in Seattle but his creative thinking is following him to Sin City, NV where he is considering opening up a brothel, named “Climb Max” —catering to R/C glider flyers. His motto will be “Glider Flyers Keep it Up with Hot Air.” The most innovative feature of Walt’s Brothel will be his fee structure —based upon the client’s performance in his chosen event. One of the event options is a 3 minute precision. In this event, the cost will be only $100 if a perfect landing is achieved and if the event is successfully terminated at exactly 3 minutes. The price goes up $50 per second over or under the target time. Naturally, there will be a timer on hand giving the countdown and telling you how you are doing. For $200, a 10 minute precision duration event can be purchased. With a perfect landing and time, Walt will give you a free “Master’s Class Performer” decal . On the other hand, if you fail to practice “safe sex” you will get a ”Master Transmitter“ decal when you leave. One thing that Walt promises is a prodigious selection of quality, state-of-the-art narrow band receivers —insuring a glitch-free performance. For the slope soarers with a carbon fiber tail boom, there will be the $500 eight hour slope flight. If your batteries run down before the 8 hours is up, or if you prematurely run out of lift, your cost will double geometrically for every hour under the target eight hours. This is an event where you sure don’t want to come up short. If you do, you’d better be prepared to take your licks. However, the specialty of the house will be the Triathlon event. This is an event where prodigious piloting skill can really pay off in low fees but where the penalties are very high for a poor performance. According to Walt, he reserves his best equipment for this task. If you hit the maximum target time of exactly ten minutes, the whole adventure will only cost you $10. If you hit even minutes, i.e. 2, 4, 6, or 8 your cost is $200, $150, $100 or $50 respectively. But heaven help you if you come in at or near the odd minutes —we’re talking well over a thousand dollars in worst case scenario charges! With the impeccably high quality of equipment he has reserved for this event, Walt is betting that no one will be able to make the full 10 minutes! Lest you are not a master class performer, fear not, Walt has a program for all skill levels. As an example, for the novice, Walt plans to offer ”hands on“ training sessions. In spite if its diverse list of programs, Walt says that the Climb Max won’t offer quite everything for the soaring enthusiast. He is steering clear of the man-on-man event. Good luck, Walt, in your new business venture. I think your well spoken wife, Jean, said it best when she said of her recent job termination “I am retired. Walt is retarded!” Las Vegas look out! ________________________________________________________________________________

Get a V-gilante or B square!

That's the end of that tale!

February 1, 1994

Dear Bob, just got "Second Wind" on Saturday --had to write and tell you the V-gilante is absolutely beautiful! As you know, we promised ourselves some time ago to never again build a tailed airplane or construct a kit. But the V-gilante is so impressive we are on the verge of breaking that promise! This is quite an accomplishment for you to have wrought upon us. We went out flying on Sunday; put in several flights on the wing we took to Australia in October. Nice sky but soggy sod. Hoping to see you at the Puyallup Show this weekend. We'll be there on Saturday. Sincerely, B2.

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Towerkote for Obechi Sheeted Wings

It has been difficult to find the best plastic covering for obechi covered foam wings. MonoKote does not seem to work well over obechi. It wrinkles and requires frequent ironings. EconoKote appears to work quite well, however. Many people like Hobby Lobby's Oracover. It works well over obechi and requires little maintenance but it is heavy. On the other hand, Towerkote is lightweight, cheap and it goes on and stays put. You do not have to iron the wrinkles after a day of flying. I have not had to do any ironing on my V-gilante wings in the four months that I have been flying it. There are undoubtedly other coverings, besides those that I have mentioned, that work well over obechi and foam wings. These, however, are ones that I know about and have experience with. -- Bob Dodgson

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Still in Orbit

February 2, 1994

Dear Bob, first off let me thank you for the latest updraft. Enclosed please find payment for it and future issues. Second, I have to thank you for bringing Eric Jackson's Orbiter to market. I Don't know if it's age or what but I've become drawn to the simplicity of handlaunch and to the Orbiter in particular. It seems handlaunch sailplanes are going though a similar "polyhedral plague" that cursed larger classes some years ago. As with all competition, altitude is everything and with allowances made for individual trim settings, I have never seen a polyhedral launch as well as a straight winged plane. My Orbiter is minus flaps and has 1/16" balsa for the fuse instead of the called for Lite-Ply for a total weight of 14 oz. A recent issue of RCSD carried an article suggesting that matching plane weight to throwing style increased efficiency. I have found this so true. Planes under 13 oz. seem not to carry through on launch and they hurt my arm. Obviously, this is a very individual and complicated relationship. For me, the search has ended. Thanks, Bob. P.S. I've stayed away from your thermal mainstays to explore balls-to-the-wall speed on the slope. Does the fun ever stop? --Steve Cameron - Seattle, WA. ________________________________________________________________________________

Vee all Have a Dream!

