Electronic Second Wind 94-2

Second Wind 94-2

The NEWSLETTER for Thermaling Craftsmen in a Plastic World!

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Announcing the New, Classic Edition of the Windsong!

While most people are ecstatic with our Anthem and Saber, we have received numerous requests to offer an updated version of our Windsong/Lovesong with the unsurpassed Eppler 214 airfoil that was used on the original.

In response to these requests, my original intent was to offer a Windsong kit using the spar system and obechi sheeting that we use on the Anthem. I planned to offer the Lovesong flap linkage so that a single flap servo could be used forward in the fuselage rather requiring two mini servos in the wings. The regular servo forward in the fuselage not only saves money in servos, it eliminates the potential flap servo gear stripping problem. Most of all, however, the forward flap servo saves nearly four ounces in overall flying weight because it eliminates a servo and puts weight forward in the fuselage rather than putting two servos behind the center of gravity in the wings. Naturally, however, a six servo system could be used if preferred. This is a photo of a Windsong/Lovesong just to remind you of what the new Classic Edition of the Windsong Looks like and yes it does look just like the Anthem. This bird is the very essence of what high performance thermal soaring can be and what it was meant to be. Remember our gliders when you tire of flying winged arrows and want to truly soar again! Windsong.

 Change of plans! What I now have the chance of offering is more than I had anticipated. I have an opportunity to offer pre-sheeted wings, stabs and rudder as part of this special edition of the Windsong. The fuselage will still be the famous light-weight and strong taco shell construction used on the original. The specifications on the flying surfaces are as follows:

Wing Span - 134 inch single taper with a 10 inch root chord and a 6 inch tip chord.

Sheeting - obechi applied with epoxy over white foam.

Spar - carbon fiber tube with a carbon fiber tow strip on the top surface and on bottom surface.

TE Reinforcing - 1.5 oz. glass cloth sandwiched top and bottom.

Root Rib - pre-installed.

Flap and Ailerons - precut with a 1/4 inch router cut. You will face the flaps and ailerons with 1/8 inch balsa.

Servo Well Cutouts - are reinforced and pre routed into the wings for both the flap and aileron servos. There is also an interior channel provided for the servo leads. If you use a single flap servo in the fuselage (rather than using two flap servos in the wings), you would simply cover over the flap servo well holes in the wings with Towerkote etc.

Wing Rod - 1/2 inch O.D. hollow steel with dihedral bend.

Weight Per Panel - approximately 15 oz without servos or mylar covering (such as Towerkote). Of course a natural finish can be used too.

Stabs and rudder - are presheeted with 1/32 inch balsa.

Introductory Classic Windsong Kit Price - $430.00 Prepaid via check plus $20.00 shipping = $450.00 total. Washington State residents please add 8.2 percent sales tax.

Pre-built Wings Only Price - $300.00 Prepaid plus $20.00 shipping = $320.00 total. This price includes the special wing rod.

Pre-built Stabs and Rudder Only Price - $62.00 Prepaid plus $8.00 Shipping = $70.00 total.

NOTE: We need a minimum of 6 orders to initiate production. If that number is not reached within a few weeks of the first mailing of this newsletter, we will refund your money and terminate the project. So, get your orders in quickly if you are interested and please allow for a delivery time of about 2 months on these special Windsongs.

This is a great opportunity for those who have wanted a new-generation Windsong or Lovesong. As you already know, nothing has come along since the Windsong/Lovesong that can work light lift as well while retaining a phenomenal maximum L/D.

It is that long, slender, high-aspect-ratio wing combined with the magic Eppler 214 airfoil that provide the secret performance ingredients. That wing is now stronger and truer than ever for better launches and even better performance. And remember how beautifully the Eppler 214 airfoil can carry weight! Remember the Windsong's extra ability to work lift further from home and still be seen and flown safely? The classic-looking, regal finned, high visibility scale-appearing fuselage is what makes this possible! Since the fin is constructed onto the fuselage using light-weight materials and construction techniques, the tail of the Windsong is very light-weight --weighing about the same as a V-tail configuration. The fuselage is also deep enough so that the deployed flaps do not reach the ground, which protects them and the flap servo from landing damage. Best of all, the Classic edition of the Windsong can be easily flown effectively with simple non-computer radios --yeilding the pinnicle of performance on a minimum cash investment!

