Category: Free Flight Contest

Hopes for a successful glider flight most definitely dashed — but all is not lost

by Jeff Renz, posted in Free Flight Contest, Gliders, HAFFA Events

These last two years (plus) have not been kind to our organization, HAFFA, let alone the entire population of the world due to COVID’s physical and social impact.

Now here we are at the end of 2021. It’s a time for reflection and renewal. It’s also a time to think about what’s to come in 2022 and hopefully a time to think positive.

As I hand off the reins of being the president of the Heart of America Free Flight Association a.k.a. HAFFA these past few years to Mike Basta—I want to leave everyone a positive message. Modelers always find a way to keep flying! We’re always adapting and modifying our aircraft whether indoors or out….it’s what keeps us going….to better our craft! So get to building and flying! Dig out that kit that has been gathering dust and clean off that building board. Even if you only get two sticks of wood glued together….it’s a start. Get those wings patched up and repaired. Spring will be here before you know it and we’ll be flying outdoors again. In the mean time attend an indoor flying event and come fly with us (HAFFA Indoor Flying Sessions). We have a carefully cared for fleet of P-18 model airplanes (9 total) for you to launch yourself (with the help of HAFFA Members) in a Stars and Aviators Take Flight Mass Launch ready to go !!!!! 😀

SWITCHING GEARS . . .

So with the help of Jeff Nisley we now have a dedicated YouTube Channel for HAFFA. He recently located a video he filmed in 2019 and uploaded it to our new channel of Mike and I attempting to launch Mike’s Jader 60 Tow Line Glider at the Marion Free Flight Contest that year.

This is the video Nisley filmed at the 2019 HAFFA Marion Free Flight Contest

You might be thinking that this is would be the end of the road for Mike’s unlucky hapless Jader 60 Tow Line Glider . . . . But NAH——You would be wrong!

This is a photo of mike with his beautiful Jader 60 Tow Line Glider on Saturday Oct 5th 2019.
The ill-fated flight took place the following day.

As we said in the title of this Post—all is not lost!
You see, Mike took the crash of his glider with a grain of salt—made sure he had picked up all of the pieces—and by the next year was flying it again at the 2020 Marion Contest! Mike explained that in this case beyond the obvious gluing of the broken pieces back together and recovering the damaged tissue, he took the time to strengthen the leading edge and main spar of the wing by making grooves in the balsa large enough so that he could install carbon fiber rods that he epoxied in.

Turns out Mike is no stranger to fixing broken model aircraft. “I’ve probably fixed more planes than I have ever built” He told Jeff Nisley in a recent conversation.

Legend has it that from a relatively young age, Mike retrieved abandoned crashed model airplanes from the trash receptacles at his local air field and then took them home to repair to flight readiness—so this is just par for the course. “The key is to be fortunate enough to have all of the pieces.” Basta points out. He then adds “Some glue, new tissue where needed, and a liberal dose of TLC—and there you are !!!!! 🙂 It’s all part of the hobby.

As we cautiously venture into 2022 with our fingers crossed . . . . we—along with the rest of the world—undoubtedly will pick up the pieces and hopefully go forward.

I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year and looking forward to 2022!
Thermals,
Jeff Renz

Don’t Miss HAFFA’s Marion, KS Outdoor Free Flight Contest

by JB Nisley, posted in Free Flight Contest, HAFFA Events

Hey Free Flighters !!!!!

— Make the Journey to Marion, KS where HAFFA (Heart of America Free Flight Association) is Hosting its Fall Outdoor Free Flight Contest. Bring all that you dare to bring and compete with fellow aeromodelers to try to win our brand new Marion Contest Trophy !!! —

Ocotober 2nd and 3rd, 2021 are the scheduled dates for this year’s event.

More information and this year’s printable Marion Contest Flyer and Contest Score Cards can be found at this web page:

20th Annual HAFFA Outdoor Marion Free Flight Contest

As of 9/24/2021 Country Inn Motel has 10 rooms available for the 1st and 2nd of October. Because of Covid, reservations can only be made the morning of the 1st to reserve the two days. Information concerning possible additional lodging arrangements can be found on page 2 of the flyer.

