Electronic Second Wind 96-1

Second Wind 96-1

The Newsletter for soaring gods in a "winged arrow" world

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In This Issue, Jump Directly To:

If you can't see the Forrest for the Vees by Forrest Adams

'Super Saber' Modifications by Ken Raymond

Anthem and Lovesong --You Just Gotta Lovethem! by Bob Dodgson

First Place Trophy with the 2-meter Wee-gilante in open class! by Mark Wales

Doig's Diminutive Dowel by Vince Johnkoski

Anthem for Simple Radios by Charlie Wells

Loquacious Lumpy's Ludicrous Lament by Bob "Lumpy" Allen and Bob Dodgson

Pete Peterson's Electric Windsong has flown!

The Art of Orbiter-2 Construction by Art Boysen

Pivotal Points to Ponder! by Waid Reynolds and Mark Stefaniw

Season Champion, Jon Weyl with Carl Bice and Windsong Classics!

The answere to the Two-Song question will not be found in Arizona! by Mike Bronk and Bob Dodgson

Hot Air Masters! by Alvin Sugar

Vintage Video Virtues by Louis Cimon

You can get your Phil in California too by Mark Castagnoli

We finally got our Web Feet wet by Bob Dodgson

New 2-Piece Wing Option for the Orbiter-2 gives it a leg up on the competition by Asher Carmichael and Bob Dodgson

It's the Wing Stupid! by Bill Gaston

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If you can't see the Forrest for the Vees, you had better take another look at the Anthem and Forrest's aft C.G. position!

The Soaring Anthem!

Bob Dodgson, Please accept the photos of my 1st Anthem. The eleven year-old is my daughter. Thank you so much for your contributions to RC Soaring. Every time I fly my Anthem, it brings me joy. I can search efficiently for lift, ride the lift as far downwind as I can see, penetrate home and land this huge bird on the spot. This sailplane is also very strong and will take much abuse. After probably 200-300 flights, no repairs have been needed. I am a design engineer for Lockheed in Fort Worth and I am always trying to think of a better way to accomplish a task --I would not change a thing on the this sailplane. . . Continue to "go for it" Bob!

Your Friend,

Forrest Adams.

Forrest Adams has found a magical C.G. for his Anthem. He is flying it at the aft C.G. position that he mentioned in Second Wind 95-2. This aft C.G. position is 3-1/2" back from the wing LE at the wing root. Moreover, Forrest is more enthused about his Anthem's performance and handling every time I hear from him!

Forrest is the kind of guy who, after seeing Dave Banks thermal out his Windsong from handlaunches in the 10 year-old footage of our classic video tape, thought that he wanted to do the same thing with his Anthem. He knew that the noble Anthem with its unbelievable buoyancy was up to it, but Forrest did not think his arm was, As Forrest explained to me, he was no athlete. In fact, he flatteringly punctuated the fact by mentioning that he was in nearly as bad of shape as I was! Naturally, if he wanted to handlaunch the Anthem he would have to do something about his "wimpy" arm. He did what any clear-thinking American would do --he got hold of a professional trainer! Not wanting to overdo, however, Forrest cautioned the trainer that he only wanted to exercise his right arm. He did not want his efforts dissipated by enhancing other areas that would be of little use to him. In a few months, the training sessions paid off and now Forrest describes himself as a wimpy guy with one awesome appendage! And, yes he can and does regularly thermal out his 132" Anthem from handlaunches! He says that it flies so well with the C.G. at the aft (3-1/2" back from the LE) position, that he can set up a thermal turn and hold it, hands off, by setting his trim lever. No one has ever said that about one of my multichannel designs before! One trick, besides the aft C.G., that Forrest is using with his magical Anthem is that he thermals with a tad of positive camber. He has about 3 degrees camber on the flaps and about 1 degree camber on the ailerons. This not only is giving him camber but also a little washout effect in the wing tips. He feels that the washout may be one reason why he can thermal turn hands off. For cruising, Forrest uses 3 degrees of negative camber on both the flaps and the ailerons. Forrest found that his Anthem retains energy so efficiently that when he tried losing altitude by looping, the Anthem continued climbing though about 30 to 40 loops. He was glad that he could throw out full flaps and point the great bird straight down to safely dethermalize! Forrest's own words: Thanks for the wonderful design! Guess what - yesterday (3/17/96) my Anthem flew 71 minutes and 48 seconds! The only reason that it was not longer was because I was tired and had to stop. This was not slope lift. It was about 10 or 11 different thermals scattered around the sky. This sailplane can soar and penetrate! Cambered, it floats like a feather. Reflexed it hauls ass with almost no altitude loss! [My Anthem has a] magical airfoil. No one knows exactly what it is because it was made by human hands --not from a mold. We have created a soaring anomaly. This plane has unreal capabilities at the aft C.G. position of 3.5" from the LE. Note: costly clone gliders would not have the opportunity to become this plane. My Anthem was hand-crafted into a unique combination of aerodynamic superiority. [And now the hand-crafter's Anthem] Each soaring machine I build is a chance to create something better than before. It's that hope that keeps me building. If all planes came from identical molds, they would all be the same --then we would never know if that unique combination of 6 months of sanding, glassing, assembly and careful construction might just do something none has ever done before. Maybe that's the spirit of invention and scientific inquiry that keeps us going. We already know how a Thermal Eagle flies --don't we? Forrest now has several hundred flights on his aft C.G. Anthem. It weighs in at 78 oz.. It is covered with Ultracote Plus and according to Forrest, it out-flies anything he has seen. Whoops, make that flying weight about 75.5 oz. because Forrest is now using a hollow wing-rod that he gets from Aircraft Spruce (call 1-800-824-1930 for their catalog). The wingrod in 3/8" O.D. High-tensile strength Chromolly (sp) Steel and has .058 wall thickness. It cost about $1.00 per foot and save about 2.5 oz of weight on the Anthem or Saber --according to Forrest. ________________________________________________________________________________