The original Lovesong flap linkage is provided in the kit so that even without a computer radio, a single flap servo in the fuselage can incorporate an elevator trim bar to mechanically provide down elevator trim when flaps are deployed. The aileron servos go in the wing for all radio installations and the servo wells are provided for those who want to put the flap servos in the wings also. However, even when computer radios are used, several ounces of weight can be saved by putting the single flap servo in the fuselage.

But then, as old Windsong/Lovesong flyers, you already know most of this. Now, just imagine a Windsong with a pre-built state-of-the-art wing that is stiff, strong and straight! Well, this is your big chance! What is more, you can give new life to that old Windsong/Lovesong of yours by putting a set of new hi-tech wings on i ________________________________________________________________________________

The Orvit

by Dennis Tyson

Dear Bob, Well I suppose you were right in saying that I had sort of lost my mind due to the long winter setting in here in Montana. But it seems that some of our best ideas come to us when we are just a bit loony. You knew I had been trying to come up with a fiberglass fuselage for the Orbiter and was even considering molding one myself. Then one day I was in my shop and saw me Pivot that blew up on launch (due to a certain faulty 4-40 nylon bolt) and thought, "what if I modify a Pivot Taco to fit the Orbiter wing." So I did, and the result is one Hot Enchilada! As you can see from the photo she is very esthetically pleasing and she performs as good as she looks. But wait there's more! My Orvit only weighs 15 oz's and has the full function AFART system using three Hitec HS 80 servos, a full sized coverless receiver, and it balances just right with a 110 MAH battery in the nose. I could have never guessed that this is what I was going to come up with, so I guess it pays to try all ideas before rushing to judgment. Also, my Orvit weighs the same as my first Orbiter which was built as per plans and had a 270 MAH battery. Some other noteworthy things are that the Orvit has a slightly longer tail moment which has created a very smooth turn and a softer elevator response, so first time aileron pilots have no reason to be afraid of this baby. I'm not sure but the Orvit seems to fly a little faster than the Orbiter. I suppose this could be due to the clean lines, or it could just be my excited imagination.

Dennis Tyson holding his Orvit.

As you can tell from the remaining decal on the wing, Dennis used his existing Orbiter wings for his new Orvit.

One of the things I tried to accomplish was to modify the pivot fuse as little as possible. That goal was accomplished by substituting most of the ply and spruce with 1\8 inch balsa and eliminating the ply through the wing saddle. This makes an extremely light fuse but I'm not sure I would pull too many zooms off a winch. Remember the primary task of this ship is hand launch and at that this bird is sure to give the competition a run for their money! (If I had any competition! I'm just going to have to go find some.) Well Bob thanks so much for allowing me the opportunity to experiment. From my point of view, you couldn't ask for a better Hand Launch competition glider. Make that a "Full Blown Multichannel Light Weight AFART Equipped Poly Eating Monster Machine Contest Ship!" --Dennis

find some.) Well Bob thanks so much for allowing me the opportunity to experiment. From my point of view, you couldn't ask for a better Hand Launch competition glider. Make that a "Full Blown Multichannel Light Weight AFART Equipped Poly Eating Monster Machine Contest Ship!"

Dennis Tyson can be reached at the following address. Dennis Tyson

ICO: Rainbow Christian Supply

#9 6th Street South Great Falls, MT 59401

Side view of control system   Top view of control system

The elevator servo is the front right servo with the pushrod going to the elevator trim bar on the flap servo. The flap servo is the front left servo with the pushrod going to the flap mechanism as is used on our V-gilante. Atop the flap servo arm is also mounted the elevator trim bar. The AFART (Automatic Flap-Aileron Reflex Trim) for reflexing the ailerons is mounted behind the two forward servos. The aileron servo is mounted back in the wing saddle area. If you have not constructed a Camano, Pixy or Windsong you will probably not be able to figure out how all of this linkage works. If you have a computer radio, you will not need the elevator trim bar and you could use two aileron servos rather than using the AFART and still get the same full control system.

