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.
Capital F, Not Little f!
This is to point out a typographical error that may have confused some readers of my article in the December issue. On page 88, at the bottom of the middle column, where I say, "... a force equal to the weight of the brick will result at f." the lower-case f should be a capital F. The resultant F is equal and opposite to the weight of the brick W as indicated on the diagram. The force exerted by the finger is much less.
Brad Powers San Diego, CA
Cover Scene Unsafe
John Preston writes an excellent safety column each month in Model Aviation. I wonder if any of the gentlemen pictured on the cover of the December 1984 issue read that column?
At least two of the three seated judges and the person extending the transmitter antenna are within the propeller arc of that .120 four-stroke which is being "tweaked" by Mr. Hanson.
If the AMA is not going to encourage safe operating procedures at the Nats, you should at least refrain from publishing a picture of such an obviously unsafe situation on the cover of our magazine.
Ray Fallen Longmont, CO
Most photography buffs will probably recognize that the cover picture on the December issue was taken with a telephoto lens, which has the characteristic of "compressing" distances compared with a normal lens. Just as the background mountain seems to be a short hike away, it is actually rather distant. What appears to be an extreme closeness between the seated judges and Dick Hanson's Dalotel is deceiving. Our recollection from being there (and taking the picture) is that the judges, flier, and flier's assistants weren't subjected to any appreciable risk beyond what is typical for most contest operations. Then again, with a telephoto lens we weren't close enough to have an accurate measure of how close the flier was to the judges.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
