My first discovery of Mr. Vincent Merlijn was a small one. It was a glider low and quite far away downwind, circling. I could hear the teammate counting off time. The pilot committed to circling in zero sink just to stay lit. The glide back to the field was long, primarily circling with no net gain, sinking pointed back, gliding upwind repeatedly, finally, eventually rising, the thermal was tilted upwind. The time to land ticking off, the pilot on base diving down near the deck, turn and final, a spot landing and right on time. I couldn’t fathom what was going on. I had the FAI rules on my phone, and I knew the gist of the task but the performance of the glider, never mind the piloting skill… I asked the pilot the name of the glider, “it’s a 2m from Vincent Merlijn”
My lifelong friend Charlie Morris is flying a different glider, and he was phenomenal in his round yet this glider designed by Vincent Merlijn piloted by an obviously talented and seasoned pilot was just something. I was invited to the field by him, his name is John Armstrong and he flew the 2m like it was an extension of his mind.
I had flown R/C sailplanes 20+ years ago when I was hang-gliding XC. I made and flew my R/C gliders tracing circles in the sky, corkscrewing up, gliding, circling up again but in the middle of the day hot and with big heavy standard sized servos, I didn’t know contests, I just knew circles like I did in my hang glider. Today, I was at the field as a guest and I knew right then I was not only going to return, but I was also on glide to goal, and it was within sight. I just needed to make a few decisions about what equipment to buy, what radio, glider, servos, charger, all those things that go along with radio-controlled soaring.
Within a couple of weeks, I had purchased a competitive radio, I chose a glider that was well supported with “build threads” on popular forums, however, the 2m designed by Vincent Merlijn was the glider that was not only competitive but the glider to beat. It’s a great F3L design and one day, I will own one.
My name is Adam Trahan and I’m a soaring addict. I can’t quit. It’s been many years since I’ve flown cross country in my hang glider but I’m returning to the sky again. I continually research my interests and my old friends and new are world class soaring pilots both in r/c and full scale. I’m headed back in and I am going to contribute to my club, the Southwest Soaring Society. I’m also a writer and my expertise happens to be in interviewing. I’ve done 60+ (unrelated) interviews in this fashion and with that, I would like to begin.
Adam Trahan: Greetings Vincent, I’m a native of Phoenix Arizona. I am 63 y/o, and my day job is working in cardiology. I'm an electrophysiology technician now, a fly fisherman, a husband and father of three and I’m returning to R/C soaring. As a teenager, all I wanted to do was surf, skateboard and hang glide. My first job was working in a stained-glass studio, Glassart. A few years later, while in the ARMY stationed on O’ahu I began to learn how to hang glide on the dunes of the N. Shore. Much of my attention was on all types of gliding and while I was reading soaring books, I found out that Joseph Colville Lincoln, an American gliding champion and record holder, owned Glassart. Wow, if I had just known.
As I began to learn cross country hang gliding, I flew the windy mountain spine of the Koolau range for many miles from launch, turn around and surf the airwave back. For nearly my whole life, gliding is in my blood and its participants are people I want to learn from and Mr. Merlijn, your reputation precedes you.
I’m honored you have accepted my invitation to this interview, and I hope what we discover here is nothing less than interesting to our peers.
Thank you for joining us, please use this opportunity to introduce yourself here.
Vincent Merlijn: Hi Adam, the honor is totally mine. Well, I am Vincent Merlijn, 45 years of age, father of Kai (almost 7) and Nika (10). My Girlfriend Sigrid and our kids live in a small village in the Netherlands, very close to Arnhem, more or less in the center of our tiny country.
As a kid I had a rough time to adjust to mainstream things, you know ‘’normal’’ stuff kids do. Coming from parents who encouraged creativity and emphasized to have fun doing it, I had a way out; Drawing and making model airplanes, both I learned from my father Alfons, and I didn’t care much about anything else. After some jobs you get when you have no proper education, I had enough and started making murals with airbrush. I have done this job for about 25 years and kept model airplanes on the side as a hobby…. Nowadays I flipped the coin, making model airplanes is my full-time job and making art is hobby.
Adam Trahan: I first found out about radio-controlled soaring while eating pizza on the west shore of Oahu in the small town of Waianae. Inside the pizza place, there were several large gliders displayed high on the wall. A couple were at least 3m, it appeared that at least a few were scale sailplanes as they reminded me of the sailplanes in many of the books that I was reading. The year was 1985 and I knew one day I was going to fly that way.
“Can you tell us about your first exposure to r/c soaring?”
Vincent Merlijn: Hahahaha, well my father is even more of an aviation freak then me, even now at 74 years of age, so before I could talk, having a model airplane in your hands was normal. My Dad promised me that I could fly his r/c glider if I could carry the case with transmitter and big battery…thought I was 5 when I could hold it up in the air from the car to the field.
Adam Trahan: I’m self-taught as far as radio control soaring. The first kit I bought took me about three months to build. Finally finished and the day arrived for its maiden flight. I hand launched it gently and the glider flew kind of funny, porpoising and was sensitive! So, I figured it was my inability to control pitch, altitude was safe and with that, I would just send it up on the high start, I would figure it out as it seems manageable. As I remember it, the speed of the high start made the sensitivity worse, and it did not fare well. A cycle of zoom and stall ended with a big crash. Basically, I destroyed my first build on the first high flight. Later I reviewed what I had done, and I didn't remember to balance or adjust the CG.
That was a hard lesson to learn but nothing was going to stop me from figuring it out.
No one was watching, I was disappointed, but I had experience finishing a kit! So, I bought another and this time I used tire weights to tune the CG. I was so pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to fly.
“Do you have any stories of (good or bad) big lessons while you were learning?”
