Control Line: Aerobatics
Frank McMillan 12106 Gunter Grove San Antonio, TX 78231
For some time I've been saying the good days of Precision Aerobatics are now. Reflecting on the events at the Nationals, I'm more convinced that statement is accurate—for many reasons. Certainly the level of competition is higher than ever. In talking with two-time champion Bob Gialdini, we concluded that there are now many more truly competitive fliers than ever before.
There are simply a lot of people who have persevered to develop good airplanes and a variety of excellent power plants; people who have worked on their flying to make a complete, good-looking package. I'm also firmly convinced that the basic reason behind this is that enormous amounts of good, sound information have become available to support the development of more fliers.
PAMPA has been a major force with its newsletter over the years, as have the superior columns in Model Aviation by Wynn Paul and Ted Fancher. The columns by Bob Hunt and Windy Urtnowski in Flying Models have also contributed significantly to the growing database of information on how to make things work.
Getting started / Sources of information
- Join PAMPA to get the latest news and stay connected with the community.
- Contact Tom Morris and get a copy of the Stunt Bibliography. I saw a copy for the first time at the Nationals, and it is a treasure of information. It is organized so you can readily find specific items by subject, author, year, and skill level. Tom says he has every item of information published on stunt flying, and I believe it.
Tom is looking for the first two copies of the first two PAMPA newsletters. Once you've found what you're looking for, Tom will provide copies for a small charge (proceeds go to PAMPA).
PAMPA 1019 Creektrail Anniston, Alabama 36206
CL Aerobatics
Engines
The subject of engines continually comes up in letters and discussions. What's the best setup? Who has the new technology? Which one is the most powerful or has superior characteristics — on and on. The answer is invariably that no one person has it all, but those who work with their setups enough to make them work will have the best results.
While observing at the Nationals, I noticed more diverse types and approaches than ever before. There were also many excellent runners. Funny thing: if asked, no pilot would respond that he is fully satisfied—no matter how good he sounded. Where have the days of the Fox .35 and the Top Flite .10 x 6 gone?
It is almost axiomatic that no engine works well or becomes popular until it's been out of production for at least four or five years. Everybody is looking for the ST .60 and .46. With Old Time and Nostalgia events exploding in popularity, many of those engines are sought with great zeal.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
