Jim on launch in one of the early Monarchs

HARPSICHORDS AND MONARCHS: The rediscovery of Jim Marske

Has the current emphasis in the competition sailplane world had a devastating effect on the direction of soaring today? Is there a negative effect on the designer, homebuilder, interested amateur and general diversity of sailplanes in theUnited States? Does our SSA magazine filled with glossy photos of expensive ships whizzing past demonstrate an aspect of what soaring is really all about?. What has happened to the home builders of yesterday and the validity of every form of soaring? And can the ordinary person afford to belong to these new exclusive clubs?

There are vestiges of life outside the competition sailplane but are they are fast disappearing? Should the competition side of our sport be relegated to an affiliation such as the Sailplane Homebuilders or Technical Soaring which has limited exposure in our magazine?

These questions have haunted me for some time now and cannot be adequately assessed by one person but should be thought about carefully by everyone who enjoys the sport. In my story that follows, I arrived at these questions through working and discussion with one of the few remaining designer/ builders of sailplanes in North America today. It is perhaps remarkable that I have actually survived with any enjoyment of the sport and I do wonder how many soaring friends I might have made if the high priced competition sailplane had not been made the focal point of soaring?

It is odd to start a quest for flight as a harpsichord maker, but it was there that I learned how to work with wood using the lightest possible structure for the greatest strength. Later, hang gliding taught me the elements of soaring and the nature of weather, and nothing has ever given me more pleasure than having this capability of flying like a bird in a hang glider. What I did lack however in my early years, was a good understanding of aerodynamics.

After years of hang gliding in the hills in of New York, I looked towards the local sailplane club at Harris Hill to get further educated in soaring. Howey Trampeneau, Dave Wells and Nick McKinney were among my mentors. I completed my glider private license and started on the road to competition.

Harris Hill dwells on competition and in the first few years I took part in their distance flights for the club ships. There was no real interest in building homebuilt gliders and it was looked down upon at Harris Hill as something one does if they do not have enough money to buy one of the latest ships. I soon came to a standstill as I discovered racing was not my idea of an enjoyable soaring flight! I actually wanted to build a glider and understand why it flies and have fun at building and flying!

Many of the pioneer members of Harris Hill had been proud members of the homebuilding movement but most of those members had retired from flying; only Howard Trampeneau, father of the hang glider manufacturer, Bob Trampeneau, offered to give me that needed encouragement. Howey showed me his varied pursuits in aviation from powered planes to hand thrown indoor hand held gliders.

What I also needed was an appreciation of slower flight with low energy landings but I had to discover this gradually with time and experience and guidance from seasoned veterans.

There is Mat in the minibat on tow! A very difficult glider to fly!

The Minibat,a light composite flying wing, appealed to me. My aerodynamic skills were sadly lacking and I did not realize that the airfoil was rather inadequate for the task at hand but I made a record number of autotows from Harris Hill discovering its deficiencies. Dave Wells helped me with building and designing and Nick McKinney was there to help me through my annual inspections and support me when I suffered a lot of criticism flying the Minibat at Harris Hill. Dave Wells was the initial test pilot for the Minibat. Jim Marske alerted me to the deficiencies of the airfoils on the Minibat. He predicted why the wing would not fly at less than 50 mph and the sink rate would degrade rapidly above 65 mph. At first I was unsure of his criticism of the wing but time soon proved him correct.

Obviously I was learning a lot about flying the Minibat but it was clearly the wrong direction with high take off speeds and limited soaring abilities so I thought about a self-launcher to free myself from the hassles of Harris Hill bureaucracy and criticisms. An incomplete Windrose project became available and I purchased it to begin almost 4 years of building. On the Windrose I learned techniques of fiberglass construction, read widely on aerodynamics and struggled on.

The Maupin Windrose

The Jim Maupin Windrose 15 meter motorglider design was another step in the process of learning. The male mold technique of building, although quick to realize an unfinished part, takes many months of sanding to complete. I learned how to work with epoxies and fiberglass, discovering vacuum bagging, micro, Kevlar and carbon.. I even designed ( with encouragement from Dave Wells) the spoiler system , the front hinging canopy and the walking beam flaperon control (I did happen to put it in on the wrong side though!) . These were successful endeavors and my abilities started to show some progress!

