President's Perspective
Dave Brown, AMA president
It's nice to get a break from writing this column, but the time comes when you have to get back to the computer and start the process again.
I spent the first part of the time in Ireland, where there were high hopes that a historically significant event would happen for aeromodeling, but it was not to be. The event? This summer was to be the culmination of a many-year project; namely, crossing the Atlantic with a model airplane.
The team that attempted this was led by former AMA president Maynard Hill, and was scheduled to launch from St. John's, Newfoundland, and land near Clifden, Ireland, duplicating the flight path of Alcock and Brown in their full-scale Curtiss NC-4 in 1919.
My wife Sally and I enjoy our trips to Ireland, so this year we tried to schedule our trip to coincide with this attempt, but using frequent-flier miles we were unable to get flights that coincided with the launch window. We could not be there for the primary target date, but we were able to be there for the latter part of the target time window, which typical meteorology in the North Atlantic determined.
This turned out to be an advantage. The team had launched TAM 1 (Trans Atlantic Model 1) and TAM 2 before I even left for Ireland, but both experienced technical difficulties that resulted in the models going into the Atlantic. TAM 1, launched on August 9, had an apparent autopilot failure and simply performed tight circles and drifted offshore and into the drink. TAM 2, launched on August 10, got a better start, but for unknown reasons the engine sagged off and quit just 17 minutes into the attempt, and it also became ocean fodder. Naturally the team was disappointed and perplexed about why.
Unfavorable weather over the Atlantic prevented TAM 3 from being launched for the next few days, which gave the team an opportunity to do some testing and fix the problems. By August 19 time was running out and the pilot in Ireland had to return home. I was drafted into service to land the model (when you have to think positive) if it arrived in Ireland. On August 20 at approximately 6 p.m. Newfoundland time, on the last scheduled day of the window, TAM 3 was launched and started out well.
On the morning of August 21, Sally and I awoke to this news in Ireland and we headed for Clifden. We arranged to meet some amateur radio people from Galway who had the transmitter and go to the landing site. The ham operators decided to drive to Clifden to deliver the equipment and, hopefully, to witness history. Unfortunately the model, which had still been flying when we arose in the morning, disappeared from the telemetry system 479 miles into the flight. I called the people in St. John's, and they seemed to think the model had flown into a thunderstorm and had probably crashed into the ocean. I expressed the thought that perhaps their telemetry system had failed and the model was still flying, and decided to continue the six-hour drive to the landing site. While en route, the cell phone rang and it was Maynard, who expressed appreciation for my optimism, but he really thought the model was lost. I decided to press on anyway, as we surely would have felt foolish had the model arrived in Ireland, circled until it ran out of fuel, crashed without anyone knowing it, and been found by a farmer sometime in the future! I met the ham operators in front of the Alcock and Brown Hotel at 1 a.m., and we went out to the landing site which was really in the boondocks. Quiet and still was the night as we awaited what would never arrive. I sent the ham operators on their way, and Sally and I held the fort until 1 p.m. the next day, when the model would have been out of fuel. The model never arrived, and probably went into the ocean because of the thunderstorm encounter.
A funny thing happened as we sat awaiting the model. At approximately 10 a.m. we suddenly heard the faint sound of an engine coming from the direction of the ocean. We jumped up, excited by the possibility that the model had made it! As it turned out, it was someone with a weed whacker on a small neighboring island!
We were disappointed, yet invigorated by the experience. Can it be done? I'm convinced it can, and I hope it will. Recent discussions with Maynard have revealed that he wants to try again next year, and he is already working on refining the system.
As you can imagine, this type of attempt is expensive, and the finances are a little thin. Any who have the inspiration can donate to the cause at:
Society for Technical Aeromodel Research Attn.: John E. Patton 2001 Norvale Rd. Silver Spring, MD 20906
All of the efforts are labors of love, but there are still costs involved for materials and logistics.
Those who read this column regularly might wonder why I'm not concerned about this attempt, as I am generally critical of flights beyond line of sight and have argued for limitations on navigationally enhanced autopilots in this column.
To begin with, I am concerned, but Maynard has taken a reasonable approach to the problem. He has never flown the model out of line of sight over land. All of the testing has been done within line of sight, and the only time it will be beyond line of sight is when it is over the ocean.
This is a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)-legal, record-eligible model, which means it cannot weigh more than 5 kg (11.02 pounds) including fuel. That is part of what makes this such a challenge and reflects on the safety of the flight. This project has been years in the making, and I wouldn't have any authority to stop it if I wanted to, so I might as well support it!
I want to congratulate Maynard and the whole team involved for a valiant attempt, and to wish them luck in future attempts. Maynard is certainly the focal point of this effort, but it has taken a team of dozens to get this far and will take dozens more in the future. From the USA, Canada, and Ireland, they are working together to create history, and I congratulate them all.
I'll be back next month.
Dave Brown AMA president dbrown@dbproducts.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
