Flying for Fun
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IT'S BEEN DONE: The September and October 2001 "Flying for Fun" columns featured Radio Control (RC) model airplanes constructed from cardboard.
Flying buddy Dennis Reichenberger developed the construction techniques illustrated, and several others have used them to build some very practical models.
I suggested that I'd develop a construction article using Dennis's methods and techniques. The mail response to that offer indicates a great deal of interest in alternative construction materials, leading me to seriously consider designing and publishing a cardboard model.
I designed the Capra, which had a foam-core fuselage and empennage, that was published in the February 1982 Flying Models, but I had never done anything in cardboard.
In a letter, Steven Baker of Matthews NC pointed out that he had designed and published a 40- to 60-size cardboard P-51 in the September 1998 Radio Control Modeler.
The article is comprehensive in explaining the techniques used and can well serve as the baseline from which various designs could be developed. There is a great deal of balsa in Steven's design, but the base material is cardboard.
The plans package includes a reproduction of the text, so those with an interest in constructing RC models from cardboard can order Plan 1222 or obtain a copy of the magazine at your local library.
If this isn't enough, Brian Cardnal has kits for several sizes and styles of cardboard models. Visit his Web site at http://members.aol.com/acelbird or contact him at <REDACTED>; Tel.: <REDACTED>.
Brian also has a videotape and typed instructions for sale. He has models ranging from large gas-powered units to 40-size wild fliers.
The photos on his Web site do not do justice to the models; use your imagination when visiting the site, and you will see some very interesting cardboard RC model kits.
Pixels: When I started writing for magazines 27 years ago, the only photos that could be printed successfully were black-and-white non-Polaroid®.
A few years later, the printing processes improved enough to reproduce color prints in black-and-white, and we've seen steady improvement since — not only in the printing process, but in the quality of mostly 35mm SLR (Single Lens Reflex) photography sent to us.
Now comes the digital camera.
These devices are undeniably wonderful for presenting a reproduction of the photo (well, sort of) on the built-in screen, then you can download the image into a personal computer for on-screen viewing and storage.
This is analogous to the appeal of the Polaroid® cameras; that is, instant photos for those who want or need to see the finished photo quickly without too much concern about quality.
The digital camera and one-hour processors recently forced Polaroid® into bankruptcy.
Unfortunately, many digital photos are not acceptable for reproduction in a magazine. The dots (pixels) are too far apart, producing very grainy images that are often slightly out of focus.
This is much like a television screen, in that only so many dots per inch are available whether the screen is eight-inch or 42 inches. Hence the much crisper picture on a small set.
Another way to illustrate this problem is to use a magnifying glass to compare the spacing of the pixels between a newspaper and a magazine photo.
Digital 3.0-or-higher cameras are available with a minimum of 300 dpi (pixels per square inch). Pictures from these are usable; staff photographers at magazines and newspapers often use them.
The units cost $1,500 and up. (Editor's note: Many are now available in the $600-$900 price range.)
For publication use, the digital image needs to be cleaned up with one of the photo programs in the computer then submitted on a memory card or disc. Average-cost printers do not reproduce usable pictures.
If you do a side-by-side comparison, photos that are taken with lower-priced digital cameras then printed directly onto paper don't compare at all to color prints.
All of this is most unfortunate; I continue to receive digital images of very interesting subjects that the magazines cannot accept.
I suggest that you invest in a 300-dpi (or better) digital camera, an image program, and an expensive printer, or continue to submit color prints. Sorry!
Happy Faces: I'm on the E-mailing list for the North Coast Controliners (Ohio) monthly newsletter. It is excellent, with the usual reports of club activities mixed in with some great hints and kinks and lovely photos printed in color.
A recent issue contained some photos of youngsters trying Control Line (CL) flying for the first time. I was struck by the happiness around their mouths and eyes, and the concentration on their brows.
I found them so cheerful that I asked photographer Will Rubin if I could borrow them to share.
Ron Lutz (the president) was the driving force behind this activity. He had observed CL introduction flights at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Oshkosh Fly-In during the last several years, supported mostly by Sig.
Ron's goal was to combine this introductory CL flying with a Young Eagles Day sponsored by his local EAA chapter. EAA chapters across the country are providing free rides in full-scale aircraft to local kids in an effort to generate interest in aviation.
Ron set up a flying circle close to the registration tent for the EAA rides. He and his clubmates offered free flying lessons to those youngsters. It's an inspired concept.
The activity was so successful, and the EAA chapter was so delighted, that the North Coast Controliners have planned a repeat event, to take place soon.
Looking at those young faces, it is obvious that the children enjoyed the whole thing.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the longtime L.M. Cox Mfg. "fly a model" activities at the Navy Nationals. The wild popularity of introductory CL flights is natural and universal. I clearly recall long lines of kids waiting their turn to fly inside the snow-fence circles.
I also recall Dale Kim in charge and the approach to the inevitable crashes of the Cox PT-19 trainers. Dale and his helpers had no time to repair the models with all those kids waiting, so the crashed airplanes were tossed into a 55-gallon drum, to be salvaged later.
Have you ever seen 55 gallons of wrecked models?
I've written about the EAA Young Eagles program before, but this time I'd like to get some CL clubs to start thinking about the natural tie-in to those full-scale "kid flights" held across the country.
Do you see some potential for modeling promotion here? I certainly hope so.
What a wonderful opportunity to introduce youngsters to the joys of flying for fun! MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
