104 MODEL AVIATION
Safety Comes First Dave Gee | [email protected]
Too much TV is bad for your eyes—especially when flying RC
Also included in this column:
• Are you prepared for little
and big problems at the field?
• Full-scale air-show tip for
miniature aircraft
A tight mass launch of rubber-powered Sky Streaks creates balsa carnage. RC fields take
much more care about midair-collision danger.
Scot MacArthur’s wounded finger is enough to get his picture in
the column. His tidy FF Piper L-4 helps, though.
Dave would fly differently if he were actually aboard his airplane.
No seatbelt is needed in this rubber-powered Demoiselle; he is
glued in!
LIVING IN a changing time can be painful.
Every month this magazine has news of some
innovation in our hobby—a wonderful gadget
or improvement that leaves the old stuff in the
dust. I have a tough time keeping up with all
of it.
Luckily we have a fine tradition of
modelers flying classic designs and using oldstyle
equipment. Still, my 4-year-old antique
electric-power systems cannot keep up with
the newest Li-Poly outrunner stuff.
It was a big shock to the 1920s wire-andsilk
builders when that newfangled balsa
came onto the scene—kind of like how I feel
about foam structure becoming more popular
than stick and tissue. Am I turning into a
cranky old guy at the tender age of 46?
Some of our current safety issues were
science fiction just a few years ago.
Sometimes I feel like I’m far behind the times
dealing with matters such as the discussions
about RC fliers who mount TV transmitters
on their models and fly by looking into a
monitor instead of watching the airplanes.
I saw this done at an indoor session and
thought it was cool, but the AMA Safety
Code specifically forbids an aircraft that is
“ ... equipped with devices which allow it to
be flown to a selected location which is
beyond the visual range of the pilot.”
Short-range indoor TV systems are
therefore technically legal, but I have heard
stories of outdoor models with much more
powerful rigs. A little thought confirms that
the AMA rule is good and, of course, the
original idea behind it is to head off worries
about terrorist plots that misuse hobby aircraft
for evil purposes.
There could be serious problems with
operating a model so far away from the pilot,
and I don’t want to hear about how the
military gets away with controlling drones
from halfway around the world. That doesn’t
mean we should give it a try!
My indoor cronies found out that if you
turn on the TV link and a 2.4 GHz RC system
in the wrong order, it is possible to get
interference on a digital spread spectrum
(DSS) system. That, coupled with
unconfirmed stories about models being
03sig4.QXD 1/25/08 8:26 AM Page 104flown way too high and far via a TV link,
makes this reminder important.
I realize that the equipment is legally
available, and I’m sure some hot pilots are
confident that they “can handle it,” but this
could give us all a black eye or worse.
Remember the talk about abolishing model
aircraft after September 11, 2001, as was done
in England in 1940?
Please think ahead and use good
judgment! Newspeople do not always use
restraint or do careful research on a hot story,
and one incident could do irreparable harm to
the RC industry and hobby.
There are plenty of neat tricks we could do
with our models but that we should not do.
I’ve read scary E-mails about how it was back
in the old days, and if you used to launch little
rockets from your model or carry firecrackers
and you still had all your fingers, great.
Nowadays that kind of stuff gets the
attention of the police and the papers, and it
reflects badly on the rest of us. Isn’t there
enough fun to be had with our models without
pushing these rules?
On the topic of fingers, look at the photo of
Scot MacArthur working on his FF Scale
Grasshopper. Note the jaunty bandage on his
finger.
A minor cut at the field is nothing unusual,
but I’m surprised by how few modelers bring
first-aid supplies for this type of low-level
injury. Maybe “first aid” is the wrong term
and people don’t associate it with little
injuries that don’t need much more than a
cleanup to prevent infection.
Something like Scot’s finger wound can
be dealt with on the spot with no follow-up. In
my toolbox I keep little moist towelettes
(from the fried-chicken place) and Neosporin,
along with a few small Band-Aids. Without
getting into why I seem to need this stuff so
often, I figure that the vast majority of little
scrapes can be settled for good right there.
