Letters to the Editor
All letters will be carefully considered; those of general interest will be used. Send to Model Aviation, 815 Fifteenth St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005.
Ole Reliable Turns Him On
After a year, here's a picture of my Ole Reliable. It now has 112 flights to its credit, some as long as 30 minutes or more. This has really been a fun ship for me, and a good initiation into the world of Old-Timers.
Specifications: OS 25 power, Permagloss Coverite throughout, 3-ch. Kraft radio, weight pretty good! Will snap-roll, loop, Immelmann, and even spin if you hit it just right. Touch-and-go is a dream.
Thanks to Doc Mathews for a great job on this design.
Tom Bilheimer Bethlehem, PA
The Ole Reliable, by Doc Mathews, was featured in the June 1978 issue. Full-size plans still are available for $1.75 each; ask for Plan No. 200. Incidentally, all full-size plans from previous issues are available, whether listed on page 128 or not. Full lists of plans are available without charge by writing (enclose stamped pre-addressed business-size envelope) Model Aviation, 815 Fifteenth St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005.
Bill, Where Are You?
I would like to get in touch with William F. Netzeband, Jr., aka Wild Bill. He designed the Half Fast Combat model and the Fierce Arrow back in the 1950s, and did the "Round and Round" column in MAN for a while. The last I heard from him, he was living in the St. Louis area in the early 1960s.
All those years ago we talked of an RC version of his Fierce Arrow, circa 1958. Multichannel RC wasn't too dependable in those days, so we never did anything about it. Then I left the hobby for a while, and only recently resumed RC work.
Anyway, I recently completed an RC variant of the Fierce Arrow, and it turned out incredibly successful—about as hard to fly as a Falcon 56, and beautifully aerobatic. I would like to tell him about it if anyone at AMA can furnish an address.
Robert M. Bruce Valparaiso, FL
We have put Mr. Bruce in touch with Bill Netzeband, who incidentally is now a Californian. Perhaps the RC Fierce Arrow will be a future construction project in this magazine. We're checking into it.
No Nasty Letters
You may be expecting some nasty letters regarding "Slow Slow Combat." Let me express my views. Ever since seeing the photograph of those two Old-Timers in the April 1980 issue, page 8, I have been sitting here drooling over the idea of building one—not so much to fly Combat, but just to have some real old-fashioned fun. I, for one, am tired of seeing a bunch of look-alike planes speeding through the air.
Would you be kind enough to send me the necessary information on where I might get the plans or at least a small 3-view drawing of the Dragonfly? Thanks for a great magazine.
Gene Grodzinski Ocala, FL
Actually there was surprisingly little comment about the editor's note concerning RC Combat which accompanied the referenced letter. The Dragonfly article originally was in the February 1976 Model Builder; full-size plans, No. 2761, are available for $4.50 from MB (621 West 19th St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627).
RC Glider Instruction
As a novice with RC gliders, I have learned what little I know by pulling the teeth of members of the club I joined. No question that all are ready to assist, but no one takes the novice in hand for a "break-in" session on the terminology, know what to do, etc., which I believe is very important.
I chose a bad glider to learn on, and all my enthusiasm went down the drain. It was suggested strongly that I build the "Olympic" or train with it. I did immediately, but lost precious flying time which I still need.
Hence, I would like to see an article on RC gliders directed to the absolute novice, guiding him as to which plane to begin with, what to do with it prior to flight, how to fly, complete terminology with regard to building, flying and radio. Also, how to use the radio, care for it, etc. Also advise all novices NOT to use dry cell batteries, but to use the NiCads.
In short, what is needed is a thorough guide, from selecting a glider and radio on up to how to fly, when to fly, how to ballast, etc. If you don't publish such an article, can you recommend a book (which I surely need)?
S. J. Casden Commack, NY
Coincidentally, we happened to read a small book review in Soaring Flight, newsletter of the very respected Chicago-area SOAR Club, parts of which we quote: "How to Build and Fly Radio Control Gliders." This little booklet (32 pp.) from Kalmbach Books, available at many hobby shops and priced at $3.50, is a gem in its simplicity. One would think that it is meant for the beginner, and indeed it is. But it also has several sections suited for advanced flyers, including four pages on Aerobatics. We'll welcome article submissions in the areas that Mr. Casden asks about.