In the aerodynamics department, from the Windrose I learned about aerodynamic twist, induced drag, wing loading, aspect ratio, coefficient of Lift and all those formulas that still confuse me today. I so enjoyed the entire building project I completely forgot about how the Windrose flies. I had never flown one and had only heard second hand comments about the flying. A big oversight on my part!

Here is Dave Welles in the cockpit of the Windrose ready to make the historic first flight

Dave again flew the first test flight on the Windrose. The Elmira airport was reluctant to grant me permission to do an autotow, so Dave made the test flight take place by doing a 2 mile aerotow at 10 feet above the ground before taking off to altitude (normal takeoffs are permitted at an airport). Such an elegant solution to the problem at hand: Dave has saved my project more than once with his brilliant solutions! The first flight showed that I did need more elevator to overpower the large spoiler which involved a simple adjustment. He also reported stiff aileron controls ( a change in the belcrank helped this) and a tendency for a wing to drop while using negative flaps in a stall (normal). Dave felt the wing flew well at high speed but lacked slow speed ability.(something I am still working on)

During my building of the Windrose I had been sporadically communicating with Jim Marske. I had written an article about him after writing about his Genesis sailplane in Soaring Magazine. I was impressed with Jim’s flying wings especially after my own limited building experiences.

. About that time I was asked to plan the Eastern Homebuilder’s Workshop and the main event was flying wings, so, I asked Jim Marske to be the banquet speaker and a few months later I decided to organize builders workshops for Jim Marske, now that had he finished the Genesis project. Jims greatest strength was that he combined research and theoretical knowledge with the experience of building and flying at a level that those not endowed with tremendous financial resources could partake.

A happy moment between flights of the Monarch summer of '99

My interest grew in the Marske Monarch ultralight sailplane. Dave Wells came with me to Marion Ohio where he test flew the now 20-year-old ultralight Monarch design. He was very enthused!... I also flew the Monarch and that did it: This convinced me that I needed to study with Jim Marske.

Mat Flying over The Marion Airport, the home of "Marske Flying Wings".

John Cummins of Aerospec offered the rear of his large hangar at the airport in Marion Ohio for us to conduct classes and set up the Marske Flying Wing Workshop. The airport manager, Dan Stover, at Marion Municipal Airport was also very receptive to our project. Pat Edwards offered to quit his job and work on fiberglass layups and Matt Kollman offered to help in the development of the new Monarch while developing his new Raptor hang glider.

Mat on autotow in thew Monarch, September '99

I closed my New York business, purchased a motor home and made the move to Marion Ohio which also happens to be the home of the Central Ohio Soaring situated next to our new home for Marske Flying Wings. I brushed up my flying skills under the tutelage of one of the most thorough and patient instructors Paul Wolfe: receiving my commercial and instructors rating within a few months and later completing my instructors certificate.

This is the wing of the Howey Burr Monarch that I rebuilt in the spring of '99

Here are the eager volunteers, dave Welles and Doug Carpenter finishing up the fabric covering of the wing . Spring '99

My first desire was to construct a Monarch. Howey Burr came to my rescue by selling me his almost complete Monarch kit. I took the kit completely apart and started over. This newly finished wing has been soaring since September 1, 1999 and giving me and others more pleasure than I have ever expericenced in any other sailplane. This Monarch has also brought with it a social aspect since it requires an autotow and many friends who enjoy inexpensive soaring. It is not unusual for a number of us to enjoy an evening of successive 10- 15 minute flights, each taking our turn then getting together afterward for a meal while discussing the flight characteristics of the Monarch

This is the easy! Just attach the truck to the trailer and haul it out to the runway!!.... it does require a good hangar though!

Finally after floundering for many years I have found Jim Marske, who has acknowledged and endorsed that portion of the soaring community that wants to enjoy flying, build a simple, efficient, safe, fun to fly craft that is not going to break the bank. For those of you interested in the different gliders designed by jim Marske and become more acquainted with his philosophies I encourage you to see the Jim Marske’s Web site at <http://www.continuo.com/marske>

Here is a shot of the Monarch in the late evening

At the postlude to this, Jim has since designed an upgrade to the Monarch F: the Monarch "G" and Mat is busy building the prototype !

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