 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
CL Stunt
I suppose the argument, by stunt flyers, can be made that "we don't use throttle" or "we don't need to raise landing gears"....well...That could be true. But, what if you would like the option to be able to land when you want and shut the engine down, instead of flying around until you run out of fuel?
The 3 line handle is not practical for stunt, as the lines would foul after about 3 inside loops. So the handle is not used for stunt and therefore throttle control was never an option. Also, pattern planes, as a rule, need to be very light weight, even though there is no maximum weight limit, and so extra linkages were not even considered. For a Stunter performance and flight characteristics are crucial.
The Truth is...not having
throttle is a waste of fuel. If you are done with your flight, or something arises
that prompts you to leave the circle in the middle of your flight, you are locked in
and stuck, waiting to run out of fuel, before you can land.
Having a two line system that also allows throttle is more than
advantageous. A micro servo does not add that much weight...the pilot would most
likely not even feel the difference.
There is also flight performance to consider. The week-end sport pilot might not be picky about how crisp or even their pattern is...but, the serious competitor is very picky.
Study the aerodynamics of an airplane with a symmetrical wing and fixed gear. The flight inverted is never as smooth as upright flight. This is true even of Unlimited Class Full Size Airplanes. Anhedral is present and control authority can be tricky. Even a flat wing with 0 deg of dihedral and 0 deg of incidence, will fall off, slightly nose heavy with a fixed gear.
On the other hand..raise the gear into the wing and the symmetrical flow over it is the same inverted as it is upright, with no negative anhedral to worry about. Hence crisp clean maneuvers. You could even ask an R/C Pattern Pilot which they would prefer and 9 out of 10 will tell you that the plane handles and flys better with the gear up.
Think about it. There is more than
enough room in most pattern planes to accommodate some servos, battery, decoder and
retracts. Wouldn't it be worth it to at least investigate the advantages. You
have nothing to loose, and lots of blue ribbons to gain.
You can read about precision aerobatics by clicking the link below. You need
Adobe Acrobat Reader for this file.
Happy Landings