Bill is definitely the F1L Comeback Kid of the Year. After two years of flying in the Diaspora, he returns to the homeland. And just in time, too, to make the next USIC, 2013, the most competitive F1L ever.
I don't know what it is about F1L, but my experience in it has been that the learning curve is not as steep. Bill first dominated F1L in 2007, but it's taken him considerably more time to dominate in A6 and win in LPP. Anyhow, it's just my observation. If I had to guess at the reason, it would be that the relatively skinny 14" F1L prop, with a higher aspect ratio than the relatively fat 12" LPP prop, has a broader optimum point. Said another way, the F1L prop is more forgiving. This is armchair flying on my part. Everyone is welcome to shoot my theory down.
In any case, I encourage everyone to build an F1L. The F1L required to fly at USIC does not need to be extraordinarily stiff -- launch torque is in the range of 0.2 in-oz.
-Kang
--- In Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com, "Bill" <wdgowen@...> wrote:
>
> As usual I disagree with Kang's analysis of F1L. I've struggled since 2009 with F1L's that would barely fly. This year, after 3 years of frustration, I had an F1L that would do anything I asked of it except stay away from the speakers.
>
> My drama this year was hanging up my F1L on the speakers in a place that was just out of reach of my balloon. The way that I finally got it back was by swinging the balloon toward the model from several feet away and smashing it into the stab. I went back to my table with a mylar bag full of small pieces of balsa hanging from the back of the model. After about an hour of work I had something resembling a stab on the back of the model and that was when I did the 21:30 to take second place.
>
> --- In Indoor_Construction_at_yahoogroups.com, "Yuan Kang Lee" <ykleetx@> wrote:
> >
>
> > I think F1L is the one class where we have a legitimate shot against the big guns in Kagan, Gowen, Sanborn, Richmond, Cailliau, etc. What other event gives you that chance? LPP? No. A6? No. You can compete against the big guns in LPP and A6, but your chances aren't very good. Those events have longer, steeper learning curves.
>
Received on Wed May 30 2012 - 17:48:58 CEST
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