April 6, 1994

Dear Bob, I need another sailplane like I need a tax audit. (Ha, ha, just kidding there, IRS!). At last count I had a Camano, a Pivot, and Anthem of yours, a "tips-up" Alcyone, and Accipiter which I bought just because almost everyone else around here has a Pixy, and assorted glued together pieces of a Falcon 880 (spectacular winch mistake). I'm right in the middle of scratch building a Jouster. There's no way I need another ship; the memory on my transmitter is full, and I'm tripping over wings and fuselages all the time. But I don't have, and I have never had, a V-tailed sailplane. I kept staring at the pictures of the V-gilante on the cover ofsecond Wind until my wife said, "You're going to buy that aren't you?" "Maybe not," I answered, as if I was actually going to give the matter careful, mature consideration. So I have to make a big show of deliberating before I actually do buy it. Give it another couple of weeks or so. In the mean time please send me any spare info you might have about the plane and what the total cost of the kit, shipping and (what the hell) the nose job will be.

By the way, I really enjoyed your article about "BC" sailplanes. It's just the same in the bicycle business, which I have had a lot to do with. So many people think that if they buy a bike made of some exotic material, all fitted out with titanium nuts and bolts and latest gizmos and geometry that they'll be able to keep up with Greg LeMond or whoever. I try to tell them that if they aren't in good shape they won't be keeping up with anybody. They never listen. Not that equipment doesn't make a difference, it does. But it won't put anyone in the winner's circle by itself. I estimate, at least in competitive cycling, that equipment counts for only twenty percent, the other eighty being the rider. It must be the same with sailplanes; you've got to have a certain level plane to be competitive, but beyond that it's mostly skill as a pilot that's important.

By the way, I just bought a carbon fiber bicycle. I always wanted one. Just like a V-tailed sailplane! Yours sincerely --Scott Miller - Salem, OR. ________________________________________________________________________________

Churging Right Along

Most of us have been beset by some serious illness at some point in our lives. Until that time comes, however, it is impossible to anticipate all the far reaching ramifications.

My present bout with Churg-Strauss Syndrome has had just such an affect on me. I was told that this malady requires a two year treatment that has a good chance of putting the disease into remission —if the treatment doesn’t kill you first. Well, I decided that I could live with that.