Additional comments

by Bob Dodgson:

In adapting the Pivot fuselage to the Orbiter, Dennis was able to utilize the mechanical AFART aileron trim system shown on the Orbiter plans. He was then able to add the mechanical elevator trim bar used on the Camano and for which there was not room in the Orbiter fuselage. This control system gives the Orvit flap and aileron control along with automatic elevator trim for flap deployment and full trailing edge (both flap and aileron) reflex capability. Naturally, the Orvit also has elevator and coupled aileron-rudder controls. All of this is accomplished with just three servos and a conventional radio --just like on our old Camanos and Pixys and all for a flying weight of only 15 oz.! Dennis structured the wing saddle area and servo mounts like is used on our new V-gilante and Wee-gilante kits. This thoughtful blend of technology has produced what appears to be a groundbreaking handlaunch performer. We may have to draw up a specific set of plans for the Orvit if demand dictates. Great work Dennis! At any rate, the cost of the fiberglass "taco shell" Pivot fuselage and canopy is only $35 plus shipping and the Eric Jackson designed Orbiter plans are $15.00 plus shipping from Dodgson Designs. So, you too can have the basic "scratch-build" fixin's for an Orvit at the modest price of $50.00 plus shipping. ________________________________________________________________________________

The Plight of the Homeless

Where Have All The Glider Kits Gone? --Gone To Pre-builts Everyone!

by Bob Dodgson

I have watched the glider kit industry slowly polarize over the last few years into the two extreme ends of the cost and philosophical spectrums —leaving a barren wasteland as the home of the middle ground in soaring. In the 1970s and 1980s, you had a good choice of beginner kits, intermediate kits and high-end kits. There were cost effective progressions as one’s building and flying skills increased —allowing the soaring enthusiast to proceed comfortably to whatever level he desired. Many flyers opted not to progress to multichannel performance. Our kits were the top of the high-end and the only multichannel kits available through the 1970s and most of the 1980s. The point is that there was a wide choice of affordable options between the beginner kits and the top end kits. There was an affordable and comfortable home for any glider flyer, at any level of expertise and desire. Now, it appears that there are the inexpensive beginner’s kits at one end of the market and then there are the pricy “mortgage-busting” prefabricated clone gliders at the other end with little in between —leaving those who want to progress in an economical manner pretty much on their own. This problem is becoming more pronounced as fewer soaring pilots are taking the time to learn the basic building skills. Meanwhile, the once rich pool of quality builder-kits is fast drying up; leaving a void between the entry-level beginner kits and the prefab clones. Just how many above-entry-level builder-kits do you think are currently on the market that can be built without vacuum bagging and other exotic equipment? How many moderately priced kits are capable of serious contest performance? You are hard pressed to find any! Needless to say, it is this neglected affordable, performance, builder-kit, market for which our Anthem, Saber, V-gilante, Wee-gilante and Pivot are the answer. I fear that the profusion of costly prefab clone looking gliders are serving an ever diminishing pool of flyers. How many crashes of these costly, hard-to-repair gliders can most flyers survive before they decide that the rewards of the hobby are no longer worth the financial toll on domestic bliss? In the past, a hobbyist would buy a kit at a do-able cost and then invest 40 or more hours of his own skilled building time to construct his glider. If disaster struck and a serious crash occurred, the builder could usually repair the damaged ship. Even if the glider was totally destroyed, the major investment was the personal time of the flyer. The crash did not cause a financial tsunami that could wipe out the financial viability of the entire family. As discouraging as it was to see the results of your effort wiped out, you always knew that you could afford to buy another kit and that you could do an even better building job the next time! You were not unceremoniously drummed out of the hobby by cataclysmic financial loss, as if you were a high-rolling Las Vegas gambler whose luck had run out! The result of this lack of viable economical performance kits is that fewer people are staying in the hobby very long. So we have more and more expensive prefab kits fighting over an ever dwindling market —a market that is not being refueled by new flyers moving