Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
Ron Van Putte
This may seem like just another issue to you, but it marks the beginning of my fifth year as a columnist for Model Aviation. It was little more than four years ago that the publisher, Carl Wheeley, startled the devil out of me by calling to ask if I would consider writing this column. Little did I expect that I'd still be doing it now.
One of the reasons that it has been possible for me to continue for so long are the bulky packages AMA Headquarters sends containing club newsletters from all over the country. The ideas, excerpts and inspiration I draw from them are a big help.
Another major assistance I get is from letters sent by readers. The comments, reports, suggestions and photographs make my job easier and provide the column with a lot more than it would be possible for me to come up with on my own.
I also get letters asking for assistance. Most of the time I can provide the help myself or know of someone who can. I recently got one from Ed Kirtley, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and referred it to Steve Helms of R/C South. Ed needs a header pipe which mates a Webra Speed 61 to an OPS tuned pipe. Since the question is probably of general interest, here is Steve's response:
- Webra no longer makes the header pipe for the Speed 61.
- H.B. makes both a 2" and a 3" elbow.
- The 2" elbow is used for upright engines when the pipe goes over the top of the wing.
- The 3" elbow is used with side-mounted engines when the pipe goes below the wing.
- According to Steve, Mac's also sells headers for the Speed 61/OPS pipe combination, but they are hard to get.
In another letter which just arrived, Major Dick Cline in Sierra Vista, Arizona, suggests, "How about the Pattern Problem of the Month—submitted by your readers, with the winning entry each month to receive some fabulous prize, like a broken 11 x 7 3/4 Zinger prop autographed by the pattern pilot of his choice? In this problem, let the guy name exactly what it is that is..." [text incomplete]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
