Aero Mail
Aero Mail continued on page 149
September 2008 7
Airtronics Phone Number
The wrong telephone number was listed
in the “Manufacturer/Distributor” section at
the end of the Airtronics RDS8000 product
review in the July 2008 MA. For dealers to
place an order with Global Hobby
Distributors, the number is (800) 346-6543.
The (800) 262-1178 number is strictly for
technical assistance.
Our apologies for any inconvenience
this may have caused.
—MA staff
That’s My KANDU!
I was quite surprised to see the picture
of the KANDU airplane [on page 156 of
the July MA]. I am still flying the original
from the November 2001 feature article. I received e-mails from
Greece, Australia and New Zealand as well as here in the US when the article was
printed. New Zealand modelers sent me a copy of their Magazine with the same article.
One person asked me about adapting floats to the KANDU. Since I live in Phoenix
with no lakes readily available I had not given it much consideration. However, I see no
reason why it would not be successful. I have built and am flying two 60 size versions of
the KANDU. They fly just like the 40.
Dale E. Singleton
via E-mail
J-3 Cub
Great article [“Plane Talk: E-flite J-3 Cub 25 ARF on Floats”] in the July MA
magazine; I have the float equipped J3 you reviewed and I agree with your conclusions
in the article.
However you stated in the end of the article that to use 2 2100 mAh wired in series to
give the same output as the 3S 4200 mAh battery. I think you meant in parallel rather
than series since the series wiring would give you 23.4 volts instead of the 11.7 you
anticipate.
Thanks again for a good write up.
Kent Galbraith
Orlando, Florida
Good catch, Kent! In parallel, two 2100 mAh 11.1-volt packs would yield the 4200
mAh. The Power 25 outrunner won’t handle 22.2 volts.
—Michael Ramsey
MA Editor
Simple Sailplane Modification
I just finished re-reading your feature article on simple sailplanes in the Sept. 07
Model Aviation magazine.
I recently received an old Olympic II from my son who hasn’t flown it in 10 or 12
years. It’s in good condition and weighs 2.9 lbs rtf. The CG is at the rear edge of the
spar. He said it didn’t fly very well, it tended to wander and had a high sink rate.
He thought it might be caused by too much angle of attack on the wing so he dropped
the back edge of the stab about 1/8 of an inch. There is still a small positive incidence on
the wing relative to the stab, 2 or 3 degrees, hard to measure. He never flew it after the
mod.
I would appreciate your thoughts on whether I should try to fly it like it is, or put the
stab back where it was originally. Also do I need washout in the tips? Any other hints
would be helpful. Great article Dave.
Gary Acord
Ventura, California
The CG at the back of the spar sounds good.
I’ll bet making sure the inner wing panels are flat, and the outer panels have 1/4 inch
to 1/2 inch of washout (trailing edge tip up off the bench a little) will make your Olympic Continued from page 7
On my third Olympic II I followed Pete
Young’s advice to cut the decalage angle
between the wing and the horizontal stab in
half from 3 degrees to 1.5 degrees, and I was
happy with the way it flew.
Pete’s article is here: www.charlesriverrc.org/
articles/kitmods/peteyoung_olympiciihintstips.
htm.
Dave Garwood
[email protected]
Fliton Edge Advice
I enjoyed your [Michael Ramsey’s] review
of the Edge 540 [in the June issue]. This ARF
looks like a good match for my new Saito 82.
Two questions. (1) What prop—diameter
and pitch—gave you the best results with the
Saito 80? (2) How do you keep the muffler
assembly from loosening up? I’m having a
terrible time with vibration loosening the
muffler assembly while breaking in my Saito
despite having balanced the prop. Do you use
thread locker? Blue? Red? High temp
silicone?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Bob Levy
via E-mail
You could turn a 14 x 6 propeller on the
.82 since it has more torque than my .80.
What I don’t like about the 14-inch propellers
is that they are much heavier. If you don’t
need the nose weight, go with a 13 x 7.
My mufflers always loosened until I put
them together with Loctite 518 Gasket
Eliminator. Clean everything beforehand to
make sure the threads are oil free, and the
muffler will stay on. I use it on every exhaust
system I own.
