In the Air - 2012/07

AMA Flightline is
the name that
received the most
votes from more
than 300 entries.
Alex Schauer, age
13, from North
Mankato, Minnesota,
submitted the
name for the AMA
newsletter that is
speci cally for our
youth members.
Alex wins a
RealFlight6 R/C
Flight Simulator.
Not only is
Alex thrilled that
AMA Flightline was
selected, he’s just
as thrilled to win
RealFlight6. Alex
has been sharpening
his  ying skills on an older version,
RealFlight3.5, that he borrowed from his
uncle.
Alex’s interest in learning to  y RC
airplanes began with RC boats. One
day he went to watch his friend run
his model boat. Alex visited the Tower
Hobbies website where his friend
bought his boat, saw the airplanes, and
instantly decided he wanted to  y.
“I’ve always been interested in
anything that  ies and seeing all the
airplanes, I knew  ying is what I wanted
to do,” said Alex.
He purchased a SuperStar, an electricpowered
airplane that is ideal for  ight
training. Shortly afterward, he saw a
newspaper story about the Academy
of Model Aeronautics’  ying club, the
North Mankato Electric Flyers, and the
club’s new  ying
 eld. Alex met AMA
member Rick Apitz
who became his
 ight instructor.
Alex said, “I found
learning to  y to be
so easy. It’s learning
to land that is the
most challenging
thing about  ying.”
He added, “Flying
on a simulator helps
you learn quickly.”
Alex has been
 ying for roughly
four months now
and usually with
a friend and a
neighbor both his
age.
Flying in
Pattern and 3-D
competitions is a goal Alex has set
for himself. He now  ies a TechOne
Rainbow designed especially for
3-D  ying. Alex’s newest airplane is
the ElectricFly Cirrus SR22 Turbo.
To control his airplanes, Alex uses a
Futaba 7C 2.4 GHz radio.
“I love  ying model airplanes. It’s so
much better than sitting in front of the
TV because you’re doing something
with your brain. It can get you on the
edge of your feet when you’re  ying.
“There’s so much to learn, but after
you learn a good chunk of it, it can
help you get a good career. Someday
I’d like to be a model airplane engineer
or a pilot,” said Alex.
History Preserved
The National Model Aviation Museum
is always improving its collection.
Occasionally this means building
reproductions of signi cant model
aircraft.
This is a process that requires
research, as well as talented individuals
to reconstruct a model from limited
data. Sometimes we bene t from
interested parties that are willing to
help with the project by donating
additional items required to ensure the
historical accuracy of the aircraft. Two
recent projects highlight this process.
Roy Mays is credited as the  rst
person to  y a CL model airplane in
inverted  ight. He did this in 1939
with a FF model converted to CL and
powered by a Micro .19 engine.
To accomplish the  ight, Roy had to
overcome problems with line tension
and the ability for the fuel tank to
maintain pressure. He used a weighted
aileron on the wingtip, opposite the
control lines, to help with tension. He
also developed a celluloid inverted
feeding gas tank that allowed him to
maintain inverted  ight.
CL Historian Charles Mackey worked
with Museum Director Michael Smith
to have a reproduction of this model
in the museum’s collection. Charles
recruited Ron Wittman to build the
model from plans published in Mackey’s
book, Pioneers of Control Line Flying. He
also recruited John D. Camp to donate
his Micro .19 engine to the museum, so
the model would be complete with an
authentic engine.
In the June 1948 issue of Aeromodeller
was announced to the aeromodeling
community: Jetex. The idea for a rocket
engine on a model airplane was not
new, but in 1938, Bill and John Wilmot
and Joe Mansour began working on
a system that could be placed into
production.
The British War Ministry, seeing the
potential for such a device, charged
the Development of Miscellaneous
Weapons Department with leading
the project, and by 1947, a chemical
compound had been devised by Alex
Hutchison. Production began in 1947;
by 1948 two were available: the Jetex
100 and the Jetex 200.
The June issue of Aeromodeller
featured the  rst ad for these two
power sources and plans for two
models powered by the Jetex. One was
a Scale model of the Meteor; the other
was a duration model called the Zephyr.
Museum volunteer Scott Cheslik
undertook the project of constructing
the Zephyr for the museum’s
collection, but we do not have a
Jetex 100 or 200 in the collection to
complete the model.
If you or someone you know
might be interested in donating one
of these powerplants to this project,
please contact Museum Collections
Manager Maria VanVreede at mariav@
modelaircraft.org.