The Inside Loop - 2010/04

I’m really not into woodworking.
Building cabinets, boats, and furniture is
an art and I love watching television
shows and reading magazines specialized in
creative shop projects. What I don’t like is
that sawing, sanding, routing, and chopping
wood creates a giant mess, not to mention the
tools used are really dangerous.
But I will build a model airplane. Now
isn’t that strange?
Not hardly. You can’t fly a bookcase or
hover a birdhouse. The skills to make either a
model or breadbox are respectively shared,
but airplanes are cool.
When it comes to models, all of those shop
skills converge at the flying field and matter
even more. It’s not like a dresser or bed frame
is going to try to cut your finger off once it’s
moved against the wall. Our models deserve a
certain level of respect at all times.
I’m not saying that the preceding makes us
modelers better than people like Norm
Abrams (a hero of mine), but after the project
is done, we modelers still have to be on our
toes. Safety is a constant concern.
Flying, spinning, flipping, and diving
objects are a potential danger we must respect.
It’s a challenge that makes being a part of the
aeromodeling activity so rewarding.
We at MA are thrilled to show modelers
enjoying the hobby. The images that often
appear most dramatic are the flight shots.
Even more striking are the images that
show the RC pilot and the aircraft being flown
in the same photo frame. Such imagery adds a
level of perspective to the excitement we
sometimes take for granted.
However, some members have seen our
presentation of such imagery as irresponsible.
Look at the RC helicopter column on page
109. The photo of a person demonstrating the
windmill effect of a helicopter, and the other
of an inverted helicopter with its pilot and
caller in the background, are of particular
interest.
Both of these images portray specific
lessons that should be clearly understood.
Neither of them, nor similar images printed in
the past, is an example of safety
irresponsibility.
In fact, printing them is an opportunity to
heighten awareness and sensibility. Do we
want photographers to haphazardly run out in
front of speeding aircraft to get that stellar
shot? Certainly not!
The photos we have printed, like these,
have all been subject to questions regarding
safety and answered to us that every safety
precaution was taken. And you know what?
That’s great to hear.
We could avoid showing you pictures that,
from a certain perspective, are deemed
examples of less-than-safe practices. But
burying our heads in the sand, avoiding the
points and examples of why we need to be
safe, is also irresponsible.
The topic of safety, being so important, is
also why we have a department in the
6 MODEL AVIATION
Editor Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
The Inside Loop
Published by The Academy of Model Aeronautics
Rob Kurek
Director of Publications
Editorial offices: (765) 287-1256, extension
224 (8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays); Fax: (765)
281-7907
Contributing Editors
Dave Mathewson
President
Mark Smith
Executive Vice President
Staff
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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 FAIrelated
aeromodeling activities such as record attempts,
competition sanctions, and selection of U.S. teams for
World Championships. (ISSN 0744-5059, USPS 087-930
Publications Agreement No. 40688541) is owned
exclusively by The Academy of Model Aeronautics, Inc.,
a nonprofit organization, and published monthly at 5161
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Account Executive Angie Martin
Administrative Assistant Yolanda Jones
Assistant Editor Jay Smith
Communications Specialist Ashley Rauen
Director of Design/Production Carla Kunz
Editor Michael Ramsey
Graphic Designer Sarah Shaw
Managing Editor Shelia Ames Webb
Production Associate Jennifer Orebaugh
Senior Editor Elizabeth Helms
Stan Alexander
Bob Angel
Bill Boss
Paul Bradley
Sal Calvagna
Scott Causey
Lee Estingoy
Mark Fadely
Dave Garwood
Dave Gee
Greg Gimlick
A.C. Glenn
Albert Glenn
John Glezellis
Jim T. Graham
Donald Grissom
Jim Hiller
Louis Joyner
John Kagan
Rich Lopez
Joe Malinchak
Dennis Norman
Dean Pappas
Richard L. Perry
Red Scholefield
Gene Smith
Joe Wagner
Editor Emeritus Bob Hunt
Technical Editor Bob Aberle
Maintain your diligence …
CFO/Treasurer Doug Holland
I
Postmaster: Send address changes to Academy of Model
Aeronautics, 5161 East Memorial Drive, Muncie IN 47302, Attn:
Membership Department
Executive Director Jim Cherry
magazine dedicated to the subject of safety.
The war stories therein can be very
entertaining, but in no way a laughing matter.
To those members who have expressed
concern over the safety of our members and
the photographers who have brought us great
imagery, “thank you.” Maintain your
diligence, as it helps us sustain ours.
Likewise, go out there and have fun with
your model aircraft.
In the meantime, if you really want
something to poke your eye out with, or to
mud up your lungs with balsa dust, check out
Don DeLoach’s elegant catapult-launch Glider.
The Ellipsix is an FF model with all the bells
and whistles. That’s because Don designed it
well enough that having them fly away proved
too traumatic—so he built the version we’ve
presented you here, which has a DT.
Notice that the plans for this design fit
full-scale on the magazine pages. When Don
gave us the model, the wish was that the
Ellipsix would help convince young and old
modelers to build for the first time or pick it
up again. You don’t have to have the likes of
the New Yankee Workshop to call your
build space; this is a project that fits on a
folding dinner tray.
Frank Granelli’s article, “A Tail of Two
Airplanes,” isn’t a review. On the contrary, it
includes some information that takes his
feature out of the review category and spitshines
it into the how-to or upgrade category.
Frank knows how to fly better than
Santa Claus. His article includes the kind
of information we all want and need to
make our model airplanes perform better,
last longer, and, oh yeah—enable us to fly
more safely. MA
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