up through cost effective performance kits. Happily, the V-gilante and the Wee-gilante seem to have hit the bull's eye in the heart of that forgotten market! Sure, there is still a significant market for the trendy, expensive, “bullshitically correct”, prebuilt clone gliders. They allow anybody with the bucks to buy their way into a competitive performing ship. Interestingly, these clone gliders, with all of their appeal, have robbed some of the magic from the sport of soaring. This is partially because wittingly or unwittingly, the clone gliders appear to have been optimized for maximum towing performance rather than for maximum thermaling and soaring performance. True, in contest work tow height is important, but it is not everything and it is not what soaring is really about as many contest flyers are discovering. In parts of the country where short contest flights are the norm and landings are the measure of the man, the slender, smallish, high-zooming gliders work fine. In parts of the country where the premium is on soaring and the tasks are longer, the light lift performance and long distance visibility become of utmost importance. The smallish, pencil fuselaged, clone gliders with their compromised sinking speeds, become noncompetitive. Ironically, by present cost standards, our (Dodgson Designs) once “expensive” kits are now “moderately priced” and offer the builder a significant option. They offer him the best thermal performance that money can buy at a price that intermediate flyers can comfortably afford. And, sadly, our kits are about the only high-performance quality “builder-kits” presently available to the glider flyer. Unlike the costly clone gliders of today, all of our gliders are optimized for soaring performance rather than being optimized for winch performance. They are designed to milk the weakest subtleties out of marginal lift. Their scale-like fuselages are designed for maximum visibility so that they can be easily seen and successfully flown higher and further away than other gliders in their respective classes. Visibility is both a safety factor and a very real competition advantage. All of our kits are good on a winch yet they are also able to launch well off a hi-start —even a short hi-start! Unlike most other hi-performance gliders, our kits can be slowed down “almost to a walk”, for gentle landings and practical, accessible, small field flying! Now, there is a clear choice for money-conscious flyers who want to move up to a quality kit and who want top competition performance on the weekends and yet who want to have fun sport-flying off a hi-start the rest of the time. For many of us, building is part of the soaring growth and discovery experience and being free from a bulky, cumbersome winch is a liberating experience in itself. Why do you think that hand-launch has become so popular in recent years? As the hobby becomes too complex, the true soaring soul inside us all cries for the simple joy of ridding thermals as efficiently as possible with a minimum of incumbrances. The antitheses of this “less is more” philosophy was overheard by me this summer at the local flying field. Several of us were up flying in marginal thermal lift. I use a short high-start with my V-gilante to get about a hundred foot launch. By arduously working tiny bubbles, I and others were getting long, satisfying, flights with altitude to burn on occasion. A flyer, with the latest hi-torque winch, the latest clone pencil profile glider saw that the lift was momentarily good. He shot his winged arrow up on his super winch for a seven hundred foot tow and headed straight for the nearby ridge that most of us had been avoiding as a “give me”. With the wind blowing up the ridge, this hi-tech pilot had no trouble staying in the air. However, in about five minutes he was seen doing a thrilling hi-speed pass across the field and he landed. Someone said to him “Are you down already? I thought you were in good lift a few minutes ago!” The high-winching pilot replied “Oh, I was in lift all right but to me the real fun in soaring is launching and landing!” I must say that this is a different perspective on soaring than I have ever had. The significance of this new revelation finally hit me! I had been designing gliders that would stay in the air the longest possible time under the most diverse range of conditions. Instead, I should have been designing them for the biggest thrill during winch launching and frequent landings! At any rate, I am proud that the homeless souls who want hi-performance gliding on a limited budget and who are willing to invest a little quality building time to achieve that goal still have a home at Dodgson Designs! ________________________________________________________________________________

