Winner of 2008 Johnson City National Championship.
Every design needs a name but my winning Indoor Towline Glider (ITLG) from the 2008 USIC had none. It is said that all designs are more or less derived from some previous design. Some are only inspired by previous designs; others are flagrant copies. Anyone who saw Kurt Krempetz’s ToFu ITLG plan and has built a Cezar Banks Limited Pennyplane, immediately will know that Derivative is fully copied from these two earlier designs.
I first saw ToFu in Carl Bakay’s S.L.I.M. Jan-Feb 2007 newsletter and then in the April 2007 NFFS Digest. When I learned that the ITLG event would be flown at the 2007 USIC, I went to my box of substandard Banks LPP parts and put together two models that were flown at the 2007 and 2008 USICs.
Kurt’s offset circle towhook was copied but as a mirror image in order to circle left since I am left handed. The only other unusual feature is the use of dyed film. This helps me a little in seeing the model and determining its height. Dyeing the film takes about an hour of boiling the film in liquid Rit dye.
Thanks to Hank Nystrom who launched for me during several practice days in the Mini-Dome and improved the towhook somewhat. Thanks also to Chuck Markos who launched for and coached me in 2007 and to JP Kish who launched for me in 2008.
Circle towing sometimes gets me out of trouble and sometimes into trouble. I had both premature releases and difficulty in getting off the line at the last USIC, probably because I have not flown outdoor towline much since the 1970s. In addition to practice help by Hank, I had one session of self-launch flying and I recommend that also as practice.
Chuck Markos’s best times at the 2007 USIC were 2:42 and 2:28 with the rest of us not breaking two minutes. My best 2 of 9 times in 2008 were 2:46 and 2:34 with everyone who flew this event logging times above 2 minutes. I thought that Chuck in 2007 or someone in 2008 would break 3 minutes in the Mini-Dome. It has not been done yet, but maybe you will do so in 2009.