[NSRCA-discussion] Breakthrough Pattern plane designs

Tue Dec 16 17:25:29 AKST 2008

Hmmmm!! I'm sure most will disagree but heck I have thick hide, thicker 
than most of you

I think pattern airplane (just airplane, not accessories) development 
over the past 30 some odd years has seen little if any invention. There 
were trend setting airplanes and more unique designs built to suit 
their designers. Curare was highly copied and Arrow and Bootlegger 
initiated the internal piped set-ups. I remember seeing Koger's belt 
driven plane around 1990 or so and thought that was a cool enineering 
set-up. That was one invention worth mentioning but it was not the 
airplane, it was the powerplant

Certainly pattern airplanes such as Curare, Arrow and Smaragd were 
influential but in my view not really revolutionary. Evolutionary yes. 
Not revolutionary. With all due respect to Mssrs Prettner and Matt; 
planes were and still are outstanding fliers as are many others.

The closest thing to revolutionary pattern plane design is Nat Penton's 
VooDoo Xpress, a plane 25 years ahead of its time. It has taken 
schedules this long to catch up to that plane's capability. Certainly 
not a successful airplane in the marketing sense nor in the highly 
copied sense. But revolutionary nevertheless

To me, the most influential and truly revolutionary thing to be 
developed in the last 25 years has to be Merle Hyde's vibration 
dampening engine mount. This simple, passive invention revolutionized 
pattern models, along with a key rule change
, which allowed very high 
output powerplant development. Without this device, pattern models 
would not have been as large, assuming the weight rule would have 
stayed in effect, unchanged. Take the soft mount away and everything 
shrinks to accomodate weight needed for dampening the power strokes. 
Without the soft engine mount I don't think pattern models would be 
what they are today.

I agree with Jason that APC props were revolutionary. They converted 
classic Betz propeller theory to practice, something no one else had 
been able to do before.

My 2 cents, whatever that's worth

Matt K

-----Original Message-----
From: billglaze <billglaze at bellsouth.net>
To: bob at toprudder.com; General pattern discussion 
<nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 5:48 pm
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] Breakthrough Pattern plane designs

I wasn't interested in pattern at all, until I saw Dick Hanson's Excell 
at
a meet.  The owner said "it's supposed to be an Extra 300, if you can 
get
past an Extra with retractable gear."
I felt that, if it was possible to fly such a good looking airplane in
pattern and do well, (and it was, in fact, possible to do so) then I 
could take
an interest.  I have always preferred airplanes that look like
airplanes,and not like an Irish Battle Club. 
Dave Guerin put it very succinctly one time when he said:  "the
pattern flyers of today have no idea just how much they owe 
Dick 
Hanson." 
And, if Dave says it....................... Bill Glaze

  ----- Original Message -----
  From:
  Bob Richards

  To: General pattern discussion

  Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 9:09
  AM
  Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion]
  Breakthrough Pattern plane designs

         Some planes were breakthroughs just because they broke the 
mold. I
         would put the Astro Hog in that category. Most others took 
advantage in
         advancements in technology. I would put the Bootlegger in that 
category
        (tuned pipe internal instead of hanging outside).

        One plane that has already been mentioned is the Mach I. This
         advanced pattern into the ballistic age. The thin wing and 
really
        streamlined fuselage.... beautiful.

         Someone already mentioned the Focus. What was breakthrough 
about
         that was not the design per se, but the fact that it was an 
affordable
         ARF that could be built easily yet could (and did) win the 
NATS. Up
         until then, you had to pay an arm and a leg for a plane that 
probably
        required a LOT of work to be competitive.

         Elements of technology that changed20pattern: Digital 
proportional
         radios; Retracts; Schneurle ported engines; Tuned pipes; 
Four-strokes
         (ok, that was a rule thing, but still...). Lipo batteries made 
electric
        pattern not only possible, but competitive.

         I think the biggest changes (won't really call it 
'breakthrough')
        have been the rules. Pattern planes could have been larger than
         they were had it not been for the limit in engine size. The 
story I
         heard was that Duke Fox designed the .78 for pattern, but then 
they came
         up with a rule to limit the engine size to .61. Then the rule 
to allow
         up to 1.20 four-strokes due to the 'power disparity'. (???) 
Then came
         turnaround, and the designs were forced to change. Then the 
unlimited
         engine size. I've always said that a lot of manufacturers shy 
away from
        pattern since it has always been a moving target.

         I have to think back to Tom Miller's "Reaction" design. It did 
not
        have much impact on the sport, probably because it was too far
         ahead of its time. Back when guys were still flying ballistic 
planes
         with 2 strokes, tuned pipes and retracts,20here he comes with a 
fixed
         gear, taildragger, fat fuselage (relative to the times), 
four-stroke
        plane and said "this is where we are headed". Give that man a
        prize!!!

        And the beat goes on....

        Bob R.

--- On Mon, 12/15/08, Woodward, Jim (US SSA)
        &lt;jim.woodward at baesystems.com&gt; wrote:

        From:
          Woodward, Jim (US SSA) &lt;jim.woodward at baesystems.com&gt;
Subject:
          [NSRCA-discussion] Breakthrough Pattern plane designs
To: "General
          pattern discussion" &lt;nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org&gt;
Date:
          Monday, December 15, 2008, 2:23 PM

          Hi
          Guys,

          What
           do you think were some of the most breakthrough or pivotal 
pattern
          designs?  When I started there the Prophecy was top dog.  A
          couple years later the Smaragd was designed.  I see a lot of
           planes have been designed off the Smaragd platform.  I think 
the
          PassPort is a heck of a plane.

          What
           do you guys=2
0think have been some break-out designs over the 
years that
          have transformed pattern aircraft design?  In the last nine
           years, Iʼd say the Smaragd was the most transformational 
plane.

          Thanks,

          Jim W.

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