Unfortunately by the time the treatment was begun, I had lost about all the control of my right ankle and most of the strength and dexterity in the forefinger and thumb of my left hand. The lack of blood supply to the nerves had killed or damaged these nerves. Happily, there was a chance that if the nerves were only damaged that I would see some recovery in three months or so. When I started feeling better, my first concern was if I would be able to drive my great little red 1993 Ford Escort wagon with my gas peddle foot nearly out of action. Its hard to run the throttle with your heel and entire leg. It was thrilling to start to get a little strength and control back in the ankle. I did get enough so that I could start driving again. By four months, I was back to about 1/6 strength and had pretty good control of my foot. At about 6 weeks, my left hand had recovered to the point where I decided that I could start flying my V-gilante again. I am a mode one flyer and so I needed that left thumb to be good enough to run the elevator function in a somewhat predictable manner. Oh, I knew that I could change back to mode two, which I used to fly before I knew any better, but I did not want to have the psychological devastation of having to take a giant leap backwards in my flying —with everything else falling apart. I always use a hi-start when I go flying on my own. I don’t even have a winch. I figure if you are a thermal flyer, you only need to get 50 feet of altitude on the launch anyway. If you need a 500 foot winch tow, you’d better learn to thermal a heck of lot better. I was delighted to see that I could hold my plane in launch position with my “good” right hand and barely manage to hold the transmitter with my left. My first flights were a bit shaky —but the V-gilante and I survived and I was ecstatic to see that I could still fly. Many pleasant flying sessions ensued as my “skills?” and confidence began to return. Then the fertilizer hit the ventilator! I started passing a kidney stone. I seem to get a good one every 7 to 15 years. This stone decided to hit me when it could impress me the most. It was discovered that this stone was a big sucker and that it was caught between the kidney and bladder. I would be introduced to the joys of getting the stone zapped by ultasound. The process is called something weird like “Lapotripthy”. For about $12,000.00 they lower you into a tub of warm water, where they focus the sound waves onto the stone using a stop-action X-ray, producing the image on a video monitor. This was actually not an unpleasant time —they keep you drugged up. The problems began when my urologist insisted on installing a “stent” (a small diameter tube) between my kidney and bladder. This is not standard procedure in all cases but it was with my doctor. He would not be dissuaded —so he gleefully violated my urinary tract with this tube that had a string dangling out my manly organ for later retrieval of the tube —sort of a medical winch-line retreiver. After the stone was taken care of, I felt great except that this darned “stent” caused no end of aggravation. Imagine standing in line at the urinal in a public rest room with the water trickling down the string. To complicate things further, I was supposed to run the water through a strainer for the first three days to see if stone fragments were passing. Well with the string, you did not know if the water was going to trickle down the string or blow past it in a manly torrent. It was hard enough even hitting the toilet bowl, let alone the strainer. After ten days, the doctor went to pull out the stent. Guess what? The string had disappeared up inside. So, the doctor had to “go Fish” using my pole —not an adventure that I would recommend. I guess I must have required the “extra long” model stent. I guess the main lesson to be learned from all of this is that if you have to have a kidney stone zapped, find a urologist who is a glider flyer —not one who is a stent pilot. Delivered of the pain and humiliation of the stent, I felt great for two days —and then I got a good case of shingles on the right side of my face and neck. In the period of two months, I had gone from being able to “shake rattle and roll” to “shingles, scratch and shuffle” Then I got some more good-news, bad-news. The bad news was that the entire right side of my face became paralyzed. The good news was that there is a 90% chance that control will return within 3 to 6 months! With my stuttering, I have enough trouble talking. This recent affliction, made my stuttering worse and killed my diction. Now, when I get a phone call from a customer, if I do manage to get the words out, he can’t understand what the heck I have said. The worst of the shingles is now over and I am back flying and feeling as great as one can with their mouth and nose over on the side of their face. It has been over 3 months with the facial paralyses now and I am expecting to regain control any minute. But, unlike Fernando Lamas, I always say “It is better to feel good than to look good.” Last week, I thought it was time to test my V-gilante out on a winch. So, I prevailed upon Walt Volhard to drag his to the field before he packed it to move to Las Vegas. I picked up my glider and started heading for the winch and it suddenly dawned on me that I had a foot that would not do the proper winch-peddle dance for me anymore. This ramification of my illness had not entered my mind before. For the first launch, Walt ran the winch for me. It was most unsatisfactory. I am used to doing everything myself. The next flight I did try doing it myself. The glider shot off at full peddle and then I couldn’t pulse without lifting my hole leg up and down. Since that foot has very little feeling in it, in the meantime, I lost the location of the peddle and the winch died —with my plane getting about a 150 foot high tow. My next effort was to try standing on my right foot while running the peddle with my “good” left foot. Great idea! I boldly stepped up to the winch with my hand-crafted jewel in hand and hit the peddle. The V-gilante was off! Whoops! With very little muscle control in my right foot, I was not able to maintain my balance and run the peddle with my good foot. That launch got the glider up about 100 feet before I fell over. Back to running the peddle with my right foot and various near disasters. Once the pause on a pulse was so long that the glider came off tow before I got my determined foot back on the peddle. Finally on the peddle I could not get it off fast enough and a winch-line snarl resulted. Walt finally said he wasn’t going to let me play with his winch anymore. “Fine”, I told him. “I’m happy you're moving to Las Vegas anyway!” I’m glad to get back to the good old hi-start. It is clear that I need serious winch technique practice and improvement before I do any contest flying this summer. But, I know that I will get it back and that I will be able to once again embarrass myself at contests just as adroitly as ever. Having that great little stick-shift Escort with air, gave me the incentive to get back on the road —and my V-gilante, that I love to fly, will get me back on the winch so that I can fly in competition if I wish to. Thanks for your continued good wishes. —Bob Dodgson ________________________________________________________________________________

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