Ken Raymond explains his 'Super Saber' modifications

Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 - From: kraymond@its.ucsd.edu

Bob, I have talked to you several times before, and have bought 2 Saber kits from you. I have been a modeler for 20 years and a long time associate of Al Doig's. Anyway, Al several years ago experimented with a swept back tip on a Saber but came to no concrete decisions as to its effect-- pro or con. I came up with a tip that sweeps out 10" to almost a point extending aft of the trailing edge for about an inch. The tip transitions to a symmetrical section about 3 inches from the tip. I flew this bird in So. Calif. almost exclusively for 2 years in SCSC's and local contests against some of the best in the nation. I could out thermal any of them with this bird and almost always made time. People would watch in awe as this one hung-in the weakest lift. If I was better at landing I would have racked up more trophies. I flew a standard Saber for a year or 2 previously until I lost it in the sun at the Southwest Soaring contest in Phoenix. I can say there is no comparison in the way the 2 birds flew. The swept back tip is superior. After 2 years I tangled with a power line, and sadly bought a top notch competitors kit. Big mistake, it was like going from a Mercedes to a VW. Ken Date: Wed, 10 Jan 1996 Bob, Rechecked my wing tip, and the 'washout' at the NACA airfoil should be 1-degree at the trailing edge compared to the data line for the Saber's SD7037. I believe the illustration text indicated 2.5-degrees difference. Is this message clear? Sorry for the problem-- what I do from memory is sometimes suspect-- I think age has something to do with it. You can probably correct the Windows Metafile. If not, I'll resend. Ken Raymond

More on the Super Saber from Ken Raymond

Date: Fri., 1 Dec 1995 - From: kraymond@its.ucsd.edu (Ken Raymond)

Bob,. . . Another mod was made to the Saber by extending the vertical rudder and post 1-1/4" upward from the original. The 'graphic' explains this further. The wing was extended about 10" to each side. If you get 'jazzed' on this, I will whack off the good wing tip and mail it to you. My wings are history after 2 years of abuse, but I have one club member that wanted to buy the wreck anyway because the plane flew so well (I refused to sell)... The Saber becomes the Super Saber with this modification. Use very little crow or none at all, for landing. If crow is used, make sure the ailerons deflect below the lower wing surface 1/4" even at full crow when changing direction on landing. It will wander to one side unless the aileron action is positive. I set mine at only about 1/4" up aileron at maximum crow. Ken Raymond - CA

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The Anthem and Lovesong --You Just Gotta Lovethem!

Well, Forrest has lots of other ideas too --too many to sandwich into one newsletter!. His latest project is to build a set of Eppler 214 wings for a Lovesong/Anthem to see how its performance compares to the Anthem. Yes, I must admit that Forrest talked me into doing what no man has been able to talk me into doing up to this point --to cut more E214 Lovesong cores. Forrest is using 1/16 balsa sheeting as was used on the Lovesong but he is building the rest of the wing per the Anthem --including the Anthem CF spar system. So, he will end up with a super strong wing.

If others are interested, I could possibly be persuaded to sell Anthem kits with 214 wing cores and balsa wing sheeting for $260.00. For another $10.00, I will even throw in all the mechanical linkages so that you can operate it full function without a computer radio! It will fly several ounces lighter that way too!

Note: this may be a very limited offer so I cannot promise the availability of the "Lovethem". Also, be advised that you will be building from both the Anthem plans and the Lovesong plans --so you should be an experienced builder. ARF types (like Lumpy) --don't even think about it! Both sets of plans will be supplied with the kit. Thank you Forrest for getting me off my duff and talking me into supplying the 214 cores and thanks for pioneering the project with the first prototype.

epilog:

I just got a call from Forrest and he has already flown his Lovethem. It weighs just 67.5 oz. and floats like a dream. However, he still prefers his heavier Anthem with the aft C.G. The Anthem floats well and moves out more efficiently. However, the more he flies the Lovethem the better he likes it. Even at 7:00 PM he nearly climbed out from a handlaunch with it!

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Mark Wales won his first 1st place trophy with the little 2-meter Wee-gilante --Flying against the open class ships!

Mark Wales says:

. . . I finished my Wee-gilante 2 weeks prior to the November 5th contest and only had a dozen or so flights on the plane. But after a long debate, I decided to leave my Windsong at home and just take the Wee-gilante . . . After arriving at the field, I discovered that everyone else was flying unlimited size aircraft and I wondered if I had made a mistake by leaving my Windsong at home. Even though I was giving up a lot of wing area to the competition, the little Wee (or super-Wee) out-climbed and out-performed everything that Mr. Tupperware had to offer in my class (sportsman) where I placed first --and I even scored enough points to place 3rd overall for the contest! I can't say enough about this fine aircraft to make anyone understand --unless they build one for themselves and share the experience, from first opening the box to being handed their first 1st place trophy. Bob, I would like to say thanks for this wonderful kit that has helped me get to the winners circle. Mark Wales - AR

Epilog:

I got a call from Mark on 4/5/96 to learn that he had completed his 100 in. long V-gilante wings for his Wee-gilante. He had then flew his now V-gilante in the March 10th Memphis Area Soaring Society contest against all the open class ships. Mark placed 1st in Sportsman class and 2nd in the overall standings! Not bad for his V-gilante's fist contest!

For just the price of a V-gilante wing kit, Mark now has his original 2-meter contest winning Wee-gilante and he has the 100 in., highly portable, open class winning V-gilante! That is a lot of performance and versatility for the soaring dollar! ________________________________________________________________________________

Doig's Diminutive Dowel

From: VinJkoski@aol.com

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995

Subject: Windsong Classic Review

Bob, I read Al Doig's review of the Windsong Classic in the Nov. issue of R/C Modeler in which he quoted a lot of figures, two of which I question; perhaps you can set me straight.