Vincent Merlijn: I learned by doing. I made thousands of little sheet balsa chuckies, little free flight hand launch gliders. I killed also thousands, but I watched, analyzed, improved and tried to make it better next time. The end is still not in sight but I never gave up trying. Best advice I ever had was from my Dad and he told me to never underestimate the little, simple, fun planes. Keep the fun in what you do, and you will learn.
Adam Trahan: I grew up in the desert southwest of the United States. I found out about hang gliding on a surf trip to Blacks Beach. I stared at a hang glider ridge soaring while waiting between sets (waves) and dreamed of doing that myself. As a child, I always had a reoccurring dream of running down the street and flying into the air. Sort of like a hang glider takes off and I knew this was for me. I learned to hang glide in Hawaii to an experienced cross country flying level, but the thermals were light, it was mostly a ridge run, out and back with some soaring up the sides of the planted cap clouds on good days.
Returning home to the desert, I had to relearn the savage snake thermals of the desert. There were times I corkscrewed up and thousands of feet per minute. Staying in the thermal was paramount to staying upright. Circling tight within the confines of a strong thermal often ended in a ride to cloud base rather quickly.
The soaring we do at our club field has been somewhat light so far. I’m returning during the winter however as in the case of today, the lift can get pretty strong. I mostly sit and watch, study as the F3L pilots send their gliders up on the bungee, ping off and hunt for lift. They start in the morning and as I’ve watched, I’ve felt thermal cycles from temperature changes and lift on the deck indicated by swirls coming through. There is a ridge upwind that produces lee waves and I’ve watched the guys crab back and forth surfing this lift. I am currently building my own F3L, getting my kit together but in the meantime, I’m studying where the house lift is at the club and the lift patterns there.
I’ve talked about flying coastal sites and about our desert field…
“Vincent, can you tell us a little bit about your home field? What is flying like in your area?”
Vincent Merlijn: Behind our house there’s a big field where I can fly my gliders, very, very fortunate I am, because it is rather rare to have such a spot close by. As some of you know, the Netherlands is rather flat, has plenty of water and it rains a lot during all seasons. And a lot is a lot. At the coastal line in the west there’s a totally different ‘’air’’ then where I live, in the center of the country. So, thermal wise we have very strong ones in spring, thermals we recognize because of the dust, insects and birds, then in summertime thermals are a bit higher and bigger and sometimes quite hefty. Fall is turbulent, but still plenty of thermals to be found. Wintertime is almost dead, but as soon when there’s some deviation in temperature, still thermals to find. It is very different then flying in the desert or coastal lines, we look also at the surroundings at the ground; trees, buildings, tarmac, anything that has a different color (dark/light) makes difference in temperature. Then we also take wind into account, in combination with the surroundings. Combine these together and we locate our thermals.
Adam Trahan: I’ve traveled a bit with my r/c sailplanes yet most of my soaring experience is traveling and flying hang gliders. I love exploring new areas gliding. I always talked to local pilots to find out where the house thermals are near launch, the shear or turbulence to watch for. Local pilots have good knowledge and sharing information to visiting pilots was just something we all did no matter where our travels took us. Once I took off, I just looked for the triggers. I already knew the day from weather soundings, the height of minus 3. I knew meteorology from studying it and flying in the conditions that I knew prior to my flights, comparing and contrasting. Flying weather is a game and I studied it quite extensively.
Meteorology is important to the soaring pilot yet micro meteorology or the conditions where we are right here are much more applicable to r/c pilots.
I’ll be honest, I have not talked much about such things with local r/c pilots in our field. I’m pretty sure that more than a couple are going to be quite surprised how this whuffo is interviewing a world champion as yourself.
“How do you look at the weather? How far out do you look at it, regional and then breaking it down to local conditions?”
Vincent Merlijn: I will be honest also, hahaha! I started flying serious contests from 2014, before that I only checked the temperature and wind…..But soon I learned wind direction and the rest of the weather forecast was something you could think off before the contest, not during flying, panicking what to do to get out of that sink hole…..So yes, in my ‘’fanatic’’ period I checked the surroundings of the field, especially when I never flew there before. Long live internet, we can check and see the field, what’s north for example. You already can see where the wind is blowing to, maybe a tree line. If so, I already knew where I wanted to start on the field before even being there… Later I started to recognize certain situations. For example, it is remarkable how many model airfields have a little clubhouse or shed with trees and or bushes around it. Tree lines 50-150 meters from the field, a road going past it etc. you recognize how the air behaves with certain wind directions and these objects surrounding the field. So now I look a bit different to a new location; I just observe surroundings and wind direction. This tells me enough to make a decision where to fly. And when I made a mistake I just follow the best pilot in the group like anybody else, hahahaha!
Adam Trahan: There have been times I’ve flown hot blue days and had my rudder elevator 3m specked out flying straight, praying that I wouldn’t flutter the wings off flying fast out of big lift, but I always got it back.
“Have you ever lost a sailplane to the sky?”
Vincent Merlijn: When I was a kid I lost a 4m rudder elevator glider from my Dad… he gave me the transmitter and told me to never take my eyes of it. I didn’t but the rascal went so high even I couldn’t see it anymore with my young eyes…. We put the antenna off the transmitter, packed our things and then we heard ‘’swooshhhh, swoooshhh….’’ There she was coming down, in big spirals, wingtips almost touching each other, that was something. Wing ‘’flopped’’ off during impact, fuselage we had to dug out, but the wing flew again. This was a serious plane to me, with a serious crash, but I lost so many to the god of flight with the free flight chuckies….That god should have a few by now, hahahaha!
