Free Flight: Indoor
Bud Tenney
Sad news
The many friends of Pete and Georgia Andrews were saddened when Georgia lost her long battle with cancer in October. Georgia was a familiar sight at many indoor contests and was very supportive of Pete's flying activity.
More on Nats planning
Shortly after the previous column (December 1985 MA) was mailed, AMA circulated information about a Nats Planning Meeting on September 18, 1985, in Lake Charles, La. The announcement caused a massive amount of correspondence to be exchanged about Nats planning. The bottom line is that changes are being made. Although it is far too early to be sure, the outcome may be highly positive.
The most heartening thing is that the planning schedule has a built-in time for an independent review of the Nats schedule before the entry blank is printed. I have been trying to get the entry blank reviewed for years—not because AMA is in any way negligent, but because the Nats is an incredibly complex contest. With in excess of 40 events occupying more than a week, no planning group of manageable size can possibly cover all the bases. The indoor time crunch at the 1985 Nats was a good example of this.
One document presented at the September 18 meeting related to the mathematical impossibility of making Nats-caliber official flights in Easy B, Pennyplane, and Manhattan Cabin in only four hours. Only someone very familiar with indoor fliers and flight times would be likely to note the problem; it so happened that such a person wasn't at the planning meeting last year.
One object lesson comes from all this: the advances we just made came from cooperation between fliers and concerned AMA officials. Editorial comment inserted into my column mentioned "fine-tuning" of problem areas. Fine-tuning has been a part of almost every Nats—it is not new at all, and not what I've been talking about for years. We were faced with a logistic impossibility woven into an essentially unchangeable structure, and I still believe the contest officials were obligated to make no changes at contest time.
Two more points, and then we can talk about model airplanes. An unprecedented early start to plan the 1986 Nats was possible because the contest location was known at least 11 months in advance. This may never have been possible before; that is, not since the Navy stopped sponsoring the Nats. Future years may find us without time for an independent review if a confirmed site is not available early enough. Finally, we have no guarantee that an independent review like this year's will prevent all future goofs. Our shining hope is that an independent review is being planned—for the very first time!
Contest schedule (all dates shown are in 1986)
If the current schedule of events isn't available, the names given are contact persons. (Thanks to Ed Whitten's New York Indoor Times newsletter for much of the East Coast information.)
- Miami, FL
Contact: Dr. John Martin, 2180 Tigertail Ave., Miami, FL 33133. (305) 858-6363
- January — to be announced
- February 9 — Fly-in at Miami Dade South
- March — to be announced
- April 13 — World Pistachio InterGnats/Grand Prix
- May — to be announced
- Ft. Worth/Dallas, TX
Periodic door contests, record trials, and flying sessions at Bedford Boys Ranch, Bedford, TX. Contact Jesse Shepherd, 2713 Summit View, Bedford, TX 76021. (817) 282-3770.
- Oklahoma City, OK
Indoor activity at the 23rd St. Armory in Oklahoma City; contact Bill Baker, 1902 Peter Pan St., Norman, OK 73069 — January 12, February 9, and March 9, 1986.
- New York City
Contact Ed Whitten, P.O. Box 176, Wall St. Station, New York, NY 10005. (212) 785-5327 for info about possible flying at Columbia University.
- Philadelphia, PA
Possible weekly Category I sessions at Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. Joe Krush, 409 Warner Rd., Wayne, PA 19087. (215) 688-3927 or Doug Barber, 146 Stratton House, Maple Shade, NJ 08052. (609) 235-5318.
Other East Coast events:
- Chappaqua, NY — Dave Acton, (914) 628-0526.
- Glassboro, NJ — Larry Peters, (609) 881-1404.
- Glastonbury, CT — George Armstead, 89 Harvest Lane, Glastonbury, CT 06037.
- Westchester, NY — Art Maiden, (914) 760-2284.
- Middlesex, NJ — Al Gentzel, (201) 231-0515.
- Cambridge, MA — Ray Harlan, (617) 358-4013.
Prop wobble?
At times, I have felt that a prop's function is to wobble—else why do so many of them do it? There are two reasons for prop wobble: poor blade alignment and off-center rubber. Rubber gets off center because of uneven knots, lopsided or bent prop shafts. You want the thrust line exactly in line with the motor center line; careful craftsmanship can minimize the problem. However, if you need to change the thrust line, the most common method is to use a dual thrust bearing.
One major problem with dual thrust bearings is that the two bearing surfaces should fit closely around the prop shaft. The closer the fit, the harder it is to insert the shaft into the bearing. Don Lindley designed the shaft/bearing combo shown in the original photos. These tubes fit closely inside the thrust bearing when the shaft is pushed back into place. The Teflon serves both to solve the prop-insertion problem and to reduce friction caused by side loads when right or left thrust is applied to help control the model.
Props also wobble if the two blades don't pull evenly for some reason. There are several reasons this can happen, and we can take a detailed look at this next time.
Late flash
Just before this column was sent off, I learned that selected indoor fliers have been asked to comment on the proposed schedule for the 1986 Indoor Nats. This is an unprecedented opportunity and a clear indication that AMA is trying to improve the Indoor Nats!
Bud Tenney, P.O. Box 545, Richardson, TX 75080.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