First, he said the original Windsong had a 1/4 inch diameter wing rod --mine had a 5/16 inch one and I thought mine was one of the first kits. I know it was 5/16 inch because I bent the heck out of it! [Vince you are correct. The original Windsong kits were shipped with 5/16" diameter wingrods. The Lovesong kits were shipped with 11/32" wingrods.] Second, he says the Classic has a 6 degree dihedral angle and if my memory serves me correctly, the original Windsong had 2 degrees. The rather poor quality pictures in RCM (my copy anyway) seem to show about the same dihedral angle as original, at least as far as I can tell. Did you increase the dihedral? [The Windsongs and Lovesongs had 2 to 3 degrees of dihedral per wing panel --as much as the modeler could reasonably get into the wings. The Windsong Classic has a total of 6 degrees dihedral or 3 degrees per panel. So the Classic has about the same dihedral as its predecessors --except that many builders were not able to get that much dihedral into the spar system.] I would like to add that I feel you are correct in your email where you state that the best way to bond balsa to white foam is to use two-sided [transfer] tape. I have seen numerous cases of separation of the balsa sheeting from the foam with subsequent wing failure where epoxy has been used. (As well as a lot of heavy wings.) My original Windsong used your tape and the wings were strong! When it met the earth after ten years of flying (programming error --all down, no up elevator) and the wings separated into four large pieces and numerous small ones, every piece of balsa had a chunk of foam stuck to it which was very difficult to remove. Thanks, Vince Johnkoski ________________________________________________________________________________

Anthem For Simple Radios

March 1, 1996

Dear Bob, recently I purchased an Anthem kit from Dodgson Designs. Perhaps you will recall from our conversation that I intended to construct the plane for use without a computer radio --that is with Lovesong linkages.

I am writing to report that the plane is about finished. All the remains to be done is the painting and covering which must await a bit warmer weather. Since this is my fourth Dodgson Designs plane, I wanted to tell you how pleased I have been with my previous three Lovesongs, and now with the Anthem. In addition to being of top quality in design, material and flying capacity, your planes are always interesting and challenging to build. I find that my mind is occupied for hours at a time just considering how to approach the construction step. I want to especially thank you for including both the Lovesong flap and aileron linkages in the kit. I found that the conversion of the Anthem to mechanical linkages was straight forward with no glitches. I suspect that the plane might be lighter with these linkages than with the 6 servo computer radio mode. Time will tell. Again, many thanks for your thoughtful inclusion of these linkages in the kit. I found the obechi to be a very interesting material to work with. I was forewarned to be careful, and I experienced no problems. However, I did apply two techniques that may be of interest --but which are probably "old hat" to your experienced builders: 1) Before applying the obechi to the cores with transfer tape, I well sanded the "down side" of the obechi. This gave me a very smooth surface which assured a very secure bond to the cores. Without sanding, there is enough raised grain in the wood that it could reduce the wood to foam bond. 2) Before applying the obechi to the cores, I ran a double layer of masking tape down the leading edge of the "up side" of the obechi. Since I wanted to tape the leading edge of the obechi down against the epoxied sub-leading edge of the cores, I was concerned that the obechi would split in this process. I found that the double layer of tape sufficiently Strengthened the obechi that I was able to thoroughly tape the leading edge down until the epoxy set with no splitting or distortion. The result was a very secure leading edge! Once again, probably old hat to your builders. And again, many thanks for another great building experience and what I know will be another great flying plane! Sincerely, Charlie Wells - MD ________________________________________________________________________________

Used Saber For Sale!

$250.00 without any servos. Available with radio too. Contact:

Rick Miles

1820 206th Street SW

Lynnwood, WA 98036 (206) 771-8429

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Loquacious Lumpy's Ludicrous Lament

Date: Sun, 03 Dec 1995 - From: DQZY84A@prodigy.com (Robert "Lumpy" Allen)

. . . We went to our slope Saturday and had a great day. The wind was out of the north --the best direction for us even though we can fly wind from any compass direction. Mike Williams put this site out on the net for those traveling types that would like to try sloping in a flat state. Carl Bice flew his Opus. He said that he is saving his Windsong Classic (WC) for the next contest in Punta Gorda in January. I came very close to whacking him out in the last contest but I lost on purpose to save the WC reputation. Just kidding. The plane has a very good reputation and everybody talks highly of its capabilities. It seems to lift in the lightest of thermals and it lands like a butterfly. However, I would like to see it manufactured in kevlar and in an ARF state of completion. It would be by far the best ship on the market! what would it take to get you to check into this with out getting mad for even thinking in those directions? Kevlar, I admit, is very light but it gives away on the rigidity of the design. To remedy this, I was thinking about putting some polyurethane foam in the fuse where it could work to stiffen it up at critical points. Other than that I await your, no doubt, aggravated response! So, take it easy, and maybe a Vallium, before answering this. Well, that's it for now. I will buy your first ARF epoxy ship if you can figure one out for those of us that can't build well but who have no problem assembling and installing the radio. I hope you can try and make it down here once before you go to the big WC in the sky. Your friend, Big Lumpy Bob Allen - FL [Bob Dodgson's response:

Well, I am resting quietly after popping 10 Valiums and so I can answer your post on epoxy/Kevlar ARFs.

Your slope day sounds like fun. Glad to hear that Carl did not bring out the old iron WC to the slope. It would just take everything else out anyway. He knows that there is nothing that can touch him now that the Lumpy Lady is history!

