EAA's "Little Wings, Big Dreams" exhibit
John Kagan [[email protected]]
For some people, model aviation is a stepping stone toward full-scale piloting or a career in aeronautics. For others it is a fulfilling, lifelong activity itself. In either case, there are strong connections between modeling and full-scale aircraft.
Many of aviation's top names were, or still are, avid modelers. Full-scale designs are often tested first as models. And basically, people who are interested in flying things tend to like them in any form.
Nowhere has this connection been more evident than during my recent visit to the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. My oldest son and I were on hand for the opening of the museum's new "Little Wings, Big Dreams: Sport Aviation in Miniature" exhibit.
We drove out to set up my fragile 2000 World Champion F1D, on loan for the show, and to fly in the EAA Family Fun Days sessions in the Eagle Hangar. Everyone we met expressed genuine aviation interest and enthusiasm, model and otherwise. When I tell people about my model airplane addiction, they often ask if I ever want to get a pilot's license and fly "real" airplanes (as though, somehow, the craft I put so much time and effort into are not real). When the question came up at the EAA, it was more along the lines of enthusiasts offering encouragement to try their favorite discipline. More often, queries were specific to the models—and educated.
Exploration of the museum further highlighted the crossovers. A home-building display with workbenches, machines, wings, and fuselages in various stages of construction looked similar to every model-building workshop I've ever seen. Ray Stits' incredible Sky Baby—the "world's smallest airplane" until 1984, with a wingspan of 7 feet, 2 inches—and his son Don Stits' Baby Bird—the "world's smallest monoplane" with a wingspan of 6 feet, 3 inches—are tinier than most of my RC gliders. The wood-and-fabric biplanes look like my stick-and-tissue free-flight models, and the composite racers and record setters strongly resemble modern F3B and F3F model sailplanes.
A tour of the staff offices provided final confirmation. Every office and cubicle was filled with airplane posters, models, and artifacts. If you ran across a workspace such as this in a corporate office anywhere else, you'd know you had found a like-minded friend.
Here, everyone was an aviation friend.
H.G. Frautschy, executive director of the EAA's Vintage Aircraft Association, is the driving force behind the new model aviation exhibit. Last year he contacted the National Free Flight Society's Don DeLoach, NFFS Digest editor, and Gene Ulm, public relations and publicity, to coordinate the selection of free-flight models for display.
They, in turn, reached out to the free-flight community. John Lorbiecki, a nearby Wisconsin modeler, helped manage shipping various models and offered up his son's (John Jr.) 2004 World Championship F1J airplane.
Alan Westby, museum director, used these raw materials to craft a stunning, professional display that highlights each artifact to its fullest. There are sections for free flight (FF), control line (CL), radio control (RC), plastic scale, and even paper/card models.
Custom-built Plexiglas cases house interesting aircraft that have historical significance or a championship/record-setting pedigree. The center display depicts a collection of airplanes suspended in various stages of flight. There are even a couple of RC simulators to complete the experience.
The opportunity to put a historic model on display held even more significance for Jim Buxton, a hand-launched glider (HLG) expert. He and his late father, James, spent countless summers at the AirVenture meet and museum; it became an intrinsic part of their lives. James is now remembered with a brick at Compass Hill, a commemorative location overlooking the EAA airfield, and will forever be a part of the site.
Jim shipped his world record-setting F1N glider in an old model box, along with a couple of his dad’s airplanes that were already in it. Upon receipt, Alan chose to put the whole box on display rather than take out the models; glider, photos, diplomas, and all were on display.
The hall fits beautifully with the rest of the full-scale exhibits and makes an already fantastic museum that much more enticing to modelers. To sweeten the pot, the EAA and AMA are working on a plan to offer free museum access for each other’s members. Regardless, the experience is well worth the normal price.
If you love aviation, you owe it to yourself to visit. You can get more information from the EAA website (listed at the end of this column). There’s a photo gallery of the new exhibit, live webcams that you can control, and tons of great aviation information. Check it out.
Dennis and Parker Tyson’s Indoor Products
Parker Tyson, a U.S. Junior F1D team member, and his dad, Dennis, are producing a set of great indoor products to help raise money for their upcoming trip to Serbia for the World Championships.
Their version of the popular food-coloring-bottle glue gun is available for $10. The design features a Teflon micro applicator tip with an integrated cleaning wire. It is easy to regulate the amount of glue dispensed. And if you squeeze the bottle a little before tipping it, you can suck the glue back from the tip when you are done.
I use one of these bottles for all of my indoor building and consider it a must-have. Many people have asked where they could get one, but the previous supplier stopped making them (as far as I am aware). The best I could previously do was recommend an Internet search for do-it-yourself plans. Now I suggest to anyone who has ever been interested in one: get ’em before they’re gone.
The Tysons’ portable balsa stripper sells for $20. It has a comfortable feel, is accurate, and looks like modern art. There has been discussion online about calibrating this tool and marking a scale on the sliding part. This modification works well. Its small size is great for the field box, but the tool also makes building sessions at home more enjoyable.
The pair also offers a brake kit for the inexpensive yellow plastic winders that many people own. It allows you to mount the winder in a stooge and have it hold a wound motor without it spinning off all the turns. This is a handy gadget, for only $15.
Stock up on these nicely made, useful tools and help a junior in the process. The Tysons’ contact info is at the end of the column.
New Indoor FF Video
Elliot Osteroos is a youngster who is getting into video design. He filmed the 2010 Pikes Peak Ceiling Climb indoor contest held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and has produced a 45-minute video of all the action.
This feature includes some great glider competition among a few of the world's best fliers, an F1D regional contested by two-thirds of the current F1D team and a former junior team member, and a bunch of other events.
You can check out Elliot's work and order a copy of his video when you visit the website listed at the end of the column.
S Hooks
Hard O-rings are great for transferring a wound motor from your winding stooge to your airplane. However, the rings don't match well with rounded prop-shaft hooks. The curved hook makes the O-ring twist off to one side and try to climb up the prop shaft.
Best case, the off-balance position detracts from the flight time. Worst case, the O-ring rubs against the motor stick and either stops the propeller or cuts a hole and collapses the stick.
A good solution is to use an S hook on the prop shaft. The O-ring nestles nicely into this shape and is still easy to remove if necessary.
However, S hooks confound many indoorists. I had the opportunity to proxy for my flying buddy, Rob Romash. I was having trouble getting the O-ring to seat on his S hook when I finally realized that he had made the hooks backward.
"Dude, this isn't an S hook; it's a 'Z' hook!" I said.
To make my life easier the next time I have to fly his models—and for anyone else who has ever been interested in making this type of hook—I have included a picture tutorial for forming an S hook in five easy bends. I suggest that you practice with a pipe cleaner first, to get the hang of it. Once you do, you can crank these out in less than a minute.
Sources
- Experimental Aircraft Association
(800) JOIN-EAA www.eaa.org
- Parker and Dennis Tyson:
657 W. Green St. Hastings, MI 49058 (616) 890-4105
- Elliot Osteroos
- National Free Flight Society
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
