Aero Mail - 2009/07
Awesome Pilot Too!
Thanks for the great write-up in the May issue on our Frightfully Fast Bash. Dennis and I are on page 75 with the packed Town & Country. The next page (76) gives me credit for the Awesome Raptor paint job on the Polecat. In fact it was done by my best friends and fellow teammates Mike Friesel and his dad Dennis.
Mike is starting his second year in GT racing and was runner-up last season to Craig Grunkemeyer. Pretty impressive results since he had never raced and flew electrics exclusively before coming to Giant Scale racing. Talk about raw talent!
I hope to see you soon in Ashtabula. Tim Sparks via e-mail
Piloto Flight-Time Update
In the March 2009 issue of Model Aviation, the "Room Flyers" article reported data on a number of small RC planes.
Having obtained a new sample of the Revell Piloto, we found the flight duration to be 8.5 minutes, not 2.6 as reported.
Frank Mandriota [email protected]
Keep Going!
I just want to say what a great job [MA Editor Michael Ramsey is] doing bringing the AMA magazine into the current flying scene. This month's [March 2009] indoor articles underscore what I am talking about. The routing, foam cutting tools, and indoor model stuff is not only interesting, but pertinent.
We make jokes at the house about how the AMA Mag is hip to last year's stuff. I figure you must hear a lot of jeers when things aren't going good, but probably don't hear much when you make positive changes. I like the direction you're taking the magazine. (And I'm not saying this as a biased 3D pilot, but embracing 3mm foam, light batteries, and Spektrum is all stuff the magazine readership can benefit from.)
Nice job — see you at the next event! Josh Ziering via e-mail
Showcase Blitz
I really enjoyed the Blitz plans review in the March 2009 issue of Model Aviation.
When I was stationed in Germany we flew off a taxiway/runway and I had scratch-built this model. The favorite beer in the area was called Bitburger, so I painted it up in those colors, added a bomb drop to her and had the time of my life! I worked F-4G Wild Weasels and our mission was suppression of enemy air defenses, i.e., SAM/AAA sites. I became known as "SAM Run Suter" because of the way I flew the Blitz and dropped the bomb. I even received a plaque when I left Germany.
Sad to say, as I was leaving Germany I became very interested in gliders and this is the only gas model I brought home. On the first flight in the USA she took off nicely, then did a slow rolling dive to her final resting place.
Upon the NTSB review it was found that I had coiled the receiver antenna up in the fuselage during shipping and failed to unroll it to full length. Bummer. May she rest in peace.
Thanks for letting me reminisce about the model. Curtis Suter via e-mail
Building Matters
It is also nice when people look at your unique color or covering scheme and ask you, "Where did you get that?" or "What ARF is that?" and you tell them, "It is a kit. I built it from sticks, and covered it myself!" There is a greater appreciation and respect for a model you build versus one that comes out of a box ninety percent complete.
I would like to see more articles on building. We cannot afford to lose this ability in our hobby.
Julian Sandoval Bedford, Texas
The Real Beginning
You might want to consider a correction/clarification. Page 150 of the April/May 2009 issue of Model Aviation states, "...the first issue of MA, which had a cover date of July 1975." Attached copy of a Model Aviation cover shows 19-year-old John Simpson (AMA 5275), J. Williams, and Mokey Peavy at a Huntsville, Alabama CL Stunt contest held in the summer of 1962. Please note magazine issue date of November 1962. The original mailing label is still attached.
George Carlton Floyd via e-mail
For most AMA members, the name "Model Aviation" is associated with the Academy's monthly flagship publication. What many members may not know is that the magazine has survived in numerous formats since the mid-1930s.
The first publication with the MA title—the June 1936 issue—was printed digest-size with limited pages. The American Academy for Model Aeronautics published that version monthly.
In 1937, MA was expanded to newsletter size. It was reverted to digest size in 1956. By 1963, the publication had grown, again, to a "monthly news magazine" with the same name.
The June 1966 cover notes that, "MODEL AVIATION is the monthly news magazine of the Academy of Model Aeronautics" and the "Independent Voice of American Aeromodeling." That issue also indicated that it would be the last one as "an independent effort."
Future editions of MA were to be bound inside the then-popular and high-circulation American Modeler consumer magazine, which Potomac Aviation Publications, Inc., published bimonthly. That special section was designated the "Official Magazine of the Academy of Model Aeronautics" and retained the Model Aviation title.
American Modeler went monthly in 1967 and became American Aircraft Modeler the following year. In 1975, Potomac Aviation Publications went bankrupt, creating an opportunity for MA to return to its roots as a separate magazine published by the Academy.
With barely two months' notice, the July 1975 MA was launched in its new, glossy design. It remains in this format to the present day.
Bob Kurek AMA Director of Publications
Fun With 1/2A
Mr. Beatty (nice fellow — I’ve e-mailed him in the past) doesn't have the "corner" on race planes! A few of us have our own races. We don't have a circle so we fly with the gear "retracted" if they had that capability. We hand-launch over grass and time lapses.
Our airplanes are more lightly built and fast. I've submitted them (and aircraft of other genres) to MA in the past but they never get published. I really don't care except to let people know you can "roll your own".
Why would someone feel a sense of accomplishment assembling an ARF to send photos for publication? Why does the AMA have contests for this type of model? Seems counterproductive to me.
I've had models published in WWI Aero and SKYWAYS, usually as a consequence of previous articles, and they aren't even modeling magazines but historically oriented research journals.
I think membership is falling off because of the "toylike" disposable airplanes that predominate. There is no "stake" in these types of airplanes other than a little discretionary income. They are marketed as benign toys so why would anyone think they need "insurance"? They are worse than ARFs (my opinion — I've heard all of the arguments).
Another way to save money for the AMA and members is allowing members to choose to forgo the magazine.
I really hope Model Aviation can help put the model back into this hobby. Otherwise just call it ARFy-ation.
Michael G. Kelly via e-mail
Stevens AeroModel Kits
Usually you do not know how to repair something that is only a small mistake — something that could get you back and flying in an hour or so. When you build a Stevens AeroModel kit, you know that it is going to all come together and fly like you see it in videos on the internet. You and I may not be able to "fly it like you stole it" but if you can or want to attempt it, you know this model is fully capable of doing it.
I fly several of his models at my local club and people look at me in amazement. I always explain to them that the plane makes me look good. I usually offer them a chance at the sticks and they are amazed at how easy and great these models fly.
Thank you for the great article on Stevens AeroModel kits. I hope this gives people confidence to purchase and build one of these kits or any kit. There really is no other great feeling or satisfaction like building something from a stack of sticks and plans to a finished flying model that you can take out and have a great day with.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