Robbie Goes flying!

by Bob Dodgson

Perhaps you will recall that Robbie is the clever young man with "fast hands" from next door who was written about in Second Wind 94-1. Since the last story appeared, Robbie has continued to be a very busy and creative boy. On one occasion while he and I were in the kitchen, I turned away from him for an instant while fixing us something to drink. I heard him click a knob on our stove and then he said "why does your stove make this funny humming sound?". Preoccupied, I assumed that he had turned on a burner, and that the surge of electricity was causing the described hum. Only moments later I heard the noise that he was talking about and recognized it as the servo motor that locks the stove door, initiating the self cleaning cycle. Once initiated, the self cleaning cycle is very difficult to abort. We had to abort the cycle because, the racks had not been removed and the oven had not been checked to insure that it was empty. No permanent harm done, we did figure out how to abort the cycle and I chalked up another one to old "fast hands". Perhaps the most engaging trait that Robbie possesses is his inquiring mind and his insatiable thirst for information. He has long been curious about my business and my gliders. Earlier in the summer I had promised him that I would take him flying with me before the summer was over. Robbie has been my neighbor for over eight years and I have never taken him to the flying field to see what flying gliders was all about. To tell the truth, the idea of turning over the transmitter of one of my own gliders to Robbie scared me to death! He made it clear that if he came to the field, he was a "hands on" kind of guy and would get no thrill out of just watching the splendor of soaring flight. I was also worried because in previous years, Robbie had informed me that if he could fly one of my gliders, he would show me a thing or two about flying. After all, he had an R/C car that he was pretty good with --so he was ready to revitalize the stodgy art of soaring with his R/C car skills and fearless and innovative approach to problem solving. This lack of humility and the lack of an understanding of the complexity of controlling a motorless aircraft in 3 dimensions is why it took me eight years to invite this young man to go flying with me. But at last, he promised faithfully that he would instantly relinquish the transmitter upon my panicky command --no matter if he was sure he was just an instant away from recovering control. So off we went. During the car ride, I could see that it was just an ordinary adventure for Robbie. He was not interested in getting a last minute briefing on the mechanics of controlling a glider. He was talking about computers, the State Fair and other things that were going through his mind. He obviously needed no further information on soaring. While we were setting up the V-gilante and the hi-start, some other flyers showed up at the field. Bill Hansen appeared with his titillating domestic partner, Nancy. Nancy has an Olympic II that is the platform for her learning to fly. She decided that she had better start flying gliders if she was ever to schedule in some playtime with Bill. Nancy had her first flight of the day before my plane was launched. Robbie guffawed unmercifully when the glider would occasionally sneak into a minor stall pattern with Nancy heroically trying to tame the beast. Not to worry though, Bill was there to save the day in case things got too far out of hand. Oh yes, it was on one of these flight-saving fetes-of-daringdo that Bill managed to do a spot landing right into my little red Ford Escort! Needless to say, that was the ultimate test of our friendship. Not wanting to be bothered with too much preflight instruction, Robbie was immediately ready to set the glider-flying-standards for generations to come. I put the V-gilante up on my mini hi-start and found some thermal activity on the second launch. When I was at about a thousand feet, I gave the transmitter to Robbie. Not the least bit interested in being gentle on the sticks and starting out using only turn control as I had advised, Robbie began wildly churning the sticks. The glider was in a terminal spiral dive 100 ft off the deck in about 10 seconds. Faithful to his promise, Robbie instantly relinquished the transmitter at my request. While fearlessly trying bold and creative moves had proven to be an effective problem solving technique on other platforms, such as the computer, it did not serve Robbie well in learning to fly gliders. On one flight, it looked like Robbie was getting a modicum of control, taking him an impressive 30 seconds to put the V-gilante into a "death dive". I barely had time to pull it out before impact, although Robbie readily gave up the transmitter to me. After the plane was safely under control he calmly asked why I had taken the transmitter because the plane was still high and doing fine. As it tuned out, on Robbie's best flight to that time, he had been looking a Jim Thomas's V-tailed handlaunch glider that had miraculously climbed out past Jim's personal "glass ceiling" height which is the sum of his length plus his girth. However, Jim can normally keep his handlaunch flying indefinitely, within that ceiling, on hot air alone. By the last flight of the day, after about eight near disasters, Robbie decided to try a more conservative approach and was able to maintain a semblance of control for a minute or so. From past experience with other new flyers, I can say that had Robbie been willing to use that approach from the beginning, with his natural abilities, he would have been flying in fairly good control for fifteen minutes at a time by the end of the day. As it was, all that Robbie learned was that he couldn't learn to fly a subtle machine like a glider using a heavy-handed technique. He also learned that what he really wanted to fly was a radio controlled helicopter. Go figure! What can you do? It seems that some people are born with an innate sense of wonder at powerless flight. They marvel as the eagles effortlessly spiral higher without ever flapping their wings. They must run home to change underwear after experiencing the excitement of their first simple free flight glider catching a thermal and soaring out-of-sight to glider heaven. Then there are those who see a glider and their reaction is to want to stick a motor on it so that they can go thrashing around the sky like a bumblebee. As a prolog, later that week I invited Bill and Nancy Hansen over to my house for desert. This invitation was about three years overdue so I wanted to make up for my tardiness by having a gourmet desert. I made a refrigerator desert from an old family recipe that is my own personal favorite --although no one else in my family shares my unbridled passion for it. Robbie. Since he was already in so solid with Bill and Nancy from his support of her flying efforts at the field and since my bruised ego needed vindication, I ushered him into the midst of the desert party and offered him a piece of my specialty. My day was salvaged! Robbie gave the desert his enthusiastic endorsement! Sandy and Nancy soon split to talk about mundane matters, such as the true meaning of life, while Bill, I and Robbie were left to talk about the important stuff like gliders. It wasn't long until Robbie was launching into such blasphemous ideas as putting a video camera and an infinite array of sensors on board the glider and then you could fly it using a computer monitor and it would be as neat as playing a video game! At this point, Bill demanded that I throw the heretic out! He was just not a soaring kind of a guy! The next day Robbie called me up with such a pitiful story about his unceremonious departure from my party the night before that I suddenly realized it was not his fault. He was born without powerless flight genes. He was perhaps the first properly diagnosed victim of the newly discovered "Soaring Gene Deficit" syndrome --S.G.D. As he talked, one well presented point that he drove home to me was that no one had explained to him what his unforgivable sin had been. His clinching argument was that it was like going to a class at school where everyone in the room knows the rules but you. Having had my less than brilliant moments in school, I was a real sucker for that argument. What could I do to make up for my brash action against this soaringly challenged but otherwise innocent victim of premature-hospitality-termination? Fortunately, I still had some of my prize desert left! To my gratification, Robbie happily ran over and gobbled down two helpings. He appeared satisfied and I was pleased to see someone else share my ardor for my favorite treat. Our bliss was short lived, however. About half an hour after he went home, Robbie was on the phone asking if the Hansens had experienced reverse peristalsis from eating my delightful concoction. It seems that Robbie had been living with his head in a bucket for the last half hour! Needless to say, his Mom was not real ecstatic to find Robbie and the well-used barf bucket on the living room floor when she came upstairs! In a way, I guess that this retching experience was an appropriate climax to Robbie's soaring initiation! Perhaps the moral here is that everyone has to throw-up something --if you don't throw-up a glider you may throw-up a glider flyers favorite desert. In honor of his 15th birthday, I collaborated on the little limerick to Robbie: There is a young man from next door

