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Scratch-Built in Sweden
Anders Molin

Despite English being his second

	Ken is a big JART-LT fan!

Ken has been extremely enthusiastic from the moment he ordered the JART-LT. I've included some of his comments below, from the time he first received the kit, right up the recent maiden flight...

"
REED MODEL ARRIVED FANTASTIC SERVICE THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS GREAT KIT SURE YOU'LL SELL LOADS TO MY FRIENDS WILL SOON BUILD AND TAKE PICS+MOVIE AGAIN MANY MANY THANKS KEN.
"
"
HI REED PLEASE SEE PICS LET ME KNOW IF YOU DO ANY ALL MOULDED WINGS FOR THE JART LT LUV IT...BEST REGARDS KEN
"
"
HI REED HERE ARE A FEW PICS ...FIRST FLIGHT..... MOVIE TO FOLLOW WHEN EDITED
P.S. CAN YOU SEND ME A PAYPAL LINK FOR ANOTHER JART LT ONE IS NOT ENOUGH FANTASTIC NOW MY FAV MODEL BEST REGARDS KEN.
"
"
JUST ORDERED SECOND JART LT WILL SHEET WINGS AND GLASS THIS ONE. (CAN I JUST SAY BEEN FLYING RC SINCE I WAS 13 YEARS OLD NOW 54 YEARS YOUNG) I HAVE BEEN FLYING FULL SIZE GLIDERS 16 YEARS HAVE A PPL 9 YEARS AND FLY A YAK 52.... BUT SLOPE RC GLIDER AEROBATICS IS THE BIZZ AT LAST I HAVE FOUND UNLIMITED FLIGHT FROM YOUR JART LT NICE JOB MANY THANKS REED ......KIND REGARDS KEN. P.S. ...PIC IS ME ON A COLD EAST SLOPE WHITE HORSE HILL NEAR OXFORD ENGLAND U.K.
"

	Tony got the PNF logo just right!

Tony has kept me well-informed about the progress of his JART-LT from the very beginning. Now he's found a good day for maiden and sends us these thoughts and photos...

"
Hi Reed,

Kit arrived in first class shape - very well packed. - THANKS.

On opening the box the actual JART is even more impressive than the photo's and video's convey...
"

"
...Just thought you might like to know the maiden flight of yet another of your creations took place today at Ivinghoe Beacon, UK.

The wind was about 20kt, gusting 30kt, straight at the West face. She flew like a dream - I'm very pleased.
The rate of roll is so fast that hesitation rolls will need more practice.

Attached is a photo I managed while the most experienced pilot in the club put her through her paces - big grin from him :)
Not sharp, but it gives I sense of speed I think.

Best regards,
Tony Cummings
"

	Ulgur does good work – and check out his cool slope soaring logo!

Despite English being his second (or third) language, Ulgur was kind enough to tell us how he put together his 2nd scratch-built JART.

"
I will to try write something... sorry about my english.
Ok lets start.
First i got the Plan from you :) and I got wing from foam cutting.
For spar I found fishing rod which is material carbon... it is really strong and is easy to join the wings to each other. I used metal joiner for wing and fiber fabric and epoxy to the join point. And used the fiber fabric and epoxy to make cover wing... at the end i used vacuum bag.

For body I cut body shape from foam. It was 2 pieces from the centre as left and right. And I sand it until I got a good surface.
After I used thin stretch nylon to cover body surface. To easily separate the fiber fabric from the body. I got really glossy surface. And I covered left or right piece of body with fiber fabric and epoxy and vacuum bag again.
After dry i separated easily from the foam. So I can use the foam body again for build other JART.
And i joined the body each other and it need to a bit sand.
I fixed the body to wing and painted.
Flying weight is 1 kg.

Here is my JART story with my bad english:))

I hope we can fly here one day.

Take care.

Ugur
"

Interview - Vernon Hunt

Read our multi-part interview with the prolific and talented Vernon Hunt...



JARTFest 2008 -
Autumn Edition

	Hold on to your hat, it's another JARTFest! Get details and directions

WHEN:
Sunday, the 26th of October.

