Letters to the Editor
Send your Letters to the Editor to: Model Aviation, 5151 East Memorial Drive, Muncie IN 47302
Wants to Help
Until now, I have not had a reason, or should I say the courage, to speak out on the world of hobby enthusiasts and the members of AMA.
I am only a fourth-year member of the AMA, but I have been flying and building model aircraft since the late 1960s at the age of 8.
Growing up on a farm in the Midwest had its advantages to a control-line enthusiast. All you had to do was watch out for cow piles, and Dad's pasture was an excellent place to fly.
However, things have changed, and being a middle-aged truck driver with my own family doesn't really leave much time to look for a club, pay more dues, join more organizations just to fly at a safe field on the three to five days a month that I'm off work.
Our children enjoy it very much when my wife and I load up to go fly, and we always attract a great deal of spectators, young and old.
Flying radio control hadn't interested me until 1990. I am not very good, but I've only had "talking lessons," never field instruction.
All in all, I love to build the planes, and with years of experience I have a total of 21 aircraft still in one piece. These range from my own designs, Ringmasters, Noblers, VooDoos, Ugly Stiks, DuraPlanes, and our favorite and latest endeavor: an Ultimate.
Most of the time these planes sit in the attic, with the exception of two which hang on the dining room wall. They always attract attention and make great conversation pieces.
I have always been, and always will be, a faithful member of the AMA since joining in late 1991. (At that time I was living in southwest Missouri, with the usual problem of finding a flying field, when a good friend said that I'd have to join to fly.)
I would like to be involved in the AMA and feel the need to share my interests with those who want to learn.
My family and I now live in west-central Illinois, and with all of this in mind, I would like to extend a hand and be a "leader" in the AMA as well as the community, and would like to ask for your help and guidance in doing so.
I would like to make more of this hobby, instead of just paying my dues, and watching my endeavors and creations collect dust.
Thanks for listening and your time.
Rod Baker Littleton, Illinois
Back in Action
I stopped building model airplanes about 40 years ago, so I have lost contact with the model world.
I visited a hobby shop last Sunday and picked up the April issue. It is filled with articles on radio control models. I saw nothing at all about rubber contest models, which I designed and built. I was interested in the Wakefield competitions.
So what happened to this event? I am now 74 years old and retired, so I was thinking about building these planes again, but the ads concerning materials do not mention any contest rubber. Have rubber-powered models now become obsolete? I would like some information regarding contests for rubber-powered models. Can you help?
Tony Carrara Blanchester, Ohio
Editor: The Wakefield event is still quite popular, though it's now known by its FAI name: F1B. Louis Joyner's "FF Duration" column regularly carries information about F1B. In fact, Louis made the F1B team for this summer's World Championships.
Boo!
Boo! Hiss! C'mon fella! What's your basis for cutting CL Stunt to every other month? Have you compared PAMPA membership numbers with RC Pylon or RC Pattern? C'mon, give us our monthly CL Stunt column back!
Doug Dahlke Oshkosh, Wisconsin
As you can see, our club membership roster shows our club membership is declining. The decline is not due to the lack of interest, or control-line flying, but is due to the dwindling number of articles, pages, and construction projects devoted to control-line flying in Model Aviation.
Since we do not have a club flying field, we fly at parking lots, public ball parks, and school grounds, where AMA membership is not required to fly. The members who have dropped out of the club feel that Model Aviation magazine is not worth the cost of AMA membership.
The members who are still in the club are competition fliers or are also RC flyers. Cutting control-line Aerobatics to every other month was the straw that broke the club's back. Let's get more control line back in Model Aviation—also the cost of your model plans are now overpriced.
Frederick G. Kocher Secretary/Treasurer Sky Demons Controlliners of North Louisiana
Note: "CL Aerobatics" has been and will be a monthly column. One column was omitted because of a scheduling mixup.
CL WC Coverage
This is to express my disapproval that there is not one word in the story by Bill Lee and Rich Von Lopez concerning any of the equipment used by F2B (Stunt) fliers—USA team or otherwise. I understand from other sources that this is a major part of the story.
I would have preferred to see some information about the winning Chinese model(s) and engines in addition to descriptions of the bus ride. I suspect other CL Stunt fliers would also. Even the photo captions give no info on the Chinese models. The text reads that judging was the story, but this is not reflected in the coverage in Aeromodeller, for example.
Perhaps our team was so disappointed in the results that the reporting is somewhat one-sided and incomplete?
I believe that world champs coverage should report the whole story, to the extent space permits—not just the experience of "our guys." At least the coverage of other events than Stunt reflects some of this type information.
Tom Dixon Marietta, Georgia
Contest Fliers
I first joined the AMA back in 1949 as "you had to be a member if you flew in the club's contest." Even at age 17 the dues made no sizeable dent on the pocketbook, and I have maintained membership throughout the years following. The AMA is for all and though I did not see it in 1949, contest flying has been a great factor in the continued success of our hobby, and the AMA's link to competition cannot be discounted in the hobby.
