The Windwalker's Stick

[Windwalker]

Unless I've made a stupid mistake with my computer wizardry, You guys can see the infamous Windwalker and the control handle I use for PA flying.

Nick

[EDIT] Well, well, well.... Looks like I can post 'em..Now I need to learn how to run the camera focus thingy.. 

[john e. holliday]

I like the plane.  How about more details?  Also is that a modified Ringmaster off to the side?  DOC Holliday

[Windwalker]

DANG!!! Doc, you're good.. Yep, that's a Ringmaster, built entirely from a recent kit (I forget the mfg's name). I helped my grandson build it in 2003. He was about 8 at the time. Mods?? We reversed the wing tips for ease of covering.

As for the big yellow one. It's the third in a series of 4 Windwalkers I built back in the eighty's. The first 2 were 35 size models built around a Gieseke Nobler wing. I bought the kits and used only the wing. This one was built in 1981 around a Bob Hunt foam wing. The finish is 100% Sig dope applied over silkspan. The wing, flaps, and stab are all foam. Initially, the elevators were also foam, but flexed and fluttered a lot, so I replaced them with units constructed from balsa/ spruce covered with silkspan. The stab also flexed quite a bit so I installed a 1/4 inch diameter aluminum tube spar just in front of the hingeline. This Windwalker has a wingspan of 61 inches and weighs a hefty 58 oz. It's powered by an O.S. Max 45 FSR built by George Aldrich. The prop in the photo is an unmodified Zinger "Special Pro" 13-6 .Don Still was instrumental in connecting me with George.

 The model DOES NOT suffer from a lack of line tension. I fly it on .021 lines that are 69 1/2 feet from handle to spinner. This allows the model to fly a faster air speed while maintaining lap speeds in the 5.2 - 5.5 sec. area. The longer lines allow for a larger "maneuver envelope", which gives the illusion of slow flight speeds and smooth maneuver shapes.  I placed well in numerous local contests flying this "tub o' Lard"...

The last Windwalker in a series of 4 was built in 1984.. Tom Farmer guided me through the construction of the wing. The model was an I-beam, 64 1/2 inch spanned wing that came in at 48 0z (the completed model, not the wing). By that time, my vertigo was getting so bad that I couldn't fly well enough to be competitive. I never finished flight trimming it. It hung on the wall for several years until around 1993 when I gave it to my flight coach, Lewis Sherman.. He still has it but I don't think he's ever flown it..

Does anyone recognize the muffler? (Hint) The builder was a school teacher who regularly competed at the Nats..

As for the handle. The wooden part is made from "cabinet grade" oak. The other parts are machined from 6061-T6 aluminum bar stock.

Nick Gans

[Bill Little]

Hi Nick,

Muffler:  a "Genie Martini" product??  I have got to get Gene Martine signed up here.................

[Windwalker]

Arright!! Who's the rat snooping around my hanger?? I post a blurry picture of a 25 year old airplane with just the wing of another model showing.. And then two guys come on here and identify EVERYTHING.. 

Seriously... This just goes to show how deeply involved you guys are in this hobby.. I'm impressed.. I'm also honored that ya'll let this old coot hang around here..

Nick Gans

[john e. holliday]

Remember age is just a number.  How you feel determines how old you are.  Right now after an afternoon with the grandaughters I feel old.  Emmy did her first loops today and getting really low on the wingovers.  Willow had to go to back up airplane as tail snapped off the Flying clown.  Later,  DOC Holliday

[Windwalker]

Doc:
No grandaughters here. Just mud loving grandsons..

I have one daughter tho.. Sara traveled with me to a lot of the contests. I helped her build a Carl Goldberg Lil Jumpin' Bean so she could enter Jr. 1/2 A stunt.. She was about 7 years old at the time and everything she had was pink -- bicycle, bed, doll house, etc.. So we covered the 'Bean with pink paint and pink monokote. She wore a pink outfit and judges just couldn't let all that pink stuff go by unnoticed. They gave her 20 appearance points..  This was her first contest and about all she could do was a sorta wingover and lazy 8s.. She took third out of 4 entrants and was "tickled pink"... She graduated to larger models and her last model was a Sig Banshee.. Yep, you guessed it... Painted it pink.. Sara just turned 33 this year and she still all those pink airplanes..

Nick aka
Windwalker

[Keith Spriggs]

Unless I've made a stupid mistake with my computer wizardry, You guys can see the infamous Windwalker and the control handle I use for PA flying.

Nick

Great looking equipment. You obviously have a lot more artistic ability than I do. I really like the color scheme.

[Windwalker]

Keith:
Thanks for the compliment. I went to the Seguin Nats in '81 (I think that was the year), and piloted Lewis Sherman's Mouse Racers. One of the models entered in PA inspired the paint pattern I used on Windwalker. The paint is all Sig colors, no custom blends. Diana Cream, Brite Gold and Brown... The lettering is a carry over from my race car days.. I did the lettering "free hand" using lots of thinner. Nothing fancy, just something to cover the silver base coat. In those days, I figured  the time normally spent trying for those extra 4 - 5 appearance points could be better spent at the field improving on my flight score.. I never was very good at producing that super glossy finish, so none of my dope finish models have a high floss.. 

The Cream has faded over the years and the Gold on the nose has yucky green splotches in it..

The model hasn't flown in over 10 years... Periodically, I take the plane outside and run a few tanks of fuel thru it just to keep it from gumming up..  One of these days.................. 



Nick