Control Line: Aerobatics
Ted Fancher 158 Flying Cloud Isle Foster City, CA 94404
WHY is it? Is there anyone out there who can explain to me why no matter how well you think you've got things organized, it never fails that nothing is ever finished until the very last minute? Here I sit, bleary-eyed at the typewriter, trying to whip out pearls of wisdom — for which I'm sure you are all waiting in breathless anticipation. It's nearly midnight, and my deadline is three days away.
"Well," you say, "three days is plenty of time. What's he crying about?" "Well," I say, "if the column was all I had to do before the end of the month (August) it would be easy." However, as I sit here my semipro Stunter is dripping oil all over the cars in the garage wondering why I'm not cleaning it up for its airplane ride to Indianapolis tomorrow for team trials. Since it's the geriatric five-year-old Citation V instead of the new Temptation which flew at the '89 Nats, it requires just a bit more cosmetic attention (more on that in a bit). My newly rebuilt backup engine is crying for just a few minutes on the test stand before its departure, the airplane box is still in storage, my clothes aren't packed, and I don't even know if I'll be able to squeeze onto an airline flight over the busy holiday weekend.
All this, of course, is my excuse for a quick-and-dirty column for the month. I've gotten a couple of thought-provoking items in the mail and thought I'd pass them on to you. If they strike a responsive chord, let me know — perhaps we can pursue them.
Letter from Will Hinton
I got a letter last week from Will Hinton (Liberty Center, OH). Will writes several times a year and always has an interesting perspective on something different for Stunt. He was one of the originators of my columns on bipes a couple years ago, for instance. This time he is discussing a new approach to flying ... or perhaps not so new, just not recently pursued. Here are a few excerpts:
"Ted, my main reason for writing is to toss an idea at you. Our group thought it was great, and I'd like to pass it on.
"First of all, though, my opinion of Stunt. Yes, it is an art form. I like to compare it to Olympic diving, an art form and a sport. After watching and following (as well as flying it) some since 1956, I've observed a wonderful quality in Stunt. It never changes as an event, yet it constantly changes in refinement. Engines, fuel systems, airplanes, construction techniques, etc. are always undergoing change and testing. I love the event in all of its capacities. Yet, I feel some need for the event itself to present new challenges. That's what is involved in this suggestion.
"We call it Team Stunt. We tried it in the late Sixties. It was fun, and it was a terrific challenge, though not unreachably difficult. It establishes a completely new set of challenges for refinement, while requiring and retaining all of the old ones.
"While we restricted our experimenting to profile-type Stunters, we enjoyed a lot of success and found a lot of little places to refine. My partner Larry Krause and I stuck with the round maneuvers for our trials, but did them all, including the cloverleaf.
"We found many exciting new skills which needed to be developed; for instance, speed matching. If one ship is faster than the other, it is best to have the slower ship fly higher and in front of — or behind — the faster. We tried both and found some maneuvers worked better one way and some the other. Needless to say it took meticulous needle settings, lead changes between maneuvers, what's the best procedure? A loop to get behind the trailing ship leaves you too far to the rear and requires a 'baby' wingover to form back up. So what is the best way?
"I'm sure you can picture two Stunters following each other through reverse wingovers, loops, etc. It's a very exciting time. If I've whetted your appetite and have you flying imaginary maneuvers in tandem with another Stunt nut, grab Twister off the wall and go for it."
So, guys, what d'ya think? Does Team Stunt get your juices flowing? Of course flying two sport Stunters together isn't a new concept; how about the thought of reviving the idea of competitive formation flying. I remember back at the '67 Nats a truly outstanding demonstration of Team Stunt flown by a father-and-son team from southern California. I'm embarrassed to admit I don't remember their names, but I'm sure some of my readers will remind me after reading this reminiscence. This team added a couple of showmanship tidbits which spiced up their presentation quite a bit. Both ships flew two Combat streamers attached to the wing tips. In addition, both ships were identical designs (full competition Stunters), although painted slightly differently. They were great crowd-pleasers, combining the grace of Stunt with the excitement of simultaneous flight of two planes in the same circle.
Just off the top of my head I can foresee many obstacles which would have to be surmounted. Both airplanes would have to be very closely matched. Similar designs, weights, and wing loadings would be very important, as would well-matched flight trim. Power plants and props would have to be tailored to match one another as well. The difference in acceleration on takeoff depending on the wing/prop combination employed can be substantial.
Apart from the mechanical aspects of the ships themselves, probably the most demanding skill would be an entirely new one — choreography. I'm well aware in passing, but I can see that developing a plan for who does what, and when he does it, would be essential. This might be an area where our friends in the Combat circle could find themselves of help, since they routinely must deal with the problems of crossed lines.
One thing I do know for sure is that if you are going to practice your choreography with your flying buddy, it should be done behind closed doors. About 10 minutes of two supposedly mature adults standing in the front yard engaging in a circular pas de deux with their right arms extended heavenward, while doing imitations of Bill Wervolge imitating a Fox .35, will almost certainly have your "modeling-disadvantaged" neighbors dialing 911!
Other item from Will: He went on to say, "I want to sing the praises for Nostalgia-era Stunt. That was my era, and I'm thrilled with it. As soon as I have my biplane built for next year's Stunt season (I told you Will marched to a slightly different drummer...Ted), I'm planning on a Steve Worley Argus, painted with Steve's original 'pond-slim' green paint job.'"
Vintage Stunt Championship — change of venue
That last line is the perfect lead-in to announce the Second Annual Vintage Stunt Championship as produced and directed by the dynamic duo of Mike and JoAnn Keville. If you followed the national events of last year's first annual event, you know what a great success it was — and next year's looks to be even better than ever.