Good Luck to all those Fortunate to Attend.
It will be a Blast !!!!

WHAM (Wichita Historical Aircraft Modelers) May Contest write up.

by Jeff Renz, posted in Free Flight Contest, HAFFA Events

The Spring Opener for the Wichita Historical Modelers (WHAM) Free Flight Club turned out to be a great weekend contest, even though it was a windy affair. Everyone that attended had a great time, and was “up” for two days of contest flying and camaraderie. All of the modelers having spent a winter of isolated model building. Flying over the weekend happened on both days, and more or less followed the planned schedule.

Many of the modelers actually arrived Friday, with time to test fly in the early afternoon and into the evening. The winds at that point we’re probably about eight to ten miles per hour, and quite reasonable. Friday afternoon we were treated to a WW2 era Harvard AT-6 flyby while we were test flying our models at Baxter Field Airport. The several passes made for some great photo ops. After flight trimming, we headed to get set up for the night.

We managed to have cocktails at 5pm at the Country Inn Motel with Bill and Marilyn Schmidt, Dana Field and Robert Dunham, along with myself. The social hour was a great time! I always learn a lot about engines and airplanes with that group. The group ended up eating at the Town and Country Café in nearby Florence both nights.  That food was really good! The 11 mile drive down to Florence did not really take that long so it was well worth it. Dana and I had pie both nights, along with roast beef and country fried steaks. We ate quite well! Definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

On Friday afternoon I presented a new twin pusher stooge built by, Jeff Nisley, to Linda Powell. Jeff Nisley built this stooge as a gift to acknowledge Chuck and Linda’s help last at the HAFFA contest year. Jeff had ordered the old rubber powered design “Competitor” kit from England, and needed help trimming his new creation. Chuck dropped everything, and helped Jeff get his airplane trimmed to fly properly. This was one of Jeff’s first rubber powered airplanes. Jeff was so impressed and appreciative with Chuck s assistance to get the plane flying, he said he would never forget Chuck and Linda being so kind and helpful. This is what free flight guys do. They are good people. Jeff added some design touches to the stooge for Linda that she noticed right away, some bird feathers on lanyards with colorful anchor cables.

Jeff Nisley is in the final stages of putting the plans for the twin pusher stooge on line. This will let everyone that wants to make one their own. All this will be explained further in two articles, written by Nisley, that present both the twin pusher and the standard stooge. The article, complete with drawings and a material list, will explain how to make both of them. These articles will appear on the KCFreeFlight.org website this spring or early summer.

Contest flying started at 8am both days. There were no problems with the field conditions, as the field was dry.  We flew from the south end of the airport with wind blowing towards the northeast both days. Contestants came from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas City and Wichita, and all The “Usual Suspects” showed up to fly. Chuck, Linda and Jim O’Reilly did a bang-up job putting on the contest. Jim’s son Dave made the trip as well, and provided support, tracking and chasing models.

The power flyers were careful to set their DT timers their planes. Otherwise, with the wind, they would have been off the field. George Avila had an overrun on a timer when his fuel cut off failed on one of his big planes, which wound up landing in a tree north of the airport. Chuck & Linda’s son, Aaron, along with Mike Fedor, was able to get it down out of the tree. Mike Fedor had brought a very long extension pole but Aaron still had to climb up and use the pole in order to get the thing down.

Tim Pivonka made it down to Marion with a van full of scale jobs, such as his Halberstadt CL II, for the FAC events, along with some new catapult launch gliders from “Humming Bird Models”.

Marty Klein brought his “Sterling” Piper Cub to fly scale. He explained it had placed well out at Westfac couple years ago. It was a gorgeous model that flew quite well considering the wind!

O’Reilly, Chuck and Renz flew in the twin pusher event.  It was amazing to watch those things fly in the windy conditions! They were quite stable considering the conditions.

Sunday, one of the events, “the “Sport of Kings”, Jet Cat, was quite interesting, considering the weather conditions. Flights were quite amazing! Those little scale jobs seem to hold up pretty well.