Adam Trahan: I am basically a solo pilot at this time, much like I was when I flew r/c while I was a foot-launch pilot. I would just fly the takeoff area or set up my high start in the landing area and fly by myself. I’m older now and I want to learn more than just flying by myself. As I find my way into the club, I’m still a newbie, I’m still learning about the different disciplines, the FAI classifications. I know about the FAI from my hang-gliding friends breaking world records.
“Can you tell us a little bit about your contest experiences? I understand you are a world champion, please, can you tell me a little about this? Additionally, how did you climb the ranks?”
Vincent Merlijn: I started with contests because of F3K. As a kid I flew some local club contests in what we now call the f3l class and even a national contest, but the competitive atmosphere then was too much for my father and me. After some guy made a ‘’spot landing’’ on my plane on purpose. Later we learned I had a better flight, and he wanted a re-flight by having a mid-air with landing, at that time a rule, unfortunate for him the contest director decided it wasn’t a mid-air since I already had landed. I was 9 at that time, so it is not hard to imagine we went home a bit disappointed, we came to fly and have fun. Looking back, this experience was and is very important for me to understand I climbed ranks fast in comparison to most F3K pilots. I fly because I have fun doing it. And when I met the F3K guys, I noticed something was different with these F3K guys, more jokes, interesting, enthusiastic and helpful. We are free to walk on the field, even walk off the field for example, all this free attracted me, not that I am such a walker, but the atmosphere was so different that I decided to join the contests, first local and soon we went to Germany and other contests around Europe. I had even more fun. And when I flew with the best of the best the fun came out of my eyes, mouth, ears, bodylanguage….it gave me a rush and I pushed myself to the very best i could. There I found my own competitive me, at that time I never realized I had that in me so much. In F3K I could let it all out, and I sure tried to do just that. I started to get the feeling that I had to prove something to myself, for once take myself serious in having fun. Looking back, I think I was on the border line of getting obsessive to do F3K as good as I was capable off. I tried to fly 3 times a day when the weather allowed, all year round. 6.30 before the kids wake up, 13.00 after lunch quick 30 minutes turn around training and then before or just after dinner another 1-2 hours. I did that for 2 years; After my first WCH in 2015, Croatia, I started. My flying friends knew I flew a lot, but for other pilots it must have looked I came out of nowhere when I started to win some bigger contests in the world cup and euro tour series. Eventually I won both series and the WCH title in 2017, a moment that changed my life. I have nothing to prove anymore to myself and I can do whatever I want to do, I just need to have fun. Rc Model airplanes have brought me so much more than just a title.
Adam Trahan: I’ve seen the evolution of pilots to a world champion status. There are many paths that they take after winning that status. The best champions I have observed know the importance of sharing their knowledge (such as yourself) especially with younger pilots. They want to grow the sport.
Of course I have followed you on social media, it’s part of my homework in doing these interviews.
It’s so cool, I see you flying small toys, I’m pretty sure that is designed for pure fun for the kids.
As a kid I had a rough time to adjust to mainstream things, you know ‘’normal’’ stuff kids do. Coming from parents who encouraged creativity and emphasized to have fun doing it, I had a way out; Drawing and making model airplanes, both I learned from my father Alfons, and I didn’t care much about anything else. After some jobs you get when you have no proper education, I had enough and started making murals with airbrush. I have done this job for about 25 years and kept model airplanes on the side as a hobby…. Nowadays I flipped the coin, making model airplanes is my full-time job and making art is hobby.
Adam Trahan: I first found out about radio-controlled soaring while eating pizza on the west shore of Oahu in the small town of Waianae. Inside the pizza place, there were several large gliders displayed high on the wall. A couple were at least 3m, it appeared that at least a few were scale sailplanes as they reminded me of the sailplanes in many of the books that I was reading. The year was 1985 and I knew one day I was going to fly that way.
“Can you tell us about your first exposure to r/c soaring?”
Vincent Merlijn: Hahahaha, well my father is even more of an aviation freak then me, even now at 74 years of age, so before I could talk, having a model airplane in your hands was normal. My Dad promised me that I could fly his r/c glider if I could carry the case with transmitter and big battery…thought I was 5 when I could hold it up in the air from the car to the field.
Adam Trahan: I’m self-taught as far as radio control soaring. The first kit I bought took me about three months to build. Finally finished and the day arrived for its maiden flight. I hand launched it gently and the glider flew kind of funny, porpoising and was sensitive! So, I figured it was my inability to control pitch, altitude was safe and with that, I would just send it up on the high start, I would figure it out as it seems manageable. As I remember it, the speed of the high start made the sensitivity worse, and it did not fare well. A cycle of zoom and stall ended with a big crash. Basically, I destroyed my first build on the first high flight. Later I reviewed what I had done, and I didn't remember to balance or adjust the CG.
That was a hard lesson to learn but nothing was going to stop me from figuring it out.
No one was watching, I was disappointed, but I had experience finishing a kit! So, I bought another and this time I used tire weights to tune the CG. I was so pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to fly.
“Do you have any stories of (good or bad) big lessons while you were learning?”
Vincent Merlijn: I learned by doing. I made thousands of little sheet balsa chuckies, little free flight hand launch gliders. I killed also thousands, but I watched, analyzed, improved and tried to make it better next time. The end is still not in sight but I never gave up trying. Best advice I ever had was from my Dad and he told me to never underestimate the little, simple, fun planes. Keep the fun in what you do, and you will learn.
Adam Trahan: I grew up in the desert southwest of the United States. I found out about hang gliding on a surf trip to Blacks Beach. I stared at a hang glider ridge soaring while waiting between sets (waves) and dreamed of doing that myself. As a child, I always had a reoccurring dream of running down the street and flying into the air. Sort of like a hang glider takes off and I knew this was for me. I learned to hang glide in Hawaii to an experienced cross country flying level, but the thermals were light, it was mostly a ridge run, out and back with some soaring up the sides of the planted cap clouds on good days.