Who mows our lawn and much more.

With weed-wacker in hand He levels our land And entertains us with ideas galore.

Self-cleaning ovens he starts

And he dissects computers for parts.

While he dreams about Macs On PCs he still hacks. And his thoughtful, kind ways warm our hearts.

Radio controlled gliders are his nemesis.

The "Death Dive" is his modus operandus

With Robbie churning the sticks Other flyers hit the bricks Shouting "fast Hands will be the death of us!"

Of fine deserts he is a connoisseur

so I served him my best one de jure

He suavly grabbed a bucket and proceeded to up-chuck it and then flushed it all down the sewer

Congratulations to you, Robbie, for getting your amateur radio technicians license on your first try! Now you can project your sphere of influence around the entire region! Just don't send a stray signal out on channel 44 to get even with me for my harmless and well-meaning verbiage!

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Congrats Dave Johnson

And Other NWSS Soaring Gladiators!

Dave Johnson - from Vancouver, WA: and his Saber are the 1994 Season Champions for the Northwest Soaring Society! This competition region includes 5 States and Western Canada!Dave has won this honor 7 times, starting in 1978 and he has always won it flying Dodgson Designs gliders.

Interestingly, Murray Johnson, was a close second to Dave for the Season trophy. Murray was flying his Lovesong. Geoff Almvig and his Anthem placed fourth for the season. These pilots and gliders out-flew all the latest "bullshitically correct" clone gliders showing that flat-out soaring performance still wins over "launching and dorking" performance when it is tried!

Dave Johnson and his Saber also won the 1994 LSF Regional contest in Portland, OR! Dodgson Designs ships swept the rest of the 1994 regional LSF standings as follows:Bill Hansen and his V-gilante - 3rd, Terry Goodman and Anthem - 4th, Tom Brightbill and Saber - 5th and Ray Cooper and Anthem 6th! In 1993, Dave and his Saber won the prestigious NWSS Championship Tournament for the 6th time! Prior to this season Dave had been flying and winning with his 8-year-old Windsong which he still uses as his back-up plane.

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Threading Your Way Around 1/32 Diameter Pushrods

Bill Nichols from Phoenix, AZ called to pass along a neat method for putting 2-56 threads on the ends of 1/32 inch diameter pushrods. 1/32 inch diameter pushrods are used on our V-gilante and Wee-gilante kits. You may remember that Bill Nichols is the guy who recommended "glue trips" in an earlier issue of Second Wind. I guess he is still tripping-out at the flying field.

Bill says that you can solder a length of 1/16 inch O.D. brass tube sleeve onto the end of the rod. The rod should extend through to the end of the sleeve. Using a 2-56 die, thread the end of the brass tube. It is that simple! If you want to stiffen up a longer section of the end of the rod, make the unthreaded portion of the brass tube sleeve longer as needed. If you have an aversion to soldering, you can sand the end of the rod and CA the sleeve in place.

