I hasten to assure readers that I have zero competence in this sphere of activity. However, a recent experience may be of interest.

   One day last year (2002) I met a new club member at our Weeton flying site. He was flying a 2 metre hot electric glider. Alongside his Tx was a pocket computer which was displaying data from the airborne model via a radio downlink.

    After landing, the complete history of the flight was displayed graphically on the computer screen. Altitude, rate of climb, airspeed, air temperature, GPS, Rx battery volts, normal acceleration, control positions, and more. The only external feature was a pitot head on the wing. The total weight of the airborne equipment was about two ounces.

   The name of this model flyer?  Dieter Meissner. Where did he get his equipment? He devised and made it himself.

   "Try it in your model" said Dieter.   "No spare room" said I.

   Ten minutes later my B52 was airborne with half of the glider's instrumentation transferred to it, crammed into odd corners, with the pitot head taped to the nose. One whole ounce of extra weight. No downlink.

   After a normal four-minute flight the data-recorder was connected to the pocket computer to display the flight history. The following day I was presented with a paper copy which is reproduced below (covered with my scribbles).

   I have been hoping to test several of my models, with Dieter's co-operation, the objective being to correlate wing loading, pitch speed, and flying speeds. But, sadly, Dieter is soon to leave this part of the world.