Returning home to the desert, I had to relearn the savage snake thermals of the desert. There were times I corkscrewed up and thousands of feet per minute. Staying in the thermal was paramount to staying upright. Circling tight within the confines of a strong thermal often ended in a ride to cloud base rather quickly.
The soaring we do at our club field has been somewhat light so far. I’m returning during the winter however as in the case of today, the lift can get pretty strong. I mostly sit and watch, study as the F3L pilots send their gliders up on the bungee, ping off and hunt for lift. They start in the morning and as I’ve watched, I’ve felt thermal cycles from temperature changes and lift on the deck indicated by swirls coming through. There is a ridge upwind that produces lee waves and I’ve watched the guys crab back and forth surfing this lift. I am currently building my own F3L, getting my kit together but in the meantime, I’m studying where the house lift is at the club and the lift patterns there.
I’ve talked about flying coastal sites and about our desert field…
“Vincent, can you tell us a little bit about your home field? What is flying like in your area?”
Vincent Merlijn: Behind our house there’s a big field where I can fly my gliders, very, very fortunate I am, because it is rather rare to have such a spot close by. As some of you know, the Netherlands is rather flat, has plenty of water and it rains a lot during all seasons. And a lot is a lot. At the coastal line in the west there’s a totally different ‘’air’’ then where I live, in the center of the country. So, thermal wise we have very strong ones in spring, thermals we recognize because of the dust, insects and birds, then in summertime thermals are a bit higher and bigger and sometimes quite hefty. Fall is turbulent, but still plenty of thermals to be found. Wintertime is almost dead, but as soon when there’s some deviation in temperature, still thermals to find. It is very different then flying in the desert or coastal lines, we look also at the surroundings at the ground; trees, buildings, tarmac, anything that has a different color (dark/light) makes difference in temperature. Then we also take wind into account, in combination with the surroundings. Combine these together and we locate our thermals.
Adam Trahan: I’ve traveled a bit with my r/c sailplanes yet most of my soaring experience is traveling and flying hang gliders. I love exploring new areas gliding. I always talked to local pilots to find out where the house thermals are near launch, the shear or turbulence to watch for. Local pilots have good knowledge and sharing information to visiting pilots was just something we all did no matter where our travels took us. Once I took off, I just looked for the triggers. I already knew the day from weather soundings, the height of minus 3. I knew meteorology from studying it and flying in the conditions that I knew prior to my flights, comparing and contrasting. Flying weather is a game and I studied it quite extensively.
Meteorology is important to the soaring pilot yet micro meteorology or the conditions where we are right here are much more applicable to r/c pilots.
I’ll be honest, I have not talked much about such things with local r/c pilots in our field. I’m pretty sure that more than a couple are going to be quite surprised how this whuffo is interviewing a world champion as yourself.
“How do you look at the weather? How far out do you look at it, regional and then breaking it down to local conditions?”
Vincent Merlijn: I will be honest also, hahaha! I started flying serious contests from 2014, before that I only checked the temperature and wind…..But soon I learned wind direction and the rest of the weather forecast was something you could think off before the contest, not during flying, panicking what to do to get out of that sink hole…..So yes, in my ‘’fanatic’’ period I checked the surroundings of the field, especially when I never flew there before. Long live internet, we can check and see the field, what’s north for example. You already can see where the wind is blowing to, maybe a tree line. If so, I already knew where I wanted to start on the field before even being there… Later I started to recognize certain situations. For example, it is remarkable how many model airfields have a little clubhouse or shed with trees and or bushes around it. Tree lines 50-150 meters from the field, a road going past it etc. you recognize how the air behaves with certain wind directions and these objects surrounding the field. So now I look a bit different to a new location; I just observe surroundings and wind direction. This tells me enough to make a decision where to fly. And when I made a mistake I just follow the best pilot in the group like anybody else, hahahaha!
Adam Trahan: There have been times I’ve flown hot blue days and had my rudder elevator 3m specked out flying straight, praying that I wouldn’t flutter the wings off flying fast out of big lift, but I always got it back.
“Have you ever lost a sailplane to the sky?”
Vincent Merlijn: When I was a kid I lost a 4m rudder elevator glider from my Dad… he gave me the transmitter and told me to never take my eyes of it. I didn’t but the rascal went so high even I couldn’t see it anymore with my young eyes…. We put the antenna off the transmitter, packed our things and then we heard ‘’swooshhhh, swoooshhh….’’ There she was coming down, in big spirals, wingtips almost touching each other, that was something. Wing ‘’flopped’’ off during impact, fuselage we had to dug out, but the wing flew again. This was a serious plane to me, with a serious crash, but I lost so many to the god of flight with the free flight chuckies….That god should have a few by now, hahahaha!
Adam Trahan: I am basically a solo pilot at this time, much like I was when I flew r/c while I was a foot-launch pilot. I would just fly the takeoff area or set up my high start in the landing area and fly by myself. I’m older now and I want to learn more than just flying by myself. As I find my way into the club, I’m still a newbie, I’m still learning about the different disciplines, the FAI classifications. I know about the FAI from my hang-gliding friends breaking world records.
“Can you tell us a little bit about your contest experiences? I understand you are a world champion, please, can you tell me a little about this? Additionally, how did you climb the ranks?”