Well, what the heck, the last one was pretty fun and we learned a little about what works and doesn't work, so this one should be just that much better. Bring your swap meet items and a wad of cash for wheelin' and dealin'.

And bring a variety of slopers for flying, because if history is any indication, the surest way to guarantee light wind is to schedule a slope event.

Paula has agreed to run another raffle and there will be sandwiches and drinks if you don't bring your own. The raffle prizes will be a JART-LT kit (or two) and full-sized, signed JART plan sheets.

Really, though, it's all about getting together with other slope freaks and enjoying some BS with the boys. Come on out, we're all friendly and no one goes away without at least a smile.

Get details and directions by clicking here.

Andy Ellison

	Andy Ellison tells it like it is... Read the full article here

has done more than anyone (besides yours truly) to let people know about all the good qualities of the JART. Now he's had a very detailed article published in the

excellent UK RC flying magazine, RCM&E, on the building and flying of the new JART-LT ARF model.

From the article...
"I have to say, right off the bat, that the fuselage is very, very nice. A faithful reproduction from the JART plan, the lines of this excellent moulding flow into one another with subtle drafts to taper the sides in and allow for a fantastic grip for singlehanded launching. The huge fin and skinny waist is accurately reproduced, whilst the long, pointy nose will upset many a nose-measuring whingersaurus."

There's Andy for you. Trust me, he doesn't pull any punches in this review and he's not afraid to call out the bits of the kit he isn't thoroughly keen on – we owe him a debt of gratitude for his honesty and support. We'll continue developing the kit and other JART products with an eye to bringing top-shelf quality at a reasonable price.

Mike May

	Mike May making it happen – twice.

is one of South Africa's leading JARTists. This is his second JART build and he's done a great job chronicalling his work at the SA JART blog. Here are his impressions of his new yellow and red beauty...

"
Well finally the second Jart had its maiden flight, this last weekend at Volksrust, a group of us went down for the weekend. On saturday afternoon the wind had swung easterly and really picked up so we moved to the eastern point and I decided to give it a go.

This Jart is light, it weighs just under 1kg and is fitted with two nice MG digital no name brand servos, which I am trying for the first time.

The launch was uneventfull and she only needed a few clicks of up, this one is a little faster than my first one which has an MH32 airfoil. I also programmed in some flapperon which helps slow down for landings.

Anyway the first flight was a blast and on the sunday I tried a second flight in lighter air which resulted in a nasty tipstall and flick, you need to keep the speed up on these gliders, so due to the lack of good lift I safely landed.

I guess it's on to planning Jart number three.

Cheers

Mike

Ps I highly recommend you get yourself one they fly great.
"

Robin Trap

	Robin Trap's JART on the Netherland coast.

has made, against all preconceived notions I might have had, the Netherlands a Land of JART! I thought the place was flat and hardly slope-friendly, but to the right you see pictures of Robin's lovely, scratch-built J-bird sitting in the sand along the strand at the northwest tip of Holland. My guess is Robin flies alone quite a lot, otherwise I'm sure we'd have some tasty flying shots. In any case, it's very encouraging to see JART in this legendary land of beauty and social tolerance.

Here's Robin's acount of the maiden flight:

"
I finally got my JART flying successfully. Last week the flying conditions were favorable, a 12 to 15 kt wind from the west so I got my JART and drove to the dunes Julianadorp, near Den Helder. There was not soul on the beach and a steady western breeze swept from the sea and lifted the gulls that soared over the dunes – perfect.

As you can see on one of the pictures the dunes ar not that high so I set the flapperons a few degrees down to make the start a little less critical. I climbed the highest dune, while I was waiting for a good gust of wind I already felt the plane tugging my hand. I took a breath and tossed the JART into the wind and up it went. I carefully steered the JART along the dunes and slowly she climbed, not too high but high enough to get a feel of the plane and to build some confidence. After a few minutes I felt confident enough to try some halfpipes. The way she picked up speed was awesome! And then that seemingly endless momentum when she climbs, like a homesick angel! After a 20 minute flight I walked down to the beach for the landing. I made a long low pass over the beach, made a long and low turn towards the sea and back again over the beach and tried to gently set her down but she didn't want to come down, she just kept on gliding. So I gained some hight again and repeated my beachlanding pattern. This time she came in lower, below and in front of the lift, and greased her in just smoothly. She skidded over the sand a few yards and came to a stop. Given the circumstances (dunes not that high and a moderate wind) I was really impressed how well she performed. I can't hardly wait for a 20 kt wind, then I can really get this plane rocking. With autumn nearing these big air days will come.

