oz nats expert

[Bob Hunt]

Bubba,

I don't intentionally build them that way either.  The difference is I don't have to try in order to make it happen.

Kidding aside, I have had a few light airplanes over the years but none of them were among my favorites.  I had two that were noticeably too heavy although they flew well enough to qualify for the finals in 1974 (the first Moby Dick that Jack Sheeks--who was judging that year-assumed I'd left the triangles out of my first finals flight because he saw how bad it stalled in the triangles during the second round.  That ship weighed a little over sixty oz on a Nobler winged jet style thing):  The second was the little Temptation that earned a shot at the top five back east somewhere in the '80s but crashed due to a flame out just after getting vertical in the wingover during a warm up flight before the flyoff started.  It was a small 610 squares and after being re-engined from an ST .46 to a piped .40 was a Porky mid 60.

Wow, I won a round.  It only took, what, 39 years or so?  FWIW, you're one of only a handful of guys with whom I'm very reluctant to debate the good, bad and ugly of stunt.  I many be opinionated but at least I'm not stupid.

Happy New Year, Bubba.  If you need aspirin for your pain just drop me a note and I'll send some out on the next pony express.

Ted

LOL! Send along as many pain relievers as you can spare old buddy.  And, this is by far not the only round that you've won...

For those who are not aware, Ted Fancher is truly one of the Gatekeepers of the CL Stunt event. His views are not only sage, but also deeply considered from virtually every possible point of view for the health and well being of the event. His views on life are just as sage and I want to publicly thank Ted for the many times that he has provided me with not only model airplane council, but life council as well. If not for Ted's good council long ago, I would very probably not be flying stunt today. Hmmm, that will actually make a few people mad at you Ted...

Bob Hunt

[Joe Parisi]

Hi Ted,

Thanks. You've asked me some great questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

Due to the limitations on flying hours and practice circle availability at the Albury site, there wasn't the opportunity for any major changes to make my model better handle the turbulence. After the first few rounds I clearly felt I could do with some more positive line tension, so I decided the simplest way to do this was to move the leadouts just slightly forward and to also add a tad more tip weight. Whether this was the best approach or not I'm not really sure, but it was enough to at least give me more confidence moving forward into the last 2 rounds.

I felt that the main difference between my model and PJ's and Russell's models was the wing loading. PJ's model is based on Dave's ThunderGazer so it is around 650 - 660 sq.in wing area and it weighs about 69 oz. Russell says his Firecracker based model is around 690 sq.in and weighs 72oz with battery. My wing loading is around 11 sq.in./oz compared to PJ's and Russell's which are 9.0 - 9.6 sq.in/oz. (for calculating PJ's loading I added 1/2 tank of fuel = 4oz). So there is certainly a difference there.

The other difference was that PJ was using 0.018" braided lines and I'm pretty sure Russell was too, whereas I was using 0.015" braided. I felt at times in those gusty & turbulent conditions that my lines were stretching a bit too much, making it harder to accurately postion bottoms & consecutive manoeuvres. My 0.015" lines have generally been fine in windy conditions at home where the wind direction & strength tends to be more uniform, but I'm now thinking that in non-uniform, gusty, turbulent air the 0.018" lines would be advantageous.

I can't honestly say that my electric TP based model performs better or worse than my previous IC powered versions, all I can say is that it is different. Each power system has positives and negatives.  As long as you're exploiting the positives and mitigating the negatives, either system performs well. The key positives I see in the electric performance is the fixed CG position and the pusher prop benefit of the extra line tension in outside turns especially above 45 degree line angle.  As an example, my IC powered TP models always had ample line tension and authority above 45 degrees but sometimes in strong wind I'd still get blow out of manoeuvres. By comparison, my electric model sometimes doesn't give that same feel of authority above 45 degrees but it just keeps on pulling and tracking through everything with the pusher prop and usually with less tendency to get blown out in strong wind.

Hope I have adequately answered your questions.

Best wishes to you & Shareen also for the New Year, from Rosemarie, myself and the kids.

Regards,
Joe

[Ted Fancher]

Hi Ted,
By shear fluke I was talking to Brian Eather on the phone when I read your posting.
Brian said that when he sees you next he'll give you a big hug!!  

I think if my plane was a bit lighter it would have a bit more authority up high.
Of course, if I flew faster I would get the same result.

HOWEVER, I love flying at a nice "Gentleman's speed".   Yeah I know, pity I'm no gentleman!!

I picked 6 oz because it's halfway between 0 and 12.   (That was from Brian!!!!) Hahaha.

The prop was made by Barry Robinson in the UK out of Xoar electric 2 blades.

All things considered I'd rather hug Val but, what the heck, we could do a  gentlemanly embrace I suppose.  What a wonderful guy!

One of the things that really impressed me about Brian was how well he flew at a gentleman's speed.  I've generally felt compelled to fly a bit faster to retain concentricity of shapes.  Always felt when the airplane slowed down I was wondering if my tracks were wandering.

I kind of guessed that was the case with the six oz bit.  It was meant as a friendly needle.  I often speak in terms of pounds with my airplanes

I'm guessing the props a left hand rotation (pusher) then, yes?

Good to chat, Russell.

Ted

[Russell Bond]

Hi Ted,

Yes, they are pushers.

I'll tell him you want to hug Val, I'm not sure what he'll say....Hahaha.  

Brian has had made a reverse crank for his Stalker 61 and is going to try using a pusher on his motor. (His own carbon props.)

[Jeff Prosser]

Hi Joe
Congratulations on your win.
Do you have any photos of your model that you can post.

Jeff Prosser

[Joe Parisi]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks. Here is a photo of my model taken just before leaving for Albury

Regards,
Joe

[Jeff Prosser]

That looks great Joe, and it obviously flies well too.  I eventually bought a Trivial Pursuit kit but have not actually had time to start building, but will soon.  I have never used the technique of moulding balsa for the fus top and bottom so that will be a challenge.  The rest should be OK.  The kit is very good, with good balsa and all laser cut.
Cheers
Jeff