Letters to the Editor
All letters will be carefully considered; those of general interest will be used. Send to Model Aviation, 1810 Samuel Morse Dr., Reston, VA 22090.
The Art and Science Of Pseudoaerodynamics
As an RC aeronut—about whom it could be said "every club has one"—I was drawn as if by magic to "The Art and Science of Pseudoaerodynamics" by Barnaby Wainfan in the March 1983 issue. He is clearly trying to shed some light in a gray area of basements and workshops everywhere.
I tried making use of his formulae by feeding them into my son's computer, and I must say that I wasn't surprised at the results. The service which the author has rendered the modeling community is incalculable.
Bruce Knox E. Aurora, NY
I read with much interest Barnaby Wainfan's article. The picture used of me was from 1946—37 years ago! The model was a Class E Cabin with which I set three national records.
Barnaby investigated, in depth, some scientific principles heretofore not revealed. If I might, I'd like to add three more items on which I've done extensive research over many years. Independent investigation has been conducted for many centuries by John Pond, Bob Meuser, Sal Taibi, and several other illustrious modelers—showing an amazing confirmation of my conclusions.
The three items I will present will deal not only with things that improve model performance, but will add or subtract from your contest-winning abilities.
- Luck. Some models and modelers are just luckier than others. I've had models which flew competitively for 10 years, and I've had others which flew away on their first flights, or the ground flew up and crunched them. Luck is an elusive element which can turn from good to bad faster than Elizabeth Taylor can change husbands.
The Luck Factor can be expressed by (LUG) = Good Luck and (LUB) = Bad Luck. At any given contest, LUG will increase your chances to win by 10% to 75%. In like manner, LUB will reduce your chances by 10% to 75%. This Luck Factor has been experienced by all modelers, and it gives us all an excuse why, on some days, nothing flies right. It's not our fault; it's just that LUB has thrown a blanket of gloom and doom over us. Fortunately, LUG rescues us from complete failure.
- Youth, Grace and Natural Beauty, expressed by the algebraic term (YGNB). John Pond, Bob Meuser, Sal Taibi, and I are blessed with exceptional amounts of these qualities—which are only bestowed on a favored few. YGNB will automatically add 10% to any model's performance.
- Old Age and Treachery (OAT) will outdo Youth and Skill (YS) every time. There are many subtle tricks which will enhance your contest chances (a few of which I will mention). Slip a little sand onto your competitor's rubber lube; this will result in a big bang. If you douse your competitor's dethermalizer fuse with acetone, it will burn at an alarming rate and guarantee that his model will never fly over 30 seconds. It's especially exciting if the DT actuates under power. At the moment your opponent makes his launch, a loud "Look out!" cry will enhance his opportunity of getting off a bad run. Another fun thing which shakes your competitor is to get him at the right instant when he has stretched out his rubber motor for full winds, then drop a firecracker behind him. This usually has the effect of the flier releasing the winder or the helper releasing the model—either of which is a crowd pleaser.
OAT may be expanded into two terms:
- OAT Undetected (OATU). This can add 10% to your winning chances.
- OAT Caught in the Act (OATCITA). If stealth and cunning result in OATCITA, your chances are diminished for winning the Good Sportsmanship Award for the meet. Some contest directors who are old grumps are not appreciative of the great mathematical truth of OAT. OATCITA may result in a -25% performance factor, and if some non-scientific type is your victim, it could be hazardous to your health.
There are many more applications of Stealth and Cunning, but some of them cannot be revealed at this time.
Mr. Wainfan commented on my designing weird models. To explode this view, the picture shows two garden-variety rubber ships belonging to my granddaughter, Stephanie, and me. They look very commonplace (at least to me).
Thank you for including Mr. Wainfan's thesis in your excellent magazine. I trust that my humble new revelation of scientific truths will open new avenues for ingenuity.
George Perryman Smyrna, GA
Electric Power
In a recent issue both John Worth and Bill Winter were espousing the merits of electric flight. Sounds good to me. Besides the possibility of opening up additional presently off-limits flying sites that both of these gentlemen mentioned, electric flying also holds the potential for significantly increasing the popularity of model aviation, as electric flight is much more likely to occur in populated areas where it will be viewable by more potential modelers.
Even though model aviation is growing, I am convinced that it could and would grow much faster if the general population only knew of modeling and was exposed more to it. Electric flight, possible in more populated areas, is capable of providing that knowledge and exposure.
Unfortunately, the magazines, including Model Aviation, have little in the way of electric articles to guide all of the experienced modelers who could help the relative beginners at electric flight.
While I have seen a few articles on RC electric, mostly general in nature with little of value for those interested in getting into electric flight, I can't recall any article on CL or FF electric flight.
I don't know how you get your articles for Model Aviation—voluntary contributions, solicitations, etc.—and how difficult or easy it might be to get something suitable for print. Articles on electric flight would certainly be welcomed and appreciated by me, for one. I suspect that others feel the same. A listing of other sources of information on electric-powered flight would be nice, too.
Larry Miles Independence, MO
Amen! But help's on the way. We have been working with Bob Kopski, a pioneer electric flier, on his authoring a series of articles on the basics of electric power, more or less a primer on the subject. These will start appearing in these pages before long. And we've been in touch with another designer about a construction article for an electric-powered control-line model. When it has been proved successful, we'll present the article.
Our articles and model designs come from both sources. In some cases we will contact a knowledgeable person about doing a special project for us. In other cases, the modeler will contact us to inquire of our interest in his article or model design.
Building Board
The February 1983 article by Randolph describing a building board was most welcome, having bruised my fingers for years by pushing pins into plywood or pine boards.
I would like to suggest an alternative scheme which was recommended to me by a model railroader. Homosote is a material made of layers of paper bonded together and will accept pins readily. Furthermore, it appears to heal when the pins are withdrawn.
The Homosote material comes in 4 x 8-ft. sheets of 1/2-in. thickness. I place this atop a 5/8-in. plywood panel. Support at working height is provided by two sawhorses. Homosote costs about $14 at lumberyards.
Another item I have discovered is a relatively inexpensive variac transformer for use in hot-wire cutting of foam surfaces. The source: Knapp of Florida, Inc., 4750 96th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33708; phone (813) 392-0406. It is listed as variable transformer TR33 and sells for $69. The company accepts credit cards.
Max Chernoff Madeira Beach, FL
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
