Old-Timers
Bob Angel | [email protected]
Flying near animals and how they react
Also included in this column:
- Frank Zaic and his Year Books
- Michael Rolls’ models
- How high?
- Electric Old-Timers
Horses and models
I'll pass along an experience that could be helpful to others in acquiring or retaining a flying site.
Our Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) Chapter 26’s home flying field is a farm in open country, because many of our Old-Timer (OT) models are flown without mufflers. Few of the older engines were designed for or furnished with mufflers, and it’s impractical to retrofit most of them without warping or damaging something and/or causing overheating. This is especially true when using the original hot-burning, gasoline-based fuels.
A lady and her daughter, who live in the house nearest our field, are serious riders who keep horses on the property. They share the area with us and have some jumping bars and gymkhana slalom pylons at the far end of the field. They sometimes stop by on a morning ride and exchange pleasantries.
One day, Dick Fischer asked if our engine noise was a disturbance. Her reply was that our sounds were welcome, because the horses get so used to the otherwise quiet surroundings that they become too easily spooked by any noise. She said the horses quickly adapt to the engine sounds and it helps train them to accept other sudden or loud noises without becoming nervous or upset.
We’ve noticed before that animals and birds readily tolerate models flying nearby. That’s something to keep in mind when negotiating for flying field privileges.
Frank Zaic’s Year Books
Frank Zaic’s Year Books are known to most OT modelers and are good sources of information for newcomers to OT flying. Some limited reprints are still available through AMA and other sources. Originals and reprints are in the original 5½ x 8¼-inch orange-bound format containing articles, sketches, and miniature plans.
Two of my favorites are the 1937 and 1938 Model Aeronautic Year Books, because they contain more drawings than average of the gas-powered models of the era. All volumes in the series also contain many rubber aircraft, gliders, and early aerodynamic theory.
Frank Zaic was born in Slovenia in 1912 and came to the US through Ellis Island at age 10. He knew no English but learned quickly and became an avid reader. Frank later wrote more than 15 books and many technical papers. What I believe was his final book, Frankly Speaking, is a combination autobiography and personal philosophy.
In later years, Frank moved to Guatemala City, Guatemala, where he passed away in 2005. His biography is impressive and much too voluminous to cover here in any detail, but I’ll share a few highlights. He was an Air Force veteran, a patent draftsman, and he flew full-scale gliders out of Elmira, New York.
Frank created JASCO, the Junior Aeronautical Supply Company, whose model kits and supplies are well known to Old-Timers. He also created the JETCO line of kits.
He was a prolific model designer and competitor, and he formed the Aeronuts club in New York City. One of AMA’s founders, Frank designed the red, white, and blue AMA winged emblem. He and Lieutenant H. W. Alden started MA in 1935.
I met Frank in person just once and found him to be soft-spoken, unassuming, and a gentleman. For a more thorough background, you can read Frank Zaic’s biography online in the AMA History Program (see “Sources”).
Michael Rolls’ models
Michael Rolls’ models are often overlooked “sleepers” in OT competition. I know of only the two published designs, shown in Zaic’s 1938 Model Aeronautics Year Book, but both exhibit the qualities of excellent soaring machines. His Berryloid antique design, with its high-aspect, 12-foot wingspan and elliptical planform, seems custom-made for Texaco.
Michael’s 6-foot-span aircraft, named “Under Construction,” has a similar wing planform but sports an attractive gull wing. It is renamed “Gull” in the AMA Plans Service. Both have streamlined oval fuselages, offering little drag.
The Berryloid designation comes from a special prize offered at early AMA Nats competitions for the best overall covering and dope finish. Michael’s model placed second in that event at the 1937 Nats and won or placed in several other flying events across the country.
But other than by Michael, I’ve seen only two of his designs flown. Cliff Silva campaigned one quite successfully in FF Texaco for several years, and Ron Doig flew a 1/2A-size version in RC. Michael was the original builder of Ron’s airplane; it came from Michael’s estate.