The first-aid kits I see for sale are
sometimes filled with baffling items such as
giant compresses and rolls of gauze. That stuff
is more suitable for assaulting an enemy
beachhead than spending a relaxing day at the
field! I look for more of a “medical kit,” with
supplies for more likely minor ailments.
Even so, I have witnessed a strange human
phenomenon where an injured person declines
treatment, not wanting to “use up” the first-aid
supplies in a pristine sealed box. How bad
does a cut have to be before we are justified in
unwrapping the medical kit?
That’s what got me to start keeping minor
medical stuff in my toolbox. I labeled it the
“owie” drawer after a wounded 4-year-old
came up with the right term for minor wound
treatment. When more serious injuries
happen, everyone grabs a cell phone and calls
for professional help anyway. My strategy is
to pass out immediately and let cooler heads
prevail.
Andrew Griffith wrote in from
Jacksonville, Florida, with some wise counsel
on this situation. As a former firefighter/
paramedic, he knows that some flying fields
can be hard for the first responders to find.
Rural flying sites might not even have
addresses, and directions are needed. I fly at
busy RC and FF sites in a large municipal
park, and if you can’t describe exactly where
the “Grassy Knoll FF site” is, you might have
a long wait for medical aid.
Andrew suggests taking a moment out of
a club meeting to discuss exactly how to get
help to your field when it is needed. Maybe
someone has to be sent to the main road to
escort the crew or perhaps you have a
landline phone available that the emergency
operator can easily trace. Go over the fireextinguisher
locations.
A health situation might be something
other than a propeller strike. We older
modelers could have sudden medical needs,
someone may be bitten by a snake, or perhaps
a car catches fire. A group reminder session
might pay off.
Andrew also mentioned my recent column
about Textron/Bell/Cessna and the demand
for royalties from model-aircraft companies.
He agrees with me that they are dirty slugs
for pulling this, and he hopes that someone
has a common-sense attack soon. Well,
Andrew didn’t actually write “dirty slugs,”
but they are.
The photograph of a Rubber FF mass
launch ties in with the shot of me at the
controls of a Demoiselle. Have you ever
considered that we would never dream of
You don't usually use the words flying and
SUV in the same sentence. But then again,
there really isn't another airplane that fits the
bill better than the Kadet Senior ARF.
Based on SIG's popular kit, the Kadet Senior
ARF is just a bit bigger, giving you flying
options like never before. It's large 80"
wingspan with huge barn-door style ailerons is
perfect for IMAC events and fun flys. With its
remarkable light wing loading, you can
transform your Kadet Senior ARF into a flying
platform for still or video cameras, lighting
systems, parachute drops, or glider tows
remarkably well. It's all up to your
imagination. Then again, it makes a perfect
trainer airplane that's easy to see and a delight
to fly. It's a go anywhere, do anything kind of
airplane.
Like all SIG ARFs, the Kadet Senior ARF is
90% preassembled right out of the box. Each
part is meticulously built using quality woods,
then hand covered with premium polyester
covering material in an eye-catching trim
scheme. Our classic lightweight design is not
compromised, nor is our attention to the
details. Like a complete hardware package
filled with top quality goodies and a fully
illustrated, step-by-step assembly manual to
get you in the air fast.
Take a break from the norm, and check out
with the Kadet Senior ARF at your local SUV…
uh… hobby dealer.
SIG Manufacturing Company, Inc.