Greetings

Robin Trap
Den Helder, Holland
"

Rob Stenhouse

	Rob Stenhouse finally finished!

was inspired by our mutual friend, Andy Ellison, to finally get his JART finished and ready for flight. We're looking forward to the post-flight report.

"
Hi Reed,

You very kindly sent me the plans a bit back, must be 2 or 3 years ago now (can't recall but if you check and find its the record for slowest build to come to fruition let me know). Its only since starting sloping again this last year with Andy Ellison and some of the guys from the TMFC club that have I got my backside into gear and churned my first JART out!

Attached a couple of photos as proof! Typically, I've got a week off and a ready to go Jart and guess what..........no wind!!!

Just want to say thanks for a brilliant design, I did say to Andy I can't get an LT until I've finished my scratch built.....now???"

Cheers
Rob Stenhouse
"

Vic Shroeder

	Vic Schroeder's first bagged part – a J-tail!

is using his free JART plans to learn new building techniques. To the right are photos of his first piece of bagged beauty. I'll let him tell the rest:

"Finally, after ages of planning, reading and thinking I've just got a fresh Jart stab out of the bag, very chuffed as it's my second bagging attempt and the wow factor when you open a "To Dad, From Dad" present inside the bag is superb! The leading edge and trailing edges just need trimming now.

"
Craig Goodrum and Evan Shaw's composite courses at AMT made it go pretty easy so it's on to the wings which came out great (thanks Mike for the template tip! - use thick Formica and a home-made feather cut).

"The wings are going to be two piece for ease of transport. I discussed the wing joiner rod with Craig and I'm going to use the tows-in-a-disappearing-aluminium-tube idea. Pictures to follow as it's being done.

"Thanks again Mike for your help and Reed for the generosity with the free plans for this beautiful plane!"

Vic
"

Read more South African JART adventures in their blog

	Nick's v-tail bit of carbony JARTistry see the photo gallery

has been threatening to finish this sweet hunk of carbon for about 3 years and this May finally had him doing it! It was worth the wait, as you can see. Follow his build thread to get a ton of interesting ideas about building and finishing off a top-shelf beauty, as well as a detailed study on how not to live a sedate and focused life. If the carbon doesn't make you drool, the radio install will – the man has skillz!

Photo gallery

	John Scahill's Scaley bit see the photo gallery

finished off this "scale" JART with a very nice Agressor scheme. Very unique, I don't think I've seen a panel-lined JART prior to this. Some of you may know that I'm a total sucker for PSS planes so I really like the way this one turned out.

Photo gallery

I'll let John give you the flight report on his maiden voyage:

"
Another Jart takes to the skies!

Winds were out of the west at about 15mph at Little Mountain. I tested the lift with my 48" LEG Spitfire. A little gusty, but worthy of the Jart. Mine came out at 39 oz. I tossed it and only put a little up trim in. Wow, rolls are great, pumps are spectacular. The plane has a great sound to it, especially the subtle "Blade" type squeel in the rolls. I love a plane with cool noise.

Tuff to slow down, I was using spoilerons and didn't like the feel of them. I switched them down to flaps and logged some nicer landings. What's the consensus on slowing it down, flaps or spoilerons? I use spoilerons on all my other planes to avoid the tip stall.

I think my cg is slightly nose heavy as it seems to pull up very subtley in a dive. Should I move the battery back? Is it nose heavy? Cg is about 55-57mm.

