Free Flight: Sport & Scale
Bill Warner 423-C San Vicente Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90402
EXCITEMENT! Yes, there are a number of things in this life which set the blood coursing through a man's veins. Beautiful women, fast cars, and Wacos rate up pretty high, but I think the ultimate excitement for a true modeler is seeing a great plan, balsa wood, Japanese tissue, and all the things necessary to produce a great Free Flight Scale model! It's like visiting a real old-time fireworks stand where you don't see the fireworks themselves; rather, you see the promise of what they are going to do. Wow!
Just as a great sculptor looks at a block of marble and sees a gorgeous statue, a true modeler goes ape looking at stuff that has the promise of what can be—and what will be done with it! But...
Well, gang, ya didn't know already: the hobby shop reminiscent of the 1930 era is out. It's called Old-Timer Model Supply. It was started by Jim Noonan a long time ago; some of us who were in short pants now run it very capably. Ken Sykora has just issued a new catalog. It's neat. It has things like ball-bearing thrust washers, colored nitrate dope, lots of old-time plans, prop blanks—good stuff.
Probably the biggest customers for this new $2 catalog will be newsletter editors who want to send their publications with the great drawings Ken has included. If you can read it without getting excited, you should turn in your Captain Midnight Secret Decoder Badge!
To order the catalog, send your two clams to OTMS, P.O. Box 7334, Van Nuys, CA 91409. Support cottage industries!
Al Lidberg's latest Rubber Scale plan has some features which make it a super transition for the modeler who has built a few kit models and is ready to step up to something really classy. It's a 1940 Napier-Heston JA-S racer which spans about 32 in. The things that make it exciting are the fact that it is not a done-to-death militaristic subject that your fellow modelers just sort of ignore when it's brought to the field. Instead, it has a nice tail (but streamlined fuselage) with a big spinner and lots of room for rubber.
Thrust adjusters and center of gravity are actually shown on the plan (the lack of which on most plans makes you wonder if the designer ever flew his prototype). There's also a knock-off wing mounting system similar to the one I showed you in the photo of my Taylorcraft/Auster in my March 1988 column. He shortened up the wire stubs to make it truly "knock-offable," whereas I prefer to use longer stubs which bend back a bit and absorb shock without actually coming off. You can start longer and trim down as you fly until you get what works best for you.
Al's building and trimming booklet has some nice hints, too. The plan and booklet come with a catalog for $6 from A. A. Lidberg, 614 E. Fordham, Tempe, AZ 85283.
Hi-Line, Ltd., P.O. Box 341283, Bethesda, MD 20817, is the newest company in the exploding Mini-Electric field, and it is one of the best. The company has kept costs to the modeler down by providing "do-it-yourself" kits in which the buyer gets two motors and the materials to rewind the armatures and build the gear-drive (freewheeling). Hooking up everything requires using no more than a common pencil-type soldering iron and the ability to follow the step-by-step instructions.
A charger kit and Ni-Cd batteries are also available. The MEK-1 dual-motor kit features the high-quality carbon-brushed motor made for the Kodak disc-drive camera — a thing which many of you have purchased from surplus sales outfits but have not known what to do with. Hi-Line has engineered the hopped-up motor for you and has provided the gears and wire to make it work for aeroplanes instead of cameras. The tiny, six-watt drive units are just the things you need for multiwing craft having wingspans ranging from the mid-twenties to the forty range. The 4.6:1 gear-down turns a 5-1/2-in. diameter Williams Bros. Co. plastic prop (available from Reck-Polymers) at 4,500 rpm. A setup using one motor and its battery weighs only 1.5–1.8 oz.
These are the motors powering the Nats-winning single- and multiwing Scale ships of Don Surrell, Don Hall and Dave Rees with great success. Drop Hi-Line a letter and request more information. Be sure to include a large SASE.