P. O. Box 520 • Montezuma, Iowa
www.sigmfg.com • 641-623-5154
SPECIFICATIONS:
Wingspan: 80 inches
Wing Area: 1180 sq. inches
Weight: 6 to 6-1/2 pounds
Engine Required: .40-.46 2-stroke
.40-.60 4-stroke
Radio Required: 4 Channel, 5 servos
Kadet Senior ARF: The Flying SUV
Order No. AVI46
Suggested Engine:
Aviastar AV-46
Order No. SIGRC58ARF - Kadet Senior ARF - $224.99
Order No. SIGRC58 - Kadet Senior Kit - $79.99
* at Participating Dealers
03sig4.QXD 1/25/08 8:27 AM Page 106March 2008 107
out
V…
c.
s
nds
e
e
ervos
V
224.99
doing if we were actually riding in the
machine?
That cloud of models climbing in the
sky practically guarantees a midair or two,
but it is amusing and not dangerous at all
for those little airplanes in an open park.
Larger RC aircraft require more caution,
but with a good field layout and courteous
pilots there could be a bunch flying at once
with no mishaps.
If something does go awry, the only
danger would be to people on the ground,
and even that risk is minimized by proper
runway and pit locations. The pilots always
have their feet safely on the ground.
The next time you attend a full-scale air
show, notice how the pilots plan their
flights so the airplanes are headed away
from the crowd if there is a problem during
a maneuver. This wasn’t always the case,
and it took some awful crashes to develop
the strict procedures that display pilots use.
Some other countries do not enforce such
rules, and sometimes the spectators pay the
price.
We modelers could learn something
from air-show fliers. I don’t worry too
much about what happens to that
gargantuan 10-gram Peanut because I can
always print out a new fake me. Things are
different when holding a transmitter,
though.
When I hear myself say “Watch this,
fellers!”, I know my model had best be
pointing at some open space in case things
work out as they usually do. Make sure
your model will be carried in a safe
direction, away from people on the ground,
whenever possible.
Please feel free to contact me at the E-mail
address in the header or via regular mail at
Box 7081, Van Nuys CA 91409. I do not
claim to have all the answers, but the readers
never let me down when information is
needed. They are also generous with
wisecracking reviews of my column.
If you don’t put “MA” or something
recognizable about modeling in the subject
line, your E-mail may end up in my spam
filter along with the home-loan ads. Please
don’t just put “Hi!” as a subject! MA
WHY WORRY?
THE HIGH CURRENT ALTERNATIVE TO LI-POLYMER
NOW AVAILABLE FOR RX, POWERBOX & ECU APPLICATIONS
• Take the worry out of charging with li-manganese chemistry
• No risk of fire if punctured or overcharged
• 20c discharge - 40c bursts
• High charge rate – up to 10c through the power lead
• No need to remove for charging
• No need to balance pack – built with Stay Balance Circuitry
• Great low temperature tolerance
• Longer life cycles than Li-Polymers
• Wiring options; 16 gauge High Current, 14 gauge Electric
Motor / Flight applications
• See our new expanded line of li-manganese batteries online
03sig4.QXD 1/25/08 8:14 AM Page 107
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/03
Page Numbers: 104,106,107
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/03
Page Numbers: 104,106,107
104 MODEL AVIATION
Safety Comes First Dave Gee | [email protected]
Too much TV is bad for your eyes—especially when flying RC
Also included in this column:
• Are you prepared for little
and big problems at the field?
• Full-scale air-show tip for
miniature aircraft
A tight mass launch of rubber-powered Sky Streaks creates balsa carnage. RC fields take
much more care about midair-collision danger.
Scot MacArthur’s wounded finger is enough to get his picture in
the column. His tidy FF Piper L-4 helps, though.
Dave would fly differently if he were actually aboard his airplane.
No seatbelt is needed in this rubber-powered Demoiselle; he is
glued in!
LIVING IN a changing time can be painful.
Every month this magazine has news of some
innovation in our hobby—a wonderful gadget
or improvement that leaves the old stuff in the
dust. I have a tough time keeping up with all
of it.
Luckily we have a fine tradition of
modelers flying classic designs and using oldstyle
equipment. Still, my 4-year-old antique
electric-power systems cannot keep up with
the newest Li-Poly outrunner stuff.