About your ARF WC dreams Lumpy, in this instant gratification world we now live in, there has to be something set aside for the true building/soaring gods among us --and that is the WC. If it were available as an ARF to everyone that got an impulse to fly, it would be a corruption of my mission in life --to supply manna to the soaring gods. I alone stand between the drive-in window world of "give it to me nowism" and the traditions of the great craftsmen and artists of the past. The joy, fulfillment and self actualization of viewing a glider building job that you are proud of cannot be acquired in a men's room condom dispenser --it must be earned through effort, patience and cunning! Hence, the sipping of the sweet nectar of the performance of the WC is reserved for the soaring gods --not for the Lumpys on the countenance of the gods. Oh, I have to quite. My Vallium is wearing off! Bye for now, Bob Dodgson] ________________________________________________________________________________

Pete Peterson's Electric Windsong Has Flown!

With its 132" wingspan, it weighs 88 oz. using standard servos and receiver. It utilized a 13-7 folding prop on its initial flights. Pete said that the performance in the climb was good and the soaring performance was excellent! It could get several climb-outs per charge --so with the Windsong's soaring ability you could easily fly all day without recharging your motor batteries! For further details contact:

Roland (Pete) Peterson

Model Electronics Corporation

6500 - 6th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98117 (206) 782-7458

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The Art of Orbiter-2 Construction

Date: Oct. 31, 1995

Robert, I got some info from my flying buddies back in Colorado. Yes, I do have a few friends still back there. Model Research Labs (25108 Marguerite #160, Mission Viejo, CA 92692) has some clear 0.0015 mylar covering material. Item # 019 in their catalog. It is a heat shrinking polyester film just like Monokote but half the Weight and thickness. Weight is 0.0009236 oz. per sq. in. which comes out to 0.1330 oz. per sq. ft or 1.197 oz. per sq. yd. (If I did the math right.) It goes on at 330 degrees F. Will hold its shape for 5 years without being affected by the environment. It can be painted on the adhesive side with cheap spray paints. By leaving the top clear, you could come up with some interesting patterns on the Orbiter. It is $25.00 for a 24" x 75' roll (a life time supply) so the price is reasonable (plus $3.00 shipping per order). There is no need to worry about using balsarite or other compound for the material to stick either. It is easy to work with but not quite as easy as Ultrakote is. I will order some for my Orbiter in a couple of weeks since I am finishing up a 60" Saturn slope racer. It was a HL before but the Orbiter will be much better for HL.

They also have a sanding sealer for getting a good light finish on wood. $12.00 for a 32 oz bottle. It is lacquer based so do not know how it would work for clear coating an obechi wing but it would work well for the tail surfaces on the Orbiter. Drop them a line to get the latest price list. Keep me posted. Art continues: 18 Dec. 1995 - I almost got the Orbiter 2 done. Just need to cover the tails and install the radio. Looks like the weight will be around 12 ozs. That covering material I informed you about earlier works good. Only added 20 grams to the wings and 3 grams to the fuse. I tried to paint it but I let the paint dry too long and it started flaking off so I aborted this operation and left it clear. Looks like it should be as durable as Monokote. Seams are nearly invisible.

I made a couple of changes to it. You are probably chomping at the bit waiting to fire a note back to me telling me I can not leave things well enough alone. The changes were minor. I made a 2 piece wing and left the aileron linkages internal for a clean surface. That was it. Now if I can only do something about the linkages at the tail hanging out.....

[Art Boysen is the one who inspired me to make a two-piece wing option available for the Orbiter-2. Art showed that the Orbiter-2, with a 2-piece wing, could still come in at under a 12 oz. flying weight] A few comments about the kit. You only supplied 4 pieces of 1/32" x 1/8" to be used for the cap stripping on the wings. Only enough to do one side of the wing. I cut more out of the sheets so no big deal. Also, the spruce piece for the radio tray was 5" long when it needed to be 8" long. Found another piece in the scrap box so was able to continue. The kit is of good quality and it went together easy. Plans are great. I am going to build a S4083 wing next to see how it will perform against the S4061. Should be interesting. Yes, I like to experiment. Enough words for now. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let you know how it flies. Probably next spring when it dries out. Saga continues: 11 Jan 1996 - Almost got the Orbiter 2 done, finally. Hard to motivate myself to work out in the cold garage. Just need to tweak the ailerons so they deflect the proper amount. Came in a little porky at 11.2 ounces. Not sure what I did wrong to make it so light. Am using a Futaba Attack 4 channel radio with a 270 MAH battery and 133 servos. The case was removed from the receiver in order for it to balance out properly. A two piece wing using a 1/4" carbon fiber rod in fiberglass tubing. Both sides of the tubing were laminated with the plywood you supplied with the kit after they were cut in half. The wing is held on with 4 nylon bolts: 2 6-32's in the front and 2 4-40's in the back. The total airframe (pod, tails and wing) was covered with the clear mylar. Lightening holes were cut in the tail feathers which saved a few grams. If the weather holds out this weekend, will try to fly it. Will keep you posted on the results.

Finally: 4 Mar 1996 - Been flying the Orbiter 2. I still need a lot more time with it but it is flying nice. Only problem I have with it is the tip stalling when I put too much elevator in the turn. I added a tad bit of washout (1/8") which helped a little but not enough. It sure loses a lot of altitude when it stalls. It is very durable since some of my landings have not been too graceful. It does not bounce off of barb wire fences too good. A slight dent in the leading edge that was easily popped out and CA'd. I need to work on my launching technique so I do not wear out my arm too quick. I changed the battery to a Sanyo 350 which I found at the show. Same size and weight as a 275. More is better, right? Enough said. Time for you to get back to work. Until later. Art Boysen - WA

Date: 6 Mar 1996 - Hello Bob, I was looking at the bird last night and decided to pass along some more info to confuse you more. I know, it is not hard to do. The front wing bolts are 6-32. Same location as the 1/4-20 bolt you use (from the leading edge but spaced apart 1/2" or so). The rear 4-40 bolts are 1" from the trailing edge and spaced apart about 1/4". Should have moved it forward another 1/4" or so to increase the spacing between the bolts. I used glass tubes (.234 ID) from Aerospace Composites (ACP) (item # TU-01) for the carrier tubes. A 32" piece is $3.50. The hollow carbon rod is .230 OD (item # RH-1). A 34" piece is $8.00 but I have seen it cheaper. The glass tubes have an OD of .278 so the back shear webs slightly bowed out around the tubes but no big deal. Another option (from corndog) is to go to an archery store and see what they have that meets your needs. (1/4" OD aluminum tube with a carbon fiber rod that fits inside.) The 350 battery I bought from E.H. Yost and Company (608-831-3443). A flat pack was $11.00 minus the connector. Enough confusion for now? I thought so. Art ________________________________________________________________________________

Pivotal Points to Ponder!

