What is a JW?
The JW was designed with one thing in mind, Dynamic Soaring. Joe Wurts designed the airfoil to maximize the speed and performance of Dynamic Soaring with an EPP wing. This plane has the torsional strength to withstand the high speeds achieved while DS'ing. Now you can have the performance of a composite plane with the durability of an EPP plane. DSing is not all it can do. It is a fast and fun plane to fly on the front side of the slope too!
The JW is best dynamic soaring trainer for beginning pilots. Beginner dynamic soaring pilots will crash a lot as they learn how to DS. The robust airframe and durability of the JW dynamic soaring epp foam glider make it the perfect plane to learn with as it allows the aspiring pilot to spend more time flying and virtually eliminates the need for repairs. They key to mastering Dynamic Soaring is stick time. More time at the stick and less time at the workbench doing repairs afforded by the JW greatly shortens the DS learning curve. And unlike a "trainer" plane, you will not outgrow your JW because it has unlimited performance potential.
The fastest R/C pilots in the world fly JW's on a routine basis. The JW is a favorite of the worlds top soaring pilots. It is a special plane that never gets old.
Pat Bowman: The first DS plane that I made was the Sonic wing. I used an EH airfoil on it and it reached speeds of around 100 mph. The Sonic was fast, but it was very hard to keep in a DS circle. Wings always want to right themselves, that's why they are good for combat. I wanted something that would hold a good line and be easier for people to learn DS.
One day I was cutting Sonic wings and had a couple of wing panels setting on the table. They were setting up side down with the leading edge straight and the trailing edge angled. I thought to myself, "wow, that would be a great wing planform for DS." The root cord was large with a small tip cord, that would give the wing a lot of torsional strength. Because of the way the trailing edge tapered so far back, I knew it would need a lot of nose weight so I added a fuse.
The first JW was a 54", the same size as the Sonic wing. The first test flight was on Parker Mt. With a little more added nose weight, the JW was the fastest foamy I had ever flown. I couldn't wait to tell Joe Wurts about it and let him fly it. Joe did fly it the next week end and really liked it. Joe said he would make an airfoil for the JW that would make it faster and turn even better. Joe designed the airfoil so that the balsa elevons were part of the airfoil. He E-mailed me the root and tip airfoils and I made a test plane.
I was happy with the EH airfoil but the JW airfoil literally blew it away. I was so pleased that I asked Joe if he minded if I named the plane "JW" after him. Later on I put a little taper in the leading edge so it didn't need quite as much nose weight and it landed a lot better. The 60" was next and was the best selling plane that I made.