—Michael Ramsey
MA Editor
Gets the Full-Scale Wet, Too
I just received my July 2008 issue where
you featured, “Try flying from water. You’ll
like it.” I really enjoyed this issue. Keep up the
good work on the waterbirds.
I’m into water flying. My interest started
early when my Dad brought home from WW II
a U-Control Tarpon Model and Rocket Engine.
I’ll have to admit flying off the water with RC
Models only told me I needed to get a Seaplane
Rating and build a full size one.
I bought the Progressive Aerodyne Searey
Kit in 1995 and flew it in 1996. The attached
picture was made by a friend three months ago
of me landing on Lake Gail in Florida (I’m 75).
It’s a 40 knot boat and a 100 Knot Amphibious
Airplane.
Needless to say, if the Searey gets upgraded
it’ll be a POC RC Model first. I’m working on
it in a shop up North. The Seaform/Gordo will
get some modifications. I’m having great fun
with RC Models and the real thing.
BTW, I highly recommend flying the
seaplanes on Great Planes’ RealFlight R/C
Flight Simulator. I especially recommend the
G-4 Expansion Pack 5 for the seaplanes. I
found them very realistic.
Frank Gracy
Bellingham, Massachusetts
Corrosion Advice for Float-Fliers
I enjoyed your [Jim Feldmann’s] article
very much. I’ve been doing this for many
years myself and have encouraged a lot of
others to give it a try, too.
My first “floater” was a Four-Star 40 kit.
Several clubs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
had started a club-racing event and were
looking for a suitable plane. We chose that kit
right after it was first announced, and got
probably the first batch off of the line.
During that first year, we decided to try
running one of the races as sort of a
“Schneider Cup” reenactment, so we all set
them up to accept floats for that event. This
was back in the early 90s (or maybe late 80s).
I’m still float-flying that same plane today ...
most recently about a month ago.
Anyway, the article talked about what to
do if your radio gets dunked. Sealing the
battery and receivers inside plastic wrap does
help keep things drier longer, but water will
still find its way in.
For years now the local float-fliers here
have been using a product called
“CorrosionX” in their receivers and any other
electrical stuff that could get wet. It’s
designed for marine use, especially around
salt water, and both prevents and removes
corrosion as well as repels moisture. It’s also
a non-conductive product, so it’s suitable for
use on electrical items.
At the first demonstration I saw, the
representative had a portable TV halfway
submerged in a clear tank of the stuff—plugged in and happily playing away!
I’ve dunked many a plane (what float-flier
hasn’t?), and have never had a problem with
those mineral deposits you’d mentioned
because of this stuff. You just open the
receiver, servos, switch and anything else
electronic that might get wet, spray the
CorrosionX in it and just close it up again,
leaving the product inside.
If you haven’t pre-treated your equipment,
you can treat it after you get it wet and the
CorrosionX will force all of the water out. You
can also spray it on your servo connectors to
clear up that occasional problem you might
see with dirty contacts (works for non-float
planes, too).
About 10 years ago, I dunked my Shuttle
(.32-size heli) at a float-fly; it was upsidedown
in the water hanging from the floats. I
took everything apart, even the engine’s pullstart
and the mechanical gyro, and sprayed this
stuff in them as well as all of the airframe
bearings. It’s all still working fine today.
The only caveat I have to add about that is
that I did go ahead and clean out most of the
CorrosionX from the gyro’s sensor box after it
had done its job, but only because I didn’t want it to potentially slow down that spinning
“dumbbell” in there. Other than that, I just
left the product in place.
Have a look at www.corrosionx.com if
you want to get some more info on it.
Alan Buckner
via E-mail
Born to Make a Difference
Just a quick line to say thank you for the
tribute you offered to LA [Johnston in Jim T.
Graham’s “Born to Fly” column] in the July
issue of Model Aviation. He is indeed a
special person and I also consider myself
blessed for having received some of his
expert assistance as well. (Even though I
already know how to solder.) Thanks again.
Tom Nelson
Mount Juliet, Tennessee
I was pleasantly surprised to see & read
your [Jim T. Graham’s] article in the July
Issue of MA, about Mr. LA Johnston. I
believe my first contact with Mr. LA
Johnston was in 2005.
I purchased an Atlas outrunner & ESC. For some reason the Atlas would not start
until about Half throttle. I ran several tests
thinking it was the ESC. Mr. Johnston told
me to send it back, a new one was on the
way.
