Also included in this column:
• A free plans offer
• Unlabeled battery packs can
be a problem
• “Clothespin frequency board”
etiquette
• Ralph Gee’s Albatros
• Check that propeller often!
• More workshop and in-flight
safety tips
FAIRLY NEW AMA member Bill
McHarg, who is 53, had an adventure. He
wrote:
“I have always wanted to fly RC
airplanes. I just couldn’t warm up to the
foam airplanes so I built a Hobby Lobby
Super Cub, with a lot of help from the local
hobby shop owner. I put a Park 370 motor
in it.
“I was going to test my motor setup and
took the wing off to get to the battery. Then
I turned on the transmitter and hooked
everything up. While holding onto the back
of the fuselage with one hand, with my other
hand on the power, and watching the
wattmeter, I put the power all the way up.
“That little motor has a lot of torque!
With no wing to balance it out, it twisted the
fuselage in my hand and the brand-new,
sharp propeller cut a two-inch-long, halfinch-
deep gash in my forearm. I obviously
should have either had help or had the model
secured somehow.”
It was kind of Bill to share his hardlearned
lesson here. Our hobby can be fun,
relaxing, exciting, and challenging at
various moments, but it should not involve
first-aid.
How many of us have tested power
plants under similar circumstances,
inadequately secured or handheld? Show of
hands? Yeah, me too. The slightest problem,
and suddenly you’re starring in a live scene
from Texas Chainsaw Modeler.
Aftermath of overloaded electrical system. An experienced pilot kept the incident from
harming anyone. Photo courtesy John Lee.
Dave’s wife Sweet Diedra holds Creature Mk IV—a weird
asymmetric ROG stick model. Free plans are available. See text.
Dave’s father Ralph Gee scratch-built this Rubber Scale Albatros.
Since it came out so nice, Dave put it in the column.
There is also a question of degrees. I
often casually test my small CO2 motors on
my worktable, as I do my smallest indoor
electric motors, but what size is too big for
handheld tests? Or to put it another way,
how would I explain it to my wife Sweet
Diedra if she has to come downstairs and
bandage me?
The rule of gashed thumb around here
seems to be that if the propeller will blow
stuff around on the table, it’s time to take it
outside and strap it down or use a test stand.
Bill wrapped up his E-mail with, “Even
though I am mostly interested in electric
airplanes, I read the magazine cover to
cover.”
(We pause while Aeromodeling Editor
Bob Hunt sheds a few joyful tears.)
The MA staff has the impossible task of
putting together a magazine to please and
inform all the wildly diverse factions of our
hobby. Many of the letters I receive mention
a desire to see more coverage of a particular
type of model and less space wasted on
somebody else’s favorite.
Since it would take 600 pages each
month to meet everyone’s desires,
compromise is the name of the game. Yes,
there are columns and articles that do not
directly address your style of modeling, but
there is great stuff lurking in every issue,
and I recommend taking a look through the
whole magazine as a way to broaden our
horizons.
I love to see construction articles for
Rubber FF models. Rather than complaining
to Bob Hunt, and certainly rather than
making the effort to produce an article that
is suitable for publication, I offer a freebie
to loyal readers of this column.
Look at the picture of Sweet Diedra
holding a strange-looking model. The
Creature Mk IV is the latest in a series of
disruptive airplanes that look as though they
break the rules of aerodynamics.
This stick-and-tissue ROG (rise-offground)
Rubber model is severely
asymmetric and features push-pull, offcenter
propellers. Despite all that, and the
fact that I designed it, the thing does fly. My
thin justification for writing about it here is
that the Creature has a lot to teach us about
what makes our models fly.
Most RC pilots these days did not work
their way through FF and CL, and RTF
models get you airborne quickly but perhaps
without much understanding of aeronautics.
When a model approaches a flight situation
where lift and control are marginal, a bit of
aerodynamic knowledge can make the
difference between recovery and rebuilding.
I don’t claim that building a Creature will
solve these problems, or even help, but fun
is fun, and flying a model that looks like it
cannot fly is a good gag.
Send an SASE to Creature Mk IV, Box
7081, Van Nuys CA 91409, and I will send
you a copy of the plans and building
instructions. This free plans set may be
used, copied, and shared, but not sold.
