As I discovered in an interesting morning you would normally expect to retrieve the models from the slope face rather than from down wind. This might be possible at Burrough with a SW wind but from W round to N the slope has trees and dense bushes. Hence the move to a site where you would not normally fly r/c slope models, however I did get a couple of launches with a r/c dlg.

Freeflight glider flyers would have no trouble recognising the style of models used in F1E, although they wouldn't normally expect the have a two part fuselage. Conventional clockwork DT timers were fitted, with a couple of the flyers using r/c DT devices.

The big thing of course is the forward, magnet connected "fin", that keeps the model in line with the direction in which the model is launched. With my couple of r/c flights I had some idea of the number of control inputs to keep a model in place. To see the F1E models gently remaining mainly on station was well worth seeing.

The max for this comp, at a less than ideal site, was going to be 2 minutes and from the early trimming flights I saw this looked possible, although the wind was increasing. Ballast was being used, either over the cg to increase overall wing loading or on the nose to get the cg further forward for stronger wind conditions.

Click for a Youtube video showing the steering rig and giving a little history of the class.

Tony Beckett
July 2014

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