Vincent Merlijn: I started with contests because of F3K. As a kid I flew some local club contests in what we now call the f3l class and even a national contest, but the competitive atmosphere then was too much for my father and me. After some guy made a ‘’spot landing’’ on my plane on purpose. Later we learned I had a better flight, and he wanted a re-flight by having a mid-air with landing, at that time a rule, unfortunate for him the contest director decided it wasn’t a mid-air since I already had landed. I was 9 at that time, so it is not hard to imagine we went home a bit disappointed, we came to fly and have fun. Looking back, this experience was and is very important for me to understand I climbed ranks fast in comparison to most F3K pilots. I fly because I have fun doing it. And when I met the F3K guys, I noticed something was different with these F3K guys, more jokes, interesting, enthusiastic and helpful. We are free to walk on the field, even walk off the field for example, all this free attracted me, not that I am such a walker, but the atmosphere was so different that I decided to join the contests, first local and soon we went to Germany and other contests around Europe. I had even more fun. And when I flew with the best of the best the fun came out of my eyes, mouth, ears, bodylanguage….it gave me a rush and I pushed myself to the very best i could. There I found my own competitive me, at that time I never realized I had that in me so much. In F3K I could let it all out, and I sure tried to do just that. I started to get the feeling that I had to prove something to myself, for once take myself serious in having fun. Looking back, I think I was on the border line of getting obsessive to do F3K as good as I was capable off. I tried to fly 3 times a day when the weather allowed, all year round. 6.30 before the kids wake up, 13.00 after lunch quick 30 minutes turn around training and then before or just after dinner another 1-2 hours. I did that for 2 years; After my first WCH in 2015, Croatia, I started. My flying friends knew I flew a lot, but for other pilots it must have looked I came out of nowhere when I started to win some bigger contests in the world cup and euro tour series. Eventually I won both series and the WCH title in 2017, a moment that changed my life. I have nothing to prove anymore to myself and I can do whatever I want to do, I just need to have fun. Rc Model airplanes have brought me so much more than just a title.
Adam Trahan: I’ve seen the evolution of pilots to a world champion status. There are many paths that they take after winning that status. The best champions I have observed know the importance of sharing their knowledge (such as yourself) especially with younger pilots. They want to grow the sport.
Of course I have followed you on social media, it’s part of my homework in doing these interviews.
It’s so cool, I see you flying small toys, I’m pretty sure that is designed for pure fun for the kids.
“Please tell us about the flying toys you are involved with.”
Vincent Merlijn: Yes, I made that same decision, sharing is getting more fun and besides that it helps not only others, but also yourself to become a better r/c pilot. The little planes are just fun, remind me of the fun times I had with them when I was young. Now that we have kids I remembered what I thought when I was a kid in school; ‘’I wish one day my dad could teach us to build a chuckie and we all go out flying, with the whole class’’. So, I made the Rookie kit. In the beginning it was just for my kids' school, but then Corona came………I had so much time that I wrote the FAI Rookie project, which is a global project to give kids their very first FUN experience with aviation. So many Rookies were and are still wanted, I quickly became a very busy man. The crisis kept me from making murals and setting all up again would be just as much work as I did for the project... besides that, my time was now all consumed by the project. So now I went all in for a workshop where I design and produce my kits.
Adam Trahan: It’s so important to get kids into flying. In my experience hang gliding, it was the opposite. I entertained children with answers about my hang gliders. I would let them put my harness on and “fly” in the glider as it sat on the ground. But hang gliding is a dangerous sport. Over the years, my own kids have gone to more than a couple of funerals of pilot friends that were better than myself. R/C is so much safer and a good way for kids to understand soaring before they become old enough to solo in full scale sailplanes.
I appreciate what you do.
Through the years, I’ve had mentors that have helped me learn the advanced soaring techniques as well as surviving through intermediate stages of soaring. Bob Thompson, Jeff Reynolds, Dustin Martin are a couple that I want to name in hang gliding and sailplane and R/C soaring. George and Charlie Morris I have known since I was a teenager, I just know them, but both are mentors in radio-controlled soaring. John Armstrong and Ken Becker are now helping me with the ins of becoming a club member and contesting pilot. As far as authors of soaring books go, my old boss Joseph Colville Lincoln, George Worthington, Philip Wills, Ann Welch and Helmut Reichman all are good reads and helpful study.
“Who are some of your mentors? Do you have any favorite peers or pilots of full scale? Who are your favorite pilots of any type?”
Vincent Merlijn: 110% my Dad. Let me explain, as a kid reading was not my strongpoint, pictures, videos and my own imagination brought me everywhere I wanted to go. I saw my dad watching the reno air races, a documentary on the Wright brothers, WW2 documentaries, the Schneider Trophy, names like Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindberg, Erhard von Richthofen and many others are somewhere in my head…but the Buck Danny comics where my favorite as a kid, artwork about my favorite subjects. I only watched the drawings, the story didn’t interest me at all, I just watched and imagined how it would be to fly. And my dad encouraged me to draw, to make a plane, to try. He taught me skills that came in handy later in life.
Adam Trahan: I can’t remember how long ago, maybe ten years ago, George Morris and I were playing disc golf and I think I had asked him to bring his DLG to the park we were playing. He brought (an earlier version of) the Concept DLG. This was my first look at a truly high performing hand launch glider. I had built a Skeeter in the past, a 1.5m overhand launch glider and had flown the heck out of it but the first single circle sling of that Concept, WOW, what a climb out. And George flew that wing so far out, I knew he was going to outland and crash that beautiful composite glider. Little did I know that this is where George lived, far out and low circling for lift and knowing he could get it back.
What a wing!
I’m going to own one before I’m too old.
“I understand that you also fly a Concept? Can you tell us a little about your experiences with it?”