While you’re at it, I’d be glad to get a
note with some topic suggestions, safety
stories, or handy tips for avoiding calamity.
There have been many such messages
recently about unlabeled battery packs. We
hobbyists are still in the throes of adjusting
to Li-Poly batteries, and there are
continuing problems with overcharged or
damaged packs bursting or catching fire.
Some battery packs come with little or
no information on the cover. I think they
should at least include the manufacturer and
the electrical specifications. It’s tough to
determine what caused a meltdown when
the battery pack has nothing on the label
except scorch marks!
I’ll bet that most modelers would prefer
to buy a product with full information on the
label instead of a blank Brand X pack. I
hope those manufacturers who do not
provide such labeling will consider doing
so.
Another recurring topic has to do with
the “clothespin frequency board” system in
use at many fields. Occasional mishaps are
caused by forgotten pins or
misunderstandings of what a pin or lack
thereof means.
I have been asked to pass judgment on
various incidents, which I decline to do.
Instead I urge those clubs with pin systems
to review the protocol at your meetings
from time to time and make quite sure that
visitors and new fliers understand the
procedures for making sure that each
frequency is used by only one transmitter at a
time. My experience has been that an
occasional discussion of such things keeps
everyone on the same page and is worth the
effort.
Look at the Albatros biplane picture. My dad
scratch-built this model for a recent contest. It
is rubber powered and meant for indoor flight,
although the level of detail makes it a bit
heavy for serious duration. Ralph Gee just
turned 83 and his airplanes make mine look
like junk.
What does this have to do with safety?
Well, nothing really.
Eric Richardson sent in some “ ... fodder for
your column in Model Aviation.” He wrote:
“I made an initial engine run on the 50cc
gas engine in my Edge 540. After starting and
stopping it three times it ran out of fuel. So I
filled it up for another run, and to my shock I
noticed the spinner was grossly deformed and
had cut 30% into the prop. What happened is
the four prop bolts had worked loose and
three of them had sheared off.
“What I learned is with a new prop one
should retighten the prop, especially after
about the first 10 engine runs with a carbon
prop and about three engine runs with a
wooden prop to ensure the prop seats itself
well against the knurled portion of the engine
hub. New prop and spinner on the way ... ”
This is old information that new modelers
may not know. Electric motors do similar
things to their propellers, and all propellers
need to be checked regularly. Full-scale pilots
perform a preflight inspection before each
takeoff. Do you do the same?
The incidents I hear about seem to split up
into three areas of hazards: workshop/
construction, pit/tuning, and in-flight. The
workshop and pit problems overlap, as in an
engine test that might be conducted at home
or at the field. The flight issues include unsafe
piloting technique and RC interference.
I’ll expand on this theory of three
divisions in coming months. For now,
following is an example of a workshop story
from Dave Unruh.
“I guess I’m about an average
housekeeper; my work area gets pretty
cluttered while I’m working, then I stop
periodically and muck it out. I had a charger
plugged in but I was only charging a receiver
battery; the transmitter pigtail was dangling
from the bench.
“Somehow, while I was working, the
pigtail landed in a box of steel wool in a
drawer I had left open. Does anyone think
that a 50 mA charger can’t start a fire in steel?
Think again.
“My eyes popped out of their sockets
when I saw the steel wool in the box glowing
red and getting ready to burst into flames. Of
course there was no sawdust, wood scraps, or
old airplane plans laying around, right?”
Dave caught things just in time! We bring
so many different types of equipment together
that there are bound to be conflicts such as
that one. Keep your eyes peeled!
Now for an in-flight incident reported by
John Lee. He wrote:
“A friend of mine lost control of his Yak
yesterday. As you can see from the attached
photo the resulting fire was intense. The test
pilot is an accomplished 3-D flier, and he was
not the model’s owner. About two minutes
into the flight he lost control.
“The pictures show the result. Cause of
the crash is believed to be due to excessive
current draw. The motor was drawing 78
amps. The crash occurred at the Condors
Field in Arizona.”
Check out the photo of this crash. Electric
power systems can be just as volatile as gas
engines, so treat them with proper respect.
Many thanks to John and his friends for
letting me publish this story.