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V-gilante Kit Review

by George Voss

Bob Dodgson is alive and well in Washington State. With his early 1980's designed Windsong/Lovesong series of sailplanes, Bob set the pace for composite sailplanes for American built ships. This review concerns Dodgson Designs' latest sailplane, the V-gilante. The "V" sports a V-tail, a new Mono-seam fuselage and the popular SD7037 airfoil. Enough chit-chat, let's take a close look at this new design. Construction: As usual, I started on the tail pieces. Nothing unusual here. Simple, light, strong, built-up construction. Only high quality pine and oak woods are included in the tail section. I used 5 minute epoxy with lead silica mixed in for best adhesion. Wing construction begins with the spars. The spars are composites of carbon fiber, titanium and mild steel with some wood thrown in for good measure. I used spital to adhere the spar to the foam core. I decided to use the vacuum bag method to attach the sheeting to the cores. Bob recommends the use of double sided tape to adhere the sheeting. I've used this method in the past and it works just fine, but is much too simple. I used Waste Systems epoxy from Composite Sarcophagus Technology mixed with lead silica to assure proper adhesion. I mixed up a quart of the adhesive/silica mix and poured it onto the sheeting. I used a cement trowel to spread the epoxy mixture evenly on the sheeting. The lead silica added as a thickening agent worked as described, although I needed assistance in lifting each piece of sheeting onto the foam. I adjusted my vacuum system to give a maximum of 6 hg to assure the foam wouldn't be crushed and placed the wings in the bag over night. To my surprise (horror) my table had collapsed over night! I guess the lead silica was more than the table could handle. Oh well, at least the wing panels came out okay. I removed the wing panels from the bag using a forklift. All that remained was to install the servos, leading edge and root and tip pieces. I found the best way to remove the sheeting from the servo area is not documented in Dodgson's excellent instruction book. After ruining a dozen or so X-acto blades, I finally pulled out my soldering iron and burned the wood away and melted the lead silica/epoxy mixture and the foam simultaneously. Radio hook up was very simple by following Bob's instructions. I had NO radio interference problems. My electronics friend mentioned something about "shielding and nuclear hardening" but I didn't know what that meant since electronics is not my thing. Fuselage assembly was next. Not much to do here. The hardest part is giving the forward portion a "nose job". This only takes a few minute though. Radio installation in the fuselage consists of the rudder, elevator and flap servos, RX and battery. One unique feature of the V-gilante is the wing mounting system. The wing is held on using the tow-hook as the retaining bolt! This puts the launch load directly on the main wing rod where it belongs. The fuselage is just along for the ride. I final sanded everything in preparation for covering. I like to have show finishes so my covering job took a fairly long time. If you choose to use something as simple as plastic film on the flying surfaces, covering should take only a few evenings. To achieve a smooth surface on the tails, I sheeted them with 1/8 inch oak veneer and covered that with 6 oz. glass cloth followed by 2 oz. and finally 3/4 oz. cloth. 6 coats of resin were applied in continuous steps. Final sanding was done using a 50 grit sanding drum dry on the router. The wings were sealed from the elements with helispheres (helium spheres). This was troweled on smooth and back in the vacuum bag they went. The next day revealed completely sealed wing skins with a glass smooth surface. Only light sanding was needed prior to applying 4 rolled on coats of Sears Best Weatherbeater Latex paint. The fuselage only required the 4 coats of Weatherbeater to achieve a show finish. Surprisingly, the V-gilante came out very close to Bob's recommended wing loading. However, I think there is a misprint in the instructions. They stated wing loading in oz/sq ft. Mine came out fractions of an ounce over Bob's recommended 9-10 oz/sq ft, but I think ft should be inch. (I think!) This was the first ship I was unable to do some hand tosses with. I wasn't able to secure a forklift for the first launch and since I have a bad back, initial launches were attempted ROG. I had recently purchased a B.A.T. winch with a 4 winding motor and #230 line. After a dozen futile attempts to launch the V-gilante and numerous line breaks equal to our attempts we quit for the day. I think it had something to do with molten copper dripping from the winch motor. I quickly placed an order to Timbs Engineering to obtain an F3B winch with 1/8 inch braided steel cable. With 12 6-volt batteries, 6 in series and six parallel, again ROG launches were attempted. Some progress was made as the V-gilante at least was propelled toward the turnaround. That was until the cable cut the turnaround in half, halting our second day of efforts. Success came after the installation of a Quadra 42 in the nose. We chose to hook up the winch without the turnaround and launch directly toward the winch. Telecommunication was set up between the winch master and myself to assure proper timing. I told the winch master to "hammer down" as I slammed the throttle forward. After a brief ground run, the V-gilante headed skyward like a scalded cat! What a beautiful sight to behold. The winch master turned the winch off moments before I hollered Whoa. Through the radio communications I could hear people yelling "FIRE" and swore I heard a fire extinguisher go off, but I was too busy to look at the winch since I was flying. I was about to pull the power off the "V", but when I did, nothing happened! I guess the throttle rubberband had overcome the servo and it was stuck. I chose to use this time to test its aerobatic capabilities. A Cuban 8, stall turn and avalanche were tried with good success. The Judges gave me 9.5's. Some pylon turns were tried with some VERY impressive results. This ship looks like a very good candidate for Madera! After rounding pylon #3, the Q finally quit. Like most powered sailplanes, the "V" covers lots of sky while searching for lift. The ship is EXTREMELY stable as nothing short of a tornado can move it. On a later outing, I was able to thermal the "V" fairly well, of course when you see a guy's VW Rabbit spiraling upward, you can assume the lift is pretty good. Our field is about 1500 ft. long and "V" had no trouble hitting the spot. It is imperative, though, that you have about 1450 feet remaining in front of you when you hit the spot! My final impressions are favorable. It is quite an accomplishment to produce a kit with the remarkable abilities that the "V" has. As previously stated, only two minor things came up and they were the misprints of "foot" instead of "inch" in the wing loading and the lack of instructions for possible launch assistance needed in the form of the "Q". I can highly recommend the "V" if you have more money than brains and want to aid the U.S. and Washington State economies. Normally I wish you thermals, But in the case of the "V", it's NITRO and LOTS of it. See ya! Editor's Note:  Yet another (and hopefully improved) V-gilante kit review by George Voss is supposed to appear in "Model Builder" magazine early in 1995.

