Letters to the Editor
All letters will be carefully considered; those of general interest will be used. Send to Model Aviation, 815 15th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005.
Windsock antenna ribbon
I was looking for something new and different to add to my outfit. I then looked at my worn-out red-and-white ribbon and decided it had to go. To replace it I wanted to do something different, so I made a small windsock out of red-and-white checkered material and attached it to my antenna. I have gotten a lot of comments at the flying field and would recommend it for anyone wanting to spice up their old and new radio.
Mark Lindgren Canyon Crosswinds R/C Club Northridge, CA
Everybody's Kids
I would like to know where I can get the Guillows Super Cub 95 and the Comet Piper Cub 95 in kits. If you have any information on balsa wood models, would you send it to me?
Steven Jennings Shalimar, FL
Looks Ahead
I am 11 years old, and this is my first year with the AMA.
In the interest of members that just joined, I would like some information on renewing my membership at the end of the year.
Also I wanted to tell you I like Model Aviation very much, and that I will continue being a member for a long time. RC modeling is a fun challenge that is new to me also.
Kevin Houser Lincolnton, NC
Editor's note
We included these two letters because Model Aviation has noted an increase in the number of such requests from young lads—people totally out of touch, some not members—and it is apparent that suitable reference materials do not exist anywhere. Boys especially need simple guidance in printed form. So far, friendly experts have been kind enough to "volunteer" long helpful letters—we seem to be developing a "big brother" concept, though quite subconsciously. Model Aviation does not have the budget, nor the space, meaningfully to meet this need and, since the advertising dollar (that means RC) makes the model publishing world go around, one is not being critical to say that all publications have the same basic problem.
Beginners Come in All Shapes and Sizes
I am a member of AMA and have been for some time now. You would classify my efforts so far as between beginner and novice. I fly (or try to fly) RC. I belong to a good club, AMA 800, and have achieved what I have because of their help.
My concern in writing is toward the direction that the AMA provides technical features with an editor for everything but beginners. Any kind of beginner who reads the magazine will see articles and photos of stuff so far in front of their capability that any construction effort will most certainly go down the tube.
Except for Delta Darts and Rubber Stick, what is there to get on to the next plateau? I'm not a kid and I consider RC flying very seriously, especially when it takes $300 plus to get in. The plus is to stay in.
Even worse, the kits for beginners (all the kits) are not intended for beginner flying. Nowhere strong enough—nowhere near durable enough. Somewhere I heard that "build it light" makes it a better flier—not a better crasher which is part of the experience that the model designers and kit suppliers never match up with.
It's not only "build it light" but build it "super-strong and light." Too many articles show a construction of a craft which will subsequently be flown by a pilot with more than five years' experience so that he dares to build it more fragile than I dare to.
So what actually happens is Murphy's Law eats up the model quickly. Construction damage requires repair which makes it stronger locally, which makes it heavier, which makes it less aerodynamic, which makes it more difficult to handle, which makes it, down to "fire wood" effect. I guess what I am trying to say is that the way things are today a beginner will be steered to rapid destruction of his first aircraft and what I am asking is whether any of the kit suppliers really care.
Would a beginner pay a few bucks more for a trainer kit that would hold together longer? I think so. I feel that a beginner would not be aware of the total difficulty until too late and then you may have lost him. So why not try to tell the beginner a little. The AMA does not really address itself to the beginner. It just bemoans the existence of beginners. What do you think?
F. T. Meichner Huntington Station, NY
Editor's response
We are glad you asked that question (we put Fred in touch with an appropriate nearby columnist). The experts will cry "shame"—the heck with them—when your editor confesses to having similar problems, abetted on a slightly higher level. In 40-plus years of editing, and over 30 in building models, he long ago dispensed with industry—and that goes for publishers, etc.—ever tormenting the reader, which all too often, in our form of modeling, from simple gliders on up, the editor learns new things every day—but would need 100 years to know what all the experts know, and by expert, he means anyone who is "successful." A model is an airplane, and no airplane, big or little, is a lead-pipe cinch to build and fly properly. No one should say it is. So each of us has to persevere through a long learning process, where we learn by doing—the school of hard knocks. There are bright spots in industry and in publications. But to get our act together? The talent exists—all over the place. Artists, photographers, designers, people with the gift of teaching—just getting across knowledge. The money is there, in bits and pieces, but there is no concerted effort. If the groups who might make it happen are inspired, they talk to each other in a Babel of tongues. We have seen many costly efforts fall flat on their faces—including the Rockefeller Foundation. The trail is strewn with many basket-case programs that cost many thousands of dollars. Given the will, and the program, it would all come down to gifted minds with vision, imagination, and realistic perspective. Nothing your editor has seen in half a century makes him optimistic. Sorry, but that is the way it is. Perhaps you should get mad—damn mad.
Needs Enya 60 #7032 parts
I am badly in need of a set of rings for an Enya 60 RC engine, model #7032. The inside of the piston walls measure 15/16". I have written MRC and they say this engine is discontinued and no more parts are available. Do you have any idea where I could find these rings?
Bob Auman 318 Holly Dr. Spartanburg, SC 29301
Editor's note
We would appreciate if some of you readers could help this worthy gentleman. His full address is provided above.
American Service for Aeromodeller Plans
I write to point out that in the December issue of Letters to the Editor you have unwittingly goofed! Poor Mr. Robert L. Brown of Midland, MI has been sent all the way to England for Aeromodeller plans and advice on the B.A. Swallow—see page 104.
My company, International Scale Plan Service, is practically on the doorstep of Mr. Brown and we are agents for Aeromodeller plans among others. Not only that, but we also carry the Aeromodeller Handbooks listing all the plans available, be they boats, cars, or planes. For those who may be interested, we also carry the range of Brian Taylor scale RC plans and accessories—likewise the Mike Trew scale sailplane plans and accessories. The enormous sum of 60 cents will bring our catalog to your door post-free, but we do ask that any letters of inquiry be accompanied by a stamped and self-addressed envelope; postage is crippling us since we receive an unbelievable number of inquiries each week and we make an attempt to answer all queries as fully as possible.
It was interesting to read of Mr. Brown's interest in the B.A. Swallow. There were times when I thought I was the only one within these shores who knew of the aeroplane. Just after WWII when British private aviation was slowly awakening from an enforced hibernation, my aunt took me to a field just outside of Exeter, Devon, in England where a gentleman was giving rides in this enormous aeroplane, seemingly powered by a meniscus-inverted engine. Certainly nearly 43 feet of rippling plywood wing was large for only 90 h.p., but this airplane with two on board floated off the ground at a ridiculously low speed which in retrospect appeared to be about one third of the necessary knots required by today's "Spam Cans." We could not afford the ten shillings or so for the ride, but I was allowed to sit in the cockpit which to this small boy seemed even larger than when viewed from the outside. At any rate, my own lack of inches at that age made me feel cramped just sitting in the thing. No bright colors in those days. The machine had obviously done its war service because I distinctly recall it still wearing its green-and-brown camouflage with the registration letters being underlined by red, white, and blue stripes. Ah! Sad days of British aviation . . .
Jim Newman International Scale Plan Service 4 Cleveland Terrace Hobart, IN 46342
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
