PHOTO: CATHY SNIDER
Dave Wineland, to whom the QBIT is dedicated, launches his Satellite (above) at the MMM flying field in Denver. Dave on the cover (at right) of National Free Flight Society Symposium 2013.
Coming home to freeflight After being inactive for over 40 years, I wanted to get back into freeflight but didn’t know where to start. After visiting Denver’s MMM Club flying field at the urging of Bill Lovins, I was overwhelmed with the in-
crease in technology being used today in 1⁄2As from my old flying days. Screaming Cy- clon engines with 30,000+ rpm, electric starters, chase bikes, radio tracking sys- tems, and pressure fuel systems were the norm. No way could I jump in cold turkey in this scene. Yet the sound and sight of freeflights screaming as they climbed sky- ward and rubber powered models inching their way into the clear Colorado skies, awakened happy memories of yesteryear. I was hooked.
Returning home, I dug into an old Radio Plane SD-1 fuselage box where I had been storing some good Cox TDs, Holland Hor- nets and some outdated freeflight models. Modern up-to-date models were needed so an older model, Santa Cruz MK I, was up- graded and its design features incorporated into QBIT, a new offering, to take advantage of my old engines and the new materials and timer equipment available today.
This modern design has some good struc-
tural features providing strength, lightness, simplicity and a higher aspect ratio (longer wings) for a more floating glide. Possibly the most important powerplant feature is that the engine is mounted in a conventional py- lon configuration which is familiar and well understood by most freeflighters. It will ac- commodate Cox/Holland Hornet engines with fuel tank mounts or radial mounted en- gines with pressure fuel system.
Getting started again
If you are just getting back into freeflight, the following will be of particular interest as it shows a progression path that you could follow to get up to speed. The plane is com- petitive and will allow you to use your old Cox TDs (preferred) or Holland Hornets to get back in the game with the technology you are used to. Glow plug conversion heads for TDs and Hornets are available at http://
www.the-printer.net/dockcat.htlm. QBIT is well suited for the AMA Classic
power events. With the more powerful Cox TDs, pressure fuel system and high nitro fuel (55%), it is competitive in the standard AMA and F1J events. The addition of an
PHOTO: JERRY MURPHY
electric starter will greatly simplify the en- gine handling. The Miller 1⁄2A starter from Campbell’s Custom Kits is ideal. The plans shown are for the Cox TD, radial mount and pressure system. If you are using the tank mounts, shorten the nose by 1 inch and use the appropriate firewall as shown. The carburetor model is a good re-entry point. Using this configuration, QBIT’s pred- ecessor placed third at the Southwest Re- gionals missing a fly-off by two seconds using 35% fuel. For greater performance, you can push the Cox TDs to 24,000–25,000 rpm without any problems using Murphy’s Mist (65% nitro). Murphy’s Mist (Jerry Murphy MMM Hall of Fame), came by way of Johnny Shannon. Casey Hornbeck supplied it to the Texas folks and it is now available from Red- Max
www.fhsoils.com in different strengths. You don’t need the “hot” stuff to get started; 25%–35% will haul her up nicely. If you start with a radial mount/pressure bladder-type fuel system some weight sav- ing and a steadier engine run can be real- ized. You may want to consider this al- though it is a little more involved. After you’ve got your wings back flying with the Cox/Holland Hornet/Tank power-
PHOTOS: CATHY SNIDER
Norm Roglitz, Ray Boyd with the QBITand Dave Wineland (above left), fellow MMM Club member, winner of 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for manipulating quantum properties of microscopic systems where atoms can mysteriously exist
FLYING MODELS
in two physical states simultaneously. This property can be used in advanced computers based on quantum bits or qbits. Ray’s official flight (above right) at the 2013 Rocky Mountain Free Flight Championship F1J event.
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