Idiot-sheet judging versus Mooney judging
Back in the Sixties, the Flightmasters (Los Angeles, CA), sparked by Hal Osborne, got together an "idiot sheet" for use in judging rubber-powered Scale models. They ended up getting it adopted as the official AMA standard for the Scale models and it was quite a positive step. The AMA rules should "protect" Joe Doe out on the field. The rules were worked out by a committee and the majority decisions on the part of a Scale judge are based on various parts of the plane and give certain ranges of points which were to be awarded in each category. This gave the judge no latitude at all in some areas, and a limited range of points in others. Then workmanship points gave the judge some room to express how he really felt about the model. Can you see the Miss America Pageant being judged this way? Phyllis Diller and Catherine Deneuve would tie because they both had the same number of teeth!
Some things just can't be quantified easily, and since we put that "idiot sheet" together and saw it take off into other areas like Peanut Scale, I have seen many planes in which I should not have won, in the opinion of most modelers present. (In the Miss America Pageant do they always select the right winner?) You, watching at home, KNOW which girl should win, and when she doesn't you blame the system which awards points for speaking five languages instead of being the most beautiful and charming.
Idiot sheets reflect the prejudices and limitations of the people who create them. Another problem is that judging takes forever and cuts into the flying time.
The alternative: Mooney judging. About the same time that we were getting into idiot sheets to take discretion away from the judges, a new system created by Walt Mooney down in San Diego was starting to gain favor. Very simply, it allows a competent modeler, chosen by the group as a judge, to choose the model he (and the group whose values he shares) know is the best. Just like the Miss America contest, if you've been flying, watching for a long time, you KNOW, without a checklist, which rates tops.
A Scale meet consists of judging and flying. In Power Scale, the flight is judged as well as static appearance, and Mooney judging is not really designed for that. It is mainly for Rubber Scale.
To use Mooney judging, you assign a rank in "Flying" to each model. The lowest flight time gets a score of one, the next longest time a score of two, etc. Simple, just like a regular Duration event so far. Then the models are lined up, and the judge inspects each one. (Three views are planned, as in many meets.) The judge has the right to increase or decrease the assigned score by up to two points for Appearance as No. 1, No. 2, etc. Then the scores are added and the lowest total wins. The method is simple and fast. Two or three good judges give you results maybe in twenty minutes. It keeps the competitive field from being over influenced by judges who like complicated gadgets, or like a certain type of model.
Which is undisputed best? What's there to tie? Ties are inevitable, so decide before the contest how they will be broken—with Appearance placement or Flying placement. A good way is to flip a coin so that the "Scalers" and the "Fliers" will have an equal chance at the advantage! Having two judges will help, as that way one guy will not have to take all the responsibility for close calls.
If your club has competent judges and does not take itself too seriously as to insist on "world-class" judging at your meets, I think Mooney judging may be just the ticket for you. It has been used with great success and little complaint for many years by clubs all over the U.S. Despite the small disadvantage of equal spacing between planes in the rank ordering, Walt Mooney's system considers the model as a whole—not as the sum of its parts. Not only that, judging is quick! Try it.
Who-needs-it department
Recently a new product came on the market to aid in sharpening your X-Acto No. 11 blades. As I use the X-Acto No. 11s almost exclusively (preferring the high, flat, roll-off-the-table handle, the retractable feature, the reversible blade, and the nominal price), a friend's gift of this plastic sharpener did not move me. It is a well-made fixture on which you set your knife with the blade installed and then move it while turning, the blade angle being held at 23°, on three different stones of decreasing grit. No provision was made for feather stropping, nor was it mentioned in the instructions.
After intentionally dulling a No. 11 blade on a piece of metal, I followed the instructions diligently, and after five minutes produced a mediocre result. The fixture which held the knife did not allow its entire length to touch the stone, and I found it awkward to use, the blade slipping off the small stone frequently. I assume that with practice this could be avoided. My opinion is that anyone who is not smart enough to be able to sharpen a blade without this little machine should probably invest in new blades and throw away the dull ones.
Jerryco, 601 Linden Pl., Evanston, IL 60202, sells an assortment of blades under catalog number 2527 (blade assortment) which have little plastic mountings. When you break the plastic pieces off with a pair of pliers, the blades fit nicely in an X-Acto chisel. Price: 40 for $2. The catch is the $3 shipping charge. If you order this blade assortment, you might do it with several friends and split the shipping cost. In any event, the free catalog is a neat trick, and I personally would use the blades.
I'll guarantee that you'll find something in it you just can't live without, be it a wear-on-head magnifier, or silk fly-tying thread to use for rigging.