It was a big shock to the 1920s wire-andsilk
builders when that newfangled balsa
came onto the scene—kind of like how I feel
about foam structure becoming more popular
than stick and tissue. Am I turning into a
cranky old guy at the tender age of 46?
Some of our current safety issues were
science fiction just a few years ago.
Sometimes I feel like I’m far behind the times
dealing with matters such as the discussions
about RC fliers who mount TV transmitters
on their models and fly by looking into a
monitor instead of watching the airplanes.
I saw this done at an indoor session and
thought it was cool, but the AMA Safety
Code specifically forbids an aircraft that is
“ ... equipped with devices which allow it to
be flown to a selected location which is
beyond the visual range of the pilot.”
Short-range indoor TV systems are
therefore technically legal, but I have heard
stories of outdoor models with much more
powerful rigs. A little thought confirms that
the AMA rule is good and, of course, the
original idea behind it is to head off worries
about terrorist plots that misuse hobby aircraft
for evil purposes.
There could be serious problems with
operating a model so far away from the pilot,
and I don’t want to hear about how the
military gets away with controlling drones
from halfway around the world. That doesn’t
mean we should give it a try!
My indoor cronies found out that if you
turn on the TV link and a 2.4 GHz RC system
in the wrong order, it is possible to get
interference on a digital spread spectrum
(DSS) system. That, coupled with
unconfirmed stories about models being
03sig4.QXD 1/25/08 8:26 AM Page 104flown way too high and far via a TV link,
makes this reminder important.
I realize that the equipment is legally
available, and I’m sure some hot pilots are
confident that they “can handle it,” but this
could give us all a black eye or worse.
Remember the talk about abolishing model
aircraft after September 11, 2001, as was done
in England in 1940?
Please think ahead and use good
judgment! Newspeople do not always use
restraint or do careful research on a hot story,
and one incident could do irreparable harm to
the RC industry and hobby.
There are plenty of neat tricks we could do
with our models but that we should not do.
I’ve read scary E-mails about how it was back
in the old days, and if you used to launch little
rockets from your model or carry firecrackers
and you still had all your fingers, great.
Nowadays that kind of stuff gets the
attention of the police and the papers, and it
reflects badly on the rest of us. Isn’t there
enough fun to be had with our models without
pushing these rules?
On the topic of fingers, look at the photo of
Scot MacArthur working on his FF Scale
Grasshopper. Note the jaunty bandage on his
finger.
A minor cut at the field is nothing unusual,
but I’m surprised by how few modelers bring
first-aid supplies for this type of low-level
injury. Maybe “first aid” is the wrong term
and people don’t associate it with little
injuries that don’t need much more than a
cleanup to prevent infection.
Something like Scot’s finger wound can
be dealt with on the spot with no follow-up. In
my toolbox I keep little moist towelettes
(from the fried-chicken place) and Neosporin,
along with a few small Band-Aids. Without
getting into why I seem to need this stuff so
often, I figure that the vast majority of little
scrapes can be settled for good right there.
The first-aid kits I see for sale are
sometimes filled with baffling items such as
giant compresses and rolls of gauze. That stuff
is more suitable for assaulting an enemy
beachhead than spending a relaxing day at the
field! I look for more of a “medical kit,” with
supplies for more likely minor ailments.
Even so, I have witnessed a strange human
phenomenon where an injured person declines
treatment, not wanting to “use up” the first-aid
supplies in a pristine sealed box. How bad
does a cut have to be before we are justified in
unwrapping the medical kit?
That’s what got me to start keeping minor
medical stuff in my toolbox. I labeled it the
“owie” drawer after a wounded 4-year-old
came up with the right term for minor wound
treatment. When more serious injuries
happen, everyone grabs a cell phone and calls
for professional help anyway. My strategy is
to pass out immediately and let cooler heads
prevail.
