Ringmaster as a teacher of finesse

[aba183210]

Good evening.

While I am building a Banshee to replace that wonderful Magician that bit the dust due to a battery box that came loose during flight, I have also built and flown a Baby Ringmaster to practice.

And that Baby Ringmaster has taught me a lot about control finesse.

As we know, Ringmasters are prone to stall when performing tight maneuvers or doing abrupt elevator inputs. After practicing dozens of loops and wingovers with the Baby, I have learned to keep the maneuvers very smooth and relatively wide, with smooth transitions. As a result, there is no stalling and the flight characteristics are predictable. All I have to do now is to learn the figure 8, which is something that I am kind of afraid of attempting. And then, inverted flight and the other maneuvers.

This is a Brodak Baby Ringmaster, which has rather wide spacing in the leadouts when built according to plans. The ribs are also perforated so the leadouts are wide spaced (about 3 inches or so-not like the Baby Clown, which are almost together). So, I decreased the sensitivity of the handle (a Renger one).

Lap time is around 3.5 seconds on 35 foot .008 lines, with a 6 x 4 EP electric prop. Total weight is 7.8 ounces.

I really am looking forward to flying the Banshee. I have seen them and I like the way they fly.

When I was learning to fly the Flite Streak Trainer (flat bottom solid wing) I was never, ever, ever able to do even one loop. It could do great wingovers, though. It would simply fall like a brick at the top of the loop and do figure 9s even with a relatively shallow angle of attack entry into the loop. And yes, the plane was properly balanced and had the specified amount of power. Yet, it was very heavy (21 ounces when built according to plan and with the electric gear in place).

[Dan McEntee]

   Yes it's true. If you can learn to fly a marginal airplane well, then flying a good airplane will be the cat's pajamas! I have seen guys (good expert pilots) get honest 500 point scores with well trimmed Ringmasters. It's a fine line to get too, but attainable.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[Tim Wescott]

Yes, you can do pretty good with a Ringmaster (I think my personal best is 475 points), but it takes a lot of finesse.

It really teaches you that all argumentation aside, the thing that makes a square maneuver really look square are dead straight lines and crisp transitions to and from the turns -- if you can do that, you can make the turns themselves pretty big and most judges will give you a good score.

[Air Ministry .]

 

[Motorman]

Wow, that guy is small.

[Dane Martin]

Lol,
That's a big @$$ marine right there.  The man "g-man"

[George Albo]

Wow, that guy is small.

Just had a coughing fit and can't stop. That was funny!

[Steve Thompson]

I am a big fan of the Super Ringmaster but have never seen one scaled up (200%?).

Matt, do you have any other pictures or info on this plane?  Does it have a twin cylinder engine?


I have a lot of flights on a Super with a FOX 35 and it was a nice honest airplane.  Sharp square corners were maybe beyond it, but for big relaxing round maneuvers while kicking out a castor trail, it was a joy.  It was my second SR and was found in a second-hand store built, but not finished.  That made it "expendable" and it was the plane that gave me my first loop.  It can be scary when starting out, but having a plane that gives you the confidence that IT can do the maneuver will sure help the confidence of the pilot.

[Brett Buck]

Yes, you can do pretty good with a Ringmaster (I think my personal best is 475 points), but it takes a lot of finesse.

    We (Dave Trible and I) just got done giving Joe Gilbert a 585 point score with a Ringmaster. I don't know about Dave but I am hardly known as Santa Claus when judging.

    The corners were very good, but the other items were spot-on. The wingover, in particular, stood out - straight as a string, very good corners, very good pullout height, and very good inverted flight section. There's a lot more in the rule book than the cornering.

   However, in the large, the original premise isn't very good. It doesn't surprise me that Joe can do a good job because he is a exceptional pilot. Same with Bart K and his Ringmaster (whom David F and I once gave something like a 320 in OTS), same with David and Ted, etc. I have done a few good Ringmaster flights myself - like when David -Brett-Ted went 1-2-3 at the NWR one year with David's brand-new Ringmaster - and my first ever flight on the airplane was the first round official flight, and the first flight EVER might have been David's official.

    But if you don't *already* know how to baby them around, and absent stellar trimming and engine setup knowledge, all you are likely to learn from flying Ringmasters is that stunt is very hard and you should be scared of the ground. You will learn a bunch of bad habits that you will have to unlearn later.

    Brett

[Tim Wescott]

    But if you don't *already* know how to baby them around, and absent stellar trimming and engine setup knowledge, all you are likely to learn from flying Ringmasters is that stunt is very hard and you should be scared of the ground. You will learn a bunch of bad habits that you will have to unlearn later.

I certainly agree that one shouldn't start out with Ringmasters to learn stunt, or to make them one's primary competition ride.  But after you already know how to fly fairly well, putting in some flights with a Ringmaster will certainly teach you both how to, and that you can, put in good flights on a marginal plane.  It becomes a lesson in how much of a top-notch pattern is the pilot, and how much is the plane.

[Air Ministry .]

Well Steve , lucky I found it again , maybe .

Bill Gruby in the USA

I have attached one that I am building here in the USA. It is an 85 inch span Super Ringmaster with 1635 sq. in. of wing area. The power is a Saito 1.82 Four Stroke Twin Cylinder.

hat little guy is a full sized Super Ringmaster at 42 inch span. In this picture (the big one) is ready for the trim colors.

filtched from ; http://www.fuelsoaked.me.uk/others/friends_models.html