Letters to the Editor
Send your Letters to the Editor to Model Aviation, 5151 East Memorial Drive, Muncie IN 47302
Joe Nall Fly-In
A few days ago I attended a Fly-In that was surely one of the most rewarding experiences of my modeling career. I refer to the Annual Joe Nall Memorial Fly-In, hosted by, and on the estate of, Mr. Pat Hartness of Greenville, S.C.
Mr. Hartness' estate is one of the best flying sites I have ever seen and is beautifully situated. With all the amenities any flier could ask for, it is a real privilege to attend this extremely well-run event. Mr. Hartness opening his beautifully tended grounds to the modeling fraternity is recognized as a genuine gesture of generosity by all who attended.
What put the icing on the cake was the outstanding friendliness shown by everyone involved in the meticulous running of the meet. One could have blamed the busy workers for treating me as just another of the over 400 attendees; this didn't happen. People went out of their way to offer help to all the modelers in every way possible. It could not have been easy for the staff dealing with over 400 registered fliers.
I must mention the barbecue held Saturday night; suffice it to say that it was delicious and as well planned as the rest of the meet. I know that none of the 800 people attending went away hungry.
Realizing I am omitting many names, I would particularly like to mention Kirby McKinney, Eddie Clark, Mike Gregory, and Bob Sadler as being of much help and assistance, and, of course, Pat Hartness. They consistently offered the hand of friendship. I will be back next year!
William H. Glaze Las Vegas, Nevada
See Don Lowe's column in the "AMA News" section for more on the Fly-In.
Ed Lidgard on Props
This is not the letter I started to write, and after reading it this writing will leave your eyes sore.
I started a letter to the writer of a recent article on how to carve a balsa propeller. Then I realized the real culprit was the editor's failure to read the article before publishing it. The writer did not include any useful information. He started out correctly quoting Frank Zaic to use a "definitive system," then he omitted these essential bits of information to design and build a propeller:
- No layout of a propeller block was introduced. No block drawing to start the carving was shown.
- A poor photo was shown of a pitch device in use—right next to the shaft where measurements are useless.
- No statement was made as to how to develop the leading and trailing edges which define the pitch.
- No use of templates to establish an airfoil was mentioned or illustrated.
- No way to check for desired pitch was shown, nor was there a discussion on why variations in pitch from hub to tip are to be considered.
- The hinge was limited in description to mention of the use of wire.
- No discussion was included about the various finish coatings or use of tissue or silk as surface preparation.
In simple language, the article didn't say anything useful and no one on staff noticed.
Ed Lidgard Perry, Georgia
Thanks
We have people who support our hobby and we don't even say thanks. The company I know of is Cox Products Inc. Over the years the heads of Cox Products have supported the model clubs. For example, Mr. Bill Selzer has continued the policy of helping clubs get new members, which is the lifeblood of any organization. Mr. Selzer has been supporting our model flying clubs for years.
When our club has been invited to an airport show or a club contest, Mr. Selzer makes sure we have planes to teach John Q. Public to fly. He also gives airplanes and motors for us to give away. This is what makes the events a big success; without Mr. Selzer's help we could not put on these successful shows. We fly anywhere from 150 to 200 people.
I have been for years the instructor for the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department, and also for the Aer-O-Nuts and Sky Rogues clubs. Without Mr. Selzer's help we could not have classes and teach every Sunday morning at our model flying field. This is why we think Mr. Bill Selzer should be given a big thank-you.
Bill Osborne Alameda, California
Microhenrys Fan
My name is Matthew Montroy. I am 9 years old and in the fourth grade at Oak Street School in Plattsburgh, N.Y.
I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading the Microhenrys in your magazine. They are so funny. My dad received your magazine, but I always read the Microhenrys first. I like it when they are in the cornfields. My dad crashes into the corn a lot too. One day my dad crashed in the cornfield and had to walk through mud up to his knees. But it was actually cow poop! I thought that was funny and stinky.
I was wondering how long Mr. Henry has been drawing the Microhenrys? Is it hard to draw the cartoons? I think Mr. Henry does such a great job drawing them.
I can't wait to read next month's Microhenrys! I hope you always have them in your magazine.
Matthew Montroy Plattsburgh, New York
Actions Speak Louder
I share your and others' concern about the lack of youth activity. But a lot of lip service and words do not interest youth.
Recognizing that one should do something to interest youth, I called my local high schools and discovered that neither received Model Aviation. So my little contribution was to send a check off to AMA at the reduced school rate to order Model Aviation delivered to both schools. Later I called the librarian and was told that the magazines were on the shelf and at least some interest had been shown.
