Where to purchase proper towline for A1/A2

[marauderbomber]

Greetings all,

I have flown A1 & A2 classics a few years back…OK…way, way back. I’ve got the itch real bad to do it again.
I have a set ” A1 Top Kick” and “A2 Dragmaster” plans that I’m going to scratch build. I’m trying to locate the proper “towline” that meets the specs called out in the rule book.
Any help on where I might find the good stuff?

Thanks again for your help.

[DAN BERRY]

FAI Supply has a reel and also some nice yellow monofilament-maybe 2 diffent monos? that will do you. The lines aren’t exact length, you’ll need to trim them.

[marauderbomber]

Thanks Dan for the help. I’ll check it out.

[Lee Hines]

Kenny, I don’t know if you have made a Dragmaster before, but the
wing structure is in need of more spar strength.
Back in the ’60s when Tom designed it, we were in stone age relative
to good structures to withstand rigors of towing a glider.
I suggest you use a spruce spar below the main one and WEB BETWEEN
the spars with vertical grain balsa.
In addition, use STRONG rib stock of 3/32nd, narrower TE & longer ribs.
Some carbon top & bottom capping of the ribs from LE to TE would also
help. Dragmasters were notorious wing flutterers, so some diagonals
and double tissue covering is in order.

If the intent is to fly Classic Towline event, Dragmaster is a good
choice, as you can use relatively gentle releases to ease wing fatigue.
Towline material can be 25-30lb dacron or similar braided line.
I don’t care for mono line, in general, but it works for some.

Leeper

[marauderbomber]

Thanks sweepettelee for the good information.

Many, many years ago I built the Dragmaster. I was built stock. Yes it did flutter. I have different plans for this one. I love geodetics and plan on putting them thru out the entire wing. The ribs and geodetics will extend into the TE that will be 1/16″ sheet “C” grain top and bottom. The wing TE will be built up like the Airtronics “Aquila Grande” less cap strips.

I’ve been doing some serious studying of the plans and making notes and changes. I’m even thinking of putting the Aquila Grande style wing tips on it for hopefully better performance and better looks. It should be a lot of fun building.
The spars will be spruce top and bottom with same width vertical shear webbing from tip to tip.

Thanks for the Dacron line info. I’ll be looking for that also. I have two other FF modelers here in town that wants to build some A1 & A2 gliders. Man-O-Man the FF chat sessions get to be real good…<>

I do plan on flying it in the Classic Towline event. It should be a ton of fun.

Thanks again,

[Lee Hines]

Kenny,

It sounds like you are on top of this with good plan with the shear webs
and geodetics. 🙂

I made a very modified version of Dragmaster in 1970, with tapered
tips and diagonals if I recall correctly.
Used a fiberglass boom and it flew OK.
Wing warped too easy tho. 😕
I cannot over-state the importance of using hard, strong ribs, tho.
Your design changes should make it more warp-resistant than mine was.

Look forward to hearing about your progress.

Leeper

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