Suman Saripalli made the trip on Sunday.  Thank goodness for Suman, because Chuck had 11 boxes of magazines full of Flying Aces and Air trails that he donated to our club.  Chuck had originally received the collection from a Beech Craft CEO, who collected airplane memorabilia. We very much appreciate this kind act. These magazines appear to be in really great condition!  It was very difficult not to crack the boxes open and just start reading on the spot! Anyway, thanks Chuck!

I would like to thank Aaron Powell and his wife Karla for making a lunch pizza run on Saturday. We had plenty! They ordered just the right amount, and no one went hungry.  Also, Karla made pancakes for breakfast on Sunday. This was fantastic considering all I originally had was a granola bar. That was a very kind gesture! 

Jeff Renz (click on photo link below) 150 photos.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/bVXSppVEY35NnkF28

New Gallery & Slide Show for the Sky Battle 2021 Postal Contest

by JB Nisley, posted in Free Flight Contest

For those following this Postal Contest we have added a web page
featuring photos of your Guillow’s Javelin and Lancer “Flying Models.”

Here’s a link to the new web page:

Sky Battle 2021 Postal Contest — Guillow’s Javelin and Lancer Gallery and Slide Show.

Official Flights must be made between
Saturday April 24, 2021 and Sunday April 25, 2021.

For those that are entering this contest—Fair Winds and Good Luck.

Durable Rubber Banded Landing Gear for Guillow’s Javelin & Lancer Flying Models

by JB Nisley, posted in Free Flight Contest

Here’s BIG NEWS for those taking part in this year’s Sky Battle 2021 Lancer Javelin Postal Contest.

For those that have experienced a bit of trouble when trying to successfully land one of these models without hurting or in some cases destroying the landing gear—you must be thinking “There must be a better way!

Well Help is here. Directions to make a Rubber Banded Landing gear is just a click away!

A new web page has been added in the Hints’n Tips Section of our website.

Click the thumbnail of the PDF document
or the link below to go to the web page.

Rubber Banded Landing Gear for Guillow’s
Javelin & Lancer Flying Models

Here you will find two pages of instructions in PDF format to download and print including full scale parts drawings and helpful fabrication hints.

Also included is a gallery of additional helpful photos and a future featured photo gallery of your “Flying Models”. (Send us your pictures!)

Good luck on all your projects and as always Fair Winds. —Jeff Nisley

New INDOOR Postal Contest

by Jeff Renz, posted in Free Flight Contest, Gliders, HAFFA Events

I got an email from Dave Aronstein recently. I thought I would post it on our website. Take a look at the videos and plans in the NFFS symposium link in the article below. I have watched Dave fly these gliders in the Osawatomie Auditorium (some years ago now). They are amazing. I just looked on You-Tube under “walk along glider” and there are tons of videos of people flying these in homes and offices as well as auditoriums. I snagged an image of an example of a plan for this post. If any of you want to send me a pix of you flying or building one of these I will post it on our site.

From Dave: Hey in case anybody is interested – NFFS and INAV have put out another fly-at-home postal challenge – for Walkalong Gliders.

Announcement is in INAV at: https://indoornewsandviews.com/


A plan is provided, but it is not a one-design contest.  Any design.  No restrictions (except that the flying is to be done in your home).
The objective is to accomplish as many as you can, of 6 challenges, by the end of February.  The challenges are:- a 30-second flight- a 60-second flight- 3 laps on any closed course (one flight – no relaunches – typical)- 3 inflight handoffs from one pilot to another (also in one flight)- 30 second flight without a board (making lift with hands / head / body)- 30 second flight with a model of your own design
Photos and video are encouraged but not required.  We’ll take your word for it, with or without documentation.  There’s a submission form on INAV, or you can email results to me and I will make sure they get posted & tabulated.
A few plans & photos attached to pique your interest, especially if you are not already familiar with walkalong gliders.  For further info:
NFFS YouTube channel (subscribe if you haven’t already): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCucmaPRq2ws6rRTMHX_38YA
NFFS Sympo article on walkalongs (posted with NFFS permission): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aTGzFi64OcVq234BS0Jq-LnAPWCKea6x/view
Feel free to pass this along to anyone you think would be interested; publish to your local clubs; etc.
Hope you are all in good health and good spirits during these rather unusual times!
-David Aronstein

