Free Flight: Old-Timers
By Bill Baker 1902 Peter Pan Norman, OK 73072
Last week my doctor told me I had pneumonia. I was really happy to know something, and that the way I felt wasn't the way I was supposed to feel. I was having a telephone conversation with one of my flying buddies shortly after I got home, and he asked what my prognosis was. "Well," sez I, "I noticed they wanted to be paid today."
I am still a bit tired and weak, so this is the time I am going to take advantage of the permission the editor and publisher of MA gave me to use certain material from the old Okie Free Flight Flyer newsletter I used to write and publish. He said I could use some of my favorite bits "once in a while." That will be a big help this time, because it will take up about half of the usual column space. If you like it or don't like it, let me know, and that will help determine how often "once in a while" should be. I call the piece "One Saturday Morning."
Supplies and sources
Hobby shops don't always stock everything we want; often they get supplies through distributors and are limited by what the distributor selects from a manufacturer's line. Because of competition from mail-order discount houses, many shops may choose not to carry lower-demand items. To get many of the things we need, mail order is often necessary — especially from smaller cottage-industry suppliers.
- K&S Engineering — offers silk in white and colors, and three weights of silkspan in its product catalog. (Available through hobby suppliers that carry K&S tubing and metal products.)
- Champion Model Products — George Schroedter, 880 Carmen Court, LaVerne, CA 91750; tel. 1-714/599-3348. George is a retired math teacher who makes fine-quality kits for modern Wakefield, Coupe, and P-30 designs (but no Old-Timers). He stocks silk, tissue, rubber, timers, and many other items. He will send a catalog for $1.50.
- FAI Model Supply — P.O. Box 3957, Torrance, CA 90510. One of the major sources of rubber; catalog cost was $2 last time I checked.
- Ed Dolby — runs FAI Model Supply and stocks several Old-Timer kits in addition to modern FF stuff, plus rubber, silk, tissue, timers, bearings, and all manner of LFPs (little fiddly pieces).
- 77 Products — 17119 South Harvard Blvd., Gardena, CA 90247; tel. 1-213/329-0273. Phil Bernhardt has a catalog sheet available for a SASE. He lists coils, condensers, spark plugs, timers, high-tension leads, and oil (such as SAE 70 or Blendzall) for sparkers. Phil also does custom engine work, including installation of an ignition timer in either modern glow engines or antique engines whose timers are incomplete (average cost about $55). I have seen some of his work and can recommend it.
Blendzall is a specially treated castor oil that will mix with gasoline; many fliers use it instead of traditional 70-weight oil. Others use Klotz or other modern synthetic oils, sometimes with a bit of castor oil or Blendzall added.
I need some help from readers: I need addresses of people currently doing engine repair work — chroming cylinders, re-bushing crankcases, rod bearings, etc. I've sent out several inquiries to sources I thought were still active; they've been coming back.
Micro Model Engineering was an example of a cottage industry that proved too successful: the owners got so busy that they had no spare time and yet could not give up their regular jobs. It has been out of operation for a while, but I recently received notice that Shaffer Omni Systems, Inc., Newark Airport — Building 1543, P.O. Box 1543, Nyack, CA 93572; tel. 1-619/377-5253 — has assumed the task of manufacturing this fine line of parts that fit antique engines. These are usable parts, not just display-case items. Good news.
One Saturday Morning
(From the Okie Free Flight Flyer, No. 7 — 2-15-85)
Saturday morning, just at sunup. There is absolute calm. A flag hangs limp. A hot-air balloon hangs motionless like a Christmas tree ornament. I park the van and set up the stooge for my twin pusher. Three times in the last two weeks I have been out to test fly it. The early flights were very much out of trim. On one flight it did a loop with a touch-and-go on the street which neatly shattered both propellers! What a frustration a 1935 model can be in 1985! I know I am near final trim now, and I have made new propellers and carefully keyed the stab so that the trim will be repeatable.
Swallows skim the surface, making abrupt directional changes, finding insects low early in the morning. Later in the day they will fly higher and show where the thermals are. The killdeer are nesting nearby; they are nervous. "I don't want your eggs, bird." A large, white cattle egret flies by, slowly, dignified, in a straight line. He has a flight plan.
I wind up, I launch. The trim is good. Not quite enough turn, just a bit mushy — a touch more tilt to the stab should do it. The killdeer thinks I have come to rob her nest. She runs in front of me, dragging a wing — the old broken-wing trick. "I don't have time to play your game, bird."
About all I can ask for. Once I made four Pollys. The good one thermaled away on the first toss. The other three took over a year to get rid of.
The modern HLG is easier to trim and throw. Why is that? It appears to be the longer tail moment arm. They are just less critical on both trim and launch, more consistent. The launch angle is greater, and less bank is used. They get higher and still transition.
I see some signs of lift now. Some of the HLGs are staying up too long. In a few minutes the lift will be enough for them to climb in. It has been a good morning. The swallows are working higher now, as the lift takes the insects up.
At home, as I have my breakfast on the patio, the wind comes up. I hope the balloons are down now. I see the Baltimore Oriole that is nesting in the sweetgum tree — bright flash of yellow and gone. Every day should be a day like this.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