Andrew Griffith wrote in from
Jacksonville, Florida, with some wise counsel
on this situation. As a former firefighter/
paramedic, he knows that some flying fields
can be hard for the first responders to find.
Rural flying sites might not even have
addresses, and directions are needed. I fly at
busy RC and FF sites in a large municipal
park, and if you can’t describe exactly where
the “Grassy Knoll FF site” is, you might have
a long wait for medical aid.
Andrew suggests taking a moment out of
a club meeting to discuss exactly how to get
help to your field when it is needed. Maybe
someone has to be sent to the main road to
escort the crew or perhaps you have a
landline phone available that the emergency
operator can easily trace. Go over the fireextinguisher
locations.
A health situation might be something
other than a propeller strike. We older
modelers could have sudden medical needs,
someone may be bitten by a snake, or perhaps
a car catches fire. A group reminder session
might pay off.
Andrew also mentioned my recent column
about Textron/Bell/Cessna and the demand
for royalties from model-aircraft companies.
He agrees with me that they are dirty slugs
for pulling this, and he hopes that someone
has a common-sense attack soon. Well,
Andrew didn’t actually write “dirty slugs,”
but they are.
The photograph of a Rubber FF mass
launch ties in with the shot of me at the
controls of a Demoiselle. Have you ever
considered that we would never dream of
You don't usually use the words flying and
SUV in the same sentence. But then again,
there really isn't another airplane that fits the
bill better than the Kadet Senior ARF.
Based on SIG's popular kit, the Kadet Senior
ARF is just a bit bigger, giving you flying
options like never before. It's large 80"
wingspan with huge barn-door style ailerons is
perfect for IMAC events and fun flys. With its
remarkable light wing loading, you can
transform your Kadet Senior ARF into a flying
platform for still or video cameras, lighting
systems, parachute drops, or glider tows
remarkably well. It's all up to your
imagination. Then again, it makes a perfect
trainer airplane that's easy to see and a delight
to fly. It's a go anywhere, do anything kind of
airplane.
Like all SIG ARFs, the Kadet Senior ARF is
90% preassembled right out of the box. Each
part is meticulously built using quality woods,
then hand covered with premium polyester
covering material in an eye-catching trim
scheme. Our classic lightweight design is not
compromised, nor is our attention to the
details. Like a complete hardware package
filled with top quality goodies and a fully
illustrated, step-by-step assembly manual to
get you in the air fast.
Take a break from the norm, and check out
with the Kadet Senior ARF at your local SUV…
uh… hobby dealer.
SIG Manufacturing Company, Inc.
P. O. Box 520 • Montezuma, Iowa
www.sigmfg.com • 641-623-5154
SPECIFICATIONS:
Wingspan: 80 inches
Wing Area: 1180 sq. inches
Weight: 6 to 6-1/2 pounds
Engine Required: .40-.46 2-stroke
.40-.60 4-stroke
Radio Required: 4 Channel, 5 servos
Kadet Senior ARF: The Flying SUV
Order No. AVI46
Suggested Engine:
Aviastar AV-46
Order No. SIGRC58ARF - Kadet Senior ARF - $224.99
Order No. SIGRC58 - Kadet Senior Kit - $79.99
* at Participating Dealers
03sig4.QXD 1/25/08 8:27 AM Page 106March 2008 107
out
V…
c.
s
nds
e
e
ervos
V
224.99
doing if we were actually riding in the
machine?
That cloud of models climbing in the
sky practically guarantees a midair or two,
but it is amusing and not dangerous at all
for those little airplanes in an open park.
Larger RC aircraft require more caution,
but with a good field layout and courteous
pilots there could be a bunch flying at once
with no mishaps.
If something does go awry, the only
danger would be to people on the ground,
and even that risk is minimized by proper
runway and pit locations. The pilots always
have their feet safely on the ground.