My construction was rather straight forward. Lost foam fuse. Glass and a little kevlar. Wings are EPS (Cut by Al, thanks) balsa sheeted and glassed. I tried to live hinge the ailerons but used RTV which makes the movement a little too stiff IMO. The live hinge worked great on the elevator, I just need practice. Tail feathers are balsa with glass. I am real happy with this one.
"

	Read Ellison's Column (yep, he does talk JART)
	June 2008
	June 2006	January 2007

has written another in a long series of excellent slope articles in RCM&E. If you haven't picked up a copy of RCM&E you should, it's a must-read if you have even a passing interest in RC flight. In this edition, Andy describes his slope arsenal in some painstaking detail, and includes a mention of his well-ballasted JART as a fine instrument for exploring big air. A lighter JART is fun in the conditions most sane people fly, but Andy's weighs in at a fully-laden European 74 oz. so when he slings it out into the sturm and drang of an English afternoon blow you know it has no choice but to go fast. Andy mentions having maidened his JART in 65mph winds, so clearly he's not using the same cognitive powers most of us employ to make important decisions!


JARTFest 2008
When is weather both good and bad...

...when it's gorgeous, sunny, and windless.

Well, folks, another one is in the books. Paula and I had a blast and it was our privilege and pleasure to host the show. Without all who turned up, physically and otherwise, there would be no event, however, so it is with humility and happiness that we thank you all for being there. Special thanks go out to infopimp, surfimp, BillO, Tim Bigley and Thierry Locard and all those who helped us bring the gear back up the hill.

Big shout outs to those who came a long way:
surfimp from Santa Barbara
bluffman and slopeiron from Los Angeles
Zamfir from Colorado
and of course, the grand champion of distance J-travel...
wheatfly from Georgia!

The raffle was a great success and we really should put our hands together in appreciation for the sponsors:
Soaring USA
Reese Productions

I have a few things going out to our international friends who won items in the raffle, but the big winner of the JART kit complete with carbon bagged wing and tail, was David Bormann! He's new to the sport, but I think we've hooked him for life now! And I hope you guys don't mind if I throw in a huge hug and a kiss for my lovely wife who made sandwiches, laminated signs, bought tons of food and used her tiny frame to haul a bunch of heavy stuff up and down the hill. Not much time to type at the moment, but I'll add some thoughts later.

It's looking pretty darn good, gentlemen. Hope to see you there.
Read more here...

JART-LT – sneek peek maiden video

BillO was out at the coast when I brought my freshly fitted-out JART-LT for maiden and he was kind enough to get a bit of video on this lovely day. Wind was about 12mph, gusting a little higher, and we had plenty of energy for a few JARTY moves.

I like this version. The RTF weight is 36oz and she flies very predictably and very nimbly. The production version will be have a couple of slight changes but this video well indicates what can be expected of the JART-LT.

The results of the poll below indicates that plenty of people would be willing to pay a little extra to get a JART that they don't have to build from scratch. I'll still offer the PDF plan file and this site will always encourage scratch building. I have to tell you, though, I've had so many people tell me that they'd love to fly the plane but simply don't have the circumstances necessary to scratch build that I find myself wanting to help them out. My wife won't let me do this as a charity project, but I can put a bit of effort into it and if a few of you are willing to support the endeavor we at JART will do our best to bring you a good kit.

Also, we'll offer a set of beautiful CNC-cut, spiderfoam cores that anyone who has the will and skill can make into their own top-shelf, über-awesome wings. You get the full kit with the built-up wings either way.

Check back soon for complete order and delivery details.

DD is coming through with a couple of fuses, but the other guy who'd promised to work with me has dropped out. So I'm shifting gears. There is a kit we would like to offer, but to make it worthwhile I need to know how many of you might be interested. Here's a picture of the kit:

You sharp-eyed, JART-spotters will note that the ailerons are not correct to plan. This is because the wings are built-up. I know, pretty wimpy, but they are actually very well built - CNC balsa and ply parts very precisely assembled and covered. I'm working with this kit-maker to beef up the fuse and make a few other changes, but this, plus my own hardware and a set of plans, is essentially the kit we could produce if you guys think it's worth doing. The price I've listed in the poll below is the lowest price I can offer and still make it worth all the work. Please let me know what you think...

The first one was a blast. This time we're hoping for an even bigger and better one. Set in a beautiful, secluded spot along the San Francisco coastline, this Fest will feature a swap meet, a raffle, and an array of gorgeous JARTs to ogle.

Mike's red machine.

Kobus, Wesley and Trevor at Volksrust.