The Cloudbusters’ monthly indoor contest was yesterday and I had a few successes. This post will talk about two of them.
Last month, I debuted my B.A.T Monoplane neo-Dimer. I had a high time in December of 102 seconds (1:42). I felt (and may have even stated) that I thought it could use a touch more power. I was flying on a loop of 0.110″ rubber, but it wasn’t using all the space and there was obviously another 20 seconds needed to record maxes.
The old motor was 20″ of 0.110, wound to 1650. I installed a new motor of 0.125″, 20 inches long. after a few test flights, I would it to 1800 and was rewarded with a flight that exceeded Max at 2:11! This was launched and flew in the very center of the room, using all of the height available and included one light scrape/bump on a wire. A second official flight seems to be a little porpoise-y (maybe a bunched motor at the peg – maybe I forgot the down thrust shim?). I was concerned that it wouldn’t max, but my timer, Ron Joyal, stated that it would probably max and we recorded a 2:03. The two maxes were enough to beat everyone with their three flights. It is a majestic flyer and I am more than happy with this model!
The second plane is my 18.5″ Stout 2-AT, built specifically for Indoor Golden Age. I did this kit a few years ago (wow – over 3.5 years ago!) and never built one. I saw MANY of these have terrific flights at Geneseo and Muncie, when it was the One-Design. Anyway, when the club decided to fly Golden Age in the indoor meets, I threw one together, finishing it on New Years Day. I had to wait to really give it any test flights. It also uses a loop of 0.125″.
This is another very stable flyer. After tweaking, I was able to post 103/111/108 flights to win Golden Age. I was happy. When I messaged my flying buddy, Winn Moore, about the flights, he responded “that’s good, but it looks like you should be able to max with that. He’s absolutely right – no need to be satisfied with “mediocre” performance. The glide was not good and I had to keep adding downthrust. I take that to mean that I am nose heavy. Next month, I’ll try adding some tail weight, improving the glide, and removing some of that downthrust. Maybe I can max out with this one, too!
