Letters to the Editor
All letters will be carefully considered; those of general interest will be used. Send to Model Aviation, 815 15th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005.
Whose Duck?
In the October 1978 issue of Model Aviation, the article by John Gimble covering the 1978 U.S. Control Line Model Airplane Championships in Winston‑Salem, North Carolina, contains a photo of a beautiful sportscale Grumman Duck. It is easy to see how one could relate James Duckworth to this aircraft because of the similarity of the names. However, the actual builder of this aircraft was Ken Clodfelter. Ken's ship is a work of art and, even though it had a small mishap in flight, I understand that it is now completely restored.
For clarification, James Duckworth entered a Sterling Nieuport 28 that placed second. A photo is enclosed if you would care to print both the flier and the entry. I wish to make this correction only to set the record straight: James Duckworth is not the builder — Ken Clodfelter is. Incidentally, as a matter of interest to all readers, you can be assured that this particular entry category for 1979 will have considerably more entries than this year. We are trying in the Charlotte and Gastonia area to promote the construction of more scale ships and, accordingly, develop the interest this area deserves.
Again, thanks for a beautiful article and the excellent coverage provided by Brother John in covering this event.
J. C. Duckworth Stanley, NC
Those Magic Letters
The article entitled "SWG — The Magic Letters and What They Mean," in the October 1978 issue of MA, contains information which probably should be revised (even at the risk of further befuddling fellow modelers?). Engineering references such as Machinery's Handbook indicate that the old Brown & Sharpe wire gage featured in the article was used for copper and aluminum. It is not quite the same as any of the gages used for specifying steel wire.
It seems most recent model plans in the U.S. specify wire size in fractions or decimals of an inch. However, older model plans sometimes specified a wire gage. There are two different U.S. gages which could be used on U.S. model plans: the Music or Piano Wire Gage, and the Steel Wire Gage. To add possible confusion, the Steel Wire Gage has the same initials as the British Standard Wire Gage (S.W.G.), and the British gage is commonly used to specify wire sizes on contemporary British model plans.
The following excerpts from three steel wire gage tables cover a sampling in the range of common sizes used in model building:
Wire Gages in Approximate Decimals of an Inch
Gage No. Music or Piano Wire Gage (U.S.) Steel Wire Gage (U.S.) Standard Wire Gage (British) 8 .020 — .128 10 .024 — — 11 .026 .121 — 13 .031 .0915 .092 14 .033 — .064 16 .047 .0625 .064 18 .063 .0475 .048 21 .095 .0317 .032 23 .124 .0258 .024 25 .121 .0204 .020 26 — — — 33 .095 — — 38 .124 — —
G. S. Alaback Kankakee, Ill.
Editor's Note
Model Aviation has received a surprising number of letters on the "wire gage" article, several supplying detailed lists of reference books and manuals. If space allows, the information will appear in a subsequent Letters to the Editor. Apropos of nothing, a wire gage is great for making balsa dowels.
Lou Andrews Checks In
Enclosed is the Beam plan that I finally located; what I have left are a lot of damaged papers from a fire. Enclosed also is an enlargement of an old negative taken with a Brownie camera back about the time Lindbergh took off for Paris. I also have a negative of my older sister launching a flight; a small kid took the shot. Could have been a forerunner of the famous (or infamous) Aeromaster's adventures. Beam and other models from the long-lost category are really interesting — I think of the things and happenings and the model activity I've missed.
There is a lot of talk and some action on 1/2A control-line stunt, I notice, recently. Remember when I came out to visit you in Conn., many, many years ago and flew the complete stunt pattern for you in front of your house with my Baby Barnstormer, toting, I believe, a Wasp .049?
Why do you not mention your Vagabond of many years ago? You may not believe this, but I have never in my whole career (wow — this sounds professional) built or flown a model other than my own design, with the exception of building your Vagabond from plans issued in the magazine. It sported an Ohlsson 60, I believe, and flew in grand style.
Lou Andrews Andrews Aircraft Model Co., Inc. Box 231 Topsfield, MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
