Letters to the Editor
Mixing health with modeling . . .
My name is Ken Lovelace, and I am an officer of the Delaware Valley R.C., Inc., a Radio Control model airplane club. We are neither the oldest nor the largest club in the nation. We were formed in 1959 as the Royal Rudder Bugs and incorporated in 1963 as the Delaware Valley R.C., Inc. club.
I have been a member since the time the club was originally formed. This dates me as having been in the club for more than 30 years, and to tell the truth I am over 60 years old.
What I'm leading up to is that with over half of our club members over 50 years old, it was about time that we started to take a look at our health.
After discovering that one of the members had health problems—blood pressure of 240 over 190—and had never had his blood pressure checked until he had a severe dizzy spell, we decided to find out how much it would cost to have a medical person come to a meeting and check the members' blood pressures.
I called a few people to see if this idea would go across. The idea was so well accepted that I called until one of the members' wives gave me a name and a phone number of an organization that performed this very function as a community service. There was no charge.
The service was performed by members of the Mercy Catholic Medical Centers' Misericordia Hospital in their Community Outreach program. To promote effective health management—particularly among the poor and the elderly—Misericordia conducts an extensive range of screening and education programs throughout West Philadelphia. These outreach programs are held seven days a week in the morning, afternoon, or evening at whatever location a group chooses.
With the help of the Mercy Care van, Misericordia staff can perform screenings at churches, schools, senior centers, community meetings, malls, and health fairs. Screenings and evaluations are conducted for blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, glaucoma, hearing loss, cholesterol, body fat, and foot problems.
As I said before, this program was so well received that we have decided to schedule the diabetes and cholesterol screening at a future meeting.
Now what is this leading up to? With all the members in the AMA across the nation, maybe there are other hospitals or health centers that offer a similar service. If this letter can start the ball rolling and help save one person, it was time well spent.
I can't say we saved any lives at our meeting, but the indications are from some of the members that it's going to lead to further checking with family doctors. Maybe someone else can be helped. I leave it up to the readers.
Ken Lovelace Philadelphia, Pa.
Aircraft identification concerns
I am writing in response to Mr. Charles O'Donnell's letter . . . in the December 1990 issue's "Letters to the Editor" section. He has some good points but should not rely on what he has seen or not seen.
The Chance Vought Corsair entered WWII under the British Fleet Air Arm in the spring of 1944 aboard the H.M.S. Victorious, months before they were put on active duty for the U.S. Navy. They were under the nomenclature Corsair II, III, and IV. The British Corsairs had 16 in. clipped off the wings in order to fit under the low ceilings of the British carriers.
If Mr. O'Donnell wants to see a deck full of British Corsairs, he can check out British Aircraft of WWII by John Frayn, published by Stein and Day. He can also read about them in The Great Book of World War II Airplanes from Bonanza Publishers.
Joshua Teague Stowe, VT
A little Prime Cut!
The photo is of the Prime Cut you featured in the September 1989 issue. I blew up the plans in the magazine on a Xerox machine to a wingspan of 57 in. It is constructed of balsa with foam wings and fuselage decks. It performs aerobatics with ease, although it is not a beginner's airplane.
Chris Chapman Lexington, KY
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
