Modeling Spoken Here - 2004/08

THEY SAY CONFESSION is good for the
soul. In a few minutes my soul should be in
wonderful shape!
In the April MA, “Engines 101” was
published as part of the ongoing “From the
Ground Up” series. It was intended to be an
integral part of the informational series for
beginners that began in the March 2003 issue.
The response to that series has been
wonderful and extremely positive for the
most part. Many have called or written to let
us know how much they enjoy the series and
how much it has helped them. We have been
overwhelmingly gratified by this response,
and have roundly patted ourselves on the
back for our foresight and wisdom.
What was that old saying about what
wipes out a lot of attaboys? Well, never mind.
Let’s just say that we were well and truly
grounded after receiving the first salvo of
reviews about the first “From the Ground
Up” installment dedicated to explaining
model-airplane engines, their theory, and
their operation.
We have been informed—and we agree—
that some of the information included in that
first article was misleading and some was just
plain wrong. And as President Truman liked
to say, “The buck stops here” on the matter of
accountability for the misinformation. I must
stand up and apologize to all of you for
letting any misinformation slip through into
publication.
I will offer no excuses; it’s my job to see
that the information we print is as correct and
accurate as possible. I’ve always been able to
make engines run well, prop them efficiently,
and make them respond to various tunings,
but I’m afraid that I’m just now realizing that
I still have much to learn about the actual
theory of their operation. Apparently Frank
Granelli and I are in the same boat in this
respect to some degree.
I asked Frank to write these pieces about
engines in good faith that he could pass on
the proper information. In his defense, the
majority of the information he presented was
valid, but there were a few gray areas and one
or two that absolutely needed correction.
I’ve known Frank for more than 23 years
and have only known him to be helpful,
sincere, and quick to serve our community. If
he has a fault here, it is that he wanted to do
as much as he could for newcomers as
quickly as he could.
We are both learning a hard lesson here.
And we are both “going back to school” on
engine theory and operation to ensure that we
don’t make a similar mistake again. Again,
Frank is not at fault here for this information
being published; that distinction belongs to
me.
In this issue we are running “Engines 101
Revisited.” This piece has been reviewed by
several engine experts, and we are confident
that it addresses the issues that were in error
in “Engines 101.”
We have established a review board to
take a look at all articles that contain technical
material, just to be certain that all the
information we present is accurate and valid.
So to put a positive “spin” on this, let’s agree
that mistakes happen, but how we handle
them and grow from them is the key.
There, I feel a bit better. I hope you will all
judge this mistake with just a thought to the
abundance of accurate and successful material
we have presented in the past.
Skinny Scale: The T-28 Trojan construction
article featured in this issue is, in our opinion,
an excellent example of original thinking.
Gary Fuller decided that he wanted a sport
scale model of a famous Navy training
airplane. This subject would have been
challenging to design as a simply constructed
model if strict scale outlines were retained.
Gary wanted to capture the essence of the
design but produce it in a very easy-to-build
format.
Profile models are simple to build, but
they leave a lot to be desired in
equipment mounting and in proper
torsional support of the flying surfaces.
Gary’s solution of a very narrow fuselage
that has the right look from a side view—
but is just wide enough to house the servos,
battery, receiver, and engine—seems to
open a whole new vista of design
possibilities for subjects that are normally
Bob Hunt Aeromodeling Editor
... mistakes happen,
but how we handle
them and grow from
them is the key.
Modeling Spoken Here
Continued on page 191
August 2004 7
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passed by because of their complexity.
We asked Gary if we could call this new
concept “Skinny Scale,” and he agreed.
The T-28 is the first of Gary’s work
that we have published, but it certainly
won’t be the last. In fact, I’ve just hung
up the phone from a conversation with
Gary about his next project. He’s working
on a Lockheed P2V Neptune twin-engine
model. It, too, will receive the Fuller
“Skinny Scale” treatment.
I’m particularly excited about this one
because when I was young I lived near
Willow Grove Naval Air Station (just
outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), and
P2Vs were operating from there all day
and all night long. They would pass right
over my house on their approach to the
Air Station, and I came to love the sight
of them.
If you have a favorite full-scale
airplane but have been reluctant to model
it because it is too complicated, why not
give Gary’s treatment a try?
If you feel the need to contact me (or yell
at me), I can be reached at Box 68,
Stockertown PA 18083. My telephone
number is (610) 614-1747, and I can be
reached by E-mail at
[email protected]. I checked, doublechecked,
and triple-checked this
paragraph, and I’m 100% sure that this
information is accurate. MA