The new one did the same thing. I decided
to take an 18 amp unit I had in a plane and try
it. It required about half throttle to start the
Atlas to run. I should have thought to do this
earlier.
In my conversation with Mr. Johnston, he
told me to send the Atlas back, he had Hobby
Lobby send me another Atlas. It has run fine
for over two years. I expect it will for as long
as I can fly.
I talked to him on the phone several times,
all my questions were answered, as well as
many suggestions, of which I followed. Mr.
Johnston’s model plane experience started
like mine. I was twelve years old.
At 86, it is still a fun thing for me to fly
the model gliders, all which I have built. He
told me he was planning on retiring. I told
him, I have been retired for over 30 years. I
am now thinking of buying an “AVA” RES
Electric, or a “Hyper” 2.3 meter RES Electric,
if they make it.
I am sure Mr. LA Johnston would have
ready answers for me. Thank you again on
the fine article in MA.
Donald Kellis
via E-mail
Jim, thanks for two things!
First, thanks for being a friend to me.
Second, thanks for getting me such notoriety!
You would not believe the number of
people who have dropped me notes telling me
how much they enjoyed the article, and
telling me how much I had helped them
personally.
I guess that is one of the things I always
enjoyed doing without even thinking of it.
Helping and teaching people!
Just wanted you to know I do appreciate
all you have done for me! MA
LA Johnston
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/09
Page Numbers: 7,149,150
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/09
Page Numbers: 7,149,150
Aero Mail
Aero Mail continued on page 149
September 2008 7
Airtronics Phone Number
The wrong telephone number was listed
in the “Manufacturer/Distributor” section at
the end of the Airtronics RDS8000 product
review in the July 2008 MA. For dealers to
place an order with Global Hobby
Distributors, the number is (800) 346-6543.
The (800) 262-1178 number is strictly for
technical assistance.
Our apologies for any inconvenience
this may have caused.
—MA staff
That’s My KANDU!
I was quite surprised to see the picture
of the KANDU airplane [on page 156 of
the July MA]. I am still flying the original
from the November 2001 feature article. I received e-mails from
Greece, Australia and New Zealand as well as here in the US when the article was
printed. New Zealand modelers sent me a copy of their Magazine with the same article.
One person asked me about adapting floats to the KANDU. Since I live in Phoenix
with no lakes readily available I had not given it much consideration. However, I see no
reason why it would not be successful. I have built and am flying two 60 size versions of
the KANDU. They fly just like the 40.
Dale E. Singleton
via E-mail
J-3 Cub
Great article [“Plane Talk: E-flite J-3 Cub 25 ARF on Floats”] in the July MA
magazine; I have the float equipped J3 you reviewed and I agree with your conclusions
in the article.
However you stated in the end of the article that to use 2 2100 mAh wired in series to
give the same output as the 3S 4200 mAh battery. I think you meant in parallel rather
than series since the series wiring would give you 23.4 volts instead of the 11.7 you
anticipate.
Thanks again for a good write up.
Kent Galbraith
Orlando, Florida
Good catch, Kent! In parallel, two 2100 mAh 11.1-volt packs would yield the 4200
mAh. The Power 25 outrunner won’t handle 22.2 volts.
—Michael Ramsey
MA Editor
Simple Sailplane Modification
I just finished re-reading your feature article on simple sailplanes in the Sept. 07
Model Aviation magazine.
I recently received an old Olympic II from my son who hasn’t flown it in 10 or 12
years. It’s in good condition and weighs 2.9 lbs rtf. The CG is at the rear edge of the
spar. He said it didn’t fly very well, it tended to wander and had a high sink rate.
He thought it might be caused by too much angle of attack on the wing so he dropped
the back edge of the stab about 1/8 of an inch. There is still a small positive incidence on
the wing relative to the stab, 2 or 3 degrees, hard to measure. He never flew it after the
mod.
I would appreciate your thoughts on whether I should try to fly it like it is, or put the
stab back where it was originally. Also do I need washout in the tips? Any other hints
would be helpful. Great article Dave.
Gary Acord
Ventura, California
The CG at the back of the spar sounds good.