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Voices From My Past

I have been deeply touched by the support that my many soaring friends have shown me during my recent health problems with Churg Straus Syndrome. Well, I am here to say that I am back to nearly full speed! My doctor told me on my last visit that I was his "patient of the year"! I am sure that I could even run a winch pedal successfully again (since I use a hi-start for sport flying, I have not tried using a winch since last summer).

The most surprising call I got was from Dick Pike of Horseheads, NY. Dick was about the first guy to start flying and promoting my original kit, the TODI, on the East Coast, starting in 1972. Dick won many contest with my ships in the early days and got such notable flyers as Dwight Holley and Bob Bougher flying them.

It was this trio of flyers who first used electronic mixing and servos in the wings on my Maestro gliders. This was in the mid to late 1970s and to my knowledge it was the first time that electronic mixing and servos in the wings for full multichannel control was ever used. If I remember correctly, Bob Baugher was the electronics whiz that made it possible. Bob went on to win the famed Dan Pruss Directed LSF Nationals with his electronic T-tailed Maestro in about 1979. I, of course, chided these three men for their electronic excesses and calmly explained to them that it was easier and a lot more economical to get the same control functions by using servos in the fuselage and my mechanical mixing systems. Undaunted by the power of my logic, they persevered in pioneering electronic solutions --working with Ace to come up with special features on their transmitters. Their efforts helped pave the way toward making true computer radios available and affordable by the late 1980s. And yes, there were even "V" tailed Maestros built in the 1970s! As most of you know, Dwight Holley was the perennial East Coast champion for most of the 1970s flying his Maestro. Dwight later went on to win the world F3B championships in Sacramento, CA in about 1981. Dwight won the world title with his own smaller design, the Gobbler, which utilized the Maestro control system and technology. After he won he told me that sometimes when he was in a generous mood he called the Gobbler a "Little Maestro". Dwight, you are fondly remembered by those of us who knew you and flew with you. Needless to say, it was great touching base with Dick (Harvard Beats) Pike again. Sadly, he is flying mostly electric "thermal on demand" girlie gliders now. But, I remember in 1972 when the entire Eastern seaboard trembled as he pulled out his mighty weapon (his TODI of course) at early contests and made multichannel soup out of the rudder/elevator only state-of-the-art flyers of the day. Another notable call was from Bill Forrey. I had not seen Bill in about 10 years. He not only offered me support in my health situation, he asked for information on my new kits. To my amazement, he placed a color photo of both the Wee-gilante and V-gilante gliders in the New Products section of Model Builder Magazine. This exposure combined with my recent ad campaign in Model Builder have been most effective in the successful launching of the Wee and V kits. Thank you all for standing by me through the years and for your continued support. More than the soaring itself, it is the people who soar that I enjoy and appreciate the most ________________________________________________________________________________

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