The next time you attend a full-scale air
show, notice how the pilots plan their
flights so the airplanes are headed away
from the crowd if there is a problem during
a maneuver. This wasn’t always the case,
and it took some awful crashes to develop
the strict procedures that display pilots use.
Some other countries do not enforce such
rules, and sometimes the spectators pay the
price.
We modelers could learn something
from air-show fliers. I don’t worry too
much about what happens to that
gargantuan 10-gram Peanut because I can
always print out a new fake me. Things are
different when holding a transmitter,
though.
When I hear myself say “Watch this,
fellers!”, I know my model had best be
pointing at some open space in case things
work out as they usually do. Make sure
your model will be carried in a safe
direction, away from people on the ground,
whenever possible.
Please feel free to contact me at the E-mail
address in the header or via regular mail at
Box 7081, Van Nuys CA 91409. I do not
claim to have all the answers, but the readers
never let me down when information is
needed. They are also generous with
wisecracking reviews of my column.
If you don’t put “MA” or something
recognizable about modeling in the subject
line, your E-mail may end up in my spam
filter along with the home-loan ads. Please
don’t just put “Hi!” as a subject! MA
WHY WORRY?
THE HIGH CURRENT ALTERNATIVE TO LI-POLYMER
NOW AVAILABLE FOR RX, POWERBOX & ECU APPLICATIONS
• Take the worry out of charging with li-manganese chemistry
• No risk of fire if punctured or overcharged
• 20c discharge - 40c bursts
• High charge rate – up to 10c through the power lead
• No need to remove for charging
• No need to balance pack – built with Stay Balance Circuitry
• Great low temperature tolerance
• Longer life cycles than Li-Polymers
• Wiring options; 16 gauge High Current, 14 gauge Electric
Motor / Flight applications
• See our new expanded line of li-manganese batteries online
03sig4.QXD 1/25/08 8:14 AM Page 107
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/03
Page Numbers: 104,106,107
104 MODEL AVIATION
Safety Comes First Dave Gee | [email protected]
Too much TV is bad for your eyes—especially when flying RC
Also included in this column:
• Are you prepared for little
and big problems at the field?
• Full-scale air-show tip for
miniature aircraft
A tight mass launch of rubber-powered Sky Streaks creates balsa carnage. RC fields take
much more care about midair-collision danger.
Scot MacArthur’s wounded finger is enough to get his picture in
the column. His tidy FF Piper L-4 helps, though.
Dave would fly differently if he were actually aboard his airplane.
No seatbelt is needed in this rubber-powered Demoiselle; he is
glued in!
LIVING IN a changing time can be painful.
Every month this magazine has news of some
innovation in our hobby—a wonderful gadget
or improvement that leaves the old stuff in the
dust. I have a tough time keeping up with all
of it.
Luckily we have a fine tradition of
modelers flying classic designs and using oldstyle
equipment. Still, my 4-year-old antique
electric-power systems cannot keep up with
the newest Li-Poly outrunner stuff.
It was a big shock to the 1920s wire-andsilk
builders when that newfangled balsa
came onto the scene—kind of like how I feel
about foam structure becoming more popular
than stick and tissue. Am I turning into a
cranky old guy at the tender age of 46?
Some of our current safety issues were
science fiction just a few years ago.
Sometimes I feel like I’m far behind the times
dealing with matters such as the discussions
about RC fliers who mount TV transmitters
on their models and fly by looking into a
monitor instead of watching the airplanes.
I saw this done at an indoor session and
thought it was cool, but the AMA Safety
Code specifically forbids an aircraft that is
“ ... equipped with devices which allow it to
be flown to a selected location which is
beyond the visual range of the pilot.”
Short-range indoor TV systems are
therefore technically legal, but I have heard
stories of outdoor models with much more
powerful rigs. A little thought confirms that
the AMA rule is good and, of course, the
original idea behind it is to head off worries
about terrorist plots that misuse hobby aircraft
for evil purposes.
