The Jabberwock’s First Flights - Start to Finish - Thermal Rides

I love days like this one. This film shows the start to finish build and the first trim flights with the 1939 Jabberwock, a rubber-powered free-flight model, designed by Wally Simmers. This one was covered in “corn-buster“ colors for easier retrieval in the crops. Filmed by Tom Hallman, using a Canon PowerShot SX20, iPhones 11Pro & 14Pro. Music: “The Garden“ by Beneath the Mountain, “Her Land“ by Carlie Fairburn, and “Captivated“ by Cristof Walters via , who breathes life into my films. Free Jabberwock plan: Badge Classic DT & spring: Article on the Simmers 13.5“ prop: Article on the use of dethermalizers: 13.5“ Prop blank measurements: Nick Lowe’s version of “(What’s so Funny ’Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding“: Here’s my Jabberwock story from November 12, 2023: My energy was fading too fast, too early on Saturday night, but I was awake enough to check the forecast. I saw a rather good window for Wawa on Sunday, so I cleared the cobwebs, kicked into gear and had the car loaded by 11PM. Then I added the DT spring to the new Jabberwock’s line before I hit the sack near midnight. Still energized by the unexpected, I didn’t drift off until 12:45am, but then got up at 5:15am to get on the road. Arrived around 8:30am to a beautiful morning, thick grass on the trim field, 100s of crows and a few passing flocks of geese. Sod farmers were harvesting in the far southeast corner. Otherwise, I was alone for the day. It was 32º when I got there, but rose to 45º around noon. Zero to 4 mph all day, with the direction flipping 90º-180º throughout. Wild. Glad I had a streamer to quickly check the latest. The Jabberwock came in just under 70 grams, but needed roughly 4-5g of nose ballast. After a few test glides, I started out with low winds to check the circle. I gave her a 1/20” shim of up elevator, then backed off the downthrust a couple of times. Max turns would be around 1550. She did the circle at 400 turns, gave me a couple of circles at 600, then started to climb once I got to 800-1200. She seemed a bit tired at start of the 1200 flight, but kept with the right circle. It looked like a so-so hand launched flight, though she kept going, and started to climb methodically with each circle. Got up to about 100’ and eased about for her first max, a few seconds past 2 minutes. She’s not as clean and lofty as the Gollywock, but very similar to the slightly larger span Dyna-Moe, who also has a knack for finding the air and riding it. You’d think she’s ready to come down, but instead just hangs there. I’m convinced that the 13.5” carved prop is a big part of this scenario. Next test was to get closer to max winds and try an ROG. I gave the motor 1450 turns, which just barely kept her above the grass after leaving the table. But she recovered and started her climb to around 200’ where she was in cruise mode, drifting down the field toward the shed. Still on the rise or at least holding steady, she DT’d at 2:35 and landed five sections away with a 3:05. What a flyer! At 1:30pm I tried one more ROG, this time bumping up to 1520. The head wind helped her lift off cleanly, as she gave me another long flight that drifted to the north, and the far side of the grassy trim field. Again she DT’d, coming in just short of 3 minutes. There were still 2-3 hours of sunlight left, but I’d seen everything and more than I had expected to see. It couldn’t have gone any better. I know that I’ve been late to the party, but that Wally Simmers has designed quite a trio. *************** 2024 Flying Aces Club calendar slide show: Order your calendar at Cafe Press: Looking for a Flying Aces Club near you? Check out this link: If you click on the map at the area closest to you, it will automatically bring up an information request link. That request goes to FAC GHQ and also to the Squadron Commander of record for that squadron. For more info on free-flight rubber-powered models, check these websites: National Free Flight Society - Mike Stuart’s Flying Scale Models - Flying Aces Club merchandise: All profits support Flying Aces Club activities. Center of Gravity merchandise: