I guess that most aeromodellers started in the hobby with free flight planes, or is this just a reflection of my age. Perhaps most now start in the hobby with r/c models. Whatever the situation I have started to build free-flight models again, after a very long lay-off.
Currently I have constructed an Ajax rubber powered model, crashed it, and subsequently scraped it. I did manage a few successful flights with it, but on the whole it was not a great success. It proved to me that rubber power is quite an art form, very different from ic power.
I also have a Cloud Tramp, a Chinese made electric called a Skyhawk, and most recently have been given by my club-mate Peter, a Veron design called a Deacon. I have the plans and pre-cut ribs (thank you Peter) for a Caprice glider, and kits for an A-Frame, (Twin Pusher), a Senator, and two basic chuck gliders. So there is plenty to fly at the moment and plenty to look forward to building.
If all this was not enough I have also started building unorthodox models, but they have two pages of their own. Unorthodox models 1. Unorthodox models 2.
The great thing about free flight models is that they are very cheap to build and even cheaper to run, and can be flown all day without a second thought. The only catch is that you need to be keen on walking, and very keen to talk to other modellers - if you are not you soon will be because free-flight modellers are amongst the most talkative and friendly people I have had the pleasure to meet.
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A great model this is. It even has its own website at: The Cloud Tramp Home Page . If you haven't got one yet get one from Flighthook immediately.
The kit contains some of the most beautifully chosen wood I have ever seen in a kit, and as a result the Tramp builds into a model that flies very well indeed.
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| Original Tramp | Four 5/8's size Trampettes |
Simply wind it up and launch.
Join in the planned mass launch, (all explained on the website), and enter the five-flight competition just for fun. Don't worry if you're reading this after the closing dates, they organise the same competition every year.
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I found this model when idly looking amoungst the shelves of Concord Models, in Aldershot, Hampshire. As soon as I clapped eyes on it I had to buy it. £13 or so for a virtually complete electric powered kit, amazing. The only thing required that was not in the box were the batteries to run the hand-held charger. There are other versions available as well.
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Essentially it is an electric powered model, powered by two small ni-cad batteries, that you charge for between 30 seconds and 2 minutes by connecting the hand-held battery pack to them via the terminals embedded in the planes body. Similar to the K&P motors.
My first impression was that it was a bit heavy. However, it has a good glide and has nearly flown away on several occassions.
It comes with a dethermaliser mechanism that works, and that I now use on the longer flights in good weather.
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This is a classic Veron design. Easy to build, easy to fly, and with a good diesel in the front, great fun to have in your hanger.
Watch out for thermals though, it flies away at the first opportunity, and the straight dihedral makes it tricky to fly in windy conditions.
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Rocket power is not new, the original Jetex was very popular in the early 1950's. It is now replaced by Jet-X, and has a competitor in the new Rapier motors.
The Fizzle Fazzle is a Bob Walters design, and a very good one at that. Originally designed for the Jetex 50 motor I have installed a Rapier 3 motor.
I flew it in a strong wind at Middle Wallop, in Hampshire in Sept 2001, and had two excellent flights. The second being the most exciting, because at 150 feet the rocket motor blew out its end casing with a loud pop. The plane few on, but when I collected it the back of the fuselage was all charred. However, even my drop-weight dethermaliser worked.
Since the metting at Middle Wallop I have flown the FF so many times that I have lost count of the number of L3 rocket motors I have used.
One memorable day I was tempted to fly when it was a little foggy - "Was that wise?" I hear you ask. The short answer is no. However, I managed two flights, and all was well. Then I flew the Mimi, and then I played football for a few minutes with my son, who was getting restless. After that three other members of the club arrived and persuaded me to fly the FF again.
By now the fog was thicker but patchy. We waited for a clear spell to arrive and launched. The FF flew up into the clear patch, and looked great against the blue sky, but after the motor cut it flew off in a straight line and vanished in the fog. We searched, and searched, and searched for at least two hours, and then gave up for lost.
Then three weeks later on a very frosty day my friend Peter Carter pointed behind me and said, "Don't you have a model like that?" I turned around and there it was, covered in a thick layer of ice, but otherwise unharmed. Peter had found it not more than thirty meters from where we launched from three weeks before. I took it home, dried it out in the airing cupboard, and it is flying now as well as it ever did.