I’ll bet making sure the inner wing panels are flat, and the outer panels have 1/4 inch
to 1/2 inch of washout (trailing edge tip up off the bench a little) will make your Olympic Continued from page 7
On my third Olympic II I followed Pete
Young’s advice to cut the decalage angle
between the wing and the horizontal stab in
half from 3 degrees to 1.5 degrees, and I was
happy with the way it flew.
Pete’s article is here: www.charlesriverrc.org/
articles/kitmods/peteyoung_olympiciihintstips.
htm.
Dave Garwood
[email protected]
Fliton Edge Advice
I enjoyed your [Michael Ramsey’s] review
of the Edge 540 [in the June issue]. This ARF
looks like a good match for my new Saito 82.
Two questions. (1) What prop—diameter
and pitch—gave you the best results with the
Saito 80? (2) How do you keep the muffler
assembly from loosening up? I’m having a
terrible time with vibration loosening the
muffler assembly while breaking in my Saito
despite having balanced the prop. Do you use
thread locker? Blue? Red? High temp
silicone?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Bob Levy
via E-mail
You could turn a 14 x 6 propeller on the
.82 since it has more torque than my .80.
What I don’t like about the 14-inch propellers
is that they are much heavier. If you don’t
need the nose weight, go with a 13 x 7.
My mufflers always loosened until I put
them together with Loctite 518 Gasket
Eliminator. Clean everything beforehand to
make sure the threads are oil free, and the
muffler will stay on. I use it on every exhaust
system I own.
—Michael Ramsey
MA Editor
Gets the Full-Scale Wet, Too
I just received my July 2008 issue where
you featured, “Try flying from water. You’ll
like it.” I really enjoyed this issue. Keep up the
good work on the waterbirds.
I’m into water flying. My interest started
early when my Dad brought home from WW II
a U-Control Tarpon Model and Rocket Engine.
I’ll have to admit flying off the water with RC
Models only told me I needed to get a Seaplane
Rating and build a full size one.
I bought the Progressive Aerodyne Searey
Kit in 1995 and flew it in 1996. The attached
picture was made by a friend three months ago
of me landing on Lake Gail in Florida (I’m 75).
It’s a 40 knot boat and a 100 Knot Amphibious
Airplane.
Needless to say, if the Searey gets upgraded
it’ll be a POC RC Model first. I’m working on
it in a shop up North. The Seaform/Gordo will
get some modifications. I’m having great fun
with RC Models and the real thing.
BTW, I highly recommend flying the
seaplanes on Great Planes’ RealFlight R/C
Flight Simulator. I especially recommend the
G-4 Expansion Pack 5 for the seaplanes. I
found them very realistic.
Frank Gracy
Bellingham, Massachusetts
Corrosion Advice for Float-Fliers
I enjoyed your [Jim Feldmann’s] article
very much. I’ve been doing this for many
years myself and have encouraged a lot of
others to give it a try, too.
My first “floater” was a Four-Star 40 kit.
Several clubs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
had started a club-racing event and were
looking for a suitable plane. We chose that kit
right after it was first announced, and got
probably the first batch off of the line.
During that first year, we decided to try
running one of the races as sort of a
“Schneider Cup” reenactment, so we all set
them up to accept floats for that event. This
was back in the early 90s (or maybe late 80s).
I’m still float-flying that same plane today ...
most recently about a month ago.
Anyway, the article talked about what to
do if your radio gets dunked. Sealing the
battery and receivers inside plastic wrap does
help keep things drier longer, but water will
still find its way in.
For years now the local float-fliers here
have been using a product called
“CorrosionX” in their receivers and any other
electrical stuff that could get wet. It’s
designed for marine use, especially around
salt water, and both prevents and removes
corrosion as well as repels moisture. It’s also
a non-conductive product, so it’s suitable for
use on electrical items.
At the first demonstration I saw, the
representative had a portable TV halfway
submerged in a clear tank of the stuff—plugged in and happily playing away!
I’ve dunked many a plane (what float-flier
hasn’t?), and have never had a problem with
those mineral deposits you’d mentioned
because of this stuff. You just open the
receiver, servos, switch and anything else
electronic that might get wet, spray the
CorrosionX in it and just close it up again,
leaving the product inside.
If you haven’t pre-treated your equipment,
you can treat it after you get it wet and the
CorrosionX will force all of the water out. You
can also spray it on your servo connectors to
clear up that occasional problem you might
see with dirty contacts (works for non-float
planes, too).