I’ve got some excellent mail for next
month’s column, including a swell feud
about enforcement of field safety rules. I
can’t wait.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/01
Page Numbers: 92,94,96
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/01
Page Numbers: 92,94,96
Also included in this column:
• A free plans offer
• Unlabeled battery packs can
be a problem
• “Clothespin frequency board”
etiquette
• Ralph Gee’s Albatros
• Check that propeller often!
• More workshop and in-flight
safety tips
FAIRLY NEW AMA member Bill
McHarg, who is 53, had an adventure. He
wrote:
“I have always wanted to fly RC
airplanes. I just couldn’t warm up to the
foam airplanes so I built a Hobby Lobby
Super Cub, with a lot of help from the local
hobby shop owner. I put a Park 370 motor
in it.
“I was going to test my motor setup and
took the wing off to get to the battery. Then
I turned on the transmitter and hooked
everything up. While holding onto the back
of the fuselage with one hand, with my other
hand on the power, and watching the
wattmeter, I put the power all the way up.
“That little motor has a lot of torque!
With no wing to balance it out, it twisted the
fuselage in my hand and the brand-new,
sharp propeller cut a two-inch-long, halfinch-
deep gash in my forearm. I obviously
should have either had help or had the model
secured somehow.”
It was kind of Bill to share his hardlearned
lesson here. Our hobby can be fun,
relaxing, exciting, and challenging at
various moments, but it should not involve
first-aid.
How many of us have tested power
plants under similar circumstances,
inadequately secured or handheld? Show of
hands? Yeah, me too. The slightest problem,
and suddenly you’re starring in a live scene
from Texas Chainsaw Modeler.
Aftermath of overloaded electrical system. An experienced pilot kept the incident from
harming anyone. Photo courtesy John Lee.
Dave’s wife Sweet Diedra holds Creature Mk IV—a weird
asymmetric ROG stick model. Free plans are available. See text.
Dave’s father Ralph Gee scratch-built this Rubber Scale Albatros.
Since it came out so nice, Dave put it in the column.
There is also a question of degrees. I
often casually test my small CO2 motors on
my worktable, as I do my smallest indoor
electric motors, but what size is too big for
handheld tests? Or to put it another way,
how would I explain it to my wife Sweet
Diedra if she has to come downstairs and
bandage me?
The rule of gashed thumb around here
seems to be that if the propeller will blow
stuff around on the table, it’s time to take it
outside and strap it down or use a test stand.
Bill wrapped up his E-mail with, “Even
though I am mostly interested in electric
airplanes, I read the magazine cover to
cover.”
(We pause while Aeromodeling Editor
Bob Hunt sheds a few joyful tears.)
The MA staff has the impossible task of
putting together a magazine to please and
inform all the wildly diverse factions of our
hobby. Many of the letters I receive mention
a desire to see more coverage of a particular
type of model and less space wasted on
somebody else’s favorite.
Since it would take 600 pages each
month to meet everyone’s desires,
compromise is the name of the game. Yes,
there are columns and articles that do not
directly address your style of modeling, but
there is great stuff lurking in every issue,
and I recommend taking a look through the
whole magazine as a way to broaden our
horizons.
I love to see construction articles for
Rubber FF models. Rather than complaining
to Bob Hunt, and certainly rather than
making the effort to produce an article that
is suitable for publication, I offer a freebie
to loyal readers of this column.
Look at the picture of Sweet Diedra
holding a strange-looking model. The
Creature Mk IV is the latest in a series of
disruptive airplanes that look as though they
break the rules of aerodynamics.
This stick-and-tissue ROG (rise-offground)
Rubber model is severely
asymmetric and features push-pull, offcenter
propellers. Despite all that, and the
fact that I designed it, the thing does fly. My
thin justification for writing about it here is
that the Creature has a lot to teach us about
what makes our models fly.
Most RC pilots these days did not work
their way through FF and CL, and RTF
models get you airborne quickly but perhaps
without much understanding of aeronautics.
When a model approaches a flight situation
where lift and control are marginal, a bit of
aerodynamic knowledge can make the
difference between recovery and rebuilding.
I don’t claim that building a Creature will
solve these problems, or even help, but fun
is fun, and flying a model that looks like it
cannot fly is a good gag.
Send an SASE to Creature Mk IV, Box
7081, Van Nuys CA 91409, and I will send
you a copy of the plans and building
instructions. This free plans set may be
used, copied, and shared, but not sold.
