John Kagan's Daily Excerpts from NatsNews, Johnson City 2008 - May 30th

Intertwined (literally) with the Scale classes, Day 3's morning included the new Balloon-Launched Glider and Towline Glider events.  These two new models eliminate the high-speed launch, thus changing the design requirements.  The balloon-launched gliders, carried gently to launch altitude, can be designed purely for minimum sink.

The towline gliders must be strong enough to be pulled to altitude and require some sort of release mechanism.  It was pretty neat- and unusual- to see people at a brisk pace across center stage, towing gliders to the peak of the dome.

Various techniques were used in Towline, but the times were relatively close.  Fred Rash took top honors with a best time of 2:46.  Kurt Krempetz, who clmly towed around a large portion of the floor before releasing his ship, was second with 2:37, and Walt Collins was just a few seconds back with a 2:32 for third.

Stan Buddenbohm tried an all-balsa model to see if it would hang with the built-up types.  His tows were a joy to watch but, in the end, aerodynamics didn't seem to make up for weight and the solid model's best was 2:03.