Jargon Busting!

Ah, Jargon! Love it or hate it, there is a lot of it. Some is really important to know. For example, bits and pieces of information that relate to "trimming", that is, getting the best performance out of your model. Other terminology is more esoteric, and arguably, not necessary for you to enjoy the sport of Free Flight (and it is officially a "sport" in the UK). I'm not proposing to explain all of the jargon. Instead, I'll list a whole raft of it now. Later, I'll explain some of the important terms, or at least give you a link to more information. So, in no particular order, here's a list:

1. Lift
2. Drag
3. Best L/D
4. Min Sink
5. Polar
   
6. Centre of Gravity
7. Centre of Pressure and Aerodynamic Centre
   
8. Angle of Attack
9. Angle of Incidence
10. Dihedral
11. Decalage (sometimes called Longitudinal Dihedral) - great diagram here
12. Moment Balance
13. Stab Up, Stab Down
14. Stab Tilt
15. Stab Twist
16. Stall
17. Sideslip
18. Dutch Roll
19. Wash Out
20. Wash In
21. Tip Weight
22. Wing Offset
23. Wing Planform
24. Aspect Ratio
25. Wing Area
26. Wing Loading
    
27. Chord and Mean Aerodynamic Chord (MAC)
    
28. Aerofoil section
29. Camber
30. Thickness
31. Winglet
32. Dethermaliser, or DT, or Dethermalizer
33. Span Loading (two flavours)
    

Watch out for "those that prowl in them thar Parks!"

Because, this is what can happen to your model aeroplane!

Cloud Tramp

My Cloud Tramp. This 22" span classic is one of the rubber models that I would recommend for a beginner (see previous blogs). It is fairly easy to build. Powered by six strands of 3/32" rubber (three loops), it climbs beautifully especially in lift. This gives a motor run of about 50 s. Best flight so far is around 90 s. It's OK under power, but the glide is not as flat as a decent hand launched glider.

And here is a photo earlier in the build of the fuselage, undercarriage legs and stabiliser: