Free Flight Modelling

Me neither, and I am not holding my breath. But as room / space is tight, I had to find a way to continue modelling and downsizing this way was a solution.

OhBee wrote:I never had any luck with rubber powered free flight.  They all barely flew, if at all...even tossed from an upstairs balconey!   I still have an old Sterling D VII  in the box!

I started in the hobby with small rubber powered models. I had a similar experience- never got much of a decent flight out of any of them. I mainly built balsa sheet semi-scale models kitted here in Australia by Aeroflite. I had one attempt at a stick and tissue model and ended up with the whole plane having scolloped edges and massive twists- I'd never heard about the difference between tautening and non-tautening dope. Leant the hard way

I am Leary about throwing a plane i built in the air with a engine on it < probably fly away lol >

I'd never heard about the difference between tautening and non-tautening dope. Leant the hard way Sad wrote:

Yeah i still don't quite get all that .

There's not a lot to get about the dope differences. Both can be used for light models. Understanding the differences is what's important. Taughtening dope is in the wording. It tightens, non taughtening dope tightens as well but not to level the taughtening does. All dopes shrink, they also keep shrinking as they age just like any cellulose base glue does such as Ambroid or Duco or Testors.

        For instance from a commercially available standpoint. Sig Supercoat CLEAR is a taughtening dope. All Sig colors however are non taughtening. Use taughtening to shrink up the covering and then switch to a non taughtening dope such as Lite -Coat.

          If you thin down taughtening dope to a 70% thinner to 30% base, it can be used and it will make the model stronger and lighter because it will soak into the wood.

Wood selection is more important than the dope. Most older kits used C-grain which is a mottled grain and doesn't warp and twist like A or B.  Kit manufacturers generally supply incorrect wood grains for the needed purpose ESPECIALLY in free flight models. Guillows is a perfect example. They use the hardest heaviest crap available. The designs were great but you could build a house with that wood. Laser cut kits are even more prone to inconsistent grains. They use what allows the laser to cut the easiest without turning it into a ash pile. Die cut kits used the hardest wood that was available because softer woods don't stamp well.

To circumvent many problems with warps and twists, make a frame and pre shrink the tissue prior to installing it on the model. Instead of using water to shrink tissue, use a atomizer with alcohol in it after the tissue is pre shrunk. The other is rather than use dope to install the tissue or thinned white glue, use a glue stick and place the tissue on the model and brush some alcohol through the tissue to reactivate the glue stick.

Thanks Ken , i printed it this time i know you have told this a few times , So there is a way to use both but have to bee at the right time ? Oh yea sorry Chancy, plane looks good i am presuming the small light one is for indoor fling ?

I also wanted to mention wood selection in free flight kits. Many times, more than enough sticks are supplied. For instance if you were building two fuse halves with the longerons or stringers which are curved. Choose your sticks and lay them flat on the table. Slide a pair of sticks out and cantilever them off of the table. Note the deflection from one stick to the other. Choose sticks with similar deflection. I do this as well with sheeted control line boxed fuselages. You don't want one sheet or stick overpowering the opposing one. The stresses in the wood can readily dial in a twist or bow into the fuse which may not be removeable later on. Applying more than one coat of dope to one side vs the other can do the same thing so applying equal coats and allowing the dope to air dry well is important. If for instance you dope the underside of the wing, don't hesitate and do something else, dope the opposing side asap. Allow the dope to dry by placing it in moving air. Dope gasses can be trapped in the underside of the wing when drying. This will also dial in a warp as the top gasses off quickly causing immediate shrinking while the underside is supple and wet.

Yes Eric, it was apparently designed for indoor flying. Not really like in a house, but when I get it done, I will be trying it! They say it is so light that if it does hit anything it is so light it will probably not get any damage to the airframe. I guess light and very slow. Only time will tell....

The indoor model appears to have condenser paper for covering. You don't see that as much anymore as I don't think the industry is using it in capacitors any longer.

Sorry Ken. I do not know what condenser paper is. The paper I am using however is actual tissue paper for modelling. I just received it the other day. It is old and slightly discolored.

My first models were the catapult and "chuckie" (throwing) gliders, which I still compete in SAM (Society of Antique Models) and FAC (Flying Aces Club).
My favorite "chuckie" is the Polly:




My favorite catapult glider is the Obarski:




The Obarski glide well as does the Polly.
I'll get on an average of almost 2 minutes in calm air.


My Hervat does well too!


The wind-up plane I like to fly is the Firefly and the Phantom Flash.
They are easy to build and average flights are over 2 minutes.
I cover them in Esaki (Jap) tissue which is getting harder to get now.
FAC rules have where the planes have to be covered in tissue type covering (no condenser/ plastic covering).

The Firefly flying weight is 2.7 oz with rubber motor (ready to fly)
Here are some photos of my Firefly:





I have many Hand launch and catapult gliders. Different planes for different conditions.

Very nice collection. Still new and learning the ropes here.

Wow! Thats a blast from the past!....FAR in the past!

I had a very good flying Obarski. My Sweepette though was my favorite.

Ken Cook wrote:                 I had a very good flying Obarski. My Sweepette though was my favorite.

The designs that I compete with have to be before 1950. The Sweepette doesn't make the cut.

As long as you kept them light, they were all good performers.

I get almost all of my free flight stuff from Retro RC (almost)
http://retrorc.us.com/

The other is Peck-Polymers
https://www.wind-it-up.com/

Check out the Mfg. links on the FAC website:
http://flyingacesclub.com/wp/links/

I believe Retro R/C was formerly Shorty's Basement. I purchased all of my stuff from them

Ken Cook wrote:               I believe Retro R/C was formerly Shorty's Basement. I purchased all of my stuff from them

The other place I miss is Penn Valley hobby shop (your neck of the woods?)

That tugs on the heart strings. Penn Valley was my hobby shop. It was 50 miles from my house and I drove there weekly. My father lived around the corner. The owners Bill and Jean were lovely people. Jean sadly passed away and Bill took a bad fall down some steps. Shortly after that fall he was wheelchair bound. A real hobby shop though that you could buy free flight supplies from. I didn't take full advantage of that and I regret it. I was so invested in the control line side and trains that I always passed on the now unobtainable supplies.