I am getting old, Father William...

Well, it seems that I have to face one fact…

After “a long and glorious career” without any real reknown or fame, the probligo is going to have to hang up his flying boots, leave the strapping at home, and frame the last of his chuckies as wall ornaments.

One of the lasting passions of my life has been flying model aircraft, and the most stimulating, the most invigorating, and the most challenging has always been the humble hand launch glider.

To explain, these are always thought of as the ultimate in “kids stuff and toys”, and I confess that in many ways they are. A hand launch glider (HLG and “chuckie”) can be anything from the little dime panel glider to fifty or sixty dollars of crafted wizardry. Mine have always fallen somewheres in the middle, or somewhat toward the upper end of the scale. The "average" chuckie is about 16" to 18" span, between 400 and 450mm across. Mine are usually in the next range up, from 500mm to 600mm. In recent times I have built several that head into the "gorilla" class upwards of 600mm span, the largest (in the workshop waiting for me to fix it yet again) at 850mm. The reason for taking the larger end is that I have a "slow arm" and need the extra glide capability to counter (in theory at least) the slower and lower launch.

Almost anything with wings can be made to fly as a HLG, but the trip is in making something that is better than anything else. Hence it is a technology field that is never standing completely still. To show what I mean, there are on the ‘Net quite a few sites and webpages devoted to the sport, design, techniques, competition; the whole shebang.

The challenge is one which (and I have tried this as well – unsuccessfully) I like to describe as being the equivalent in difficulty of dry-fly fishing. It looks deceptively simple; it can be devilish difficult.

For a start, a competitive glider is not easy to build. You need skill with wood carving and shaping, you need skill with advanced adhesives, you need to be able to handle advanced composites such as fiberglass and carbon fibre. They are not easy to fly competitively. You have to be able to throw a 40 gram or less weight at least 15 metres vertically. I can (could) manage 10 to 12 metres consistently on a good day.

To give an idea…if you were ever lucky enough to try skipping stones over water then think of that best ever throw; the one that went over 30 metres and skipped at least 6 clear times. That is a rough equivalent of the best I have seen flying HLG’s. One (an Aussie chappie I flew alongside a couple of years back) had a technique which started with the HLG somewhere in the vicinity of his left ankle and ended with his feet about .75 metres off the ground. I could get nowhere near his altitude, nor his flight times. Others in my club have watched me “practicing” (I call it enjoying) and said that I have done pretty well. For me yes, for competition I know that I am well back.

So, why the epiphany? Why the sudden decision that it has to end?

Since I was 17 or so, I have had intermittent problems with my ankles but especially my knees (old rugby injuries). In recent years, the two or three kilometer treks to retrieve gliders have taken their toll. When you are walking over cow paddocks, it is not (literally not) a walk in the park. On top of that is the stress on my left knee from my throwing action as well. But that is not the reason..

For the past three or four months I have had recurring gout attacks in my left wrist (I am left handed) and it has gotten to the point now where I have lost about 50% of the flexibility that I had. Instead of being able to “throw” my wrist through close to 160*, it is now closer to 60*. THAT is a big reduction. It loses probably 80% of the power in the throw. Worse, the pain is now every time I throw rather than just a mild two or three days of aching after a day’s flying.

Anyone want flying lessons? Free gliders provided to left handers. Right handers provide their own. :D :D