New interest in F F

[Dandi6065]

I was testing a micro hand launch glider today, without any electrics,just the ariframe, and was totally taken in by the graceful flight and the way the wind seemed to grab hold of it and float it along. I have been thinking about getting into FF all day.
I am more interested in just tossing it and seeing how long it will stay up.
Anyone have any links they can share?
Thanks
Dave

[JCastle]

Dave,
Fortunately the free flight community is very generous with plans and information on the web.

One of my favorite links is the Windy Sock: http://www.flyingacesclub.net/alamo/plans.htm
They have archives full of articles and they publish a new free plan every month:)

Another great starter plane is the no-cal plans published here on the E-Zone: http://www.ezonemag.com/articles/plans/nocal/nocal.shtml
These no-cal planes are easy and cheap to build and fly very well.

Another good free plans page is http://www.mindspring.com/~thayer5/ffpages/plans/plans.html

If you are interested in gliders I suggest that you do a search on the Drifter catapult glider. I enjoy catapult gliders because they are easy to build, easy to launch and are tough enough to handle some beginners treatment;)

Happy hunting,
John

[Terry Lyttle]

Careful! Freeflight is addictive! Old guys like me still build Hedgehoppers and Thermic 18s even though my shoulder/elbow are no longer able to do these models justice. Still, I have a lot of fun, get exercise, lose a couple, crash a couple more, and after a week's worth of liniment and balsa dust, ready to go again.

Careful!

[Bsmooth]

I love free flight! I have just gotten into it recently. Currently I have one plane built, a custom f/f glider made to look like a sort of jet, flies well but I can't stop flying it enough to cover the fuse! I have never had soo much fun with balsa! I do have a few questions, how do you get your tissue to shrink? and what size balsa should i buy to build more planes. I have 3/32"x36" strips and one sheet of 1/16"x3"x36"L is this OK for some of the smaller stuff?

[lymon]

Lightweight ("Japanese") tissue shrinks when it dries... spray a mist of water (or better, a mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol)
and allow it to dry. Lightweight structure may warp; some pin these to a board to dry. If you dope the tissue after water shrinking, it may shrink more. Silkspan won't shrink much; it is more often applied wet and gently stretched as applied. This will work with light tissue too, but only with good tissue and practice.

3/32" sticks are good for 30" or above span if they aren't too heavy. 1/16" sheet and strips are staple ingredients for smaller freeflight planes. Check the price of balsa sticks and compare it to the cost of a stripper to make them from sheets. You can get a lot of sticks from a sheet.