However, there's one great big change you should be aware of: next year's event is planned for March 24-25, 1990, and it will be held at Silverbell Park in Tucson, AZ. For a variety of reasons, including the inability to guarantee the Whittier Narrows site in Los Angeles (as well as the recent domicile change of the dynamic duo from LA to the Tucson area), it was felt that a change in venue was not only required, but perhaps desirable.
Good weather at that time of year is nearly a sure bet in Arizona, the site is reportedly excellent with concrete for Vintage Stunt and manicured grass for OTS, a large and supportive group of Stunt fliers resides in the area who are anxious to put the event on, and a number of past Control Line Stunt greats have retired to Arizona and would likely participate. This includes Ed "Skylark" Southwick and Claire Sieverling, designer of the lovely Phoenician published in Model Airplane News in the late Fifties, as I recall.
If you're excited about the prospect of participating in the 1990 event, get in touch with Mike and JoAnn Keville at 6618 Dashwood St., Lakewood, CA 90713 (Yes! I know that is their old address!) to stay informed.
Join PAMPA
Another way to stay in touch with Mike Keville is by joining PAMPA, the national Stunt special interest group dedicated to Precision Aerobatics. Mike is the editor of the group's newsletter, Stunt News. If you belong to PAMPA you'll get all the up-to-date info on the Vintage Stunt Championships as well as other contests around the country, plus hints and suggestions from experts all over the world on how to improve your skills in Stunt.
If you'd like to join up, drop a line to Don McClave, PAMPA, 221 N.W. 2nd Ave., Suite 300, Portland, OR 97209.
The Temptation vs. the Citation V
Finally, remember in the beginning of the column I mentioned that I would be flying my old Citation V at the team trials instead of the brand new Temptation with which I finished fifth at this year's Nats?
As you might recall I had a terrible time with the finish on the Temptation, and in fact wrote a column on all the trials and tribulations I suffered with the fillets. Even that column didn't tell the entire story. Suffice it to say that when all was said and done, the latest "world's greatest" Stunt ship from Team Fancher turned out to be just another over-weight turkey. It had been designed to weigh 48–50 oz. with its 610 sq. in. wing, and by the time all the paint had settled it was a portly 61 oz.! That's nearly three ounces heavier than the old Citation, which is a full 50 sq. in. larger.
Well, I tried to kid myself that it was a better airplane, probably just so I wouldn't have to show up at the Nats with the same old plane for the fourth year in a row. But I knew it was marginal at the time, even in the nearly ideal weather at Tri-Cities. Later practice flights under hot, muggy, dead-air conditions (which could well be the norm at the team trials in Indianapolis) proved the airplane simply wouldn't do the job. Rather than just hanging it on the wall, I decided to strip it down to bare wood and refinish it.
Stripping and refinishing tips
Ordinarily, stripping a ship down is a huge, laborious, time-consuming task undertaken with tons of sandpaper. In hopes of reducing the labor as much as possible I used a couple of hints which I have heard over the years — and they proved very helpful:
- Use a hot-air gun, such as that used to shrink MonoKote-type coverings. When heated, the paints and the paper covering under them become quite rubbery and will peel off in large chunks right down to the wood.
- For areas that don't succumb to the hot-air gun, use regular commercial paint strippers. Simply follow the directions on the can, and most of the paint will peel right off. I did find that I had to use a stripper made especially for epoxies to remove the topmost layers of K&B Super Poxy paint, and then switch to a more conventional type for the underlying dope.
Using these two tricks, it was a comparatively simple task to strip the entire ship in about three working sessions — a fraction of the time it would have taken to do the task with sandpaper. Give it a try.
Hobby helpers (from Carl Dunn, Orbiting Eagles of Omaha)
A couple of items useful in his workshop might also be of use to you in yours:
- Hobby Center (Black & Decker): A small swivel-base device usable as a vise (with metal jaw pads) for holding items such as wire during soldering, or with rubber pads for holding wood without marking it. It swivels to many positions, making it useful for many phases of model building.
- Bench Workmate (Black & Decker): A large, viselike device that can be clamped to your workbench or tabletop. The unit measures about 15 in. deep, 17 in. wide, and about 7 in. high. It has metal-faced jaws that can hold flat as well as round objects. One jaw is adjustable via two cranks to an angle of about 20° to either side or up to 90°. The jaw surfaces also have a series of holes and flat-faced recesses that allow objects up to 12 in. wide to be held firmly. The top can be tilted to about 45°, allowing frames and fuselages to be held while both hands are free for fitting ribs, stringers, control rods, bellcranks, and so on.
- Magnet on a pole (homemade): Glue a small magnet on the end of a dowel stick (about 36 in. long). Use it to retrieve dropped 4-40 nuts, bolts, or iron metal chips from places usually inaccessible under the bench.
New material: Mighty Lite plywood
A note from Frank Tiano Enterprises indicates that Mighty Lite, a premium-grade plywood, is now available in the U.S. from the House of Balsa and Frank Tiano Enterprises. Three sizes are currently available:
- 3/32 x 6 x 12 in. — $2.06
- 1/8 x 12 x 24 in. — $2.85
- 1/8 x 12 x 48 in. — $5.50
Mighty Lite offers a smooth-grain finish and a new laminating process that resists splitting, warping, and flaking. This premium-grade wood is claimed to be far lighter than plywood, yet affords the same strength when used in construction. The ultra-smooth finish allows faster finishing and makes for a superior final appearance.
Control Line Aerobatics
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