While you’re at it, I’d be glad to get a
note with some topic suggestions, safety
stories, or handy tips for avoiding calamity.
There have been many such messages
recently about unlabeled battery packs. We
hobbyists are still in the throes of adjusting
to Li-Poly batteries, and there are
continuing problems with overcharged or
damaged packs bursting or catching fire.
Some battery packs come with little or
no information on the cover. I think they
should at least include the manufacturer and
the electrical specifications. It’s tough to
determine what caused a meltdown when
the battery pack has nothing on the label
except scorch marks!
I’ll bet that most modelers would prefer
to buy a product with full information on the
label instead of a blank Brand X pack. I
hope those manufacturers who do not
provide such labeling will consider doing
so.
Another recurring topic has to do with
the “clothespin frequency board” system in
use at many fields. Occasional mishaps are
caused by forgotten pins or
misunderstandings of what a pin or lack
thereof means.
I have been asked to pass judgment on
various incidents, which I decline to do.
Instead I urge those clubs with pin systems
to review the protocol at your meetings
from time to time and make quite sure that
visitors and new fliers understand the
procedures for making sure that each
frequency is used by only one transmitter at a
time. My experience has been that an
occasional discussion of such things keeps
everyone on the same page and is worth the
effort.
Look at the Albatros biplane picture. My dad
scratch-built this model for a recent contest. It
is rubber powered and meant for indoor flight,
although the level of detail makes it a bit
heavy for serious duration. Ralph Gee just
turned 83 and his airplanes make mine look
like junk.
What does this have to do with safety?
Well, nothing really.
Eric Richardson sent in some “ ... fodder for
your column in Model Aviation.” He wrote:
“I made an initial engine run on the 50cc
gas engine in my Edge 540. After starting and
stopping it three times it ran out of fuel. So I
filled it up for another run, and to my shock I
noticed the spinner was grossly deformed and
had cut 30% into the prop. What happened is
the four prop bolts had worked loose and
three of them had sheared off.
“What I learned is with a new prop one
should retighten the prop, especially after
about the first 10 engine runs with a carbon
prop and about three engine runs with a
wooden prop to ensure the prop seats itself
well against the knurled portion of the engine
hub. New prop and spinner on the way ... ”
This is old information that new modelers
may not know. Electric motors do similar
things to their propellers, and all propellers
need to be checked regularly. Full-scale pilots
perform a preflight inspection before each
takeoff. Do you do the same?
The incidents I hear about seem to split up
into three areas of hazards: workshop/
construction, pit/tuning, and in-flight. The
workshop and pit problems overlap, as in an
engine test that might be conducted at home
or at the field. The flight issues include unsafe
piloting technique and RC interference.
I’ll expand on this theory of three
divisions in coming months. For now,
following is an example of a workshop story
from Dave Unruh.
“I guess I’m about an average
housekeeper; my work area gets pretty
cluttered while I’m working, then I stop
periodically and muck it out. I had a charger
plugged in but I was only charging a receiver
battery; the transmitter pigtail was dangling
from the bench.
“Somehow, while I was working, the
pigtail landed in a box of steel wool in a
drawer I had left open. Does anyone think
that a 50 mA charger can’t start a fire in steel?
Think again.
“My eyes popped out of their sockets
when I saw the steel wool in the box glowing
red and getting ready to burst into flames. Of
course there was no sawdust, wood scraps, or
old airplane plans laying around, right?”
Dave caught things just in time! We bring
so many different types of equipment together
that there are bound to be conflicts such as
that one. Keep your eyes peeled!
Now for an in-flight incident reported by
John Lee. He wrote:
“A friend of mine lost control of his Yak
yesterday. As you can see from the attached
photo the resulting fire was intense. The test
pilot is an accomplished 3-D flier, and he was
not the model’s owner. About two minutes
into the flight he lost control.
“The pictures show the result. Cause of
the crash is believed to be due to excessive
current draw. The motor was drawing 78
amps. The crash occurred at the Condors
Field in Arizona.”
Check out the photo of this crash. Electric
power systems can be just as volatile as gas
engines, so treat them with proper respect.
Many thanks to John and his friends for
letting me publish this story.
