CONTROL LINE NAVY CARRIER
Dick Perry, 427 Live Oak Ln. NE, Albuquerque NM 87122; E-mail: [email protected]
AIRCRAFT AND MUSEUMS
Earlier I wrote about some reference books that might be of interest to Carrier fliers for documentation purposes or just as good reading on the history of naval aviation.
Another great source of information is the Internet. Much information can be found with any of the good search engines by typing in aircraft designators, manufacturers, or common names. A couple other sources of information are museum Web sites and the museums themselves.
My favorite museums are the big ones, but there is much to be found and enjoyed at many of the smaller ones as well. The Fleet Air Arm Museum (United Kingdom) has a soft spot in my heart because of the Short Seamew with its British origins. Its Web page is www.fleetairarm.com/indexFlash.htm.
The consummate museum for Carrier types is the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida (http://naval.aviation.museum/intro.html). It took a hit from Hurricane Ivan and was closed for a while during repairs, but from what I understand, the damages were not too severe (in spite of conflicting initial reports). Today (October 11) was the first day the museum was reopened to the public, with "hurricane therapy" consisting of free Hurricane Ivan T-shirts for the first two weeks.
While I was in Washington, D.C., one of my favorite quick trips was to the Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum, a small facility on the grounds of Quantico, Virginia. There I found a Grumman F7F Tigercat rescued from firebombing service awaiting restoration and a photo of a Martin MO-1 landing onboard the USS Langley.
There were also (many years ago and probably transferred to the National Archives by now) original airplane cards describing the assignment histories of many of the Navy's early aircraft. I was able to confirm the Langley assignments for the only two MO-1s allocated to the only aircraft carrier at the time. Neither assignment lasted very long, but airplanes in those days didn't last very long either.
Sadly, the Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum has closed permanently. The good news is that rising from the ashes will be the National Museum of the Marine Corps: a magnificent new structure on Quantico, near Interstate 95. It will open in 2006. The old museum's facilities are being used to prepare exhibits for the new museum, so the loss is for a good cause.
Aero-Web (www.aero-web.org) is a good site for locating aircraft and aviation museums. Its resources can point you to a large number of facilities, but be sure to contact them before planning to visit. The information on the site may not be current (as with the closing of the Museum of Naval Aviation following Ivan).
NOSTALGIA (J. ROBERTS)
I enjoyed a nostalgia trip a couple months ago when I found an old American Modeler magazine from August 1957. In it were ads for many companies that bring back memories from my first modeling days, including:
- Strombecker
- Enterprise Model Aircraft
- Herkimer (O.K. Cub)
- Scientific
- Forster
- deBolt Model Engineering
- American Jr. Aircraft
- Consolidated
- Cleveland
- Victor Stanzel
- Berkeley
The magazine also contained a "Third Line Theme" article describing the genesis of the first three-line control system (the origin of senior flying). The article showed photos of the original double-decker-configuration bellcrank. It also described the first use of the system in Navy Carrier competition at the 1956 Dallas Naval Air Station Nationals, with Donald Storner and John Corrough taking first place in Junior and second place in Senior flying.
The piece included photos of Sabre models. Glenn McGree took first place in Senior with a Bearcat powered by a Fox .59.
Frank Macy of McMinnville, Oregon, owns a Crusader model based on the F8U Crusader that Bob Smurthwaite built and powered by a Johnson .35 with a "Vari-Speed" engine speed control. Mike Potter wrote to me about the model and promised photos; I'll be sure to include them in this column.
New Rules Cycle
The cycle for rules changes taking effect in 2007 begins in January. The opportunity to submit change proposals runs from January through September 2005.
This is a new two-year schedule recommended by the Contest Board chairman and passed this year by the AMA Executive Council.
Nationals
It's not too early to be planning for the 2005 Nats. By the time you read this, the schedule will be firm, but you'll have to wait until the May issue to read about it in this column. Check the AMA Web site for details at www.modelaircraft.org.
The Navy Carrier Society is seeking volunteers to officiate and assist. If you are interested, please contact me at the address in the header or Bill Calkins at 317 Snow St., Sugar Grove IL 60554; Tel.: (630) 466-1531.
Mufflers
At the recent Nats, Mike Greb flew two muffler-equipped models under the rule that became effective this year, allowing any muffler with 10% fuel. He had a challenging time with the Class II model equipped with a full tuned pipe. The engine speed required during slow flight was near the point at which the engine came "on the pipe," and the resulting variation in speed added an unwelcome complexity.
Mike's Class I model with a Quickie-Jett .40 engine and muffler was more forgiving, with a much wider response from the muffler. He placed second with that airplane.
Gary Hull also brought muffler-equipped models to the Nats. His were fitted with shorter "tongue"-style mufflers, for which the rules allow the use of any fuel. He placed third in Class II with his Devastator, running an O.S. 45 FSR engine on 30% nitromethane.
I'm looking forward to seeing your winter Carrier projects. Please send me photos with details of the model.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