Vincent Merlijn: aaaaah. Now the fun begins, is what I thought when i flew my first concept, a CX4. Coming from home built DLGs, it was a total honor to hear Rollo Sommer (owner of the legendary concept series) say ‘’time to go concept my friend’’. It was the beginning of something cool. At that time i was starting to win a few local contests and even got 3rd place on the German Open with my home built dlg. Being an artist at that time, money for dlg’s was simply out of the question, so Rollo’s offer to become Concept team Pilot was quite a thing for me. I just start naming the big wins i can remember since i started with the cx4.
Now it’s several weeks later and I am actually sitting at the March F3L SWSS contest computer area, the first round is over. There are a few Yellow Jackets and a couple of 2m and the guys flying the 2m are pretty high-level pilots. I’m able to observe on my own, the performance in circling, how deep downwind and able to penetrate back. It’s an awesome wing, a fantastic design and I want to compliment you on it and like I said, you are here in design even though you are not physically here.
Right before I left the field, John flew circles really low. The timer was ticking off and I want to tell you, I know the F3L gliders are super light. They don’t have weight and the energy in them is far less than other glider types. John was up against the clock and far away from the tape, time nearly over and doved down nearly to the deck but the pull up still had enough energy to retain enough height to glide in, right on time. It was truly some stylistic flying and again, so amazed at the energy retention in this light wing.
Vincent Merlijn: Yes, I made that same decision, sharing is getting more fun and besides that it helps not only others, but also yourself to become a better r/c pilot. The little planes are just fun, remind me of the fun times I had with them when I was young. Now that we have kids I remembered what I thought when I was a kid in school; ‘’I wish one day my dad could teach us to build a chuckie and we all go out flying, with the whole class’’. So, I made the Rookie kit. In the beginning it was just for my kids' school, but then Corona came………I had so much time that I wrote the FAI Rookie project, which is a global project to give kids their very first FUN experience with aviation. So many Rookies were and are still wanted, I quickly became a very busy man. The crisis kept me from making murals and setting all up again would be just as much work as I did for the project... besides that, my time was now all consumed by the project. So now I went all in for a workshop where I design and produce my kits.
Adam Trahan: It’s so important to get kids into flying. In my experience hang gliding, it was the opposite. I entertained children with answers about my hang gliders. I would let them put my harness on and “fly” in the glider as it sat on the ground. But hang gliding is a dangerous sport. Over the years, my own kids have gone to more than a couple of funerals of pilot friends that were better than myself. R/C is so much safer and a good way for kids to understand soaring before they become old enough to solo in full scale sailplanes.
I appreciate what you do.
Through the years, I’ve had mentors that have helped me learn the advanced soaring techniques as well as surviving through intermediate stages of soaring. Bob Thompson, Jeff Reynolds, Dustin Martin are a couple that I want to name in hang gliding and sailplane and R/C soaring. George and Charlie Morris I have known since I was a teenager, I just know them, but both are mentors in radio-controlled soaring. John Armstrong and Ken Becker are now helping me with the ins of becoming a club member and contesting pilot. As far as authors of soaring books go, my old boss Joseph Colville Lincoln, George Worthington, Philip Wills, Ann Welch and Helmut Reichman all are good reads and helpful study.
“Who are some of your mentors? Do you have any favorite peers or pilots of full scale? Who are your favorite pilots of any type?”
Vincent Merlijn: 110% my Dad. Let me explain, as a kid reading was not my strongpoint, pictures, videos and my own imagination brought me everywhere I wanted to go. I saw my dad watching the reno air races, a documentary on the Wright brothers, WW2 documentaries, the Schneider Trophy, names like Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindberg, Erhard von Richthofen and many others are somewhere in my head…but the Buck Danny comics where my favorite as a kid, artwork about my favorite subjects. I only watched the drawings, the story didn’t interest me at all, I just watched and imagined how it would be to fly. And my dad encouraged me to draw, to make a plane, to try. He taught me skills that came in handy later in life.
Adam Trahan: I can’t remember how long ago, maybe ten years ago, George Morris and I were playing disc golf and I think I had asked him to bring his DLG to the park we were playing. He brought (an earlier version of) the Concept DLG. This was my first look at a truly high performing hand launch glider. I had built a Skeeter in the past, a 1.5m overhand launch glider and had flown the heck out of it but the first single circle sling of that Concept, WOW, what a climb out. And George flew that wing so far out, I knew he was going to outland and crash that beautiful composite glider. Little did I know that this is where George lived, far out and low circling for lift and knowing he could get it back.
What a wing!
I’m going to own one before I’m too old.
“I understand that you also fly a Concept? Can you tell us a little about your experiences with it?”
Vincent Merlijn: aaaaah. Now the fun begins, is what I thought when i flew my first concept, a CX4. Coming from home built DLGs, it was a total honor to hear Rollo Sommer (owner of the legendary concept series) say ‘’time to go concept my friend’’. It was the beginning of something cool. At that time i was starting to win a few local contests and even got 3rd place on the German Open with my home built dlg. Being an artist at that time, money for dlg’s was simply out of the question, so Rollo’s offer to become Concept team Pilot was quite a thing for me. I just start naming the big wins i can remember since i started with the cx4.
Dutch Champion Since 2016 with cx4 and cx5
World cup series 2016 with cx4 (could have been 2017)
Euro Tour series 2017 with cx5
WCH 2017 with cx5
German Open, 2016,2017 and I thought also in 2022 or ‘21, with cx5.
So, I can honestly and totally subjective say it is quite a good experience so far, hahahaha! Those concepts are just really awesome.