About 10 years ago, I dunked my Shuttle
(.32-size heli) at a float-fly; it was upsidedown
in the water hanging from the floats. I
took everything apart, even the engine’s pullstart
and the mechanical gyro, and sprayed this
stuff in them as well as all of the airframe
bearings. It’s all still working fine today.
The only caveat I have to add about that is
that I did go ahead and clean out most of the
CorrosionX from the gyro’s sensor box after it
had done its job, but only because I didn’t want it to potentially slow down that spinning
“dumbbell” in there. Other than that, I just
left the product in place.
Have a look at www.corrosionx.com if
you want to get some more info on it.
Alan Buckner
via E-mail
Born to Make a Difference
Just a quick line to say thank you for the
tribute you offered to LA [Johnston in Jim T.
Graham’s “Born to Fly” column] in the July
issue of Model Aviation. He is indeed a
special person and I also consider myself
blessed for having received some of his
expert assistance as well. (Even though I
already know how to solder.) Thanks again.
Tom Nelson
Mount Juliet, Tennessee
I was pleasantly surprised to see & read
your [Jim T. Graham’s] article in the July
Issue of MA, about Mr. LA Johnston. I
believe my first contact with Mr. LA
Johnston was in 2005.
I purchased an Atlas outrunner & ESC. For some reason the Atlas would not start
until about Half throttle. I ran several tests
thinking it was the ESC. Mr. Johnston told
me to send it back, a new one was on the
way.
The new one did the same thing. I decided
to take an 18 amp unit I had in a plane and try
it. It required about half throttle to start the
Atlas to run. I should have thought to do this
earlier.
In my conversation with Mr. Johnston, he
told me to send the Atlas back, he had Hobby
Lobby send me another Atlas. It has run fine
for over two years. I expect it will for as long
as I can fly.
I talked to him on the phone several times,
all my questions were answered, as well as
many suggestions, of which I followed. Mr.
Johnston’s model plane experience started
like mine. I was twelve years old.
At 86, it is still a fun thing for me to fly
the model gliders, all which I have built. He
told me he was planning on retiring. I told
him, I have been retired for over 30 years. I
am now thinking of buying an “AVA” RES
Electric, or a “Hyper” 2.3 meter RES Electric,
if they make it.
I am sure Mr. LA Johnston would have
ready answers for me. Thank you again on
the fine article in MA.
Donald Kellis
via E-mail
Jim, thanks for two things!
First, thanks for being a friend to me.
Second, thanks for getting me such notoriety!
You would not believe the number of
people who have dropped me notes telling me
how much they enjoyed the article, and
telling me how much I had helped them
personally.
I guess that is one of the things I always
enjoyed doing without even thinking of it.
Helping and teaching people!
Just wanted you to know I do appreciate
all you have done for me! MA
LA Johnston
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/09
Page Numbers: 7,149,150
Aero Mail
Aero Mail continued on page 149
September 2008 7
Airtronics Phone Number
The wrong telephone number was listed
in the “Manufacturer/Distributor” section at
the end of the Airtronics RDS8000 product
review in the July 2008 MA. For dealers to
place an order with Global Hobby
Distributors, the number is (800) 346-6543.
The (800) 262-1178 number is strictly for
technical assistance.
Our apologies for any inconvenience
this may have caused.
—MA staff
That’s My KANDU!
I was quite surprised to see the picture
of the KANDU airplane [on page 156 of
the July MA]. I am still flying the original
from the November 2001 feature article. I received e-mails from
Greece, Australia and New Zealand as well as here in the US when the article was
printed. New Zealand modelers sent me a copy of their Magazine with the same article.
One person asked me about adapting floats to the KANDU. Since I live in Phoenix
with no lakes readily available I had not given it much consideration. However, I see no
reason why it would not be successful. I have built and am flying two 60 size versions of
the KANDU. They fly just like the 40.
Dale E. Singleton
via E-mail
J-3 Cub
Great article [“Plane Talk: E-flite J-3 Cub 25 ARF on Floats”] in the July MA
magazine; I have the float equipped J3 you reviewed and I agree with your conclusions
in the article.