Date: Tue, 28 Nov. 1995

From: WaidRCSE@aol.com

>what's your impression of the Pivot kit so far?>

Bob Dodgson always puts out a first class kit. The Pivot is easy to build, I just haven't had time to work on it. The fuse is a fiberglass taco shell like the Lovesong, except that there is much less labor involved in building it. Wings are not presheeted, but are easy to sheet with transfer tape or epoxy (not included in kit). Sheeting is obechi. Airfoil is SD7037. Spars are spruce top and bottom with balsa shear web sandwiched between. They go together very quickly. >I'm thinking of a wingeron glider, and want >something that will fly well in light to >medium lift, but able to ballast up in better conditions.> The Pivot is a great little all-around fun glider. For traveling it will knock down to fit in the heavy duty cardboard box it came in. Brian Keefe carries one all over the World and flies it wherever he happens to be working. It looks like a miniature Lovesong. The Pivot thermals well and slopes well. You can launch by hand, hi-start, or winch. Maneuverability, especially the roll rate is outstanding. It is not bullet proof, though --no peddle to the metal winch launches allowed. I haven't tried ballasting one. The fuse is a little crowded under the wing, but where there's a will... Without ballast the Pivot will handle 25 mph winds with no problem. At a price of about $80 the Pivot is my pick for highest fun per dollar coefficient of any kit glider available. And, it looks great, too! Oh, another advantage of the Pivot is that it doesn't require a computer radio. An inexpensive 4 channel rig will work fine. Waid Reynolds, Seattle, Washington

Transfer Tape:

From: WaidRCSE@aol.com

Sent: Sunday, November 19, 1995

If you are building wings in which the flight loads are carried by spars, then by far the simplest way to apply sheeting, and also foolproof, is to use transfer tape. No clamping, weight, or vacuum is required. You just put the tape on one side of a wing core, then peel off the backing. Press the leading edge of the core against the sheeting. It will stick instantly.

Then, take the whole thing, sheeting side down, and roll it slowly into the appropriate wing saddle so that the entire core is pressed firmly against the sheeting. Do that for both sides of each wing. It's best to do the bottom surface first. Then, trim the trailing edge and taper it properly so that the top sheeting will not have to bend where it encounters the bottom sheeting. Before applying the top sheeting, you will want to put transfer tape along the tapered portion of the trailing edge, as well as on the core. If you want to reinforce the trailing edge/control surfaces you can apply light (0.5 - 0.75 oz.) fiberglass, etc. on the outside after sheeting. You might be able to apply it to the inside of the sheeting and let it set up before applying the sheeting, but I haven't tried this. I don't know how well the glass/epoxy (or carbon/epoxy) would bond to the transfer tape. Transfer tape works with either balsa or obechi. However, I believe that it is only suitable for white foam cores. After sheeting the wing you just trim and sand the leading edge of the core/sheeting, and apply your leading edge stock. You can use epoxy or UFO for gluing the leading edge on. The tape will last for years without delaminating. You can order transfer tape from Dodgson Designs in Bothell, Washington, near Seattle. Email: dodgsonb@eskimo.com. By the way, I have built quite a few vacuum bagged wings, both wood sheeted, and skinned with fiberglass/epoxy. I like this method of construction, but it is messy and does take more time and equipment/supplies than using xfer tape. You do get a stiffer wing than when using xfer tape, but I doubt that it is much, if any, stronger. Ten thousand Windsongs, Lovesongs, Sabers, Anthems, Camanos, Pixys and Pivots can't be wrong! Waid Reynolds, Seattle, Washington.

A Removable Stab In The Back:

From: stefaniw@dg-rtp.dg.com (Mark Stefaniw)

Date: Fri, 9 Feb 1996

>I will probably build a platform on the rear for the stab, so that I can make it removable. Kind of hard to align as is.>

>Why don't plans have something like this more often? Is it because of weight in the tail? It would be nice to see some good removable tail plans at least as an option on more kits.> Greg, it's been done before and here's one kit I know that employs a removable tail plan. Sorry if this sounds like an "ad", but I'm merely bragging. You could probably use this mechanism on many/most planes your building. Bob Dodgson's Pivot (and maybe all of his kits??) has a removable tail plan. It's real nice . . . in fact the whole airplane fits in its original box so I can carry it in the back with the dogs or take it on the airliner and not worry about it. The back of the fuse has a 1/32" ply "stab platform" in which you drill three 1/8" holes. These line up with holes you drill on the center line of the stab. So far so good? The (1/8" thick) fin gets three 1/8" slots which line up with the holes in the stab. Into these slots you glue 1/8" dowels into the *outside* slots and a 1/8" O.D. brass tube in the center slot. One end of the brass tube is threaded for a small nylon bolt. Still with me? Assembly: Set the stab on the stab platform over the holes. Fit the fin with its dowels and brass tube through the stab and stab platform. Insert nylon bolt from bottom of fuse which locks the whole thing onto the fuse. I went with the Pivot because of its portability. It is my "second ship" and at $85, I'd say it's a good deal for obechi over foam and a nice FG fuse. It has wingerons, hence the name Pivot. The wings are 72" but you can clip them down to 60" if you want. Airfoil is 7037 (I think). Comes with all the hardware you need. Bob's email address is: dodgsonb@eskimo.com. He might be happy to send you spec/price info on what he has to offer. Mark Stefaniw. ________________________________________________________________________________

Champion, Jon Weyl With Carl Bice And The Windsong Classics That Have Been Terrorizing The Florida Contest Circuit!