There could be serious problems with
operating a model so far away from the pilot,
and I don’t want to hear about how the
military gets away with controlling drones
from halfway around the world. That doesn’t
mean we should give it a try!
My indoor cronies found out that if you
turn on the TV link and a 2.4 GHz RC system
in the wrong order, it is possible to get
interference on a digital spread spectrum
(DSS) system. That, coupled with
unconfirmed stories about models being
03sig4.QXD 1/25/08 8:26 AM Page 104flown way too high and far via a TV link,
makes this reminder important.
I realize that the equipment is legally
available, and I’m sure some hot pilots are
confident that they “can handle it,” but this
could give us all a black eye or worse.
Remember the talk about abolishing model
aircraft after September 11, 2001, as was done
in England in 1940?
Please think ahead and use good
judgment! Newspeople do not always use
restraint or do careful research on a hot story,
and one incident could do irreparable harm to
the RC industry and hobby.
There are plenty of neat tricks we could do
with our models but that we should not do.
I’ve read scary E-mails about how it was back
in the old days, and if you used to launch little
rockets from your model or carry firecrackers
and you still had all your fingers, great.
Nowadays that kind of stuff gets the
attention of the police and the papers, and it
reflects badly on the rest of us. Isn’t there
enough fun to be had with our models without
pushing these rules?
On the topic of fingers, look at the photo of
Scot MacArthur working on his FF Scale
Grasshopper. Note the jaunty bandage on his
finger.
A minor cut at the field is nothing unusual,
but I’m surprised by how few modelers bring
first-aid supplies for this type of low-level
injury. Maybe “first aid” is the wrong term
and people don’t associate it with little
injuries that don’t need much more than a
cleanup to prevent infection.
Something like Scot’s finger wound can
be dealt with on the spot with no follow-up. In
my toolbox I keep little moist towelettes
(from the fried-chicken place) and Neosporin,
along with a few small Band-Aids. Without
getting into why I seem to need this stuff so
often, I figure that the vast majority of little
scrapes can be settled for good right there.
The first-aid kits I see for sale are
sometimes filled with baffling items such as
giant compresses and rolls of gauze. That stuff
is more suitable for assaulting an enemy
beachhead than spending a relaxing day at the
field! I look for more of a “medical kit,” with
supplies for more likely minor ailments.
Even so, I have witnessed a strange human
phenomenon where an injured person declines
treatment, not wanting to “use up” the first-aid
supplies in a pristine sealed box. How bad
does a cut have to be before we are justified in
unwrapping the medical kit?
That’s what got me to start keeping minor
medical stuff in my toolbox. I labeled it the
“owie” drawer after a wounded 4-year-old
came up with the right term for minor wound
treatment. When more serious injuries
happen, everyone grabs a cell phone and calls
for professional help anyway. My strategy is
to pass out immediately and let cooler heads
prevail.
Andrew Griffith wrote in from
Jacksonville, Florida, with some wise counsel
on this situation. As a former firefighter/
paramedic, he knows that some flying fields
can be hard for the first responders to find.
Rural flying sites might not even have
addresses, and directions are needed. I fly at
busy RC and FF sites in a large municipal
park, and if you can’t describe exactly where
the “Grassy Knoll FF site” is, you might have
a long wait for medical aid.
Andrew suggests taking a moment out of
a club meeting to discuss exactly how to get
help to your field when it is needed. Maybe
someone has to be sent to the main road to
escort the crew or perhaps you have a
landline phone available that the emergency
operator can easily trace. Go over the fireextinguisher
locations.
A health situation might be something
other than a propeller strike. We older
modelers could have sudden medical needs,
someone may be bitten by a snake, or perhaps
a car catches fire. A group reminder session
might pay off.
Andrew also mentioned my recent column
about Textron/Bell/Cessna and the demand
for royalties from model-aircraft companies.
He agrees with me that they are dirty slugs
for pulling this, and he hopes that someone
has a common-sense attack soon. Well,
Andrew didn’t actually write “dirty slugs,”
but they are.
