Letters to the Editor
Send your Letters to the Editor to: Model Aviation, 5151 East Memorial Drive, Muncie, IN 47302
Correction
The Cyclone model shown in the October 1999 "Focal Point" (page 9) was built by Harry Dunlap and flown by Kurt Williams of Casselberry, Florida.
Loves Drafting
I recently came across a number of back issues ('60s–'80s) of Model Aviation in a hobby shop that were being given away free. I took a half-dozen or so, and have really enjoyed looking through them. Think I'll go back and get the rest!
As a slide-rule-era engineer who worked as a draftsman while attending Georgia Tech (nights), I really appreciate the work of Tom Chipley and Joe De Marco. They don't make 'em like that no more. Their drawings are always clear, and I'll bet they discover a few "design oversights," particularly when doing the perspective drawings. Even the best designers have the capacity to visualize some things that just won't work, and a good draftsman will usually pick them up and save you some embarrassment.
I loved drafting — it just didn't pay too well!
I would like to compliment and thank you and the entire staff of AMA for providing us with the glue that makes this hobby so enjoyable for us all.
Frank Hasty Brunswick, Georgia
Hands-Off Policy
From a letter to AMA president Dave Brown:
I just finished reading my new copy of Model Aviation. Your article was of particular interest to me, as it reinforced my opinion of the AMA.
The club I belong to has had some trouble in the recent past with ex-members trying to get our club broken up or removed from our flying site. Fortunately they have not been totally successful in their efforts. The state authority that governs use of the facility has made concessions to them, but has not given in to them totally.
The long and the short of it is that I am glad the AMA has a hands-off policy when it comes to the internal workings of the individual clubs. You guys are doing a great job of being there when we need you and a better job of not interfering with the clubs when it is not really necessary. Keep up the good work.
Paul Goldsmith Feasterville, Pennsylvania
Wind Effect on RC Airplanes
I read all these articles about how the wind has no effect on my RC aircraft. None of these writers seem to realize or take into account that an RC aircraft is no different than a control-line aircraft in that the only difference between the two is that one is attached to the pilot with cables and the other is attached by radio waves. In both cases pilot and airplane are not moving with the air mass, so the argument that flying an RC airplane from a balloon moving with the air mass has no place in these discussions.
Being stationary on the ground, ground speed is our calculus as the air mass moves past us. This is what gives us the appearance of taking our airplane off vertically with a strong headwind or landing on a dime into a strong wind. Since the air mass is moving past us and our airplanes (attached by radio waves), our airplanes appear to move faster downwind and slower upwind. Pilots standing on the ground also have to contend with wind shear, updrafts, ground effect, and continuously changing wind direction caused by ground clutter.
I agree that if I were flying an RC airplane from the gondola of a balloon moving with the air mass, I would notice little (if any) wind effect on the airplane. So don't keep insisting that, standing on the ground, the air mass moving past us has the same effect on our airplane as an airplane flying around a balloon moving with the air mass.
I challenge anyone who subscribes to the theory that wind has no effect on our RC aircraft (attached to us by radio waves while we stand on the ground) to come fly with me in the next 35 mph wind.
Dave Schwarzen Festus, Missouri
More Helicopter
I have been in the RC field for nearly ten years. I have also been a member of AMA for a good many of those years. I am a little disappointed, however, in the decreasing coverage on RC helicopters in your magazine. For instance, there is only one page in the October issue dedicated to heli flying (p. 110). For one, I would like to see more topics relating to heli flying, building, and setup, etc. I realize that airplanes are the backbone of the RC sport, but helicopters are a much more challenging aircraft to both build and fly.
I will conclude that once again, I would like to see more on the RC helicopter areas of our great sport in the greatest RC magazine in existence.
Stephen J. Bell North Plainfield, New Jersey
Tuskegee Airmen—A Different Perspective
Just going through our October edition of Model Aviation I was very glad to see a new monument for these brave and excellent pilots, flying the P-47 Thunderbolt Razorbacks.
You must consider that I was fighting on the other side of the fence, as a young 17-year-old Luftwaffe soldier in France — too young to fly.
