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  • July 18, 2025, 05:50:50 PM

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1
Well, if we are on the topic of "just for the hell of it", the consideration to just drop the BOM and move forward could also be included in that conversation.  Now, before the hellfire gets rained down on me for bringing it up, Really, what are folks afraid of? I ask this honestly, with very little snark.  And if BOM went away, why would top level guys choose to boycott a hobby that has entertained them for a lifetime? 

     Because *that hobby had been eliminated by rule*. I am utterly uninterested in buy-and-fly contests using bought models. It reduces this event to a mere shadow, a pointless handle-waving exercise - just like FAI, which is now (for the most part) a meaningless exercise, starting the moment there was an "FAI World Champion" using a model built by someone else.

    You get a vote, I get vote, I will vote no, and I will also expect the 80% of the current participants will also vote no. If you decide to do it anyway, I and most other NATS winners will strongly push to retire the Walker Trophy - because the winner would no longer deserve it. To continue to award it under those circumstances would be a slap in the face to every name on there.

       Brett
2
Open Forum / Re: Are my 60’ Lines Cursed ?
« Last post by Gary Dowler on Today at 04:59:56 PM »
Try this.    Take two  strips of wood, sandwich your H stab/elevator between them and clamp them together.  Youve locked your elevator in 0 deg.  Are you flaps also at 0 deg?   Hook up your lines and handle.  Have someone hold the handle ay 90 deg and look at the flaps again.  Are they still at 0, or are they up some?  If they are up some like this, then in flight they are trying to push the nose down, which you are countering with up elevator.

If all is good here, then your engine may be pointing a couple degrees down pulling it nose down, which requires up elevator to overcome.  It pretty much has to be one of these things IF your lines and leadouts are the exact same length.

Gary
3
Open Forum / Re: Are my 60’ Lines Cursed ?
« Last post by Dan McEntee on Today at 04:55:18 PM »
Good evening from Spofforth , North Yorkshire.
I’ve an odd lines / handle problem. It goes like this.
1. My 60’ lines are exactly the same length.
2. When I connect up to one particular airplane , my handle is in the correct 90 degree position.
3. After take off , to maintain level flight , my handle is in the ‘climbing’ position , with around 30 degrees .

The flaps and elevators are in alignment.
The C of G is spot on.
Any suggestions much appreciated.

    If you have someone hold the airplane, pull some tension on the lines, and check the neutral position, is your handle still vertical or is it in the "up" position? If your handle is a cable type that can be adjusted, reset it so that the handle is vertical, and they recheck for neutral. Wiggle the handle up and down several times and go back to neutral and recheck it. If things look good, like elevator/flaps are neutral and handle is vertical, does the elevator and flaps have equal movement up and down? If they do, take a short test flight and see if anything changes under flight load. If not, you may have a pushrod that needs the length adjusted to get thing even both ways. If you have a hard point handle that can not be adjusted, then you will need to make custom attachment clips of varying lengths to even things out. One place to start with, is the flap pushrod from the bell crank to the flap horn, and see if the travel is equal in both directions, and if possible check that the bell crank is in a neutral position.  Then move back to the flap/elevator pushrod. Also, check the location of any control horns if they are the bolt on type, to make sure that the pushrod pivot hole is in line with the surface hinge line. If it is off forward or rearward, that greatly affects things. Is the airplane a profile or full fuselage? Most of this is easier done on a profile.
  Type at you later,
  Dan  McEntee
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Interesting discussion.   
I feel you guys may be the last of the builder's era. 
I still think you guys that are here now, should consider, just for the hell of it, changing your rules as Sparky suggests.  That would truly get the most out of you, who are the last of the best.

Well, if we are on the topic of "just for the hell of it", the consideration to just drop the BOM and move forward could also be included in that conversation.  Now, before the hellfire gets rained down on me for bringing it up, Really, what are folks afraid of? I ask this honestly, with very little snark.  And if BOM went away, why would top level guys choose to boycott a hobby that has entertained them for a lifetime?  A person could still build and compete with whatever they wish.  As it seems to me, the appearance scoring component represents around a 5-point spread among the top level of competitors.  They all show up with very nice 15-20 point airplanes, as they can't just give away those points in such tightly scoring contests.  A forceful exhale at the wrong point in the pattern once or twice represents a greater potential for a negative impact on scoring than what the appearance point spread is at the top level of expert.  I fully understand and honor that BOM and the appearance points are a representation of full circle modeling mastery, an expenditure of effort and price of entry to a cadre of skilled enthusiasts.  Does the status-quo need to be maintained, though?  Do the challenges and participants in the hobby now and beyond 2025 represent something different than those from 1960?  Or are we just feeding a hobgoblin of consistency?
5
Classifieds / Re: New listing for plans
« Last post by Ron Santia on Today at 02:35:10 PM »
HI Bob ,  PM   sent  ,   Thanks   ,  Ron
6
Open Forum / Re: Are my 60’ Lines Cursed ?
« Last post by Ken Culbertson on Today at 02:24:15 PM »
You are on page 1 of the trim chart.  Three things that will change that.  Thrust line has down either by down thrust or elevator incidence.  Flaps and elevator are not aligned to produce level flight.  Nose heavy.  You can't do anything about the wing once it is glued in so you can consider the airfoil center line extended to the nose and tail as the center line.

Ken
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Open Forum / Re: Are my 60’ Lines Cursed ?
« Last post by Rusty on Today at 01:56:50 PM »
Is the engine thrust line zero degrees?  The engine may have down thrust.
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Open Forum / Are my 60’ Lines Cursed ?
« Last post by Robin_Holden on Today at 01:44:55 PM »
Good evening from Spofforth , North Yorkshire.
I’ve an odd lines / handle problem. It goes like this.
1. My 60’ lines are exactly the same length.
2. When I connect up to one particular airplane , my handle is in the correct 90 degree position.
3. After take off , to maintain level flight , my handle is in the ‘climbing’ position , with around 30 degrees .

The flaps and elevators are in alignment.
The C of G is spot on.
Any suggestions much appreciated.
9
Open Forum / Re: Team trials location and dates?
« Last post by Mike Palko on Today at 08:31:53 AM »
Mike,
You making that drive?

Not this time. Hopefully in the future when the kids are a little older.
10
Stunt design / Re: 2 blade and 3 blade prop adv & disadv
« Last post by Will Moore on Today at 08:09:07 AM »
Still painting
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