I’ve got some excellent mail for next
month’s column, including a swell feud
about enforcement of field safety rules. I
can’t wait.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/01
Page Numbers: 92,94,96
Also included in this column:
• A free plans offer
• Unlabeled battery packs can
be a problem
• “Clothespin frequency board”
etiquette
• Ralph Gee’s Albatros
• Check that propeller often!
• More workshop and in-flight
safety tips
FAIRLY NEW AMA member Bill
McHarg, who is 53, had an adventure. He
wrote:
“I have always wanted to fly RC
airplanes. I just couldn’t warm up to the
foam airplanes so I built a Hobby Lobby
Super Cub, with a lot of help from the local
hobby shop owner. I put a Park 370 motor
in it.
“I was going to test my motor setup and
took the wing off to get to the battery. Then
I turned on the transmitter and hooked
everything up. While holding onto the back
of the fuselage with one hand, with my other
hand on the power, and watching the
wattmeter, I put the power all the way up.
“That little motor has a lot of torque!
With no wing to balance it out, it twisted the
fuselage in my hand and the brand-new,
sharp propeller cut a two-inch-long, halfinch-
deep gash in my forearm. I obviously
should have either had help or had the model
secured somehow.”
It was kind of Bill to share his hardlearned
lesson here. Our hobby can be fun,
relaxing, exciting, and challenging at
various moments, but it should not involve
first-aid.
How many of us have tested power
plants under similar circumstances,
inadequately secured or handheld? Show of
hands? Yeah, me too. The slightest problem,
and suddenly you’re starring in a live scene
from Texas Chainsaw Modeler.
Aftermath of overloaded electrical system. An experienced pilot kept the incident from
harming anyone. Photo courtesy John Lee.
Dave’s wife Sweet Diedra holds Creature Mk IV—a weird
asymmetric ROG stick model. Free plans are available. See text.
Dave’s father Ralph Gee scratch-built this Rubber Scale Albatros.
Since it came out so nice, Dave put it in the column.
There is also a question of degrees. I
often casually test my small CO2 motors on
my worktable, as I do my smallest indoor
electric motors, but what size is too big for
handheld tests? Or to put it another way,
how would I explain it to my wife Sweet
Diedra if she has to come downstairs and
bandage me?
The rule of gashed thumb around here
seems to be that if the propeller will blow
stuff around on the table, it’s time to take it
outside and strap it down or use a test stand.
Bill wrapped up his E-mail with, “Even
though I am mostly interested in electric
airplanes, I read the magazine cover to
cover.”
(We pause while Aeromodeling Editor
Bob Hunt sheds a few joyful tears.)
The MA staff has the impossible task of
putting together a magazine to please and
inform all the wildly diverse factions of our
hobby. Many of the letters I receive mention
a desire to see more coverage of a particular
type of model and less space wasted on
somebody else’s favorite.
Since it would take 600 pages each
month to meet everyone’s desires,
compromise is the name of the game. Yes,
there are columns and articles that do not
directly address your style of modeling, but
there is great stuff lurking in every issue,
and I recommend taking a look through the
whole magazine as a way to broaden our
horizons.
I love to see construction articles for
Rubber FF models. Rather than complaining
to Bob Hunt, and certainly rather than
making the effort to produce an article that
is suitable for publication, I offer a freebie
to loyal readers of this column.
Look at the picture of Sweet Diedra
holding a strange-looking model. The
Creature Mk IV is the latest in a series of
disruptive airplanes that look as though they
break the rules of aerodynamics.
This stick-and-tissue ROG (rise-offground)
Rubber model is severely
asymmetric and features push-pull, offcenter
propellers. Despite all that, and the
fact that I designed it, the thing does fly. My
thin justification for writing about it here is
that the Creature has a lot to teach us about
what makes our models fly.
Most RC pilots these days did not work
their way through FF and CL, and RTF
models get you airborne quickly but perhaps
without much understanding of aeronautics.
When a model approaches a flight situation
where lift and control are marginal, a bit of
aerodynamic knowledge can make the
difference between recovery and rebuilding.
I don’t claim that building a Creature will
solve these problems, or even help, but fun
is fun, and flying a model that looks like it
cannot fly is a good gag.
Send an SASE to Creature Mk IV, Box
7081, Van Nuys CA 91409, and I will send
you a copy of the plans and building
instructions. This free plans set may be
used, copied, and shared, but not sold.