The letter of Mr. Ornelas in March Model Aviation cannot go unchallenged. It probably reflects some misconceptions or perhaps his opinion that the contest flier is responsible for some of his past view of unhelpful clubs. Statements like "out for blood" and "only flying the day before a contest" are evidence of a totally wrong view of a flier who enjoys competition.
The contest fliers I know fly, fly, and fly. They enjoy it and they know that practice is necessary for any chance for winning. As to "out for blood," well, the average entrance fee at Pattern meets is twenty bucks, and the trophies cost about $17, so right there you are three dollars in the hole, even if you win. Why do we do it? It's fun to try and do your best and be measured against a standard. It is fun for all? Probably not, and that's why contest attendance is optional.
As to the competition flier not working at the field, etc., I have not seen things that way around here. Never been to California, so can't dispute Mr. Ornelas' statement, but perhaps the club officers should look into the situation. That usually gets more done than standing around and complaining.
As to teaching others to fly, I applaud his starting an instructor program, and we also have started one here at Tri-Cities Aeromodelers. The newcomer sure needs help, and where better can they get it than from an established club?
But "get real," as he puts it—can you criticize a flier who refuses to fly a stranger's plane? Perhaps it had defects that frightened the would-be flier away. There can be reasons a person refuses to fly another's plane, aside from being a jerk.
We attend about 10 or 12 Pattern meets each year, and I do not recall anyone refusing to help or answer questions. My flying buddy had a midair in Chattanooga a couple of years ago. A contest flier there invited him home for dinner, and repaired his plane in his shop while he recovered from the shock. He was able to continue the contest the following day.
You cannot generalize fliers according to taste, but I have found that usually contest fliers are more involved in our hobby and put more into it than they take out.
Bill Kite Kingsport, Tennessee
I was extremely interested in what Manuel V. Ornelas wrote in his letter, published in your March 1995 issue. Especially the last eight paragraphs of his letter, which really told it like it is! If I'd tried for a month, I could not have said it any better or more like him. It is all good.
Having said that, plus the fact that many others in our club agree with his sentiments, I do feel heaped a bit too much criticism on you, Jim Haught, for what was in your editorial in the October 1994 issue. I pulled out that issue and reread the editorial and didn't find a lot that was upsetting. Let's assume he just needed an opening, or an opportunity, to say what he really had to say.
Regardless of what actually stimulated his letter, it was an excellent summary of the "problems" in the real world—where the Sunday fliers (or sport fliers) are usually the "doers" and the competition fliers "just don't have time for that." They're too busy with their own thing; in essence they are not "doers," they are simply "takers." And many a club has broken up over that very port of friction.
One proposed solution is a dual dues structure; one level for the workers (usually sport fliers) and triple dues for the nonworkers (competition fliers, plus others who always find excuses). Wonder if anyone got this idea to work successfully?
Thanks for the opportunity to put my two cents in, too.
Olin K. McDaniel Florence, South Carolina
Winning and Losing
Better late than never, re: your editorial in the March 1995 Model Aviation [discussed winning and losing].
Being a former fierce competitor in RC soaring (LSF Level 4), I've been blessed by flying and socializing with the likes of Lee Renaud, Roger Taylor, Byron Blakeslee, Don Bering, Skip Miller, and Al Doig. I am a past president of the Torrey Pines Gulls and build and fly everything but helicopters.
The best times had were competing, regardless of standing and "fun flying." This is a wonderful hobby, and therein lies the rub.
Letters to the Editor bemoan the Nats as not a true National Championship, most winners being decided by their proximity to the site or the amount of money they wish to spend. I've only been to the Nats once, finished lower than last, and had a terrific time. Adding sectional and regional contests to qualify for the NATS would spell the end of this glorious event. It's tough enough putting on the Big Show sans putting on 30+ "Big Shows" in a year.
Re: "The Sizzler or the Streak," I love the way you handled the SAM Champs. Pictures, pictures and more pictures. The technocrats who cry for complete statistics have the means to dope out the info anyway, so why waste space explaining the explainable (as determinable for those not too lazy)? If you remember LIFE magazine, you'll remember that the "pictures told the story" and the story was captioned below. I think you're on to the right thing. Keep it up!
Norman Kay San Diego, California
The letter, "second place is the first loser," in "The Haught Corner," March 1995 is sad and pitiful beyond belief. A 10-year-old does not think like this unless he is taught to do so—almost certainly at home. What a way to go through life, how much to miss!
Model aviation allowed me to survive the rigors of medical practice, which otherwise would have been nearly impossible. It has given me friends from around the country, around the state, around the country, plus things to do and remember and look forward to.
I was told the story of a former world champion in RC sailplanes who went to area contests, and if his first round was not good, he put his plane back in the car and went home. There was absolutely nothing in modeling for him except winning. I suppose there can be different strokes for different folks, but such a narrow view is, as the old song goes, more to be pitied than censured.
The magazine is just fine.
John R. Agnew Fort Myers, Florida
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
