| Need-4-SPEED! |
| The "Swift 800" was a fully composite (fiberglass, carbon fiber) constructed hybrid race plane with a 100" wing. I believe it had the 7003 airfoil and could be loaded up to a 22 oz., wing load figure. This meant you could load up lead shot in the wing panels for increased penetration and sustained speed, especially in the 180 deg., turns that Slope Racing offers. My friend Mike bought one of these used and with a badly damaged wing of which he wasn't concerned because it offered him and I the opportunity to learn how to do composite repair and lay-up. Within a couple weeks we were at the slope ready for the Swift's maiden voyage. It turned out to be very promising once the model was trimmed and balanced correctly, then also getting all the flight surface throws dialed in. Once this time consuming process was finished the model flew just fantastic. Well it got my wheels turning again, and so this section is dedicated to the persuit of SPEED and model planes that travel up to 150 mph in level flight. Enjoy, EJ. |
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| Do you see any difference from the previous page? Yes, the designs are now starting to get sleeker and thinner. The reason being that if you want to go FAST, you have to cut down the induced drag on the model. At right is my first attempt of persuing "low-drag" coefficients in a 90" model. I called it the "Excel-O-rator", patterned after a famous slope racer from a Pacific Northwest model called the "V-Max". This one though is all wood construction, a low budget way of finding out if I could even build in this realm. Well it turned out to be incredibly fast with a massive tip stall and ultra hot landing speed, a real handfull. Still a 2 channel control without landing flaps! This thing would really get the blood pumping and right now. Mike & I loved this plane for it's suprising performance right out of the box. It was basically too heavy for a soft day but on those stormy days, nothing could keep up with it. |
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| So I went back to the drawing board and designed what I called the "Raptor" at left. This model was a giant leap in my building capabilities that was probably the most rewarding and challenging in terms of the total modeling effort up to now. I wanted a plane that would first, go fast. second, fly stable and predictable and third, land at a reasonable controllable speed with the ability to utilize those landing surfaces for in-flight thermal trimming. I used a Swift 800 fiberglass fuselage, eppler e-374 airfoil at 90" span, with half panel 90deg flaps and half panel ailerons. The wing was a foam core 1/64th ply skinned unit. I liked the V-tail feathers for their efficiency and extra low drag qualities. The model weighed in at about 45oz., with a 12oz., wing loading. The Raptor flew very nice and could be put through all the maneuvers at great speed and stability. I was very pleased to say the least and flew it for a few months until Mike & I finally discussed the final leg of our SPEED journey. |
| Fast! |
| Faster! |
| Ok, another short story and I'll wrap this up. Way back when we were flying our 2 meter Lady's at a local High School football field in Southern California, remembering we're still rookies at this game, this guy shows up with a magnificent looking 3 meter super-sleek model. Now everybody there is a member of the local flying club except us, and they use what they call "Winch Pull" devices to launch the models up into the sky around 500ft before they release and soar the skies. This guys name by the way was Darryl Perkins, whom we found out was one of the four currently active pilots on the US Soaring team in the F3B class. Darryl steps up and launches his plane way beyond any other pilot up to this point and at the end of his pull he whips the model nose down about 50ft then suddenly redirects it straight up towards the sun and gains another 100ft in altitude. We're talking 6 to 700 ft elevation now! I'm completely moved to the point that plane and pilot have my undivided attention. We watched the plane go almost out of sight and down-field about three quarters of a mile and we can't figure out how he can see it. He ends up thermaling for a good thirty minutes and then suddenly someone says "keep your eyes on the plane and clear the field, he's coming through". The rookies that we are, we're not sure what to do so we kind of brace ourselves and finally find a slight glimmer in the sky directly above us. The next thing, Darryl is pointing the plane down at about a 70deg incline and picking up speed, rapidly! We wonder when he's going to pull up and level off, but he keeps coming in as the bystander said. Boy oh boy, he's not letting up, and then all of a sudden we could hear a horrible cutting sound resonate the field. That plane is doing I would say at least 150 mph, maybe 180 as he finally levels off just above the tree tops and continues across the field at a blistering speed. Then about 100 yards down field he pulls the craft up and the thing just keeps on climbing as he does a couple rolls and then he's out of sight again. WOW, what happened Mike? Can you believe what we just witnessed? He then casually brings the plane in and lands it perfectly on a baseball cap and picks it up. Mind you, this is all performed without an engine. This scene made a permanent impression on Mike and I so much so that we vowed one day we would be able to do that kind of flying and that brand of SPEED!......EJ Enter, the F3B Eagle |
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