Letters to the Editor
Send your Letters to the Editor to: Model Aviation, 5151 East Memorial Drive, Muncie, IN 47302
Prints Available
Ron Bennett, one of the photographers for our "Laima Conquers the Atlantic" piece in the April issue, advises that he is offering signed 8 x 10 prints of the historic R/C event for sale to collectors (see ad and "Modeler's Mall" item this issue).
Nostalgia Carrier
Dick Perry's April "CL Navy Carrier" column contained an error concerning Nostalgia Navy Carrier rules (p. 126).
The text indicated that Nostalgia Carrier models were required to be pre-1978 designs; in fact, any model that meets the other Nostalgia Carrier rules may be used, regardless of the year in which it was designed.
We apologize for the error.
MA staff
March Cover
As a Korean War vet and AMA member, I am outraged at your March 1999 cover.
Did it occur to you that it showed the desecration of the American flag? What were you thinking of?
I hope your next issue includes an apology to all who have served and are serving this country.
Pierre Dumenil Burlingame, California
Certainly no disrespect toward the American flag was intended by publication of this photo. We apologize to anyone offended by the March cover.
Open Letter to Randy Ryan
Dear Randy,
Your letter in the March issue of Model Aviation was a beautifully written tribute to a fine man. I think what really hit me was that you could have been writing about my dad.
He was not a member of the Hall of Fame, either. He was my "stooge" on the field of glycerine, green soap, and rubber; and later, my "pit man" with gas models—then glow.
He was in demand by my competitors. When I complained, he said if that was required for my winning, I didn't deserve to win! Like your dad, the father of Randy, he was known as the father of Fred. In your heart and mine, these men are in a special—and very personal—Hall of Fame.
The training Art gave his son was not how to glue together paper and sticks to make an airplane. These include the fact that life includes the fact that to win is nice, but if it includes cheating it is wrong.
As you point out, your very career is an offshoot of the hobby he has shared with you. My hat is off to you, Randy, the son of Art Ryan.
Fred Lehmberg Anderson, California
Correction
I am writing this letter on behalf of my son, Christopher Teke, who was recently featured in your February 1999 issue. Chris was the lead recipient of your AMA/Charles H. Grant scholarship.
Following are the mistakes which should be corrected:
Our family lives in Silverthorne, Colorado, not California; here in the mountains of Colorado, we fly on skis, not skids; and in 1995, Chris and I built and flew a 1/2-scale de Havilland Beaver, not a 1/4-scale, which God forbid would have a wingspan of 24 feet and probably weigh 200 pounds.
Thank you for taking this under your consideration. I trust you can let our model friends in Colorado know how proud we are of his achievements.
Ron Teke Silverthorne, Colorado
Whoops! I wrote the text that appeared in the magazine. Those were not the magazine's errors, they were my proofreading errors! I apologize for the mistakes.
Chalk it up to failing eyesight or a "senior moment."
I hope all is going well for Chris.
Bob Underwood Scholarship Committee Chairman
T-28
Dick Sarpolus' T-28 article (February issue) made for interesting reading, even if I don't fly Control Line any more. (I just finished the Pica 1/6-scale T-28 Trojan.)
In the sidebar Dick mentions the turboprop modification. Actually, there were two separate modifications accomplished.
The first effort was to modify the aircraft into a COIN (counterinsurgency) fighter. The first aircraft crashed while performing high-G maneuvers (tail failure).
Two other airplanes were additionally modified with strengthened and elongated tail surfaces. The #3 airplane also had ejection seats and a noticeably different canopy.
The Air Force decided that the modifications, while effective, were not a cost-effective solution, and went for North American's OV-10 Bronco instead.
Both surviving aircraft were placed in storage. However, in 1990 I photographed the #3 airplane, minus engine, at Stennis Airport in Mississippi. The engines were used in Piper's ill-fated Enforcer project (turboprop P-51).
The second turboprop modification was in the early 1980s with the nationalist Chinese converting about 200 airframes with a turboprop engine of slightly less shaft horsepower than the USAF modification. These airplanes are being used as trainers/light attack trainers.
John Wolf Spring Lake, North Carolina
Fran McElwee
It is with a sad heart that I advise of the passing of a dear friend and model aviation enthusiast, Fran McElwee, who contributed so much to the hobby.
Fran more than typified the ardent modeler who stands out in the hobby we all enjoy. He contributed so much to our hobby for so many years. As a teenager he built and flew Free Flight Gas models when just getting and keeping an engine running was an accomplishment in the mid- to late-1930s.
He was an active competitor and won many local and regional meets on the East Coast. When WWII started, he joined the Air Corps, and won his pilot's wings flying P-51s in the European theater.
After the war he designed and flew Control Line models and was an innovator with many original concepts. He developed, flew, and had published a Control Line model that would do rolls while flying on a tether.
In 1946–47 he designed, built, and flew his original-design Radio Control models with the Drone Diesel engine, putting on flying demonstrations on the East Coast and Canada showing the practicality and consistency of controlling a model via radio.
He met Jim Walker at one of the Nationals, and with Jim's blessings sketched his Posit-O control system, then duplicated it and weeks later successfully flew the system. As a competitor, he flew his own RC designs in the Mirror Model Flying Fair and won first place two years running.
Fran was a member of an AMA show team for several years in the early 1970s, flying his original-design RC American Flag model. He wrote and published several magazine articles of his designs over the years. His experiments led to innovations that were used by many other modelers who followed his lead.
He was an active member and officer in many clubs through the years, and always a formidable competitor.
Fran was inaugurated into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1997 for his many accomplishments. His contributions to the hobby were numerous and he stimulated the originality of those of us who were fortunate to come in contact with such an innovative individual.
His smiling face and friendly attitude will be missed at many model flying fields around the country.
Leon Shulman Metuchen, New Jersey
Liked NACA Article
I read the article by Frank Parmenter ("NACA and the Under Aircraft Model Maker," March 1999) with great interest; I had never heard or read of the unique relationship that existed during the 1930s and WWII between the aeromodeling community and NACA.
Mr. Parmenter's article is a fascinating contribution to the historical record of aeromodeling in the United States; youngsters and modelers of my generation (I'm 37) need such first-hand accounts to better understand the rich heritage and significant contributions that aeromodeling has made to aviation.
I am privileged to have been a protégé of Maynard Hill. I worked for Maynard as a model maker at Johns Hopkins University during the early 1980s, just as modelers such as Frank Parmenter did for NACA during the 1930s.
Today I am a senior engineer working on the Tomahawk cruise missile program as a direct result of the experiences and friendships I have enjoyed through aeromodeling and the interest and mentoring given to me from fine gentlemen so exemplified by Frank Parmenter.
From myself and the next generation of aeromodelers: thank you.
Paul J. Kirsch Columbia, Maryland
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