The photograph of a Rubber FF mass
launch ties in with the shot of me at the
controls of a Demoiselle. Have you ever
considered that we would never dream of
You don't usually use the words flying and
SUV in the same sentence. But then again,
there really isn't another airplane that fits the
bill better than the Kadet Senior ARF.
Based on SIG's popular kit, the Kadet Senior
ARF is just a bit bigger, giving you flying
options like never before. It's large 80"
wingspan with huge barn-door style ailerons is
perfect for IMAC events and fun flys. With its
remarkable light wing loading, you can
transform your Kadet Senior ARF into a flying
platform for still or video cameras, lighting
systems, parachute drops, or glider tows
remarkably well. It's all up to your
imagination. Then again, it makes a perfect
trainer airplane that's easy to see and a delight
to fly. It's a go anywhere, do anything kind of
airplane.
Like all SIG ARFs, the Kadet Senior ARF is
90% preassembled right out of the box. Each
part is meticulously built using quality woods,
then hand covered with premium polyester
covering material in an eye-catching trim
scheme. Our classic lightweight design is not
compromised, nor is our attention to the
details. Like a complete hardware package
filled with top quality goodies and a fully
illustrated, step-by-step assembly manual to
get you in the air fast.
Take a break from the norm, and check out
with the Kadet Senior ARF at your local SUV…
uh… hobby dealer.
SIG Manufacturing Company, Inc.
P. O. Box 520 • Montezuma, Iowa
www.sigmfg.com • 641-623-5154
SPECIFICATIONS:
Wingspan: 80 inches
Wing Area: 1180 sq. inches
Weight: 6 to 6-1/2 pounds
Engine Required: .40-.46 2-stroke
.40-.60 4-stroke
Radio Required: 4 Channel, 5 servos
Kadet Senior ARF: The Flying SUV
Order No. AVI46
Suggested Engine:
Aviastar AV-46
Order No. SIGRC58ARF - Kadet Senior ARF - $224.99
Order No. SIGRC58 - Kadet Senior Kit - $79.99
* at Participating Dealers
03sig4.QXD 1/25/08 8:27 AM Page 106March 2008 107
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224.99
doing if we were actually riding in the
machine?
That cloud of models climbing in the
sky practically guarantees a midair or two,
but it is amusing and not dangerous at all
for those little airplanes in an open park.
Larger RC aircraft require more caution,
but with a good field layout and courteous
pilots there could be a bunch flying at once
with no mishaps.
If something does go awry, the only
danger would be to people on the ground,
and even that risk is minimized by proper
runway and pit locations. The pilots always
have their feet safely on the ground.
The next time you attend a full-scale air
show, notice how the pilots plan their
flights so the airplanes are headed away
from the crowd if there is a problem during
a maneuver. This wasn’t always the case,
and it took some awful crashes to develop
the strict procedures that display pilots use.
Some other countries do not enforce such
rules, and sometimes the spectators pay the
price.
We modelers could learn something
from air-show fliers. I don’t worry too
much about what happens to that
gargantuan 10-gram Peanut because I can
always print out a new fake me. Things are
different when holding a transmitter,
though.
When I hear myself say “Watch this,
fellers!”, I know my model had best be
pointing at some open space in case things
work out as they usually do. Make sure
your model will be carried in a safe
direction, away from people on the ground,
whenever possible.
Please feel free to contact me at the E-mail
address in the header or via regular mail at
Box 7081, Van Nuys CA 91409. I do not
claim to have all the answers, but the readers
never let me down when information is
needed. They are also generous with
wisecracking reviews of my column.
If you don’t put “MA” or something
recognizable about modeling in the subject
line, your E-mail may end up in my spam
filter along with the home-loan ads. Please
don’t just put “Hi!” as a subject! MA
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03sig4.QXD 1/25/08 8:14 AM Page 107