Carl Bice (left) and Jon Weyl (right) are holding their Windsong Classics while adroitly illustrating, with erected digits, their season places in the Florida Soaring Society. Jon finished 1st in Expert Class and Carl finished second for the season. Interestingly, Jon's season score was 220 points higher than the season score of the winner in Master's Class! Needless, to say, Jon is flying in Mater's Class this year! In fact, Jon placed first in Master's Class at FSS #1 contest on January 14th. Carl missed 3 landings and still placed third in Master's Class with his WC.

There is a tragic footnote to the strange history of multiple mid-airs between Carl's Windsong and Lumpy Allen's gliders. As if in revenge for the fate of the "Lumpy Lady" (see 2-Wind 95-2) During the FSS #2 contest, Lumpy mid-aired Carl's WC and hit it in the wing where it had been repaired from previous encounters. Sadly, the WC wing sheared off and the mighty WC was brought down for the last time! Lumpy's all glass bird flew on only to experience the belated sting of the shattered WC when Lumpy's bird folded during the next tow and was totaled out. Fortunately, Carl's WC will fly again. All it needed was a new set of wings --which it is now in the process of getting. ________________________________________________________________________________

The answer to the Two-Song Question will not be found in Arizona.

From: Mike Bronk

Date: Mon, 08 Jan 96

Hi Bob! I'm relatively new to RC Soaring. I've seen and admired your airplanes, but don't understand the difference between the two "-songs". Can you explain?

I'd like to comment that these two aircraft are classics in flight! I can't judge their competition potential against today's super high tech machines, but their "regal" response to unsettled air is fun to watch. Regards, Mike Bob Dodgson's response: Mike, the original Windsong came out in 1982. A structurally beefed up version came out in about 1988 and we called it the Lovesong. We stopped making the Lovesong in about 1992 --replacing it with the Anthem. The Anthem looked the same but had obechi sheeting instead of balsa and it used the SD7037 airfoil rather than the Eppler 214 as was used on the Windsong and Lovesong. Due to popular demand, about a year or so ago we released the Windsong Classic. It uses the same E214 airfoil, fuse and planform that the original Windsong and Lovesong used but it now comes with prebuilt wings, stabs and rudder using state-of-the-art CF reinforced construction for full bore winch tows. Bob Dodgson ________________________________________________________________________________

Hot Air Masters!

Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996

From: Alvin Sugar

Hi Bob, I am attempting to run an international postal thermal contest. In many respects it is in line with your soaring philosophy. This is a short launch contest of restricted line tension that uses a statistical system for soaring evaluation. The soaring factor (soaring time vrs dead air time) is quite large so thermaling skill is the largest necessary attribute. In fact in the case of ties, landing points are eliminated and average flying score determines winner, and for secondary ties, Sigma (standard deviation) will cinch the decision. The whole month of June is the scheduled flying date (30 days). The contest is titled the HOT AIR Masters. Al Sugar

Prologue:

Soaring today is squeezing itself dry. The activity requires a new direction for thinking, and not perfection of the current approach (with the assumption that flying fields are going to get bigger and better). My contribution is the fact that I am experimenting with soaring at power plane fields, and attracting future soaring fliers from the sport flying modeling ranks. They also want to fun fly the bubbles of lift; but without having to develop the depth of a "Soaring Calculator".

Although F3J is a better soaring format then what we presently have with the F3B convoluted AMA sailplanes, I believe it is still not a pivotal contest. The size fields and the altitude legally available for us to utilize, abridges the current tasks that most of the present contests entail. Realistically 6 minutes of soaring time would limit most of the over-flying, and a smaller launch system would make this approach very realistic. It is obvious that most of the "soaring dinosaurs" out there, just want to blindly venture into the tar pits, and only think of, 'now' instead of 'future' . . . or they look at future being bigger and better flying fields! (Wake up; It ain't gonna happen!!) The Hot Air Masters is an International postal event that capitalizes on the fact that each of the contesting modelers knows his area (field) and will fly competitively by creating statistics that will be used for scoring. House thermals are acceptable providing they are at least 1000 feet away from the pilot launch area. The use of slope assistance is forbidden. The short launching system limits a lot of traveling looking for lift, and thus it is imperative to maintain the concept of soaring machinery that launches on less than 15 lbs (6.8 kg) tension and the recommended weight of the sailplane empty should be less than 53 ounces (1.5 kg). The simple rules are not intended to be interpreted by lawyers; and a single witness is all that is required on your entry form flight report (for verification). June will be the selected flying date. In that one month time period you (the pilot) will select 12 sequential flights that you have accomplished with one specific sailplane, as your entry. Your scoring will be in a statistical Average format; coupled with landing performance. You do not have to do the 12 flights in one day if the weather turns foul. You can fly other machines in other events. You can break and repair your machine (without changing it dimensionally). You can fly the entry 25 times, and pick your best shot (of 12 consecutive flight and the related landings). Pack flying is recommended i.e. your club selecting a date so as to keep many machines in the air, and thus inform contestants what the air is doing. You can cheat, but you and your witness will always know the truth, and it is simply not worth it. The Top Honors will go to the pilot's (7) that maintains the highest Average of flight points, and landing points. Entry Fee: $10.00 American Federal Reserve Notes. Launching equipment (You have three 3 options):

1. High start made up of 50 feet rubber (unstretched maximum length), 175 feet of line (unstretched maximum length), and a tension requirement at launch to not exceed 15 lbs. (Overall stretch of the launch system not to exceed 70 paces). NOTE: This is 1/2 the size of a commercial high start.

