Letters to the Editor
All letters will be carefully considered; those of general interest used. Send to Model Aviation, 815 15th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005
Revisited: What Makes An Airplane Fly?
With reference to the letter by J. A. Sadler of N. Syracuse, NY in the October 1982 issue, it isn't only children who'll give fantastic answers to scientific questions. Grownups do also.
Three years ago, while I was taking an introductory class, the professor handed out some general questions at the beginning of the semester. He then read out loud the best answers at the end of the course—just before the final exam.
As expected, some of the answers were sarcastic. For example, a popular answer to the question, "What is the Milky Way?" was "Candy bar." The prize, though, goes to one person whose answer to the question, "Have you ever seen the moon through a telescope?" was, "Yes, a long time ago; but it must have changed a lot since then."
I suggest that Mr. Sadler might get some equally interesting responses from adults if asked "What makes an airplane fly?" as he got from youngsters.
Nur Iskandar Taib Bloomington, IN
Bill Evans' Crosswind
In building the Crosswind (August 1981 MA, plan No. 342), I modified the construction by bending 1/32-in. plywood for the fuselage, then covering the wing with silkspan put on with Elmer's Glue thinned 50% with water, followed with heat-shrunk Saran Wrap. I altered it into a tail-dragger with a conventional fuselage-mounted front gear and a swivel tail skid.
With a Fox .15 Schnuerle (muffled) providing power, it climbs like a rocket. When the engine is throttled slowly, the 2-oz. fuel tank provides 11–15 minutes of engine run. The flight characteristics are dependable even in crosswinds. I often must bring the Crosswind down from a thermal just to keep it in view with the engine turning slowly.
Thanks for a marvelous design!
Large-size model buffs may be interested in a highly flyable design I concocted for fun flying. I built an enlarged Aeromaster Too fuselage (150%) from plywood, spruce, and heat-shrink Dacron. It has a 120-in. span wing with 18-in. chord using an enlarged airfoil from the Falcon series, with 4-in. dihedral under each tip. Its barn-door ailerons are constructed of foam with spruce spars, white pine leading and trailing edges, and are covered with heavy-duty silkspan which has the thinned Elmer's Glue treatment. The top covering is fabric-shop Dacron glued on in the same manner as the silkspan, then painted with two coats of polyurethane.
The bird weighs about 22 lb. It is powered by a Quadra. The flight characteristics are gentle and predictable, while providing good speed and aerobatics, including inverted flight and outside loops. Once airborne, it seems hard to get settled back on the ground.
Marshall Stanton Hutchinson, KS
Modeling on Guam
Ah, the land of beautiful skies, coconut trees, and some of the world's loveliest beaches. But if you are an avid modeler, also welcome to the land of no 5-min. epoxies, no select balsa, no model fuel, no iron-on coverings, and so on.
But when the call comes, the avid modeler can readily adapt himself to any form of "jungle warfare." By no means is this intended as a pun.
As you know, even the best of fliers sometimes becomes disoriented, which leads to downed aircraft. On Guam this means organizing a search party (safari) fully equipped with compasses, canteens, backpacks, and (most of all) a guide.
Back to modeling supplies: thanks to the wonderful mail-order companies on the mainland, the aforementioned items are available, although the wait sometimes seems unbearable. Resourceful modelers can do well with available materials. Bamboo and exotic hardwoods are in abundance, and just by obtaining the proper permits they are free for the taking.
Here on Guam we have no snow, no hail, no major temperature changes. However, we have incredibly constant high winds, unannounced downpours, and squadrons of mosquitoes and flies.
The club here on the Air Force Base—Marianas Miniature Aircraft Assn.—is a fledgling group, but one of which I am proud. In the first five months since it was started, we have performed three very successful flight demonstrations. One was for approximately 300 children of the New Piti Elementary School. The children were spellbound for the whole show, as many had never seen or heard about model aircraft. Since then, requests for demonstrations are constantly being received from numerous island organizations. The club is doing its best to fill the requests of these lovely people here on this tropical paradise.
Tsgt Norman E. Faith, Jr., USAF Marianas, Guam
Editor’s note: We find, over and over again, that most modelers will figure out some way to enjoy their modeling activity no matter where they are. When this letter was received, Tsgt Faith was president of the Marianas Miniature Aircraft Assn.
Autogiros
I read your December 1982 issue and the article about model autogiros (page 78) with great interest. As you will see from the enclosed photo, I have already experienced much of what the article told me.
We have a very active full-size gyro club about two miles from my home—at the Great Lakes International Airport of Anderson, IN. I borrowed the plans of a Benesch and built a 1/4-size model of it (stand well off!).
I would very much like to have the address of Mark Smith who was pictured at the bottom of page 81, as it looks like he is holding my model that is classified as a "non-success." Bill Hannan and Warren Shipp wrote the article I'm referring to. You can tell them I'm presently sitting here with a broken blade. They'll know what I'm talking about.
Nick Gray Anderson, IN
Editor’s note: We print the two pictures that Nick sent. In one we can see the spinning rotor with the gyro tethered to a tree. He didn't send any additional info to let us know what kind of test he was conducting. We supplied Mark Smith's address—anyone else wanting it has only to look up an ad for Mark's Models.
Sherlock Learjet
I wonder if you could help me locate a kit of the Sherlock Learjet that I could purchase. Apparently Sherlock is out of business, and I don't know whether some other firm may have taken on the line (if not, whether someone may have some of the original kits).
I flew one of these models for a three-year span back in around 1970 to 1973. It was powered with a Veco .61 engine and controlled with a single-stick Logictrol radio.
If you can help, please let me know.
Bill Plummer Box 203, Rt. 4 Cordele, GA 31015
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
