For years, the Cloudbusters Club has had an annual trophy for the best performance over the indoor season for a Blatter 40 model. Since I never got to go to the indoor events, I didn’t pay much attention. In 2016, two things happened that changed that: 1) I retired and could devote more time to travel, and 2) the indoor venue changed from a TINY gym to an indoor soccer arena – now I can go to the indoor events.
The Blatter 40 is a very simple 40-square-inch ROG Stick model designed about 50 years ago by Cloudbuster Al Blatter. The club rules are that it must be built to plan, use a Sleek Streek-type prop assembly (unmodified) and the best 3 out of 4 flights are counted.
After my first indoor contest, I asked Mike Welshans for the history and accurate plan for the model. Mike provided both. Through discussions, I decided to publicly provide the plan (here), create a short kit (here) and give one short kit to each Cloudbuster Indoor Contestant (you must attend the monthly meets, at least once).
While designing the short kit, it became apparent that there just weren’t very many parts to this little plane and I decided to double up the parts AND include the “regulation” propeller assembly. So, each kit will contain the plans (enhanced with history and construction notes – different than the above), one sheet of laser-cut parts, and TWO propeller assemblies – enough for TWO models. All that for a mere $1
0 plus shipping!
This plane is very simple and just about anyone could get this to fly 2 minutes (use a loop of 1/16″ rubber). Mine did 2:25 on its first day out! It would be great for other clubs as a one-design event – or – use this for teaching kids how to build and fly, like the Foo Fighters club is doing in Virginia (I sent them a sample to see how their kids would do):