2. Hand tow winch with 75 meters of towline (measured at a tension of 15 lbs). One tow-man only. 3. Electric sport winch that has only 200 meters of line i.e. 100 meters maximum to turnaround, and 15 lbs tension maximum at stall. NOTE: Launching cannot be intermixed for an entry. All 12 flights must be made off the same selected launch system. Task: Flying; 7 minute international duration. (AMA T-1, rule 13.1.1) Landing; add 25 points if within 5 paces of spot, and upright (approx. 13 feet). Off field landing; take 20 points off. Scoring: (One second equals one point; and when scoring, rounding to the nearest whole second is recommended) depending on flight time i.e. LCL (lower control limit and is equal to 90 points). A max is 7 minutes (420 points) and this is the UCL (upper control limit). After all 12 sequential flights have been completed; the total points are divided by 12 so as to generate an average. More than 12 flights can be used for scoring just as long as the total number of points are divided by the number of launches. Note: Pop offs and line breaks are to be flown, and if less than 90 seconds, they will be recorded as 90 points (there will be no re-launches for any attempt to score a flight). Flying 20 sequential flights, and extracting the best 12 sequential flights from that field for scoring is acceptable because the purpose is to get your best average for 12 flights in a row and their respective landings. Yes, if you chose to restart, go for it. Do the 12 flights over a weekend, a 3 day week end; the beginning, and/or the end, of the month; just remember one basic rule when you and the sailplane that started the string are together, that every flight must be recorded and the 12 flights of this man and sailplane team must be in a row, with no breaks. There are no backups, pilot or sailplane!! Yes, you can fly your heart out with any other sailplane, or other equipment, in between scoring flights but not with the "teamed" sailplane that was entered. Yes, you can have multiple entries with this system. Two, or more pilots flying the same sailplane; or one pilot flying different sailplanes; however each pilot-sailplane combo is a team and a separate entry and you can select the best scoring combo to be sent back for recording. All returns must be postmarked prior July 7th 1996. For you sport fliers; the scoring is from the center (i.e. Grand Average) outward so this gives you the opportunity to see how you fare against the rest of the world!! ________________________________________________________________________________

Vintage Video Virtues!

Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996

From: Louis Cimon

Hi Bob, I received your video a couple of weeks ago and I really enjoy it. Great flight sequences. Hand launching and hand catching a Lovesong is thrilling. It is like the Lovesong is a trained bird of prey flying back on the fist of it's trainer. Seems alive. It gives me goose bumps.

Interesting sequences of Pivot+ too, great sound editing. Thanks a lot for all this fun. I would like to have some info about the Pivot+. Does it need micro servo? Is there a down side of using standard servos? I am thinking about the Anthem for next year. Right now I am building a Bird of time. Come visit my R/C sailplane home page: http://www.mediom.qc.ca/~lcimon/planeur.htm Hope my English is not too bad. Louis Cimon, 141 Mistral, Beauport, Quebec, Canada G1E 5V4 ________________________________________________________________________________

You Can Get Your Phil In California Too!

November 11, 1995

Bob, I wrote to you previously to tell you about meeting Phil Pearson and thereby discovering the Pivot Plus. It was a thrill to see my letter published in Second Wind (93-1). Since then I've had the pleasure of flying with Phil on Several of his trips to California. I'm now on Pivot #2 and still love to fly that plane. Other pilots have referred to it as "that damn plane" on light wing days when their slope designs would not fly. I also had one Gentle Lady owner wonder, "how can a plane that size be so efficient"? He was referring to the Pivot's ability to range efficiently with speed from thermal to thermal.

I am now becoming very interested in the handlaunch phenomenon ad have watched Phil's designs as they have evolved over the last few years. His craftsmanship is remarkable. Evidently, the condition in Washington where he flies regularly have selected for designs able to stay up in the lightest of lift. Here in Marin County, CA we are blessed with consistent breezes and some excellent inland slope sites with dependable slope/thermal flying conditions. In addition to the Pivot, I've also been flying an aileron version HLG. It is a bit heavy at 17 oz., but I've been quite successful in local conditions. However, I recently tried to fly with Phil on a breezeless, sunny morning from a flat field and soon learned what handlaunch can really do. Phil was able to work the smallest of bubbles as they broke loose from the field and he consistently specked out from a toss. I consistently landed. My high wing loading and slope friendly design were no match for his Washington-bred light lift machines. I started thinking there and then about how to go about building my own 4 oz./sq. ft. HLG using the pod and boom concept. My shop space and building time are very limited, so I was feeling discouraged about attempting a scratch project. That very afternoon along came your newsletter and my problem was instantly solved by your new version of the Orbiter. I called Phil and he recommended the Orbiter-2 highly. He often flies with Steve Cameron and assured me the Orbiter-2 would meet my expectations. So please send me an Orbiter-2. I've enclosed a check for $88.00 - 75.00 for the kit, 7.00 for S&H, and 6.00 for 3 more years of Second Wind. Thanks, Bob for again making the cutting edge of sailplane technology so available. Sincerely, Mark Castagnoli - CA ________________________________________________________________________________

We Finally Got Our Web Feet Wet!

To see our glider in glorious color, to get full information on each of our kits and to read many back-issue Second Wind articles check out our new Web Site on the internet at:

http:/www.eskimo.com/~dodgsonb/

It is organized so that you can get around fast, get the information you want and get out. There is no need to twiddle while you load a bunch meaningless whiz-bang graphics only to find a poorly organized page where you have to go through several layers to get even part of the information you are looking for. Our straight forward and well organized Web Site reflects our long-held belief that "less is more". ________________________________________________________________________________

New 2-piece wing option for the Orbiter-2 gives it a leg up on the competition!

