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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is what I did an evening before leaving
for the NATS. This gentleman, his wife, and sons are from France, of all places,
and could speak little english. They seemed to like Pattern flying when
they saw it. I told them to look up Christophe when they get back.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="http://webinter.com/rc1">http://webinter.com/rc1</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Wind- finals and rolling
circles. There are several factors. Wednesday afternoon, prior to
the finals, the wind was blowing hard from the south. It was coming
straight from behind at about 15. It was most entertaining attempting
to keep the stall turn 2 of 8 up from blowing less than 25 meters
out. I think I was mentally prepared for the wind blowing this direction
for the finals. My sense is others were also practiced in this
wind on Wednesday as well. Not to be for the finals! The wind
was from the north west! It was blowing significantly too. I think
it picked up to about 10 to 12 mph, and tapered off to about 5 to 8 for the
final round. I normally cannot even feel wind below 10 if its blowing out,
but when its coming in, makes it more interesting after the spin. Since
its a stalled maneuver, the spin brings the plane in, then the 3 of 4 opposite
is rushed a bit, then the 2 of 8 up stall turn (another stalled maneuver)
forces it in some more. This is ok- in that it allows the circle to start
and end close (and keeping the outside part closer). I'm all ears in terms
of the circle discussions. It reminds me of a candid camera skit where
they hoisted a lady's car and put it down between two walls with
just little-to-no room for her to get out. Back and forth she drove, but
there was no way she could get the car turned around to exit the space.
For a rolling circle, suppose the aircraft is moving at 80 mph (but probably
more). But regardless, lets convert that in to meters per
second. Lets see, algebra, yes. if I can remember from my high school
track and field days... 80miles/1hour times 1600meters/1 mile times 1
hour/60 minutesx60 seconds. That comes out to 36 meters per second.
OK if I could do a circumference of a circle, per FAI standards, that is pie
times diameter? I can't remember. So, we start at our (close in, as
we flew at the NATS) 120 meters. So to keep from getting downgraded per
FAI rules, and, lets say we have a highly visible plane- 220 meters at the
back of the circle. So we are looking at a diameter of 100 meters (yes if
its flown in, it would be over the runway, with the judges running for
cover). So lets fly it out. Pie times 100 meters gives a
circumference of 314 meters. Time to accomplish the circle would
be 8.7 seconds. That is about 2.1 seconds per quarter. Now,
add in a 12 mph wind. The wind velocity comes in to play at the tangent
points about 7 meters per second. This slows down the plane as its going
into the wind (requiring added throttle to increase the velocity with respect to
the wind) and lower throttle on the last quadrant ( to decrease the velocity
with respect to the wind) . So this requires that the circle be done
at about quarter throttle average, to allow the (airspeed) adjustments to
compensate for the wind. Do this, just a regular 360 degree turn, at a 50
meter radius (imagine how tight the takeoff procedure turn would be if it was
all done before reaching the 150 pole). Regardless, I think that a
circle done in under 9 seconds would be quite rushed, to say the
least. I did not time mine but I think they came out at least 12
to 18 seconds. Remember, a standard FAI flight of about 8 minutes averages
about 20 to 22 seconds per maneuver. Von used to do tight circles at the
TOC. I tried to emulate that style and got hammered on my
scoresheet. Something about during the circle, at quarter throttle or
less, the plane just does not transition from knife edge to inverted and back to
upright very smoothly (particularly in wind). Anyhow, that's my
analysis. For a reference point, at the NATS I moved out the second F05
sequence and got a 997 normalized. That was with the back of the circle at
about 280 meters. Overall presentation was good on that
flight.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hey, someone tell Mr. Kennedy I'll
see him at RCRC tomorrow around 5PM. See you at the field
Bill,</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Don</SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>