Whether any great interest will be sparked remains to be seen, but it might be a good project for others to copy. Perhaps the schools will even be requested to order Model Aviation instead of some of the current titles—who knows?
A Virginia member*
*Actually would prefer not to be named, as I am not interested in any credit for this simple idea, OK?
Leading Spot
Model Aviation is the journal of The Academy of Model Aeronautics. It is our magazine and therefore our AMA business deserves a leading spot.
For years I have noted the poor participation of members in the affairs of the Academy. It seems this has reached the point where even our own magazine buries us between the end of anything interesting and the advertisers' index.
Perhaps we cannot force members to read the information, nor can we force them to become interested, but at least those of us who are interested find it. One notes, in the minutes of the November '94 E.C. meeting, much cerebration concerning type size and uniformity. If you can't find where it is buried, what's the difference?
Under your guidance, the magazine is at its best in many years, if not best ever. That fact does not, however, alter my opinion that AMA news should be placed in a better spot.
John N. Franke Statesville, North Carolina
Help Wanted
I'm looking for information about Continental Models of Brooklyn, New York. They sold 10-cent kits in candy/paper stores in the New York area in the 1940s–1950s.
Harold Walters 23 Wyoming Ave. Tunkhannock, PA 18657
Thanks!
I am writing to thank you for featuring my products in the "Modeler's Mall" column in Model Aviation. As you may recall, I had sent photos of a couple of my products—one was the Flying Tiger Blood Chit Patch and the other was the Blue Angels F-18 T-Shirt, Slot Pilot.
I would like to thank you for the assistance you have given me by including my products in your column. That kind of exposure in a well-recognized magazine such as Model Aviation is of great help to a struggling new company such as mine. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. My thanks to all.
Andre J. Delombard President, Check Six Jackson, Michigan
Glad to help, Andre. One of the expressed purposes of "Modeler's Mall" is to give exposure to up-and-coming companies with useful products.
Memories
For the 45 years of our married life one thing has been constant: radio-controlled "things" and other flying objects.
Right from the start, in one-room University of Utah housing in 1951, we had one corner set aside to house a card table and a folding chair. Kent was a physics student with little money, and so he built everything. The first plane was a six-foot towline glider covered with red silkspan, sprayed with water to tighten and then doped for strength. This plane was controlled by a Galloping-Ghost actuator which moved the rudder via an escapement mechanism fashioned out of used brass sheet. The plane was modified for rudder-only control and had a single gas-tube receiver. The transmitter antenna was made of 300-ohm twin-lead.
Another house move took us to the country, where a room was set up equipped with long tables to heat-seal the blimp bags and to put parts together. Hammacher Schlemmer was advertising the blimp and it also appeared on the Tonight Show, so a lot of people wanted this "toy" for Christmas. It took two neighbor men to build the craft, and one husband and one son to pilot it. Father and son took the first flights and were the crew, though in later shows mothers and even girls took part. We recruited people to solder electronic components to keep up with the orders. While this was going on we were approached to make a nine-foot blimp to be used in fieldhouses for sports games, political rallies, and for companies to use for promotional purposes. These were somewhat successful.
Then came the 12-foot larger ones made out of polyurethane and powered by .61 Max glow-plug engines to be used for outside advertising. One cold day, David would bound after the blimp in foot-deep snow as Kent tried to get the beast under control. In between these unnerving flights the crew would go into the big shed and thaw bodies and nerves, getting ready to venture out again. This particular blimp proved not to be successful, but it was really dangerously exciting to try to fly it.
Kent could not leave the flying objects alone—first a QuickSilver MX ultralight and then an Eipper GT. The road was our driveway, and more important, it was the runway. It was long enough to get the ultralights up high enough so they could skim over the apple and cherry orchards. Our RC planes could be taken off this runway and flown over our own property, thus eliminating the "hangar rash" of other places. In 1987 Kent bought a Taifun motorglider.
The model helicopter flying became quite daring—no more dances by the pilot trying to get the copter to follow his movements; the copter was skimming way out and doing marvelous things, even loops, always leaving its trail of smoke behind.
Now married children with their children were returning to watch and to fly pattern planes and scale planes with two-stroke and four-stroke engines, doing aerobatics, dropping parachutes and water and flour bombs. They were using the indoor blimp to bump around the family room. Then some would go to the airport for rides in the motorglider. Such activity was really planned to go on and on forever at our home.
But last September my husband died. I am wondering, and hoping, that perhaps it is still going on and on—that there is an even bigger space with marvelous flying things being built and flown that I cannot begin to imagine.
Helen Broadbent Santaquin, Utah
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