Obiter-2 kit with 2-piece wing option - $85.00

Subject: Orbiter 2-piece wing

Date: Sun, 24 Mar 1996

From: ACarmic985@aol.com

Yesiree, I'll take one of those $10 jobbies. I'm planning to start the Orbiter in 2 weeks so you couldn't have timed it better. Sure will be the envy of all my friends when I show up at the field with my "weapon" secretly stowed where it should be-----in my pants----, strapped like a dagger alongside my leg. Seriously, Bob, send me one if you please (a joiner kit, not your weapon).

Hope things are fine with you. I've been lurking on the net for a while now and I just can't get over the mindless entanglements (threads) and the vituperative repartee that is passed off as humor. I guess I just can't come up with cute parlor conversation. Come to think of it, your absence must mean you can't get it up either (parlor conversation that is). Autocad is really neat-I start 3-D and customization next week. Version 13 for windows is really nice! Asher Carmichael Asher, good hearing from you again! Of course you know that the two-piece wing option $10 price is with kit purchase that includes the new plans that show the option. So you are going to con me into the kit plus a new set of plans and instructions for $10. How do you live with yourself! I will make up for it on the shipping! I hope you don't get your new hidden Orbiter-2 strapped to the middle leg by mistake! You won't ever get it up then! I got my fill of the shallow banter on RCSE many months ago and dropped my subscription. It reminded me of the old Greek debating societies where they would talk about something for weeks that one guy could try out in 15 minutes to see if it worked. However, if he actually tried it, he was kicked out of the debating society! Happily, even as a non-subsciber, I can make posts to it just like before. I have never really gotten much into the 3D end of Acad. I wish I were comfortable with it. I hear that Acad 13 is pretty neat. I have 12 but still mostly use 11. I have it configured better for my needs than I have 12 configured. Thanks, Bob D ________________________________________________________________________________

It's the Wing, Stupid!

By Bill Gaston

In 1992 I heard, " It's the Economy, Stupid!" In 1996 I've heard, "It's Character, Stupid!" But since 1956, when I built my first sailplane (Albeit it was an A-2 towline glider) I've been thinking, "It's the Wing, Stupid!"

Once we have a wing we add an empenage and fuselage to hold the tail feathers in place. The tail will add stability to the flight of the wing. The fuselage will also connect the wing to the weight up in the nose --which moves the C.G. forward of the center of lift. The horizontal stabilizer provides a downward force which balances the downward force action through the C.G. When contemplating the flight of our device, our toy or our tool: try to reduce the essence of the flying machine to its basic component, i.e., the wing. Consider the fuselage, the tail-boom, the entire tail and the radio as just something you added to the wing in order to make that wing stable. Think . . . WING! The basic idea of our flying machines is to stay up in the air . . . to fly. The only part of a conventional aircraft that makes it stay in the air is the WING. so maybe we builders ought to spend more effort in selecting parameters of our wings, be more careful in designing and building the wings and learn to use or fly that wing to expose its best qualities. The majority of R/C pilots who fly powered aircraft give little thought to the wing. They just know that flat bottoms are on trainers and symmetrical airfoils are best for aerobatics. They build kits and trust the kit makers to design the wing -- and most are too heavy and too strong. So, they haul dead weight around; but, the can be done by adding more power. But, we purists (sailplaners) don't have any thrust except gravity . . . and we can't vary gravity like we can engine power. So the average powered R/C job is overweight, over stressed and much time and money is spent on the bells and whistles: which do nothing to help the poor flying machine to stay in the air. I just finished a scratch-built 2-Meter sailplane yesterday. It is hanging up in the center of the room and I am trying to visualize this glider flying --with all the forces acting upon it --and I gradually let the "nonessentials" on the plane become like ghosts. Remember, the only reason we put a tail on the that machine is to provide stability for the wing. As a rather poor (monetarily speaking) university student in Austin, TX after the Korean War, I built quite a few hand-launched gliders. 1/2A FF, OHLG, towliners were standard contest fare. Newcomers to R/C sailplanes won't stoop so low as to build an ordinary all balsa 16" to 20" HLG. And they miss something in their education. I can tell you that by varying fin area, dihedral and moment arms of the HLG, you can experience glorious exhibitions of Dutch-Roll and spiral instability on a shoe string. Yes, experiment quickly and cheaply with HOG. Then you can think about your dream wing in a more educated way. Make that wing fly. Let the boys such as Selig and Eppler do the work in the wind tunnels. Us boys out in the field should be more empirical. That is --observe, contrast and remember what you saw --what works best in your type of environment. You've all seen the poor builder come to the field with the latest bullshitically correct sailplane and he can't stay up as well as a "Gentle Lady." Hey folks, the wings the thing --Joe Ten-Thumbs can't build a true wing for a "trainer". And Tommy True-Hands kicked Joe Ten-Thumb's (he is not a Native American) rear end. Just build it true and straight. The next time you get a chance to think about airplanes --zero in on that thing that holds the plane up in the air . . . the wing. Yes, boys, and girls: The Wing is The Thing. Remember all the other stuff is there just to help the wing do its job. When Bob Dodgson discusses the E-214 with Dave Banks (on the vintage video) listen . . . maybe ten times. Three thousand hours of flying the several airfoils commonly used are worth rams of gobble-de-gook from NASA. or some theoretically correct non pilot! Be empirical. Use what works. If it ain't broke --don't fix it. And keep the tail end as light weight as you can. So long and think, "It's the Wing, Stupid!" P.S. I've been a physics teacher for 34 yrs. I attended 8 Universities, hold 3 degrees and By Damn, Bob Dodgson, I Love "Gliders", motorcycles and fun-loving women! By the way, where is Al (Howzat) Doig? I loved his column! [Bill, Al Doig has been hiding out in Southern California. I think that Yeti made him promise to stay away from me and non-paying humanitarian jobs like writing Second Wind articles. However, I still hold out the hope that if I can melt Yeti's icy heart that Al might come around. --Bob Dodgson] ________________________________________________________________________________

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