Indoor News and Views

Nick Ray’s Cat IV Record F1R

Click here to download a PDF of the plan.

F1R – Photo taken prior to hang up and recovery

Setting indoor duration records always comes with a series of challenges. My most recent F1R record came after a hang-up on one of the Kibbie Dome “clouds” and possibly one of the worse recoveries I have made in recent memory. After all the usual tricks had failed, I decided to try dangling Scotch tape off of the wooden retrieval rig I had attached to a mylar balloon. I caught wing tip, and as the torque from the motor spun the model around the prop also stuck to the tape.

Once I got the model down, I had a ball of balsa and film, and more Scotch tape than I knew what to do with. Somewhere in the process of separating the pieces with solvent Chris Borland came by and snapped a picture.

F1R remains after retrieval (Photo by  Chris Borland) 

I an hour later, I returned to my table with all the pieces and set to work repairing the model. Jake Palmer helped by giving me some patching material and by the late afternoon I was ready to fly again. I switched to a larger diameter prop, and retrimmed the model. After a few test flights I was ready to resume making my contest flights. The flight was largely uneventful, reaching an altitude of 37 yards, and only required a brief steer before landing to avoid getting caught on the goal posts.

I would like to dedicate this record to my long time friend Bill Clark. He often took me to contests when I was a kid and firmly believed than any problem could be fixed with epoxy and duct tape. In this case it was Scotch tape and Ambroid, but I think he would agree that it’s close enough.

~Nick Ray