Oct - Rcsoaring.com

A clutch of Miles, the new two metre class glider produced by MuratEsibatir and Philip Kolb, and already a hit with the Turks. Kits forwhat has been described as a “small F3J model dressed in sheep’sclothing” are available in the US from Kennedy Composites.First an outline of Turkey’s two metrerules. The model must be all woodand no composites, only rudder andelevator/v-tail and two servos, launch isby bungee - 30 metres of cotton coveredrubber to limit extension to roughly twicenormal length - and 100 metres of line.Pilots fly man-on-man in 9 minute slotswith a maximum allowable flight time ofsix minutes. A standard F3J landing tapeis used to score landings and overflightsare penalised by deducting the numberof seconds over, up to a 30 secondmaximum. Pilots can launch as oftenas they wish, the last flight and landingcounts as the score.Toughest part of the contest is to landaccurately and close to the 6 minutetarget. With only two controls, it is noteasy to get the glider down out of athermal and slow it down to a pace whichallows you to land on the spot withoutdamaging your model. From what I hear,the United States has a two-metre class,still popular for club contests, and therea third servo is permitted and used tocontrol a spoiler. The option of a spoilerwill become part of Turkey’s rules fornext year’s competitions.Many F3J pilots have visited Turkeyin recent years to compete at Riva onthe Black Sea coast and at Adapazariwhere the world championships wereheld this summer. They will vouch forthe high standard of organisation andfacilities which the Turks lay on. While not50 R/C Soaring Digest