Modeling Spoken Here

I could not let this milestone pass without a few comments. IF YOU WERE to flip through an issue of Model Aviation, one thing that might catch your eye is the large number of monthly and bimonthly special-interest columns that are included. If you are like most modelers, you usually turn immediately to the column that covers your particular interest area. This is understandable; you want information and news about your favorite part of the hobby/sport. I wonder how many of you take the time to read all of the columns that are published each month. Not too many I'd bet. Being in the content editor's seat, I must read each one and try my best to understand all the information presented, and clarify it if need be. Might sound a bit tedious to you, but I've found it to be the best part of the month for me. I get to read about what is new and exciting in each area, and I have gleaned dozens of tips that I can incorporate into my modeling from disciplines that are totally different from my own. I also get to keep a finger on the pulse of each interest area so I have a good idea in which direction the entire sport is going. It's been an education in respect and admiration for all facets of the hobby/sport and for those who have taken it upon themselves to be the reporters for each of those many facets. The sheer volume of information produced by our columnists in a given year of publication is staggering. More impressive is the scope of that information. Columnists have a wide range of subject matter that they can write about, and most seem to be able to easily fill their allotted space with material to spare. Trust me, these dedicated columnists are not exactly getting rich by writing for a model-airplane magazine, so they must be doing all of this for some other reason. What has taken me off on this particular tangent? This month marks the end of an era in my favorite interest area of the hobby/sport in Model Aviation. Frank McMillan, the columnist who has been writing the Control Line (CL) Aerobatics (Stunt) column for almost 13 years, has decided to retire and pass the reins. I could not let this milestone pass without a few comments. I met Frank in 1974 at the Lake Charles Nationals. We hit it off as friends immediately. We both shared a deep love and respect for the event, its legendary heroes and their legacy, the technology, and the competition. I instantly felt as if I'd known Frank for many years. Photo by Paul Vliet In fact, I'd known about Frank for many years. In his younger days he was one of the East Coast's best fliers. He won the fabled Mirror Meet CL Stunt crown in 1956, flying his own design called the Gambler. The Stunt event at the Mirror Meet was unlike any other Stunt contest in the country. The pattern was made up of so many maneuvers that it took two flights to complete one pattern! The maneuvers were also unique, with such figures as the Bolo Wingover. in which you had to complete six loops while doing a wingover! The pattern was challenging to the point that many of the day's competition models were just not up to the task. The Gambler was. It was light, high-powered, and fast! The model was published in Model Airplane News the following year, and I wore out the pages of that issue just reading and rereading that article. The Gambler was based on a variant of the Veco Chief wing, but it had some really aggressive aesthetics that made it look like it was going a hundred miles an hour when it was sitting still. An elliptical tail design and a racy helmet cowl set this model apart from the normal models. It was beautiful, and it made me want to design my own racy-looking Stunt model too! Yes. Frank had made some serious noise in the Stunt event and was certainly on his way at an early age to becoming one of the event's legends; but here's where the fairy tale took a strange twist. Suddenly Frank was gone from the competition scene, and he wasn't heard of again until the early 1970s. Where did he go? Frank joined the Air Force and decided to make it his life's work as a career officer. His decision to join the service was a spontaneous one, made in front of a Times Square recruiting office in 1958. After initial testing he was enrolled in the Air Force's Aviation Cadets Program, and graduated with a navigator's rating and a commission as a second lieutenant. In 1961 Frank was assigned to a Strategic Air Command B-52 squadron as an electronic warfare officer, and he ultimately logged 3.500 hours in the big Boeing bombers. He received a spot promotion to captain then served as a senior standardization officer. From 1966 through 1973, Frank flew strategic reconnaissance missions in RC-135s, and then he was promoted to major and sent to Air Command and Staff school. He then served one year on AC-130 gunships in Thailand. After that, he was transferred to SAC's home base in Omaha, Nebraska, as a staff officer and was eventually assigned as squadron commander of the unit responsible for the maintenance of the SAC Airborne Command Post and the Presidential Airborne Command Post. Heavy stuff! Frank then attended the Air War College and was ultimately assigned to Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where he served as director of Plans and Programs for the Electronic Security Command (now the Air Intelligence Service). He retired from the Air Force in 1985 at the rank of colonel. So did his years of service preclude a successful Stunt-flying career? Not hardly! Frank came back to Stunt flying with his skills intact and went on to be a consistent Top Ten performer, nearly winning it all in 1999. His close second-place finish that year has only fueled his desire to reach the pinnacle of his chosen event. In the mean time, Frank has continued his history of service with a stint as PAMPA's (Precision Aerobatics Model Pilots Association) vice president in the mid-1970s and as its current president. And, of course, he has been our CL Aerobatics columnist for nearly 13 years. That's some life. And most of it has been spent in service in one way or another. I want to personally thank Frank for his service to our country through some turbulent times, and also for his service to our sport when he could just as easily have spent all his spare time in search of personal glory on the flying field. He's been a great friend to me. but he is also one of my all-time heroes. I believe that all of our columnists have the same spirit of giving that Frank has displayed, and that is the real reason why they continue to write. It's in their nature to serve. Let's all resolve to give these special modelers an extra measure of thanks and respect for all they do. That can best be done by reading what they have to say. You can get in touch with me at (610) 614-1747, or you can write to me at Box 68, Stockertown PA 18083. My E-mail address is [email protected]. AM