Modeling Spoken Here - 2003/07

I’VE JUST RETURNED from the 2003
Weak Signals RC Exposition in Ohio, which
is otherwise known to us all as the “Toledo
Show.” In recent years I’ve been less than
impressed by this show; it just didn’t seem to
have the impact that it had in the past. Toledo
is where all of us in the hobby industry go to
be re-energized and informed about the
directions in which our hobby/sport is headed.
To be clear, my disappointment was not
with the show’s management; that has always
maintained a very high level of
professionalism and service. My hat is off to
the Weak Signals club for their monumental
effort each year. I was just not happy with the
apparent trends within the hobby/sport. All of
that changed this year for me at Toledo. And
it changed decidedly for the better.
I’ve been in a sort of funk lately. I’ve been
dreading that the hobby/sport has been
steadily heading toward becoming just a
sport, and a casual sport at that. The
development of quality, affordable, and greatflying
Almost Ready-to-Fly models (ARFs)
had convinced me that the rest of the
pastime—designing, building, and personal
innovation—was on a rapidly declining path,
destined never to return again.
What I saw at Toledo this year has
certainly altered that line of thinking for me,
and will hopefully also be recognized by
others who have shared my dismal outlook.
Yes, sometimes the light at the end of the
tunnel is not the headlight of the oncoming
train!
There were lots and lots of beautiful ARF,
ARC (Almost Ready-to-Cover), and RTF
(Ready-to-Fly) offerings on display and for
sale. There were a significant number of
impressive Giant Scale offerings. There was
an abundance of electric and indoor/park flyer
electric-flight product available. In the past
few years, each of these areas has seemed to
take turns being the single biggest modeling
trend.
This year each of those areas was still
strong and well represented, but there was
also an abundance of kit manufacturers with
new product, suppliers of building materials
who seemed to be doing brisk business, plans
services that had lots of action at their booths,
and certainly many suppliers of ancillary
modeling hardware items.
There were even a good number of
Control Line (CL) and FF (Free Flight)
products on display, and even two new CL
ARF offerings that garnered a great deal of
attention. In short, now there appears to be a
place for everyone and every interest. I didn’t
think that this would ever come to pass, and
now I’m extremely pleased to know that I
was wrong.
My greatest hope is that we can all have
not only tolerance, but also enthusiasm and
true respect for each other’s modeling interest
areas. This year’s Toledo show went a long
way to encouraging me to believe that this is
possible.
The Calvagna Boys: Here’s an amazing
human-interest story that I heard about at
Toledo. It seems that our Radio Control (RC)
Giant Scale columnist Sal Calvagna met up
by chance with Pete Calvagna (who runs a
Hitec RCD service center) at the show.
(Aren’t name tags great?) Since they have the
same last name, and apparently one that is
fairly uncommon, they began comparing life
stories.
They came to realize that their
grandfathers were actually brothers who
came through Ellis Island together when they
first immigrated to America. The brothers
were separated then; one stayed in New York
(Sal’s grandfather), and the other settled in
the Midwest (Pete’s grandfather).
What are the odds that the two grandsons
of these men would find their way into model
aviation as a hobby and, furthermore, find
their way into the hobby industry and meet at
a trade show for the first time? It truly is a
small world.
Caprice Update: In last month’s editorial I
waxed enthusiastic about my new Stunt
model—the Caprice—and promised a report
after its competition debut. If you recall, I
wrote a bit about how the component
Bob Hunt Aeromodeling Editor
… there appears to
be a place for everyone
and every interest.
Photo by Paul Vliet
Modeling Spoken Here
Continued on page 183
July 2003 7
alig
use
Ca
wit
tur
loc
bet
bui
sec
con
Ch
tota
We
Yo
tele
E-m
sna
180
alignment was achieved through the use of
a foam building board.
I’m very pleased to report that the
Caprice flew “right off the board,” with
virtually no trim adjustments. It turns equal
upright and inverted, and it locks on a
straight line after a turn better than almost
any model I’ve ever built.
The real bonus for me was a secondplace
finish out of 79 contestants at the
Vintage Stunt Championships with only 18
flights total on the model. Who beat me?
Bill Werwage—again!
You can get in touch with me by telephone
at (610) 614-1747, through E-mail at
[email protected], or by snail mail at
Box 68, Stockertown PA 18083.