March 2001 133
BY THE TImE you read this column, the building season will be
in full swing. I’ve been thinking about what to build, what I need in
terms of airplanes, and what parts, pieces, and materials will be
necessary to make these projects happen.
If what I just mentioned strikes you as the elements of a plan, it
should. To maximize the time you have available, you need to have
things thought out so you can make progress and accomplish your
goals.
Did I hear the word “goals”? This is starting to sound like a
management dissertation.
Each of us has a “life” outside our hobby/sport that has to take
priority, but the time we have available can be better utilized if we
know what we are going to do in our program.
That’s what we are going to discuss, build, and organize.
Hopefully I’ll give some of you a different “spin” you can use to
fully enjoy the building season.
One thing I’ve learned in the 50 years of building these
wonderful airplanes is that you don’t build light, accurate models in
a hurry, or in long sessions.
In my long-ago youth, I used to go to the hobby shop, get a Veco
Chief kit Friday afternoon, and fly it the next weekend. That was
before I had a family and responsibilities. And it wasn’t the best,
because speed became a driving factor to get it finished.
It has taken many years to conclude that when expediency enters
the building equation, you will take shortcuts that affect a model’s
weight, accuracy, and life span. It’s better to take the attitude to do
each item the best you possibly can.
Many of our projects are quite lengthy and involved. They can
be daunting when viewed as a whole, and that can certainly cause a
defeatist attitude that may stop you from starting in the first place.
That won’t get you anywhere, so you have to figure out a good
approach to get the job done. I can suggest a general mind-set that is a
proper management technique, and will work for you in some form.
Look at a project as an organized group of pieces. Those pieces
can be divided into more pieces. The smaller the piece, the more
manageable the task, and the less the time required to do the task. In
management terms, that is called “chunking.”
Take the concept further into the practical, to see how it can help
you in your building season.
I’ll digress a bit, to a couple related areas I need to pull into
CONTROL LINE AEROBATICS
Frank McMillan, 12106 Gunter Grv., San Antonio TX 78231
Childhood friends Rich Giacobone and Pat Frangella discuss
Rich’s flight in Advanced class at the 2000 Nationals.
New semiscale Shoestring by Bob Whitely. Based on the Saturn
wing, this is an elegant flier with a PA .61 engine.
In an upset, Curt Contrata was pilots’ choice Concours winner at
the Nats. Great-flying Tempest design has PA .51 on pipe.
the discussion: kits and “scratchbuilding.”
Kits are a way to facilitate starting and
completing a project. They save labor, time,
and thought by pre-engineering the design,
cutting ribs, providing necessary hardware,
etc. We have it good in the “Stunt world,”
with multiple suppliers of excellent kits.
Scratch-building is a mental roadblock
to some, but it needn’t be. After all, a kit is
nothing more than a design with some of
the building work finished.
One major benefit of a good kit is the
building instructions. Some current kits,
such as those in the Brodak line, offer
exceptional step-by-step instructions. The
old Veco line had wonderful illustrated
instructions. The kit engineering and the
parts provision is the primary difference.
But suppose you are taken with a design
that was published in a magazine, but with
no kit. You would have to scratch-build it!
What do you do?
You make a kit using the plans. Take
patterns of the necessary parts, list and
acquire the various materials and hardware,
and get it done. However, more time is
required to do a scratch project.
One not-so-obvious point about kits is
that they are engineered for production at a
cost. Some are better than others. In years
past, “interesting” changes were made to
models because of price considerations.
In the Ambroid kits of the Don Still
Stuka and the Bill Werwage Ares, not only
were wood sizes changed, but the long
pieces were significantly shortened for cost
reasons. The short pieces were left over
from cutting 36-inch pieces from standard
54-inch lengths of the balsa suppliers. And
the box length was significantly shortened.
The examples built from the kits did not
fly as well as the originals. However, that is
in the past, and now we have much better
presentations and values.
Whether you choose to construct a model
from a kit or from scratch, you have to get
prepared to build. This process should be more
than a casual tour of your proposed creation; it
should involve a detailed study of the plans, to
figure out how you will put the components
together and do a final assembly.
Do you need to acquire/construct
fixtures? Are you comfortable with the
construction techniques, such as the I-beam
and Warren Truss-type wing?
If I was going to build a Classic Ares or a
Cobra, I’d review the Bob Hunt tape that shows
the master, Bill Werwage, constructing an Ares.
The Warren Truss-type construction
demands the use of a lost-foam fixture and
wing-rib creation fixture. Using one of these
fixtures requires a thorough understanding of
the procedure and techniques involved, but
the results are rewarding.
The I-beam video and information on
the lost-foam wing-building system are
available from Robin’s View Productions,
Box 68, Stockertown PA 18083; Tel.:
(610) 746-0106.
As you study your project, list what you
have (kits have super hardware packages)
and what you need.
Do you have the proper wood for all the
parts you must construct? I can’t count the
number of times I’ve heard builders remark
that they had to make do with a heavier
piece or the wrong grain pattern.
The best way to ensure that good wood
is available is to have a continuing program
to acquire contest wood, and maintain a
stock of the appropriate sizes.
There is nothing more discouraging
than having to stop work at a critical point
for want of a set of horns or a bellcrank.
Do your homework.
134 M ODEL AVIATION
Back to the project concept. Central to
successfully completing your prized model
is breaking the project into many
manageable pieces. This allows you to
maximize the time you have available on a
daily basis.
Say that on your way home from work,
you realize your evening plans allow you
less than an hour. Think about where you
are on your project, and visualize a task
that can be done in the time you have.
This sounds obvious and simple—so
much so that you might discount it. That’s
a big mistake, because major projects in
the real world are managed in a similar
fashion.
A management tool called a “work
breakdown structure” breaks tasks into
various levels, with assigned skills and
hours necessary to accomplish them.
The structure also deals with the flow
of the project.
Does that sound familiar? It should,
because that’s what I’ve been talking you
through.
In this flow of construction, it is very
important to keep making progress; do
something each day, no matter how small.
If you are making small parts, put a
coat of dope on and let them set up; it
won’t take but a minute. Can you do
something to a part before you go to
work? Many small tasks can be done and
left to set up overnight.
Resolve to make it happen, and it
will—if you are organized.
In the past few years, we in Texas have
been supported by a hobby shop that
focuses on Stunt products: Ultra Hobby
Products. The company can be reached at
9930 Edgecliff Cir., Dallas TX 78238;
Tel.: (214) 348-3962.
Early on, the company brought out
control-system components, such as
machine clevises and carbon pushrods
with custom ends. Since then, it has added
more complementary products.
The latest addition is a muchanticipated
version of Bob Gieseke’s
“Bear” Nobler.
This design has undergone considerable
development, being specifically tailored to
the modern high-rpm pipe engines. It is a
midsize airplane (675 square inches), and
is engineered to build exceptionally light.
Typically, Bob and Mike Scott
(Nationals Advanced winner) have
produced examples in the low-50-ounce
range. Coupling that with the newer, highpower
engines spells exceptional
performance.
The kits are produced with many lasercut
parts, including ribs and plywood
pieces. All these features make for easy
building. The wood in the kits is first-rate,
so I expect excellent examples to be built.
The Nobler is available in a full-kit
version with hardware package, or a shortkit
containing laser-cut ribs, plywood
fuselage formers and doublers, bellcrank
mounts, and plans. MA
