The following article is taken from the AMA National Newsletter.
WINDY WEATHER FLYING
A review of windy weather flying is a good idea for any contest. We tend to pick only the good days to do our practice and fun flying at home. But at contests, the show goes on regardless of wind. This can leave us unprepared.
Takeoffs in wind aren't too much of a problem. The airplane ground handler just needs to be very attuned to wind direction and make sure the release is directly into the wind. The ship will already have airspeed at release. Even those over-propped, small-wheeled 1/2As will get airborne easier than usual.
Landings are the big problem as far as preventing damage. It can help to push in some down trim during final approach to make sure the ship doesn't balloon up in a gust and stall. The most frequent cause of damage is when the wind tumbles the ship right after touchdown. Try to maneuver the ship back to yourself or to a helper who is prepared to catch, or run and pounce on the ship before the wind can upset it.
For the flight itself, the big problems are duration, and not getting blown downwind and off field. Launch from the most upwind portion of the field possible. During the flight, figure on walking down wind with the ship for recovery.
Right from launch and throughout the flight, concentrate on keeping the ship as straight into the wind as possible. Forget trying to circle in a thermal. You may also need to adjust your climb-out to a shallower angle to prevent being blown too far back.
Some people suggest adding a little nose weight in wind. I prefer to keep balance the same but sometimes add just a couple of clicks of down trim if the ship is occasionally stalling in gusts.
Finally, you might borrow the sailplane flier's trick of adding ballast weight at the ship's center of gravity. It all depends on how much power you have, but it's often better to sacrifice some initial altitude to get that higher wingloading up in the air. Once in the air you will be better off flying a heavier ship that will penetrate enough to hold its own, without having to feed in down elevator to keep from being blown backwards. Whenever you have to hold down elevator, flight time suffers drastically. Ballast, as much as a pound of weight for a large ship, should always be added at the center of gravity, and be secure from shifting. This should be tested at home, not at a contest for the first time.
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This article is by Bob Angel from SAM 26.
from SAM 26 Newsletter
Bob Angel, editor
1001 Patterson Rd.
PO Box 2086
Santa Maria CA
