Re: indoor towline glider release

From: Kurt Krempetz <krempetz_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:07:40 -0800 (PST)

Hi,
     I just thought I would make a few comments about circle towing.  Chuck Markos and Fred Rash are the only two people I watched circle tow successfully.  I have competed against both and have lost to both(so you might want to question my comments below but I also have beaten Chuck at some contests in Racine, Wi).
     Now circle towing is something very common in outdoor towline and I believe offers an advantage in outdoor towline. In outdoor you can clearly feel the tension on the line and decide whether your model is in a thermal and if it is then you release it. I have not been convinced that circle towing in indoor towline offers any advantage. The only slight advantage I see is that people that have mastered circle towing release the model where and when they want it released (but it is not clear a master at straight towing can't do the same and I think to become a master at either takes about the same amount of time and practice)
     Typically models that circle tow have a special hook that will not allow the line to come off the hook until the release is activated. Typically the release is activated by a short hard downward pull. In outdoor there usually is a wind so one tows upwind and if the model is trimmed properly as the model gets overhead it turns downwind. As the model goes downwind, line is let out and the model loses attitude. Again if trimmed properly before it hits the ground it has turn back upwind and the towing process is repeated. If you want to release then a hard downward pull is made close to the top of the tow before it heads back downwind.
     For indoor I have gone away from this method and have developed a method that is "semi-circle towing" but doesn't require a release hook. In indoor there is no upwind and downwind. Also with a simple hook (no release mechanism) as long as you stay ahead of the model it doesn't come off the hook. So what I try to do is to trim the model so it turns and I just keep ahead of the model by walking in a circle, so effectively I am circle towing.
   I would be interested in hearing other peoples comments on this issue.

Cheers,

Kurt




--- On Tue, 1/20/09, Mark <f1diddler_at_yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Mark <f1diddler_at_yahoo.com>
Subject: [Indoor_Construction] indoor towline glider release
To: Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 2:20 PM







Anyone have a good release clip design for ITG? (I hear Chuck Markos
had a nifty one.)
So, could anyone please put a drawing in our Files section of something
that works well?
Mark F1diddler

 



      
Received on Tue Jan 20 2009 - 13:07:44 CET