Two Meter

[capt soap]

Is anyone flying 2 meter at there contest's ? It seems like the contest's i see have, open and ? ,3axis only. Is 2 meter dead? lee

[tonyestep]

Our club has monthly contests with three classes: Unlimited, 2M, and RES. Unlimited has the most entries (usually about 10), but there is interest and activity in all three.

[capt soap]

Im glad some clubs still have 2 meter,bye the way whats is that? LEE

[jhopkins]

Me thinks that's a Dark Star, http://www.mvsaclub.com/articles/dark_star.htm . Beautiful ship.

Someday I'd like to build one of those.

Jay

[schrederman]

It's all but dead except for the Nats. I haven't seen a 2 meter contest in the Houston Area in the 3 years I've been here. Don't take that the wrong way, if that's what fires your rocket, I'm all for it. We have monthly contests and they are usually open class with RES mixed in. We do hold several RES competitions each year, as the market seems to deem necessary. No one here thinks much about it. It seems to me that we have too many classes, and some of them should go away...but that's just my warped view of things, not a judgement against 2 - meter.

If you're in Dallas, we'll probably cross paths...see you there...or here!

Jack Womack

[Ollie]

About two decades ago the Florida Soaring Society ( an affiliation of several clubs around the state for competition) changed their by- laws to make a two meter event mandatory for FSS contests. The motivation at that time was based on the assumption that such an event would be attractive to beginners because of the low cost and simple nature of such ships at that time. As we all know, the technology advanced and competitive 2-meter ships became as complicated and almost as expensive as unlimiteds. About 2 years ago the FSS changed its bylaws to no longer require 2-meter events in FSS contests. This change was due to the recognition that the rule no longer met its original intent and CDs no longer wanted 2-meter because participation was dropping off.

As a long time observer of competition, it is my opinion that any attempts to limit technology by competition rules are bound to fail, one way or another, in the long run.

[Zbigniew S]

I just receive this e-mail........
Zbigniew
www.SOBOXplanes.com

Big,

Today was my second day flying the Starling. This is a great TD ship.
It is exactly the two meter ship I was looking for. It has a wide speed range and yet thermals very well in light lift. It winches well with a great zoom. The Starling is now my contest two meter. I think there will be much interest in this two meter as it gets more exposure. There is already interest in our club as they have seen it fly.

Thanks,

David Slinkard

[ArnoldC]

Lee-

Jack is right, There are very few 2meter Contests. If you are a Memember of the SLNT,I believe we still have the 2-meter TNT contest, but do not take my word on it. If I am thinking correctly, Yeah RIGHT!, the reason they dumped two meter is because the lack of 2-meters, meaning why spend $400 on a 2-meter when you can get double the plane for double the price! I put my $.02 in. Hey you havent discovered the SLNT, the web site is www.slnt.org! hope to see ya around!

Happy thermals!
Arnold

[Superman]

I flew a 2 meter Sagitta 600 in some RES contests and didnt place very high but just wanted the practice and competiton. I am now working on a 3 meter RES so I can become more competitive. The thing I am told over and over is, if you give the best pilots a 2 meter, they could still win a contest so good luck and happy landings,

-Superman

[jcstalls]

Greetings,

Yup, 2M has been droped out here too quite a while back. Too bad though. I use to fly a Sagitta 2M poly, modified for landing spearchucker, and did very well. One of the most fun aspects used to be at the contest was to enter both open and two meter. Twice the fun for the day. Especialy being that flying as such, left little time to call air as needed. Perhaps 2M may return.

Jared

[markdrela]

Yup, 2M has been droped out here too quite a while back. Too bad though.
...snip...
Perhaps 2M may return.


Mini-quiz: Consider the following range of weight versus span, from a modern 1.5m DLG, up to a modern light 3m TD ship:

span weight
1.5m 10oz
2.0m ??
3.0m 65oz

Q: For these to fall along a straight line on a log plot, what should the 2m weigh?
A: ...drumroll.... About 22 oz!

It's no wonder that the typical 30-40 oz full-house 2m glider flies like a lead sled compared to the DLG or 3m ship. Bleah. I think this is one reason why 2m ships have dwindled in numbers -- they're just plain unpleasant to fly in weak lift, and for good reason.

This observation is what prompted me to build the 2m Aegea, which at 21 oz is quite fun to fly in the weakest lift. It handles much like an aileron DLG, and can be comfortably flown as a javelin HLG by anyone with a half-decent arm. I'm convinced that if 2m glider weights had stayed in the 20-25 oz range rather than spiralling out of control, there would be a lot more of them today.

One intriguing possibility is discus-launching such a glider, which would allow easy operation of a good-sized thermal glider without the hassle of a winch or histart. I considered putting a tip peg on the Aegea, but I didn't have the time needed to figure out a good way to make the plug-in joints take the spanwise tension load. It's certainly an attractive prospect.

[jcstalls]

Hi,

I would agree with you Mark. I think the average weight of these older 2M were around 40 ozs.
There are a few production 2M comming from Europe that are light weight, but from what little I have seen, I really do not think many of them can handle current winch and landing conditions at our TD events.
Case in point. I have a Renny 2ME that wieghs in at 14ozs, plus hardware empty in kit form. Suppose to be less than 10 ozs, but that is another story for the vendor section. Nice molded built up wing, glass fuse with a kevlar boom. I could see this at about 24 RTF, or less. Yet the little wing rod along with the current fuse would either fold the wing on the winch in a gust, or bust the fuse or boom on landing if spiked.
Some of the imported 2M seem to built well for contest, yet at thier price around $450 plus, just a litlle more and a 3M can be had.
The 2m Aegea
that you mentioned sounds nice. I will have to look into it as after all these years, I am finnally getting into bagging.

Jared

[ArnoldC]

I have found out that the SLNT has dropped the 2meter contest for the TNT. Sorry about that

Arnold