We were stationed in middle France during the D-Day invasion and our company of 500 men had to march to a new destination due to the pressure of the attacking forces. We had nothing but rifles and a few light machine guns. Every rifleman had 28 rounds of ammo. During the retreat we had to march in a column and our equipment was transported along on French horse-drawn wagons.
It was on the 10th of September 1944, at ten o'clock in the morning, when we had to cross a mile-long cow pasture; it was the only road available and all around were woods. I was ordered to watch for airplanes and the commander handed me his pair of binoculars, as he knew I spent six months of involuntary service in the FLAK in Mannheim.
I knew all of the airplane types, and due to one of my flat feet he ordered me to sit on top of the last wagon. It was a beautiful morning.
Suddenly I spotted a silent, shoulder-wing airplane circling right over our column. I realized that it was not a Fieseler Storch. A minute or so later I saw a fighter plane come right from the front at treetop level. Without question, I recognized the oval shape of the Thunderbolt's radial cowling. When I shouted, "Thunderbolt!" the commander called me and said that it may have been an Fw 190, after the airplane had raced over our heads and horse-wagons. But I knew better.
The strange thing was that the Thunderbolt did not fire one shot. Now I know it was a warning for the French farmers to get out of there. I saw men running towards the fields, when the first few of the twelve Thunderbolts came thundering towards the column from the front, the sides, and the rear — all below treetop level!
How I got off that wagon I still do not remember, but I saw one of the fighters apparently trying to cut the grass next to me. This was when I pumped the first two rounds into his airplane, PMK ammo. I saw the pilot and fired point-blank. The pilot was black.
The next split-second I figured he was going to dive into the street, which was about three feet higher. Well, he pulled up under the electrical lines along the street.
Our 500 men from the company had already begun to pump the airplanes full of bullet holes, point-blank. Nobody could miss the huge airplane right next to you. Some fired rockets onto the wagons, and I saw the blue flames coming out of both wings, right toward me.
While bullets were sailing all over the place, I was busy reloading my rifle and firing point-blank. I made sure I saw the face of every pilot coming near me. The roaring sound from the big radial engine, the howling of the propellers, and the thundering of the guns filled your lungs and ears.
The strange situation was that there were several huge heaps of compressed straw, a bunch of our guys running around them, the Thunderbolts attacking the heaps to set them afire, but they never burned. I also saw one of our sergeants standing upright and firing his 08 hand-pistol into the airplanes.
This went on for 30 minutes straight — a wild circus. One Thunderbolt had a huge hole in one side of the wings and smoked badly. I think the ammo in his wing had exploded. But those pilots were brave!
When it was all over, the street was burning, the horses were cut to shreds, the wagons destroyed, etc. Surprisingly, only two of our men were wounded. I dug out a smoking bullet right next to me in the ground. Yes, I found it and burned my hand. Later I put the bullet into my pocket for a souvenir.
When I got taken prisoner of war (PW) by the American troops two weeks later, I still carried the bullet with me, hiding it in my hair, under my armpit, in a shoe, etc. They never found it until I was in Louisiana and we were searched again. I had it in my shoe. The guy who found the bullet called me over and wanted to know where I got it. He said, "You were carrying this from France, you are insane, this is an explosive airplane bullet!" and he threw it far away — my souvenir!
I told our commander after the attack that the pilots were all black, and he called me crazy. Since I know the exact date of the attack, I wonder if there would be any place where they collect the gun-camera films? This would be highly interesting to see today.
The video I bought from the Tuskegee Airmen showed only Mustang airplanes, and I think their Thunderbolts were so riddled from bullets from our 500 rifles, plus about seven machine guns, that it was impossible to repair them.
Naturally I love airplanes. I built models since 1939, gliders and rubber-powered scale. Today I still build scale models and belong to BARCS Radio Control Club. Although flying is not my strong side, I love building and designing unusual and scale models.
I hope you can make room in Model Aviation magazine — these pilots earned the space, period.
Erich Immel El Cerrito, California
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
