Modelling Story

Chris Podbury's Aeromodelling Success Story !

A member of the East Devon Radio Control Club.

I was lured back to model flying five years ago, inspired by reading stories of practical electric models in the magazines. This was something new to try with the promise of self launch gliding made easy. My first model on my return to flying, was a Precedent Electrafly which was a success, but was lost due to a wing folding when trying to escape a fierce thermal at height. While looking for a sports cabin model, I came across an advert for Apex Models. Their 56" Wiffler seemed to fit the bill. I equipped it with a Speed 600 8.4 volt motor, an 8" x 4.5" folding propeller and a 7

cell 1700 Ma. hour nicad. Click the Image below to get a full size view.

The fun started in December '96'. The motor run at full throttle produced a good climb for 5.5 minutes. Only 30 seconds of power was needed to reach thermal height, Climb and Glide techniques produced an average flight of 15 minutes. The model proved surprisingly effective at thermalling and flight times continued to improve. I always keep a logbook of flying and the Wiffler page was looking impressive. When I achieved the unheard of, ( for me ), total of 500 flights, I phoned Don at Apex Models. He was kind enough to promise me a FREE kit to celebrate my 1000 flight. This suddenly became the goal, which was achieved recently. The current total is 1015 flights with airborne time of 287 hours which at an estimated average speed of 30 MPH equals 8610 miles. The logbook also shows my Wiffler has 150 flights of 25 minutes plus, with a best thermal flight of 74 minutes. It has been flown at 21 sites including 12 public displays. During it's adventures it has been attacked by Hawks, landed in a tree, been shot down by a frequency clash, gone free flight when a nicad lead failed, crashed when a motor suppresser failed, and dumped ( SHAME ! ) when I launched it on an incorrect model memory. The balsa structure has been quick to repair and recently a recovered fuselage smartened it up a treat ! Due to the success of mine, two other Wifflers are now flying at my club, the East Devon Radio Control Club. So the story continues on, to who knows how many flights !

Chris Podbury