Letters to the Editor - 2003/07

Wants the Basics
Concerning the leather fillets mentioned
in D.B. Mathews’ “Flying for Fun” article in
the April 2003 issue, those are a standard
supply item for makers of foundry patterns.
Most cast iron items you see started life as
wooden patterns.
It’s challenging to make wooden
structures in the shape of iron castings,
partly because of the need for lots of nice
fillets, so that industry has developed
practical products. They’re still available, in
wax as well as leather (has anybody used the
wax ones for models?), from pattern making
supply houses such as Freeman
Manufacturing and Supply at (440) 934-
1902 and Kindt-Collins at (216) 252-4122.
Radii available range from 1⁄32 inch to 1
inch.
I love the magazine, and think you do a
great job with it. Like perhaps quite a
portion of your readers I did a lot of
modeling as a kid, then none for 30 years,
and in the last couple of years I’ve returned
to the hobby with enthusiasm.
I’ve been building and flying several
kinds of models, haven’t chosen one type to
specialize in, and don’t know if I will. I’m
fascinated by all the possibilities, and enjoy
the special interest group articles. However,
I wish there was some way to get acquainted
with the basic premise of their models and
the tasks described.
The stunning variety of model aircraft
pursuits makes it impossible even for an old
timer to be up to speed on every kind, and
nobody has the time or opportunity to try
them all. The articles, and the activities
themselves, might attract more interest if an
uninitiated reader could tell what was going
on.
I don’t want a complete beginner’s
primer in every update, but a brief
description of the kinds of models used, and
what they’re trying to achieve, might make
the special interest articles more appealing.
Chuck Taylor
San Francisco, California
Microhenrys Memories
Guess what? The April and May issues
of Model Aviation got mixed up in my stack
of mail, so that I read the May issue first, in
which was the second of Bob Aberle’s
excellent introductions to radio control
systems. To my great sorrow, I find in the
April issue the announcement that there will
be no more Microhenrys.
Saying that this strip has been one of
Model Aviation’s most popular features is
the understatement of the century. As I
wrote in an earlier Letter to the Editor (June
10, 1996), “The Microhenrys” was my
favorite item in the magazine and the one to
which I turned first before looking at
anything else.
I also noted in that letter that the title is
extremely clever, embodying not only Ed’s
name but being in fact the appropriate unit
of inductance for the coils used in our RC
apparatus. I might add that I wrote to Ed
personally in 1998 to congratulate him on
the tenth anniversary of this creation and
received a nice letter in return.
Finally, in response to a poll Ed sent out
asking if people liked his strip, I wrote
another Letter to the Editor (February 27,
1999) expressing my enthusiasm and again
mentioning that saying I liked it was the
understatement of the century.
The passing of “The Microhenrys” is
indeed a sad event, and I shall treasure more
than ever two clips from the strip that are
posted here in my study: the one where
Margie’s man proposes to her via a banner
towed by his model airplane and a
subsequent one in which the two of them are
flying their respective models and he says,
“My life was great until you came along—
now it’s perfect.”
Dean S. Edmonds Jr.
Naples, Florida
Finally Flying RC
As a new member of the AMA I read
with interest my first AMA magazine and
was impressed with the quality of the
articles and the wide range of model
interests catered for. Although a new
member I am not new to aero modeling; in
fact I have been involved in many ways for
some fifty five years.
I have recently moved to the USA from
England where I started modeling at around
the age of eleven with a Frog 100 (1cc. or
0.08 cu. in.) diesel engine and a beginners
control line model, the Frog Radius.
After leaving school I worked as an
apprentice for de Havilland Aircraft Co. and
built full scale instead of models. This was
followed by service in the Royal Air Force
where yet again I went back to modeling
with an O.S. .35 purchased in Germany in
1959.
The modeling bug was put to rest for a
long while with the appearance of a wife
and then three children but re-emerged
around the time my son was eleven in 1975.
By this time I was a teacher and ran a model
club at the school and introduced my son
and a great many other young people to the
hobby and I was still using the O.S. engine
bought in Germany and still going strong.
From the very early days when RC flight
was in its infancy with single valve (vacuum
tube) transmitters and receivers and rubber
drive escapement servos I wanted to
progress to this arm of the hobby. I even
started to build the radio gear myself but ran
out of cash, as a schoolboy’s pocket money
did not stretch very far even in those days.
I am now in my sixty sixth year and have
at last gotten around to flying RC. As an
introduction to RC I purchased the complete
ARF trainer combo from Pacific Aero
Models and have been very pleased with the
ease of construction and the general clarity
of the instructions.
I would agree with your correspondent,
Roger Gonzalez [April 2003 “Letters to the
Editor”], with regard to the super large
models and the costs involved. Even at my
age I would find myself in the same
situation that I did as a boy with regard to
flying RC; the cost is way beyond my ability
to meet, and if building from scratch the
space requirements are beyond what an
average house could accommodate.
Again I would congratulate you on the
quality of the magazine, it caters for all
branches of the hobby as well as keeping
members up to date with coming event and
centre news. I found many of the articles
on other branches of the hobby of great
interest as I like to be at least cognizant of
what is happening in other peoples’ areas
of interest.
James Driver
Vancouver, Washington
Fuel Bottles
In the May issue of Model Aviation
“Letters to the Editor” Kent Eagle
mentioned the MSR Fuel bottle. MSR
stands for Mountain Safety Research. The
bottles are for lightweight backpacking
stoves.
The bottles come in three sizes: 11 oz.,
22 oz., 32 oz. They have screw tops with an
O-ring to match the fuel. Gasoline,
kerosene, and alcohol. Kerosene is a
fractionation cut of liquid off the primary
tower when processing crude oil. You have
to specify the fuel to be assured the proper
O-ring is furnished.
After some ten years away from diesel
engines I’m playing around with conversion
heads for 0.02, 0.049, and an 0.03 diesel.
The 11 oz. bottles I am using are aluminum
and fit into a six pack carrier with a little ice
to keep the diesel fuel fresh.
The fuel bottles are manufactured in
Canada. They are available through
Footsloggers, 139 South Depot Street, Boon,
North Carolina 28607, phone (828) 262-
5121, ask for Jason Berry.
Mountain Safety Research, PO Box
24547, Seattle WA 98124.
Hope this will help other modelers. MA
Frederick E. “Gene” Nevin
Jacksonville, Illinois
Model Aviation, 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302
Letters to the Editor
July 2003 9