Adam Trahan: I’m just going to say it, I’m so impressed with the 2m that John (Armstrong) flys. That first SWSS F3L contest this winter, my friend Charlie Morris and John were flying in it. There were only about 5 or so different wings. The Yellow Jacket is well represented, and Corky Miller is a local pilot. Although he himself wasn’t there, his design was.Now it’s several weeks later and I am actually sitting at the March F3L SWSS contest computer area, the first round is over. There are a few Yellow Jackets and a couple of 2m and the guys flying the 2m are pretty high-level pilots. I’m able to observe on my own, the performance in circling, how deep downwind and able to penetrate back. It’s an awesome wing, a fantastic design and I want to compliment you on it and like I said, you are here in design even though you are not physically here.
Right before I left the field, John flew circles really low. The timer was ticking off and I want to tell you, I know the F3L gliders are super light. They don’t have weight and the energy in them is far less than other glider types. John was up against the clock and far away from the tape, time nearly over and doved down nearly to the deck but the pull up still had enough energy to retain enough height to glide in, right on time. It was truly some stylistic flying and again, so amazed at the energy retention in this light wing.
“Vincent, please tell us the research and development that went into the 2m.”
Vincent Merlijn: Well, basically I talked to Jeroen Kole, a friend in model flying, about my idea for a RES (Rudder Elevator Spoiler) kit. We started out to fly his home built own design res planes and just see which one flew best. We took that airfoil, I put some artistic juice over the original and go build and fly it. We tweaked and tweaked, I changed the airfoil by hand, Jeroen put it into the digital world and ran it through the computer. It came out pretty good in numbers for what we wanted the 2m to do; great lift and great capability for distance compared to other res planes. Finally, I insisted to get more tip twist in the wings. That gave a bit of a problem with building, so that is why we put ‘’feet’’ under the balsa ribs that rest on the building board. But now that is solved, and the result is better behavior with circling. So aero work was done at this point, now I started to try and make it look nice, like an Italian customer once said, ‘’not look like fruit box’’.... Having a low wing is giving a lot of extra troubles for construction, especially when you want to be able to put in ballast. But it just looks so much better, yes, I took my inspiration from the concept series indeed. -ed CNC wing fairings, tails with airfoil, and some more things that are not ‘’standard’’ with most models in this class make sure it does not only look different, but it actually IS different. I mentioned the airfoil in the tails, this means on higher speeds the stabilizer gets a little bit of lift, which changes the angle of attack to a point where speed/making distance is her strongpoint. Fly slow and the AOA changes back to a point where the optimum is for lift. Of course, the center of gravity must be right, you can play a little bit with this, but all is connected, and all will be affected in one way or another.
Adam Trahan: In my knowledge, which is quite distant and founded in free flying, I’m now focused on F3L as this is the best way for me to gaggle with like minds and to actually contest. In most of the sports that I do, there are the “free surfers'' and the “competitive types.” The 2m seems to be a fun but competitive design chosen by the best to use as their contest glider.
I apologize for not knowing all of your designs, part of the development of these interviews is to not research too much of my subject. I want to discover just as much as I want to ask about what I understand.
Can you tell us your interest in bringing a design to market? I’m pretty sure you find contesting a good platform to prove performance. As I sit here observing more than a dozen pilots competing, although they are joking around, there is a serious undertone, each wants to win but everyone is helping each other. What a cool event and ever cooler pilots and people.
“Do you prefer competing or are you primarily a free flier? If you could give us a look into the how and why you enjoy flying and what you want out of it. Or even if you are mixing business and pleasure, can you tell us the evolution of your interest in R/C soaring?”
Vincent Merlijn: I started bringing out a kit for the kids, the Rookie. To share the fun of aviation with the little ones. I soon realized older kids can go build with balsa, so the cx res mini kit came out, no contests for this class as far as I know. The 2M came basically because like most modelers I am quite stubborn, I wanted to try the class 4 years ago, but I had no res plane. Looked around and there was always something I didn’t like. Basically, I was too picky, I wanted to have a RES glider that looked cool and decided to design one on my own. Looking at all from a practical side; RES is booming and I needed a new kit for my business to. Basically, you can bet that every design that comes out finds its origin in having fun making it, otherwise I just wouldn’t make it. And there’s nothing wrong with taking fun serious!
As far as what type of flier I am….I guess I am a bit of both, some classes I really do not care to much about competition. I like indoor scale free flight stuff, rubber powered, co2 gliders…I like them all. Once a year I go to an international contest and just being part of it is enough for me to have fun. I enjoy other people's builds, just amazing to see. So much to learn. Just for fun. And then I met F3K… Here I learned it is fun to win. I am not going to lie, it is a good feeling when you put in so much time, energy and maybe even some love, that you start winning contests. There was a point I was almost addicted to it; even when I won, and I had a 999 score as a cut my mind would go round and round all night because it was not perfect. Thats not the way, but you have to learn, I guess. Nowadays I also fly some other gliding classes, such as res and . Here I have a different mindset; I enjoy other aspects of the contest/flying. Res for example is for me just flying a contest very relaxed and enjoy the simplicity of all. F5J is semi competitive for me, sometimes I just like to mess up their ranking and start being very competitive. Not so much to win, but to see the faces… ;) But with F3K I am the most competitive and I have the most fun, for 13 years now.
Adam Trahan: I would enjoy continuing to write questions for you because I understand your interest. The business of R/C soaring design development drives my own interest in pursuing great flying designs. But I’ve found it's best to keep the interviews somewhat short and about this length. I really never know how far the interviews go, I’ve had some go viral, but all have been enjoyable and insightful. But as far as this interview goes, let's keep the LZ in sight so to speak.
This interview is from a personal interest, but the intent is to share it with the community of pilots in my area, the group of pilots in the SWSS (John and Ken, George and Myra asked me to say “Hello”) So let's start to end this interview.