While you’re at it, I’d be glad to get a
note with some topic suggestions, safety
stories, or handy tips for avoiding calamity.
There have been many such messages
recently about unlabeled battery packs. We
hobbyists are still in the throes of adjusting
to Li-Poly batteries, and there are
continuing problems with overcharged or
damaged packs bursting or catching fire.
Some battery packs come with little or
no information on the cover. I think they
should at least include the manufacturer and
the electrical specifications. It’s tough to
determine what caused a meltdown when
the battery pack has nothing on the label
except scorch marks!
I’ll bet that most modelers would prefer
to buy a product with full information on the
label instead of a blank Brand X pack. I
hope those manufacturers who do not
provide such labeling will consider doing
so.
Another recurring topic has to do with
the “clothespin frequency board” system in
use at many fields. Occasional mishaps are
caused by forgotten pins or
misunderstandings of what a pin or lack
thereof means.
I have been asked to pass judgment on
various incidents, which I decline to do.
Instead I urge those clubs with pin systems
to review the protocol at your meetings
from time to time and make quite sure that
visitors and new fliers understand the
procedures for making sure that each
frequency is used by only one transmitter at a
time. My experience has been that an
occasional discussion of such things keeps
everyone on the same page and is worth the
effort.
Look at the Albatros biplane picture. My dad
scratch-built this model for a recent contest. It
is rubber powered and meant for indoor flight,
although the level of detail makes it a bit
heavy for serious duration. Ralph Gee just
turned 83 and his airplanes make mine look
like junk.
What does this have to do with safety?
Well, nothing really.
Eric Richardson sent in some “ ... fodder for
your column in Model Aviation.” He wrote:
“I made an initial engine run on the 50cc
gas engine in my Edge 540. After starting and
stopping it three times it ran out of fuel. So I
filled it up for another run, and to my shock I
noticed the spinner was grossly deformed and
had cut 30% into the prop. What happened is
the four prop bolts had worked loose and
three of them had sheared off.
“What I learned is with a new prop one
should retighten the prop, especially after
about the first 10 engine runs with a carbon
prop and about three engine runs with a
wooden prop to ensure the prop seats itself
well against the knurled portion of the engine
hub. New prop and spinner on the way ... ”
This is old information that new modelers
may not know. Electric motors do similar
things to their propellers, and all propellers
need to be checked regularly. Full-scale pilots
perform a preflight inspection before each
takeoff. Do you do the same?
The incidents I hear about seem to split up
into three areas of hazards: workshop/
construction, pit/tuning, and in-flight. The
workshop and pit problems overlap, as in an
engine test that might be conducted at home
or at the field. The flight issues include unsafe
piloting technique and RC interference.
I’ll expand on this theory of three
divisions in coming months. For now,
following is an example of a workshop story
from Dave Unruh.
“I guess I’m about an average
housekeeper; my work area gets pretty
cluttered while I’m working, then I stop
periodically and muck it out. I had a charger
plugged in but I was only charging a receiver
battery; the transmitter pigtail was dangling
from the bench.
“Somehow, while I was working, the
pigtail landed in a box of steel wool in a
drawer I had left open. Does anyone think
that a 50 mA charger can’t start a fire in steel?
Think again.
“My eyes popped out of their sockets
when I saw the steel wool in the box glowing
red and getting ready to burst into flames. Of
course there was no sawdust, wood scraps, or
old airplane plans laying around, right?”
Dave caught things just in time! We bring
so many different types of equipment together
that there are bound to be conflicts such as
that one. Keep your eyes peeled!
Now for an in-flight incident reported by
John Lee. He wrote:
“A friend of mine lost control of his Yak
yesterday. As you can see from the attached
photo the resulting fire was intense. The test
pilot is an accomplished 3-D flier, and he was
not the model’s owner. About two minutes
into the flight he lost control.
“The pictures show the result. Cause of
the crash is believed to be due to excessive
current draw. The motor was drawing 78
amps. The crash occurred at the Condors
Field in Arizona.”
Check out the photo of this crash. Electric
power systems can be just as volatile as gas
engines, so treat them with proper respect.
Many thanks to John and his friends for
letting me publish this story.
I’ve got some excellent mail for next
month’s column, including a swell feud
about enforcement of field safety rules. I
can’t wait.