The Haught Corner
How Dumb is Dumb?
A number of readers have pointed out a glaring error in Stephen Baardsen's Kingfisher article in the June MA. We mixed in a photo of an A-7E Corsair II by the same author. Dumb! The full Corsair article appears in this issue.
Apologies to Mr. Baardsen and to those who discovered the mistake.
The Survey Says
At last report there have been more than 13,000 responses to our demographic survey. Terrific! It will take some time to analyze the data from such a large response, but we should come up with some solid information to help AMA and MA.
Spaced Out
Anything between these covers is subject to space considerations; that's what happened to "The Microhenrys" in the June issue.
Council Transparency and Minutes
Applause to the Executive Council for passing a measure that provides publication of each Council member's voting record. It seems logical that constituents should see how those they elected were able to represent each district's interests (and those of AMA as a whole).
By the way, we've been asked why the publication of Council meeting minutes lags so far behind the meeting date. There have been suggestions that it's done for political reasons; not so.
The minutes of a given meeting are not considered official until they are voted on by the Council. Approval happens at the following meeting (three months later; Council meets quarterly), so that accounts for the delay. A typical Council meeting lasts for one and a half days, and with any meeting of that length, the possibility for transcription/typographical errors exists. Isn't it better to wait and be certain that the minutes are a perfect representation of the business conducted?
Pylon Safety and Racing Guidelines
More applause to those involved in upgrading pylon cage construction and other racing guidelines.
Sure, it's unfortunate that an accident spurred this action, but a number of people have given a great deal of thought and effort toward making regulations that will provide safety for all, while making course construction and setup feasible.
Bill Hager's last two columns have illustrated the extent of the changes, and have shown that there is a way to keep the excitement in racing and provide more than adequate safety for all.
I recently asked Bill about the pylon situation in general, and in particular whether he felt that any changes were necessary to the airplanes themselves. He feels that the airplane specifications are fine now, but it's very important to have another, experienced person give a preflight inspection to each model. The tiniest of problems may be overlooked by someone checking his or her own model, but a fresh set of eyes can spot these things before they cause real difficulties.
Modelspeak
Recent "Letters to the Editor" have questioned the use of certain phrasing and language, even to the point of bashing our use of Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary as a reference.
James Kemble wrote, "As a Brit domiciled here in the USA I am constantly dismayed and often angered by the abuse that this paramount means of communication receives. The English language is particularly rich in its vocabulary..." Well... consider that in this country, we don't truly speak or write English anyway; our language is really American. Of course, this isn't the King's English, or what is sometimes considered "proper" English, but is an adaptation.
I have expanded this idea by recognizing certain conventions and terminology that are particular to modelers. This was a conscious decision on my part when I became Managing Editor. MA had taken considerable heat for stilted phrasing and rewriting of text, to the point that some text was difficult to read; for lack of a better term, it seemed to be "un-modelerlike."
An example of the change is the elimination of the unit of measure after wood sizes. The stylists, grammarians, and probably some of my old professors may cringe at "...the main spar is 1/8 x 1/2 x 1, and the webs are 1/32 x 1 x 1," but—for our subscribers—I believe it's much more readable (and more "modelerlike") than "...1/8 in. x 1/2 in. x 1 in."
I accept the idea that this may not be correct scientific/engineering notation, but I seriously doubt that it makes a difference to the majority of our readers. It's rather trite to use a term like "modeler-friendly," but a little of that idea won't hurt. We can still use our bestest and goodest grammar most of the time, and produce text that is intelligent and comprehensible to everyone. Know what I mean? Vern?
Powered Flight and Electrics
The June "Haught Corner" recalled my oldest son's introduction to powered flight with a Pee Wee 30 model, and how thrilled he was about the whole thing. Reader Ralph Evans wrote to ask, "Have you considered starting your son with electric power? Why subject him to noisy, messy engines?"
Well, Ralph, we have done a bit of sport electric flying, with a converted .020 Replica model. It's a nice model to take to the park and let cruise around in big, lazy circles.
But since I/we are primarily competition-oriented free flight modelers, electric motors fall well short of the "noisy, messy engines" required to be competitive. Battery weight is still the biggest deterrent to truly competitive electric FF models.
Electrics do have a loyal following, and more power to 'em! There's much enjoyment to be had with many forms of electric flying; it just doesn't fit my form of competition.
As for the noise and mess, I'm accustomed to it; I've been around contest flying since I was about three years old, so the scream of a 20,000-rpm engine and the smell of our fuels seems normal to me.
Like the sound of ball meeting bat in spring training, one of the "rites of spring" is the first time I get to hear that distinctive engine sound, and maybe spill a little of that "messy" fuel on myself.
For the first time since the last flying day of the previous year, I feel a bit more alive, awake, and alert. The grass seems greener, the sun a little brighter.
"Man, we're going flying again! Ain't it great?"
Jim Haught Managing Editor
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
