The Inside Loop - 2008/02

The Inside Loop continued on page 160
he other day my youngest son,
Jacob, asked me to make him
breakfast.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I don’t know; surprise me!” he replied,
after which he went upstairs to get dressed
and brush his teeth. He returned to the
kitchen to find a boiling-hot pot on the stove.
Naturally he thought I was cooking him
breakfast, so he stirred the contents of the pot.
The look of surprise when he scooped up the
frothy, black contents was priceless. At that
moment a main gear, control horn, and tailrotor
blade slid off the limply gripped spoon.
“Do you expect me to eat this?” he asked.
Obviously the soup of Rit dye and hot
water didn’t look appetizing. Maybe Dave
Gee should comment about this incident in
his safety column.
Today’s modeler is always multitasking
to fit little jobs of a project into the schedule
mix. The assortment of tasks most often
creates interesting surprises along the way.
That particular morning Jacob happened
upon his dad’s custom-colored nylon
helicopter parts brewing on the kitchen stove,
while his steaming-hot apple-cinnamon
oatmeal was in the microwave above. I hope
there never comes a day when I get those two
recipes mixed up.
We are all multitasking these days. While
I’m at home doing one thing I’m probably
trying to figure out how to get something
done on a model at the same time.
My workshop has its own private exit. I
have found that if I leave for work, or come
home, through the shop door, it helps me
find a moment to work on whatever project
is on the table. Even if it is something as
simple as installing a screw or doing a quick
read of instructions, the little tasks add up to
get the whole project finished.
As you turn the pages of this issue, you will
see a good mix of surprises, all of which
were very well planned. (No, there is nothing
strange in your breakfast.) One of the articles
that I would really like the readers to pay
close attention to is by Donald Brooks on
how to determine static thrust.
Now, before you decide that sipping a
cup of hot Rit dye is a better idea than
reading an article filled with math equations,
I want you to consider the benefits of what
Don has put together for us. To make things
easier to digest, we broke the feature up into
several sidebars. This article will teach you
how a specific propeller will perform, no
matter what aircraft is used during the test.
Who wouldn’t want to know that?
For any pilot, thrust is everything. After
all, you do not want to pull your model into a
hover and find out at the wrong moment that
you are out of power. If a person travels to a
field far from home, there is a good chance
that weather and altitude density are going to
change the airplane’s performance. This
Editor Michael Ramsey
T
article will prepare you for those occasions
also.
Have you ever doodled an airplane that
looked as though it could be a great model?
Members of the Aeroguidance Society have
stared at their club logo for nearly 50 years
with just that thought.
The little blue airplane in that artwork
had a timeless look that finally inspired Bob
Noll and Ken Maroni to team up and get
one together. They involved the entire club
in the design process, in the hope that most
of the members would want to build one.
The AGS Retro fits the bill for anyone
looking to build a 40-size sport model. Its
control surfaces are modest compared to
those of the 3-D models offered today, but
the benefit is that it will perform great with
average stock servos. RC Aerobatics
(Pattern) fliers designed it; if they put their
seal of approval on the model, rest assured
it has precision potential.
We labeled the model a “beginner’s”
build project because Ken went to great
lengths to detail the plans and include many
of the templates on separate sheets. The
stick-building part of the fuselage and tail
surfaces is a lot of fun to do, although it’s
more time-consuming than straight sheet
surfaces.
Again, the Pattern designer has shown a
talent for light building. Along with careful
wood selection, if the builder can get the
model’s weight near the specified 4 pounds,
he or she will have an incredible flier that
should also do well at the next club building
contest.
I saw Doug Crumley’s Storch for the
first time two years ago—about the time
when I started with MA. The model was just
The Inside Loop
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Model Aviation is an official publication of The Academy
of Model Aeronautics, Inc., an associate member of the
National Aeronautic Association (NAA). NAA is the official
U.S. representative of the Fédération Aéronautique
Internationale (FAI), the world governing body for sport
aviation, and represents the U.S. at FAI meetings. NAA
delegated to the AMA supervision of FAI-related
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Account Executive Angela Martin
Administrative Assistant Yolanda Jones
Director of Design/Production Carla Kunz
Editor Michael Ramsey
Executive Editor Elizabeth Helms
Graphic Designer Sarah Shaw
Managing Editor Shelia Ames Webb
Production Associate Jennifer Orebaugh
Stan Alexander
Bob Angel
Darwin Barrie
Bill Boss
Paul Bradley
Sal Calvagna
Mark Fadely
Dave Garwood
Dave Gee
Greg Gimlick
John Glezellis
Jim T. Graham
Eric Henderson
Jim Hiller
Louis Joyner
John Kagan
Rich Lopez
Dave Mark
D.B. Mathews
Dennis Norman
Dean Pappas
Richard L. Perry
Matt Russell
Red Scholefield
Gene Smith
Joe Wagner
Editor Emeritus Bob Hunt
Technical Editor Bob Aberle
Today’s modeler is always
multitasking ...
6 MODEL AVIATION
02sig1.QXD 12/20/07 9:02 AM Page 6in the bare bones, but the level of detail
was impressive.
I was inspired and poked my nose
around the sticks and wire as much as I
could. The nice thing about Doug’s Ed
Andrews model was that it maintained the
giant greenhouse cockpit because it had a
prototypical steel-tube frame.
Doug was well on his way to a Scale
Masters-winning aircraft and had already
documented a lot of the building sequence.
His project reminded me of those hours
spent in my father’s workshop, just
hanging out watching him work on
something. Even though I was not doing
any of the work, it was as though I was
absorbing his talent.
“The Storch and Me” article is Doug’s
short account of the project, along with a
number of juicy photos. There’s a great
deal to tell about an undertaking such as
this, so we’ve shown off his work in the
magazine.
But for an even more detailed account,
more photos, and a video, click your way
to the MA Web site (www.modelair
craft.org/mag/index.htm) for this new
exclusive online feature. Let’s hope that
some of Doug’s talent in these pages spills
over into your modeling project. MA