Probably the main reason why few Rolls designs are built is that those streamlined fuselages are carved from two solid-balsa blocks. That’s a daunting task for many modelers who are experienced only in built-up stick-and-sheet construction. And those big balsa blocks are scarce and expensive.
When Michael was still with us, he was a member of my home club, SAM 26, and came from Palm Springs, California, to fly in our contests. He showed up at one of our John Pond Commemorative events, which we held that year on Vandenberg Air Force Base. Between flying sessions he produced a couple of large balsa blocks and demonstrated how to carve a solid-balsa fuselage.
Michael tack-glued the top and bottom halves and, using knives, a plane, and maybe a spoke shave, he shaped the outside. He separated the halves and hollowed the insides with a round chisel or gouge. In a couple hours, Michael had a nicely shaped, lightweight, hollow fuselage that needed only some finish-sanding and later application of dope for completion.
How High?
I’ve been using Winged Shadow Systems’ How High onboard altimeter for more than a year. It’s particularly useful for OT climb-and-glide competition, for selecting the optimum propeller size and pitch.
How High was originally designed to go inside an aircraft fuselage and be powered through a receiver port in a semipermanent installation. But I don’t use hatches on my RC pylon models, so there’s no access to the inside. I made a self-powered, strap-on unit for the How High to take comparative measurements, using various propellers during timed runs for altitude.
My home-built system worked well enough, but Winged Shadow Systems now offers a new ready-built unit that’s smaller, lighter, and does the same thing. The new How High SP (Self Powered) has been reviewed by others, including Bob Aberle in the September 2009 MA, so I won’t repeat the fine details here.
I mention this new unit because it’s much more practical for FF use. There’s no receiver power to plug into an FF model, and most FF aircraft don’t have easy access to the insides.
Using the unit for performance testing, an FF model should have the DT set to activate shortly after engine shutdown, to ensure that it’s not getting a free ride to higher altitude via thermal activity. Unless you like exciting flights and rebuilding models, don’t set the DT so close that it activates before engine shutdown.
Electric Old-Timers
Electric flight has crept into our activities, to the delight of some OT fliers and cries of sacrilege from others. There’s plenty of electric information out there, but I’ll mention a couple of basics.
For newcomers to OT electric, a safety item built into most systems requires the transmitter throttle setting be activated in the off position before switching the rest of the system on. Otherwise the motor will not start.
Not only is motor-startup safety involved, but if your throttle trim is set slightly high, you might end up taking everything apart to see why the motor doesn’t run. You might need only to lower the throttle trim. (Don’t ask how I learned this.)
I have often read that you should start a flight with a fully charged battery. This information usually appears in the instructions for ESCs and is usually intended for use with Lithium batteries, but none of these warnings explained why. Knowing why is often the key to understanding and remembering what may seem to be an insignificant suggestion.
Greg Gimlick explained the reason for this in his Electrics column in the August 2009 issue of this magazine. Lithium-chemistry batteries are particularly susceptible to being damaged when discharged too far.
Most ESCs automatically detect starting voltage at switch on. From this, their little brains determine a safe level at which to switch off or reduce power to the motor. This isn’t only to ensure that the radio still has enough voltage for a safe landing. It also ensures that the battery doesn’t get exhausted to the point of permanently damaging itself.
After reading that explanation, I altered my habit of sometimes taking a second flight on a battery that I’d used but had shut down between flights. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t switch the motor on and off during an electric Texaco flight. You just shouldn’t shut off the whole system and then fly again later without starting with a freshly charged battery.
Let’s gather here next year. MA
Sources
- SAM
- AMA History Program
(800) 435-9262, extension 511 www.modelaircraft.org
- AMA Plans Service
(800) 435-9262, extension 507 www.modelaircraft.org
- Winged Shadow Systems
(630) 837-6553 www.wingedshadow.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
