The models in F3J have generally become a bit larger and lighter and the camber has risen to somewhere around 2,5-2,7% in the last few years, but there is still no straight answer to what model to choose. One thing that is important though is that you choose aerodynamic efficiency instead of building efficiency – choose one of the airfoils with camber between 2,0% and 3,5% on you next glider instead of the airfoil from the glider with which your learned to fly. Or if you feel confident, try to modify one of the airfoils above to suit you demands if you can define them. If you don’t feel confident enough try to look at 3 models you feel each would suit your demands, buy one of them or copy what you like with each of them. When you have build and flown this glider you can take this model together with 3 others that have made you droll and make a second attempt. After your first or second attempt you’ll know a lot more about which way you want you glider designs to go and you may even try to beat Joe, Martin or Friederich in the airfoil design/modification department. Hopefully you will not be to far from what you think is optimum for you after your second attempt. And don’t build too light! If you’re building a glider around 2 meter span, go for a wing loading of about 25 grams/sqdm and if the span is about 3-3,5 meters aim at a wing loading of around 30-35 grams pr sqdm – this higher wing loading will give you penetration and much longer flights when you get used to the greater speed range. Ask Adrian about the benefits if you still have doubts about the higher wing loading.

A good guess for an ordinary thermal glider that would also be good for F3J would be to build a glider with a span of about 3,0-3,3 meters span, an empty weight of around 2-2400 grams and an airfoil with a camber of 2,4-3,0%, i.e. airfoil number 5 to 16.Philip Kolb’s Skymax ´97 is close to this, and the materials can be used by anyone on a plane like the above mentioned. If you want a pretty safe imitation that’s even more specific, my last advice will be for you to look at various companies homepages, look at pictures from fly offs during the year and count how many gliders with MH 32, span= 3100-3300mm, area=65-70 sqdm, weight=21-2300 grams you can find and compare it to the total number of models you find – I don’t know what it tells you but when I did it, I got the figure that the above numbers will be a pretty good starting point. Your choice will be to buy one of them or choose how to build it accurately and strong. But can I build it accurately enough, I hear you ask? Does Philip Kolb’s plane looks extraordinary? Are Adrian Lee’s models magnificent pieces of art? – No! (No offence, Philip and Adrian).

So don’t be put of by the Jaro Muller standard – it’s hard to reach on your own, with knife, white glue, putty and perma grit plus a few more tools with strange names. Adrian Lee said in his interview in QFI that he loves to beat those who buy their models, and I can totally agree with him. Designing, constructing, building and flying you own glider, and then beating all the others flying Muller models or other state of the art machines, is a magnificent kick. And it can be done with less than perfect planes.

So what – and how to do it?  

Dave Thornburg writes in his book “Old Buzzard’s Soaring Book” about glider design:

1)      If it looks right, it probably is

2)      When in doubt, imitate

And that’s what you should do for a start. You don’t have to be Leonardo Da Vinci or Einstein when rolling your own for the first time. Design something that you think looks about right, pick the good stuff from the gliders you admire, throw away the bad stuff and make the compromises and imitations that suits your wishes and valet and satisfy the scientific knowledge you have. You might ask what the good and bad stuff is? Read what is written about aerodynamics, glider design, go and find out what dissatisfies you about your current glider. Gain knowledge, otherwise you’ll just be copying me, Adrian or somebody else – at least I would be honoured if you do, but it’ll still only be an imitation of yours truly, and even though you may think so, I’m not perfect (ask my wife!). Copying Adrian, Philip, others or me may be a good start and will certainly give you excellent models but it will not give you better models until you start to get a head of us, Jaro Muller, Joe Wurt’s or Martin Weberschock etc. If you want literature advise, buy Martin Simons book about aerodynamic and read his articles in QFI, continue with Michael Seligs publications via Soartech. Then teach yourself German and go on with various publications from the continent. If you want art advice, go to Louvre, Paris. If you want building advice read Mark Passingham’s articles in past issues of QFI, Adrian Lee’s articles about his High Five design and go online for a while on the following homepages:

Hartmut Siegmann has a great homepage with lots of three plan sketches for inspiration (imitation?) and building advice with understandable drawings – some of it is even in English though most of it is in a very humours and entertaining German: www.aerodesign.de. Even if you don’t understand German take a look at his drawings and especially his three plan sketches.

Graham Woods homepage also has some very helpful building notes with a slightly different approach from Hartmut’s when talking about main spar (more like Nick Wrights method) and wing joiners: www.favonius.com. If you want to go all the way with a moulded model you can ask someone to mill you the positive or have a go at a home made positive – the only book about this, that I have read is Dieter Pfefferkorn’s book about making and building the Simplex model. It’s in German but it has great pictures and drawings that almost tells the story without words: “Simplex – Entwicklung und Bau eines Vollkunstoff-F3B-Modells” (ISBN 3-7883-1114-2, price about £ 10,- (?) for 64 pages). A Dutch page also contains information on how to build a mould (in Dutch): home.planet.nl/~burg0227/vleugel_daan.html (if it is still in cyberspace – I have had trouble opening it lately) and a German site have some information’s as well as on the whole process of designing and building an aerodynamic efficient glider right from the beginning with airfoil design and ending with notes on how to build a model in moulds – it’s in German but with very instructive pictures: http://studweb.studserv.uni-stuttgart.de/studweb/users/lrt/lrt28575/Proj_flug.htm.

So far I hope that I have informed and confused you in more dimensions than you thought of when you woke up this spring. My final conclusion will be that airfoils and thermal glider design are still far from convergent science and that handling and fashion (=imitation) still plays a great role, and gives YOU the opportunity to be star of the next haut couture model show!’

There is nothing quite like doing it yourself – imagine buying you kids!?

Benjamin at the age of three (2000) after returning from the WC F3J haveing seen multiple scenes like this.