Basswood stringers
Tiny models need strong fuselage stringers, and balsa doesn't always fill the bill. Although it adds some weight, the basswood stringer does not break or bend like balsa. It is popular with modelers who know how to use it judiciously (not everywhere ... and in small sections).
Tom Arnold, writing in the newsletter of the Scale Staffel, tells of a great way to make tiny sizes. First, he glues down a parallel pair of .015-in.-dia. music wires on a piece of Formica countertop and places an .032-in. basswood sheet between them. Then, using a long sanding block, he sands the basswood down until the sanding block rides on the wires. Voila! He now has .015-in.-thick sheet basswood from which super-skinny stringers can be sliced using a metal straightedge as a guide.
Well, gang, until next time, remember the motto of the Junior Birdmen: "Into the air . . . !"
It's Indoor time!
FF Duration/Murphy
(Continued from page 73)
...excellent, and was the main reason we decided to manufacture it. We learned a lot in this early attempt in this business and had hoped to expand the line with many additional kits. Our first run was 3,000 Smartys, which we sold rather fast. "We began production on a V-1A sport Control Line model called the Snappy as a second kit, with a biplane version called the Snazzy to follow. Then I had to go into the service during the Korean conflict, and this interrupted our Snappy production; however, I was able to put it on the market after getting out of the service, and also produced about 2,000 more Smartys at this time. The Snazzy never made it to market. Although we had a limited success with these, it just wasn't the same market after the delay."
"I don't have any Snappys left from this venture, but I do have a limited number of the Smarty kits, which are still basically in good condition."
"I certainly enjoyed your article in the magazine. I have promised myself I would get back into model building when I retired—would you believe I haven't started yet after retiring in '83? Hopefully, I'll start soon."
In the same mailing, in addition to the above letter, Rick also sent an original kit of his Smarty. The kit was so perfectly preserved that it was hard to believe it had actually been produced nearly 30 years ago.
The little pylon model has a wingspan of 30-1/4 in. and the kit box claims it will fly with .035/.049-displacement engines. An Atwood Wasp .049 is depicted on the plans; however, the kit was produced prior to the Cox Tee Dee .020 appearing on the scene, and one of these would surely yank the little fellow up quite smartly as well. Rick states that he has probably kept the remaining kits around long enough, so he will mail them anywhere within the States for $15 each postpaid until his supply is exhausted. You can order 'em from Richard G. Harding, RFD #3, Box 292, Enterprise, AL 36330. Go get 'em, No-Gas fans!
The Zeek chronicles — Part II
Admittedly I am a bit heavy on No-Gas subjects this session, but sometimes items of the same category seem to hit all at one time. This is apparently one of those times, so we shall plod right along with our promised Zeek sequel.
In my August 1988 column, Part I offered a teaser that I would follow with additional sections in serial form with respect to the historical evolution of Lew Mahieu's Free Flight classic, the Zeek. Therefore, with this episode we shall begin by beginning at the beginning—which would probably place our time machine in the summer of 1946.
At this point Lew Mahieu had gained considerable experience by building and flying many of the popular kit designs of Carl Goldberg, Mercury, Zipper, Sailplane, etc. Being a prolific builder, Lew also began to shortcut the tedious fuselage construction which utilized many, many small contoured parts for which the Goldberg type nose were noted. By building models faster, he could get more flying time. Thus his Zippers and Sailplanes began to sport flat, slab-sided fuselages just as did the contemporary built-up, contoured ones as specified on the plans supplied in the fine Comet or other brands. These efforts eventually led to a full-fledged design effort materializing in the creation of the first Zeek.
This first Zeek was to be lost on its first flight at its first contest at Sacramento, CA in September of 1946. Lew had attended the contest with friends Ray Accaci and Sillman Clampett. Ray Accaci was to play an important role in making this Zeek a household word in Free Flight circles for years to come. Encouraged by this initial effort, Lew built a second Zeek, which was followed in turn by additional models being built by close friends such as Carl Stokes and Stuart Sittig.
A couple of years ago Lew sent this writer a copy of the plans of his original Zeek. The plans were drawn by Stu Sittig and are notarized with a date of 4/1/47.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