However you stated in the end of the article that to use 2 2100 mAh wired in series to
give the same output as the 3S 4200 mAh battery. I think you meant in parallel rather
than series since the series wiring would give you 23.4 volts instead of the 11.7 you
anticipate.
Thanks again for a good write up.
Kent Galbraith
Orlando, Florida
Good catch, Kent! In parallel, two 2100 mAh 11.1-volt packs would yield the 4200
mAh. The Power 25 outrunner won’t handle 22.2 volts.
—Michael Ramsey
MA Editor
Simple Sailplane Modification
I just finished re-reading your feature article on simple sailplanes in the Sept. 07
Model Aviation magazine.
I recently received an old Olympic II from my son who hasn’t flown it in 10 or 12
years. It’s in good condition and weighs 2.9 lbs rtf. The CG is at the rear edge of the
spar. He said it didn’t fly very well, it tended to wander and had a high sink rate.
He thought it might be caused by too much angle of attack on the wing so he dropped
the back edge of the stab about 1/8 of an inch. There is still a small positive incidence on
the wing relative to the stab, 2 or 3 degrees, hard to measure. He never flew it after the
mod.
I would appreciate your thoughts on whether I should try to fly it like it is, or put the
stab back where it was originally. Also do I need washout in the tips? Any other hints
would be helpful. Great article Dave.
Gary Acord
Ventura, California
The CG at the back of the spar sounds good.
I’ll bet making sure the inner wing panels are flat, and the outer panels have 1/4 inch
to 1/2 inch of washout (trailing edge tip up off the bench a little) will make your Olympic Continued from page 7
On my third Olympic II I followed Pete
Young’s advice to cut the decalage angle
between the wing and the horizontal stab in
half from 3 degrees to 1.5 degrees, and I was
happy with the way it flew.
Pete’s article is here: www.charlesriverrc.org/
articles/kitmods/peteyoung_olympiciihintstips.
htm.
Dave Garwood
[email protected]
Fliton Edge Advice
I enjoyed your [Michael Ramsey’s] review
of the Edge 540 [in the June issue]. This ARF
looks like a good match for my new Saito 82.
Two questions. (1) What prop—diameter
and pitch—gave you the best results with the
Saito 80? (2) How do you keep the muffler
assembly from loosening up? I’m having a
terrible time with vibration loosening the
muffler assembly while breaking in my Saito
despite having balanced the prop. Do you use
thread locker? Blue? Red? High temp
silicone?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Bob Levy
via E-mail
You could turn a 14 x 6 propeller on the
.82 since it has more torque than my .80.
What I don’t like about the 14-inch propellers
is that they are much heavier. If you don’t
need the nose weight, go with a 13 x 7.
My mufflers always loosened until I put
them together with Loctite 518 Gasket
Eliminator. Clean everything beforehand to
make sure the threads are oil free, and the
muffler will stay on. I use it on every exhaust
system I own.
—Michael Ramsey
MA Editor
Gets the Full-Scale Wet, Too
I just received my July 2008 issue where
you featured, “Try flying from water. You’ll
like it.” I really enjoyed this issue. Keep up the
good work on the waterbirds.
I’m into water flying. My interest started
early when my Dad brought home from WW II
a U-Control Tarpon Model and Rocket Engine.
I’ll have to admit flying off the water with RC
Models only told me I needed to get a Seaplane
Rating and build a full size one.
I bought the Progressive Aerodyne Searey
Kit in 1995 and flew it in 1996. The attached
picture was made by a friend three months ago
of me landing on Lake Gail in Florida (I’m 75).
It’s a 40 knot boat and a 100 Knot Amphibious
Airplane.
Needless to say, if the Searey gets upgraded
it’ll be a POC RC Model first. I’m working on
it in a shop up North. The Seaform/Gordo will
get some modifications. I’m having great fun
with RC Models and the real thing.
BTW, I highly recommend flying the
seaplanes on Great Planes’ RealFlight R/C
Flight Simulator. I especially recommend the
G-4 Expansion Pack 5 for the seaplanes. I
found them very realistic.
Frank Gracy
Bellingham, Massachusetts
Corrosion Advice for Float-Fliers
I enjoyed your [Jim Feldmann’s] article
very much. I’ve been doing this for many
years myself and have encouraged a lot of
others to give it a try, too.
My first “floater” was a Four-Star 40 kit.