Upward air pressure created by the box lid creates the lift to enable flight of this glider
Use your imagination! Look what is possible

Gliders Group Forum is the latest category added to “Galleria of Gliders”

by David Higgins, posted in Free Flight Contest, Gliders

Gliders Group Forum is the latest category added to “Galleria of Gliders” and it is designed to get people talking and thinking about all aspects of model gliders, from the most basic chuck and catapult gliders to some of the current ARF/RTF radio controlled gliders.

Topics may include glider aerodynamics, balsa wood selection, construction techniques, glider design parameters, flight trimming, etc. We want to have a free exchange of ideas to benefit everyone, especially those who are new to this aspect of aeromodelling.

For instance, suppose someone has a problem with their catapult glider looping during the catapult phase and wants suggestions on how to solve this problem.

I or someone else may suggest that they warp the trailing edge of the stabilizer down around 1/64” to 1/32” and remove some clay from the nose of the glider and try launching it again, and someone else may have another useful suggestion that worked for them. 

Another person may have a suggestion on some building technique that they used relating to gliders and wants to pass that “tribal” knowledge on to others. 

So come see what all the HUBBUB is all about . . .

NOTE: The dictionary defines HUBBUB as a situation in which there is much noise, confusion, excitement, and activity.

Doesn’t that describe a Rowdy Group of Glider Enthusiasts at a Flying Event Chucking their Gliders?

Go to GLIDERS GROUP FORUM. You’ll be glad you did.

HAFFA November Indoor Flying Update

by Jeff Renz, posted in Free Flight Contest, Gliders, HAFFA Events

HAFFA November Indoor Flying Update

Modified Guillows “Sky Cadet Airplane”

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up about our November 2020 Osawatomie Auditorium Session. Photo link included below

Paul Meganroth…Roie and Cheryl Black, Dana Field…. we all had a good day of flying. We flew a lot of different models. We all flew the P18 event to get warmed up.  We are all getting better at indoor flying. Paul turned in a 2 minute and 6 second flight once he got his P 18 dialed in. 
Dana flew hand launch glider. Dana had built the new glider from a Joshua Finn kit called the “Cat’s Meow” carbon and foam glider. He is still working out the kinks with this new machine. I flew mini stick and managed to get a 4 minute and 10 second flight. Paul flew his penny plane with great results. At one point he would have had an 8-minute flight with his Penny Plane…. however it stuck to the side wall of the gym walls fabric material….. so we stopped the clock and got a long kite pole to bump it off the wall and started the timer again once it popped loose from the wall. We did not count this as official…. but the Penny plane continued on for almost 3 minutes….and it would have been almost eight minutes total when we added the two times together. It was really fun to watch. It has been a while since we had a flight that long in the gym. 
I had a good time just watching all the airplanes fly. My new P18 (A Dave Higgins Design called the ” PURSUIT P18 “) flew quite well but not good enough to beat Dana or Paul. I still need to get some stiffer wing posts….the wood I had used was not stiff enough for the flight loads encountered….during some minor taps and bumps on the walls and ceiling of the gym.

Roie showed up with a Guillows Cadet that he had revamped for indoor flying and made it portable for easy transportation as well. I like how Roie built it so it could be stored for travel in a cardboard box easily with a small footprint of space…in the trunk of a car or back seat…. this modified plane would break down easily… it was held together with rubber bands.

Dana brought a Dave Diels kit and opened the box to reveal tons of documentation and 6 sheets of plans and several sets of laser cut parts.   I had never purchased a Diels kit….wow you get your money’s worth! Check out the photos of the “un-boxing”

Anyway a good time was had by all next flying session will be in December the first weekend in December. It was a pain…. but we wore masks. And stayed distant from each other. Thanks again Renz.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/h9q4Bw4MMeDK1fRX9