Just For the Fun of It
Bill Winter
Purpose of the Column
For the sport fliers, this new monthly feature provides a discussion corner — a place to shoot the bull, exchange ideas, and to wow one another — and those "comp" fliers — with all sorts of good stuff, from the quaint to the exotic. We urge you FF and CL guys to participate. If it's for sport and fun, welcome to the party!
More than 75% of AMA members are sport fliers who sometimes wonder if things are not too competition oriented. It just seems that way. Competition requires much attention, true. But without competition AMA would be deader than a doornail. And without sport fliers AMA could be buried in the Atlantic Trench.
The Indianapolis 500: for years the public saw spin-offs that improved the family auto — difficult to perceive today. Competition obviously advanced our modeling technology. Note how pattern improved enjoyment. Competition in general is now so specialized that benefits to sport fliers have shrunk to a trickle. Sport flying — with its numerous experimenters — now produces the spectacular developments.
You Can Help
The mix you see here is the tip of the iceberg. There is no end to it. I must prime the pump to give you guys time to turn this feature into your thing. Want to see your stuff in print? Names other than the guys I know? Just write to me at the address at the end of this feature. I am waiting at the mailbox.
Current Projects and Experiments
Here is what I am doing: shaping foam-core board without cracks, creating perfect wing sections, and producing fuselage bellies that are not straight lines. I have a trainer foam-board configuration — with an automatic system that eliminates takeoff problems and cockeyed hand launches — we hope.
Into so-called Schoolyard Scale with the granddaddy Fairchild FC-1 — in-line engine, long nose, stilty landing gear, razor-back fuselage, folding wings and strip ailerons (in 1925!). Rubber hotshots — lest we disgrace ourselves with another rubber-scale. Our last was prewar. Maybe another FC-1?
Dave Gray and Art Schmalz (Du-Bro) invited us to complete a project on their cardboard monsters. Dave made the first back in the fifties — his needs led to the prop-drive. With scads of photos and notes, we have a cute three-view approved by Dave, and Herb Clukey, scaling it up for us, finds the biggest drawing table at Flyline too small for the profile — without the top view! Dave just built two right wing panels (we all do that sooner or later), sawed one in half and sent the pieces to us, along with his Max 60 and prop-drive. We may use our World Engines Tartan to learn about it for the Aristocrat.
I've jumped into electrics and am honestly highly impressed by the flying I see now that some good modelers have shaken me up. I have dozens of RTFs and ARFs, both gas and electric, being assembled by about a half-dozen guys, so we'll be having lots to pass on — about ships and electrics. My next winter project is that lovely (Bob Boucher-designed) 6-foot Porterfield by Astro Flight. The plans are based on a still-alive real aircraft! Peter Westburg drew them; he is recognized universally as one of the most highly accurate renderers of real aircraft.
The Porterfield, Power and Practical Advice
For the Porterfield, we have a geared Astro 15. John Preston, who took the photos, gave it a two-minute charge. When we were not paying attention the guys turned it on, and we almost hit the ceiling. The airblast and electric-fan noise of the big prop was awesome. We intend flying it like our Sniffer to high altitude to do some prolonged soaring. Bob Boucher said, "My gawd, you can get 1,000 feet or more on power if you do what you say." He advises using an on-off switch so that prolonged wind rotation of the prop, turning the motor, doesn't wreck the battery pack the next time we charge it. You guys who fly old-timers with extended glide should think about that. There's two ways to go — the other is a power control — but our plans compel on-off. Perhaps you could do both if you put your mind to it.
Design is lightweight, plenty of sticks and pieces — which any old-time builder loves, the only way you can build an airplane-like model of the day.
A Short Historical Aside
Reminded of Charlie Day, VP of Standard during WWI, designer of many famous craft. When, in 1917–18, the U.S. planned producing the Caproni bomber, he found that its strength-to-weight values ranged from 4-to-1 to 14-to-1. Charlie also showed the Chinese how to manufacture Curtiss Hawks during the Sino-Chinese war, headed the Canadian aircraft production effort in WWII, and later was a wheel at Martin-Marietta. He had started with Glenn Martin — barnstorming in the Beachey era. He also flew around the world (in the 1930s) with his wife in a little biplane he designed. Were he with us, he'd probably find we have RC components that verge on 50-to-1. NACA told us in 1940 that the prewar free flights had 60 times the relative power of a P-40. So Astro's Porterfield "real construction" sends us into ecstasy.
Ongoing Tests and Other Ships
We are flying an 8-foot, K&B .19-powered low wing which thinks it's a Mirage — part of ongoing tests. And that 6-foot Sniffer — we simply cannot "kick the habit." Also Bill Evans' K&B .19 Crosswind is in the air. Coming up in May, it is derived from his larger-span low-wing Seville glider in a past issue, which one glider columnist says outflies his Mirage (we saw a letter). With huge oversized wheels (trike) because of unshorn grass, this highly loaded thing soars right with the powered sailplanes. Sport fliers hereabouts put engines on all those gorgeous sailplanes — our serious sailplaners don't — to avoid fussing with hi-start. For sport flying, a straight line is always the shortest distance between two points.
And last Sunday we flew our old escapement Airknocker, from FM nearly 20 years ago. So we stuck in two servos with tape — rudder and engine. Snell gave us a 20-year-old Enya .09, the everlasting engine. The piston is black, but oh how it runs. Talk about flight realism! If you hand launch, and can trim an airplane, rudder/engine is unbeatable. There's lots more. But what are you doing?
A Final Thought on Setup
Guys occasionally tell us that any plane that requires downthrust has something wrong with it. Baloney. The important thing is the best configuration for a specific task, and if it needs down or up, or right or left, don't hold back. We once had an RC which stood in the three-point position with the prop at 90 degrees to the ground. Jack Port, the national champ, smashed up trying to chase it.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
