Letters to the Editor
Send your Letters to the Editor to: Model Aviation, 5151 East Memorial Drive, Muncie IN 47302
Correction
A typographical error occurred in the "Servo Reverser" article in the May issue. Resistor R2 in Table 2 on page 36 was listed as 47k ohms; it should be 47 ohms. Apologies for the error; the correct resistor list is shown below.
Resistors
- R1: 10k — brown, black, orange*
- R2: 47 — yellow, purple, black
- R3: 10k — brown, black, orange
- R4: 47k — yellow, purple, orange
- R5: 47k — yellow, purple, orange
- R6: 270k — red, purple, yellow
- R7: 10k — brown, black, orange
- R8: 47k — yellow, purple, orange
Nose Art
We recently had our annual Hobby Days at the mall (mall show). Every year we let the public vote on what they think is the Best of Show.
This year Wayne Mason won with his impressive Hornet, and there is a little story behind the nose art. The nose art is an eagle's head that had been airbrushed. Wayne started looking for someone to do the painting a few months in advance; the first person wanted $350 and could do it in two weeks; the second person could do it in a week but only wanted $200. Wayne's $200 deal fell through and left him stuck four days before the mall show with no nose art.
In an act of desperation Wayne asked the guys at the local T-shirt airbrush shop in the mall if they could paint the eagle on his airplane. The guy said, "Sure." Wayne asked, "How much and when?" The response was, "Now and $40." Five minutes later Wayne was running through the mall with his F-18. The paint job was a day old when the photo was taken. Wayne is the person on the left, I'm on the right.
Rick Diaz Radcliff, Kentucky
Bill Good Honored
The enclosed photo is of Gordon Wheeler, V.P. of SAM 58 (Society of Antique Modelers) presenting a plaque to William Good at our meeting on January 22, at Syracuse, NY. This plaque represents Bill's induction into the SAM Hall of Fame.
Bill and his brother Walter pioneered in making radio control model aircraft a practical reality. At our meeting we were given the added treat of listening to some of Bill's wonderful stories of those first few national championships and the thrills he and his brother experienced in the 1930s and 1940s. Gordon Wheeler was also at the Nats where he saw the Good brothers make history.
Roger Hanchett President, SAM 58 Liverpool, New York
Visitors Welcome
I visited a friend and his family in San Diego this past February. I joined the Fighter Town Flyers, an R/C Club at Naval Air Station Miramar for military personnel, active and retired. He took me with him on his first trip to the field, and since I'm not military I went as his guest.
We were warmly welcomed. One of the fellows there that morning took time out from his flying to help us with an engine that we were having problems with, and another kept us in stitches with his tongue-in-cheek commentary on everything.
The safety officer was very helpful also, and in short order we were cleared to fly.
Thanks, Fighter Town Flyers, I'll never forget your kindness.
C.R. Fowler Somerset, Kentucky
Thanks
I have been procrastinating a bit on dropping you a line but finally made it! I would just like to comment on the excellent graphic work in the MA mag. Your artistic work complements the many articles that appear in MA. Keep up the great work!
Walter L. Martin Hubbardston, Massachusetts
Flight Box
While reading the April magazine I was amazed at the article on "flight box" by Ted Maciag.
I don't want to hurt your feelings—if you are happy with your flight box, that's fine—but a 20-year-old oil-impregnated cardboard box? This is a fuse to a stick of TNT. Do you store this flight box in your home or in your garage? If you do, there is something called spontaneous combustion where this "flight box," given the correct weather condition (which you have, living in Florida) can ignite this flight box by just sitting on the floor.
How about a nylon milk box? It will last indefinitely and cannot be impregnated by oil. Ted, please don't get offended by this letter; I just don't want to see a fellow modeler or his or her family hurt.
Frank Rega Virginia Beach, Virginia
Terminology
Steve Kaufman's letter in the May 1997 issue, complaining about the term "plan-building," caught my eye. Steve says, "If it's not from a kit, it's scratch-built!"
How, then, does one differentiate between building from someone else's plans, and building your own original design from your own plans?
Seems to me that "kit-built," "plan-built," and "scratch-built" would describe things nicely.
Don Tyond Warwick, New York
It is a trivial point but I agree with Jeff Troy that there is a distinction between "plan-building" and "scratch-building."
There is a significant difference between sticking together the ready-cut chunks of a kit and producing a flying model, starting with no more than a handful of sheet-stock and a plan. It is a definite step up on the craftsmanship scale to become a "plan-builder" but it is hardly starting from scratch.
The real claim to the top is realized when you are designing, editing, or perhaps adjusting a model; an original sketch is translated into a successful flying model. That is truly starting from scratch and those who can do it deserve the "scratch-builder" distinction.
There are a lot of us around who "plan-build." Many of us build models with "strip-stock." We use "sticks" to kill snakes.
LeRoy Bidgood Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Customer Service
I want to thank Bob McDaniel (McDaniel R/C, Inc.) in the largest forum possible for his great customer support. I recently sent an onboard glow system back for repair that had been in use for two years in my "Ol' Faithful." The unit proved to be "unrepairable" after one repair attempt. Bob replaced the unit with a new updated one at no additional charge above the original repair cost! Is this support, or what!?
Bob Thornton San Diego, California
Reverser
I just finished reading the article in the May 1997 Model Aviation on building a servo reverser. No doubt that many pilots will find the author's device very helpful in various installations. I would like to correct a comment in the article. The author states that no radios "of which (he) is aware" allow for dual elevator servos that are mixed to a single trim. In fact, many of the better current sport/competition radios offered by several manufacturers provide that feature.
Paul Kopp Anaheim Hills, California
Pricing
Something ought to be said about the mail-order practice of pricing items for sale at a few, or less, cents than the actual price.
For example, I just received a catalog from one of the industry leaders and immediately saw that everything on the front page was listed as $149.99, $29.99, or something along those lines. In fact, nowhere in the catalog did I find anything priced at just a plain old $15 or $150.
First of all, the marketing shrinks will tell you that people can be tricked into believing that something listed as $149.99 is actually $149 and not really $150. The theory is that the public don't see the 99 cents.
Actually, this is an absurd assumption and while for an instant people do see the lesser amount, in about 1/2 to 3/4 of a second they see the higher price. At this point, most people feel a little tricked.
Since pricing in this manner is a trick, intended to fool the buyer into believing they are paying a lesser amount for a product, one is then led to believe that the catalog just received is full of trickery and one should beware.
In fact, that was my first reaction to the catalog that starts the day by trying to trick me. What else in the catalog is in store for me, what other tricks are they about to play with me?
We cannot pass a law against this sort of thing and of course it really is just a matter of frustration but it does seem that the hobby business should be free of this sort of trickery. It definitely does not leave a good taste in one's mouth when confronted with this sort of thing.
I've talked with numerous people in the hobby recently and not one of them is fooled and all resent it.
It will probably continue on because merchants are not prepared to enter the modern world and will continue to use the old-fashioned and worn out marketing methods that have become a joke.
On the way to Toledo, I stopped off at Headquarters and toured the facility, even putting in a flight at the RC field. It was great and I just wish that I lived close enough to pitch in and do some volunteer work. In fact it was more than great, it was wonderful. Three cheers for AMA and its people.
Bob Wilson Franklin, North Carolina
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
