March 2006 161
I’M SURE I’m like many of you in that I
subscribe to many modeling magazines. One
of my longtime favorites is RC Report. Stu
Richmond is one of Gordon’s contributing
editors and wrote the following in his
December, 2005, column quoting Dave Platt.
“I reckon those of us who build and fly
model airplanes are among the smartest 10%
of the people in the world.”
I agree with Mr. Platt and I would like to
present evidence in support to his theory.
At a weekly breakfast get together with
some fellow RCers, longtime modeler bud
Craig Williams brought a tool he had made to
add detail to his latest project, a Giant P-47
from Top Flite. Craig is an accomplished
Scale modeler and has been a judge in the
United States Scale Masters events.
Craig likes to experiment with various
types of covering material and for this
project, because of to weight considerations,
he elected to cover his fully sheeted airframe
in aluminum MonoKote.
Craig wanted to replicate the flush rivets
but fabric tracing wheels are too “pointy and
sharp.” Digging around in the scrap box, he
found some plastic car wheels from Old
Timer car kits, a discarded handle from a fuel
pump, and a small pulley (source unknown).
By “snipping” out the spoked hub it
became the sprocket to create the rivet
imprints. This worked pretty well but would
occasionally skid on the MonoKote surface.
By adding the small pulley fitted with an Oring,
the sprocket and pulley were joined with
double-sided foam tape which improved
traction.
Between the elevator halves are the
components Craig used to make his
riveting tool.
Craig burnished the MonoKote with
Scotch Bright pads (gray) to reduce the gloss.
Then using a clam-shell drafting tool, he
draws the primary panel lines with aluminum
paint. When dry, using a flexible straight
edge he applies the rivet dimples. Craig tells
me it works best when the tool is “pulled”
toward you, rather than “pushing.”
This is how Craig made all those cool-looking
rivets.
Craig Williams with his partially completed
P-40.
I hope you will concur that this is proof of
Mr. Platt’s theory! If you have an innovative
idea that supports Mr. Platt’s theory, please
E-mail it to me along with pictures and I’ll be
sure to share them with our membership.
It doesn’t take much to entertain RC guys!
Now, let’s talk about some fun stuff. My
club, the 95th St. Group, has a wonderful
flying site which is situated on 40-plus acres
of flat farmland in the flood plain adjacent to
a gun club.
For these reasons, noise is not a problem
and urban sprawl is not a looming issue, but
there is one big problem that I bet many of
you also wrestle with: corn! Yes, during
much of the prime flying time, our field is
surrounded by eight-foot-tall corn. The good
news is that when an airplane goes down in
the corn, those big green leaves really help
cushion the impact, resulting in less damage;
the bad news is that it’s a real bummer trying
to find a model in that corn jungle!
Remember when I noted that it doesn’t
take much to entertain airplane guys? We
have pretty much perfected a way to spot
downed airplanes in the corn. It takes a crew
of at least six folks: one pilot, one spotter
standing next to the pilot to relay directions,
two corn walkers (airplane retrievers)
equipped with a long PVC pole and walkietalkie,
and one TV-monitor watcher.
With the help of a video camera attached
to an electric-powered Slow Stick, we simply
circle above the area a 100 feet or so until the
downed aircraft is located and then it is a
matter of directing the “corn walkers” to it.
We have found that this has turned out to be a
lot of fun and again, it surely doesn’t take
much to entertain us!
I want to hear what you do for fun—other
than shooting the breeze and boring holes in
the sky! Send me an E-mail and pictures
concerning what brings lots of smiles to you!
Good friend John Wells (also known as a corn
walker) holds my Slow Stick.
My small video camera operated with a ninevolt
battery. Note the tiny omnidirectional
antenna.
That’s it for this month. Until next month,
have fun and keep in touch!
Associate Vice Presidents
Max Hansen, Huron SD;
[email protected]
H. Michael Harrington, Ft.
Collins CO; wdal@
lamar.colostate.edu
Fred Hildebrand, Casper WY;
[email protected]
Troy Lapp, Mandan ND;
[email protected]
Travis McGinnis, Arvada CO;
[email protected]
Brenda Schuette, Auburn KS;
[email protected]
Jerry Tuttle, Olathe KS;
[email protected]
John Van Brocklin, Hastings
NE; [email protected]
Webmaster: Jim Shaw,
[email protected]
Contest Coordinators:
Mike Tallman, Wichita KS;
[email protected]
Judy Gerken, Denver CO;
[email protected]
Frequency Coordinator:
Steve Mangles, Denver CO;
[email protected]
D i s t r i c t I X Volunteers
District IX
Mark Smith, District IX Vice President; [email protected]
Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/03
Page Numbers: 161