>Doesn't matter what you call it, but if the plane is tied to the ground
>with control lines it is kite flying and not dynamic soaring. Dynamic
>soaring has no physical connection to a ground based object
A control line model gets its lift and drag forces from the air, power
from the engine/prop. The force from the control line is along the
wing. So two of the 3 axis of force are the same as with a rc model,
all the control line does is add a horizontol component (relative to
the wing) of force to a model.
Standing at the "right" spot, if the control lines are long enough,
and/or the wind shear boundary is narrow enough, dynamic soaring
with a control line model should be possible as long as the
minimum ground speed during each circle is enough to keep the
control lines from getting slack.
When flying a control line model with a steady wind, the model's
airspeed will remain about as constant as it would with a rc model.
The difference is that the horizontal component of force will vary
based on the models ground speed (or more accurately, the speed
relative to the control line pilot, who could be moving...).
While flying in a steady wind, the ground speed will increase
on the downwind portion, and slow up on the upwind portion,
so that any engery gained from the wind on the downwind
portion is lost during the upwind portion of the models path.
Now for dynamic soaring: assume the control line model is being
flown near a large wide building, with the result that the
wind that would be blowing on the upwind portion is blocked.
The model gains energy (is accelerated by) the wind during
the downwind portion of its path, but is not losing engery
due to wind during the remainder of its path. The result is
a net gain in energy (speed) or dynamic "soaring" (it won't
be "soaring" unless the motor is shut off).
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