Hi Ken, can you describe the "GLADIATOR" design, that is, how much is the wing area

and total flying weight? I stopped flying 1/2A combat 20 years ago, this was just before

the Foras and other super peformance .049s displaced the Cox TDs. That was in

the 35' X .012" lines days.

The entry of the Hyper-performance .049s caused a rules change to 42' lines. This

actually caused the almost total demise of the popularity of the 1/2A event.

It cost too much to field 3-4 engines, and most competitors stopped designing and

building their own models; they simply bought RTF models at approx $50 each.

The real paradox was that even though the new models with modern engines were

capable of flying 8-10 mph faster than the TD models; on 42' lines, the modern 1/2A

models were flying the same lap times as the older TD ships!! My TD 1/2A Combat

models were as fast as anybody's models that I flew against; and I could trim my models

to fly faster than I could control them. I flew my models at 72-73 mph, My son could

control the same model at 75-76 mph. He was young and had the reflexes of a squirrel.


My ships were 200sq" designs. With the advent of the modern .049 engine,

I surmised that the new engines woud need a 320-335sq" wing to slow them down to 73-75 mph.

but they would have a lighter wing loading and out turn the TD ships...on 35' lines.

Apologies for the tome.

Tony