It's Mid-July, and my throat is dry, and... no, that's not the subject of this.

I first got back into this seriously in early 2000, after piddling with it, and flying full-scale gliders for 20 years. When I first started in the early '70s, my first glider was a Windfree. So, I had decided that's where I would start again. I bought a laser-cut Windfree kit and built it. I had been thinking about this for some time and so I modified it slightly. I extended the top sheeting 1" further aft of the spar. It seemed to improve the performance somewhat.

Over the next few years, I progressed rapidly in the hobby, and I wanted to get my (now deceased) brother involved again. We had flown R/C sailplanes together some in the '70s. I was, at the time, the president of the Houston Hawks, a post he had held in the '70s. I was trying everything I could to get the membership up. I gave him the Windfree. To make a long story short, his widow gave it back to me after he passed away.

I have had it all this time and put it away, not thinking about it much. The rudder and 1 stab were slightly damaged, and the Monokote had loosened up, and it was pretty dirty. So, on a hot, windy Sunday afternoon, I was looking through some pictures, and came across a picture of my brother with this model. Just on that whim, I went and got this model down, cleaned, repaired and reshrunk it, checked the wing for warps and proper washout, and installed the radio gear. I still had the servos and receiver...Continue Reading