Hi all,

I have been seeing this forum whenever I surf the net for aeromodelling info but always thought it is for hardcore RC guys. Tonight I went into the various sections and was quite pleasantly surprised to see that there is a group into Free Flight and specifically into Indoor Rubber powered.
While I have been an aeromodeller since my school days --- I am now 63 years young -- RC was too costly then. I graduated up to control line models. There was a long lay off when I was serving in the Indian Navy where I also did some basic flying training with the Airforce.
After retirement the aeromodelling bug bit again and I picked up where I left off. Perhaps a factor of age -- I gravitated into the fascinating world of Indoor Free Flight ultralights.
No gizmos no aerobatics but you need to know your aerodynamics toget anywhere in this area of aeromodelling
As I read some posts on the free flight section -- we have a whole load of youngsters jumping into quadcopters and RTF RC stuff but who have very little understanding of the aerodynamics involved.
I started off with Walk Along Gliding and then into rubber powered indoor stuff.
I will posts links and pics of what I have been doing.
I read about the 1 min sweepstake.  I am happy to say that my longest flight of a rubber powered indoor model is 2 mins 40secs. I am confident I will break the 5 min barrier soon. There is a very good indoor venue in a school nearby with unobstructed high ceiling. Ideal to get good duration flights.

Link of my flight -- The model is the A 6 class called the Almost Tandem -- designed by Bill Gowen who holds the record in the A6 class with a 11 min flight with this model.



I have also designed my own Delta Wing Walk Along Glider
Check these links

http://www.endlesslift.com/delta-wing-walk-along-glider-experiment/

http://www.endlesslift.com/delta-wing-experiment-2/

Has anyone made a stick and tissue Walk Along Glider
Checkout this video


Can easily keep it in flight for ever -- but age is catching up.

Have a hard disk full of a whole load of info, plans, tips and tricks, trimming techniques, jigs and fixtures for construction etc, all stuff for serious Indoor Free Flight enthusiasts.

Surprisingly even in the west this area of aeromodelling seems to attract the older age group -- 50 plus.

Check out the channel --Foldnation-- on youtube. All my test flight videos are here.

Waiting for the day when we have enough indoor free flight enthusiasts to have an all india meet.

Would love to share my experiences and expertise I have gained in my journey in Indoor Free Flight.

Attached some pic of my indoormodels

Happy flying

Anant

Haha,
Guys my age and more joining in!
Air Commodore a few days back, now Glidiator.

So what if its raining now, and the field will be slush tomorrow?
It'll be Sunday.
Time to air these babies...

Welcome to the forum, Anant Sir!

Wish i had a place like that to fly indoor planes

Welcome sir, good to see ardent indoor free flighter

welcome sir,
i have managed a 56 second flight with a walk-along out of newspaper.
yours is inspiring.
I really do hope that you manage to get that balsa aircraft to fly for 5 minutes.

Hi All,

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Its been pouring here for the past 10 days but even the weather Gods cant stop indoor free flighters.

I have compiled a DVD with a lot of info I have culled from the net on indoor free flight -- Articles, Plans, Construction tips and techniques, Pics and Videos, Trimming techniques, all back issues of Indoor News and views which has some valuable nuggets of information and plans, sources for indoor supplies etc.

Anyone interested -- send me your postal address for a copy.

Happy flying

Anant

Hi Prabal,

Getting the weight down to as low as possible is the name of the game in Walk Along Gliding and Indoor Ultra light Free Flight. Lower the weight -- lower the stall speed.

Paper gets affected by humidity -- should get into making thin foam sheets. Can be cut to less than 0.5 mm and it is much lighter and not affected by humidity etc.

Such gliders will be almost stationary -- very low stall speeds.
Try it out

Anant

Sir, Congrats on your achievement . I know it is not as easy as RC plane designing/flying . PM sent.

Hi Doc,

Yes Indoor Ultralight has its own set of challenges and excitement.
Can be quite frustrating when trimming and not getting the desired results.
The construction of these models will also test your building skills. In fact the construction is as satisfying as the flying of the models.

Can you imagine the F1D class which is the ultimate in Indoor Free Flight has a wing span of 55 cms but weighs an astounding 1.5 gms. And in this feather light aircraft they put in a variable pitch propeller. World record duration in this class is 1 hour 1 min. In the FAI world championships you need flights of more than 30 mins to be anywhere in the reckoning.
I wonder whether the batteries or fuel in RC models can last for 1 hour.

Here is the video link of that record flight


The last FAI world Championship in the F1D class was held in mid Apr in Slanic Romania. This is an underground salt mine that has a height of over 200 feet. A short video.
A fantastic location for indoor free flight






Watch this videos. Will give a good idea about indoor free flight

A interview with Joshua Finn ---

Happy flying

Anant