In-flight flying

Model Airplane News, Aug 1998 by Sharp, Debra

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED what it would be like to soar through the air alongside your R/C model? Venezuelan Claudio Marcotulli, an R/C builder, flyer and paraglider pilot, found out when he flew his El Chuti sailplane from the top of El Avila mountain (on the coast near Caracas) to its base while gliding down the 6,000-foot-high mountain himself.

To fulfill this goal, Claudio first needed to design and build a model with special features that would compensate for the performance differences between R/C sailplanes and full-size paragliders.

After two years of building during college breaks, the result was El Chuti-a foam-fuselage model sheeted with balsa and reinforced with fiberglass, with a 155-inch-span foam wing sheeted with Obechi. Because a paraglider has a lower cruise speed and a higher rate of descent than an ordinary RIC sailplane, Claudio added spoilers and flaps to his design. On its first testflight, the 18-pound El Chuti outperformed Claudio's expectations: "After taking off, the plane was floating like a feather; then I thought the effort had been worthwhile."

Claudio then organized a flight team of two paraglider pilots, another model airplane pilot, two photographers and a coordinator, along with two tandem paragliders courtesy of a local free-flight school. Although the flight down El Avila was twice postponed because of adverse weather, the conditions were nearly perfect for the third attempt, and Claudio, his copilot and another pilot, a cameraman and one coordinator gathered on the mountaintop.

The first paraglider, carrying the pilot and a cameraman, took to the sky while Claudio checked his radio equipment and El Chuti.

Soon after, Claudio and his copilot took off; when both paragliders were stabilized, the coordinator launched El Chuti down the mountain and Claudio took control of the model. With its spoilers in and its flaps up, the model performed even better than the paraglider. Claudio says, "[I had] the illusion of having a motorpowered glider. Pushing the throttle stick on my radio control (cleaning the wing) would make the airplane go up in relation to my [movement] in the paraglider.

Einstein's relativity theory immediately came to mind. In truth, both were actually descending." Claudio also comments that it was unusual to be able to fly an R/C plane beneath his feet. "I could even touch it when we were flying at the same speed."

Even though the flight down El Avila went flawlessly, the problem of landing all three craft unharmed still posed a problem.

Claudio had targeted a golf course for landing, and if the weather changed for the worse or another emergency situation arose, El Chuti would be flown out to sea. Three minutes before landing, Claudio turned off his transmitter, and on the golf course, a pilot with a radio of the same frequency took temporary control of the model while Claudio and his copilot landed. Once safely on the ground, Claudio regained control and gently brought El Chuti in for a grass landing.

Reflecting on his unique flying experience, Claudio says, "Paragliding, you experience your surroundings intensely: you can feel the wind on your skin, smell the clouds, and see the world from above. Controlling an R/C airplane, you feel the movements of the craft vicariously .... [This adventure] has led me to believe that flying is more than being capable of moving in the air; it is a personal experience that comes from a voyage through our inner world."

-Debra Sharp