Urapema Profile Scale Competition Balcony Glider Alt Text
The most consistent duration glider at the 1995 McDonald Douglas Contest. (Based on the Urapema sailplane.) It nearly won 1st place in profile scale duration (based on best 2 of 8 flights), but was beaten by the last 2 flights by a TR-1 (U-2 type design). The TR-1 had a lighter wing load and often folded up the wings too much upon launch, leading to a high sink rate and inconsistent performance, but better peak performance when it worked correctly. The Urapema had a sturdy spar reinforced wing and reinforced body, making its performance very reliable, with great hang time, but not quite good enough to win once the TR-1 got its act together. Not a bad showing for my first balcony duration contest against multi-year veterans. Unfortunately that was probably the only year outsiders could enter. The Urapema has an all moving tailplane with a flexible paper linkage to allow exact setting at minimum drag without bending the surface!