At Least Put on Numbers!
I recently found a remote control airplane with the letters AMA on it. The plane has an 8 ft. 3 in. wingspan, and it is red, white, and blue. I found the plane in the woods of Harwood Rd., Baltimore County, Maryland. The plane has Kraft Series 75 parts in it.
From looking through some books, I noticed that none of the planes have their engines mounted on top of the wing like this one. If one of your members has lost a plane like this, ask them to contact me, and I will gladly swap this plane for a smaller RC plane.
Bryan Hochheiser 8506 Dogwood Road Baltimore, MD 21207
A subsequent letter from Mr. Hochheiser, based upon our inquiry, indicated that there were no numbers on the plane. Had there been, we would have been able to put the loser and finder together. The finder is anxious to return the plane to its owner. A word of advice: as a minimum, always put your AMA numbers on your ships. If your model ever gets lost, identification is invaluable.
Made Our Day
I have been elected by members of my family to report that we have not yet received our July issue of Model Aviation. We realize that it is not yet July, but we are accustomed to receiving the magazine early, and are especially concerned about missing the July contest and fun-fly schedules. We are extremely fond of the magazine and are very dependent on it since we receive no other modeling publication at this time. Please have someone rush a copy; we are waiting impatiently. We are sure this was caused by a computer error or something other than the fine MA staff.
I am a member of the Whitehaven RC Club of Memphis, TN, and share this addiction for Model Aviation magazine with all our club members.
Charles S. Cook III Memphis, TN
Once in a while, for no reason that we can explain, a member doesn't receive his magazine. When this happens, if we are notified promptly, we may be able to send a replacement from the over-print copies that we generally (but not always) have.
More Washout!
Your notes in reply to the letter of Pat Rose explain clearly how washout tends to be beneficial to aircraft performance at low velocities. The beauty of washout, however, is that it is beneficial at high speeds also. If lift is provided by the inner portions of the wing, and the wing has "twist," then the tip will produce little or no lift, therefore reducing the pressure differential at the tip, and reducing the drag effects of the tip vortex. Washout has been used by speed fliers for years for this reason.
John Hunton Annandale, VA
Caudron Dilemma
A spectacular machine that C.714 R Caudron! It looks fast from every view. And it has a unique and charming beauty that cannot be denied.
But you made a mistake, I believe! Modelers will want to use those exacting Robinson drawings to translate the sleek shapes into a scale model of one type or another. The "mistake" is that you shouldn't have presented scale plans in a model airplane magazine where a model of the craft would be absolutely and positively illegal per paragraph 48.2 of AMA Official Model Aircraft Regulations and, hence, any model of Riffard's crowning achievement could not be entered in an AMA-sanctioned contest. What a shame!
There are a considerable number of enticing aircraft which would be equally deserving of model interpretation—yet would be outlawed, darn it! Perhaps the burden of proof that an airplane never flew should be the responsibility of the Contest Director(?). Couldn't this nasty rule be re-written in such a way that aerobatic Link Trainers would still be grounded as their designers intended and some of the "almost-made-it" aircraft in our historical past could finally "make it"?
David W. Jones Evanston, IL
It does seem a shame that a model of a plane intended for flight, but which did not actually fly because of circumstances, could not be entered in AMA competitions. Yet we sympathize with the problems of rule-makers. Once the door is opened only a crack, it's difficult to stem the flood which may follow.
Indoor World Champs Impressions
Eclipses, like this year's Indoor World Championships, defy mere word descriptions... they represent that unique confluence of nature, time, plans and fortuitous happenstance.
How else can you explain the U.S.'s vaulting from third place to first, in the team's last flight of the meet; a first-place team flight margin of only 20 seconds per flight; the premature "mental" crowning of three individual World Champions in the Championships' final three hours; Poland's fantastic bid for single-flight honors in the last official Round 6; and, finally, the subconscious aberrations induced by brilliantly performing variable props? While a picture may be worth a thousand words... a demonstration (i.e., being there) is worth a thousand pictures!
Jack Carter Racine, WI
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