“Please use this opportunity to say anything you would like to say to our community and or beyond…”
Vincent Merlijn: I am a bit flabbergasted by all the nice things people say about me and my planes/business aviationtoys.nl
I want to say thank you for the honor. Thank you, Myra, George and Charlie, for the kind words about me. Thank you for having the coolest hobby in the world ;)
For me the fun is always a red line, it must be there. I guess that is all that matters on any level. Have fun!
Vincent Merlijn: Well, basically I talked to Jeroen Kole, a friend in model flying, about my idea for a RES (Rudder Elevator Spoiler) kit. We started out to fly his home built own design res planes and just see which one flew best. We took that airfoil, I put some artistic juice over the original and go build and fly it. We tweaked and tweaked, I changed the airfoil by hand, Jeroen put it into the digital world and ran it through the computer. It came out pretty good in numbers for what we wanted the 2m to do; great lift and great capability for distance compared to other res planes. Finally, I insisted to get more tip twist in the wings. That gave a bit of a problem with building, so that is why we put ‘’feet’’ under the balsa ribs that rest on the building board. But now that is solved, and the result is better behavior with circling. So aero work was done at this point, now I started to try and make it look nice, like an Italian customer once said, ‘’not look like fruit box’’.... Having a low wing is giving a lot of extra troubles for construction, especially when you want to be able to put in ballast. But it just looks so much better, yes, I took my inspiration from the concept series indeed. -ed CNC wing fairings, tails with airfoil, and some more things that are not ‘’standard’’ with most models in this class make sure it does not only look different, but it actually IS different. I mentioned the airfoil in the tails, this means on higher speeds the stabilizer gets a little bit of lift, which changes the angle of attack to a point where speed/making distance is her strongpoint. Fly slow and the AOA changes back to a point where the optimum is for lift. Of course, the center of gravity must be right, you can play a little bit with this, but all is connected, and all will be affected in one way or another.
Adam Trahan: In my knowledge, which is quite distant and founded in free flying, I’m now focused on F3L as this is the best way for me to gaggle with like minds and to actually contest. In most of the sports that I do, there are the “free surfers'' and the “competitive types.” The 2m seems to be a fun but competitive design chosen by the best to use as their contest glider.
I apologize for not knowing all of your designs, part of the development of these interviews is to not research too much of my subject. I want to discover just as much as I want to ask about what I understand.
Can you tell us your interest in bringing a design to market? I’m pretty sure you find contesting a good platform to prove performance. As I sit here observing more than a dozen pilots competing, although they are joking around, there is a serious undertone, each wants to win but everyone is helping each other. What a cool event and ever cooler pilots and people.
“Do you prefer competing or are you primarily a free flier? If you could give us a look into the how and why you enjoy flying and what you want out of it. Or even if you are mixing business and pleasure, can you tell us the evolution of your interest in R/C soaring?”
Vincent Merlijn: I started bringing out a kit for the kids, the Rookie. To share the fun of aviation with the little ones. I soon realized older kids can go build with balsa, so the cx res mini kit came out, no contests for this class as far as I know. The 2M came basically because like most modelers I am quite stubborn, I wanted to try the class 4 years ago, but I had no res plane. Looked around and there was always something I didn’t like. Basically, I was too picky, I wanted to have a RES glider that looked cool and decided to design one on my own. Looking at all from a practical side; RES is booming and I needed a new kit for my business to. Basically, you can bet that every design that comes out finds its origin in having fun making it, otherwise I just wouldn’t make it. And there’s nothing wrong with taking fun serious!
As far as what type of flier I am….I guess I am a bit of both, some classes I really do not care to much about competition. I like indoor scale free flight stuff, rubber powered, co2 gliders…I like them all. Once a year I go to an international contest and just being part of it is enough for me to have fun. I enjoy other people's builds, just amazing to see. So much to learn. Just for fun. And then I met F3K… Here I learned it is fun to win. I am not going to lie, it is a good feeling when you put in so much time, energy and maybe even some love, that you start winning contests. There was a point I was almost addicted to it; even when I won, and I had a 999 score as a cut my mind would go round and round all night because it was not perfect. Thats not the way, but you have to learn, I guess. Nowadays I also fly some other gliding classes, such as res and . Here I have a different mindset; I enjoy other aspects of the contest/flying. Res for example is for me just flying a contest very relaxed and enjoy the simplicity of all. F5J is semi competitive for me, sometimes I just like to mess up their ranking and start being very competitive. Not so much to win, but to see the faces… ;) But with F3K I am the most competitive and I have the most fun, for 13 years now.
Adam Trahan: I would enjoy continuing to write questions for you because I understand your interest. The business of R/C soaring design development drives my own interest in pursuing great flying designs. But I’ve found it's best to keep the interviews somewhat short and about this length. I really never know how far the interviews go, I’ve had some go viral, but all have been enjoyable and insightful. But as far as this interview goes, let's keep the LZ in sight so to speak.
This interview is from a personal interest, but the intent is to share it with the community of pilots in my area, the group of pilots in the SWSS (John and Ken, George and Myra asked me to say “Hello”) So let's start to end this interview.
“Please use this opportunity to say anything you would like to say to our community and or beyond…”
Vincent Merlijn: I am a bit flabbergasted by all the nice things people say about me and my planes/business aviationtoys.nl
I want to say thank you for the honor. Thank you, Myra, George and Charlie, for the kind words about me. Thank you for having the coolest hobby in the world ;)
For me the fun is always a red line, it must be there. I guess that is all that matters on any level. Have fun!
Adam Trahan: Mr. Merlijn, thank you so much for answering my questions and for helping us get to know a little bit more about you and your circles.
Vincent Merlijn: Thank you! Yeah, about those circles…in F3K, I fly rudderless, we can go into that a bit further next time ;)
All photos care of Vincent Merlijn
No comments:
Post a Comment