Several clubs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
had started a club-racing event and were
looking for a suitable plane. We chose that kit
right after it was first announced, and got
probably the first batch off of the line.
During that first year, we decided to try
running one of the races as sort of a
“Schneider Cup” reenactment, so we all set
them up to accept floats for that event. This
was back in the early 90s (or maybe late 80s).
I’m still float-flying that same plane today ...
most recently about a month ago.
Anyway, the article talked about what to
do if your radio gets dunked. Sealing the
battery and receivers inside plastic wrap does
help keep things drier longer, but water will
still find its way in.
For years now the local float-fliers here
have been using a product called
“CorrosionX” in their receivers and any other
electrical stuff that could get wet. It’s
designed for marine use, especially around
salt water, and both prevents and removes
corrosion as well as repels moisture. It’s also
a non-conductive product, so it’s suitable for
use on electrical items.
At the first demonstration I saw, the
representative had a portable TV halfway
submerged in a clear tank of the stuff—plugged in and happily playing away!
I’ve dunked many a plane (what float-flier
hasn’t?), and have never had a problem with
those mineral deposits you’d mentioned
because of this stuff. You just open the
receiver, servos, switch and anything else
electronic that might get wet, spray the
CorrosionX in it and just close it up again,
leaving the product inside.
If you haven’t pre-treated your equipment,
you can treat it after you get it wet and the
CorrosionX will force all of the water out. You
can also spray it on your servo connectors to
clear up that occasional problem you might
see with dirty contacts (works for non-float
planes, too).
About 10 years ago, I dunked my Shuttle
(.32-size heli) at a float-fly; it was upsidedown
in the water hanging from the floats. I
took everything apart, even the engine’s pullstart
and the mechanical gyro, and sprayed this
stuff in them as well as all of the airframe
bearings. It’s all still working fine today.
The only caveat I have to add about that is
that I did go ahead and clean out most of the
CorrosionX from the gyro’s sensor box after it
had done its job, but only because I didn’t want it to potentially slow down that spinning
“dumbbell” in there. Other than that, I just
left the product in place.
Have a look at www.corrosionx.com if
you want to get some more info on it.
Alan Buckner
via E-mail
Born to Make a Difference
Just a quick line to say thank you for the
tribute you offered to LA [Johnston in Jim T.
Graham’s “Born to Fly” column] in the July
issue of Model Aviation. He is indeed a
special person and I also consider myself
blessed for having received some of his
expert assistance as well. (Even though I
already know how to solder.) Thanks again.
Tom Nelson
Mount Juliet, Tennessee
I was pleasantly surprised to see & read
your [Jim T. Graham’s] article in the July
Issue of MA, about Mr. LA Johnston. I
believe my first contact with Mr. LA
Johnston was in 2005.
I purchased an Atlas outrunner & ESC. For some reason the Atlas would not start
until about Half throttle. I ran several tests
thinking it was the ESC. Mr. Johnston told
me to send it back, a new one was on the
way.
The new one did the same thing. I decided
to take an 18 amp unit I had in a plane and try
it. It required about half throttle to start the
Atlas to run. I should have thought to do this
earlier.
In my conversation with Mr. Johnston, he
told me to send the Atlas back, he had Hobby
Lobby send me another Atlas. It has run fine
for over two years. I expect it will for as long
as I can fly.
I talked to him on the phone several times,
all my questions were answered, as well as
many suggestions, of which I followed. Mr.
Johnston’s model plane experience started
like mine. I was twelve years old.
At 86, it is still a fun thing for me to fly
the model gliders, all which I have built. He
told me he was planning on retiring. I told
him, I have been retired for over 30 years. I
am now thinking of buying an “AVA” RES
Electric, or a “Hyper” 2.3 meter RES Electric,
if they make it.
I am sure Mr. LA Johnston would have
ready answers for me. Thank you again on
the fine article in MA.
Donald Kellis
via E-mail
Jim, thanks for two things!
First, thanks for being a friend to me.
Second, thanks for getting me such notoriety!
You would not believe the number of
people who have dropped me notes telling me
how much they enjoyed the article, and
telling me how much I had helped them
personally.
I guess that is one of the things I always
enjoyed doing without even thinking of it.
Helping and teaching people!
Just wanted you to know I do appreciate
all you have done for me! MA
LA Johnston
