Author: Dave Gee
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/09
Page Numbers: 94,95,96
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Safety Comes First

Dave Gee | [email protected]

Ultralights and desert wind don't mix

THE "WORLD'S SMALLEST" Air Show is held each year on Memorial Day weekend at Brian Ranch Airport in Llano, California. This event typically features ultralights, sport aircraft, general aviation flying, static displays, model exhibits, and children's activities.

I love airshows—especially when they feature models alongside the full-scale aircraft. The Brian Ranch Aero Modelers club was involved in the "World's Smallest" Air Show this year, so I drove out to the Palmdale, California, desert to see it. Fate intervened.

The airfield is located near Edwards Air Force Base, in an area known for inhospitable weather conditions. On this particular spring day, it was cold, with an icy wind that blew dust across the airstrip.

A lone Piper Tomahawk shivered on the ramp, thus qualifying the event as an air show.

Later, a Cessna made a short landing rollout into the biting wind, with the show's skydiver aboard. His performance consisted of stepping from the aircraft door to the ground, grateful to have made it under the circumstances. He wisely kept his parachute furled.

Ultralights are to general aviation what indoor models are to our hobby; if the weather is harsh, they stay in their boxes. I had hoped to take a ride in a two-seater, but weather conditions dictated otherwise.

In a chilly hangar, determined volunteers clung to their windblown tables and greeted the crowd of attendees—which consisted of me, my son Jeff, and my wife, Sweet Diedra. She held up well considering that she had been rousted from a warm bed to visit a freezing, dusty, windy airfield with no airplanes. I owed her for this one.

At the model aircraft display, I met Stanley "Stan" Garren and Wes Parmeter. They told me how their club reclaimed an overgrown taxiway and used it as a runway for their models. When the wind dies down, the RC pilots fly gas- and electric-powered fixed-wing airplanes and a lone helicopter. The airplane in the picture is a RichModels Yak 54 with a DA-50 engine.

The swirling, freezing sandstorm outside didn't faze these tough pilots. The RC pilots were happy to host a genuine Academy of Model Aeronautics ambassador, although I'm not sure how the AMA would feel about me representing an otherwise respectable organization. It is fun to be recognized, but the CD always has some excuse for why I can't fly at each event. Once, it was "because there are women and children present," which was unfair since my reputation as a bad pilot is based on nothing more than rumors, eyewitnesses, and debris patterns.

Anyway, the Brian Ranch Aero Modelers club leaders described how their models share the runways and airspace with full-scale ultralight and general aviation operations. They said the sport pilots could not be nicer or more cooperative, and that "see and avoid" works great at their field. The modelers always fly with a spotter, and suspend their model operations for ultralight events and group flying. It was great to hear about such cooperation between branches of aviation.

Our airspace is getting more crowded every year. These pilots are supporting the AMA's lobbying efforts in Washington by showing how various types of recreational aircraft can share the air safely. While I was busy talking, Sweet Diedra entered my name in the raffle. A few days later, I got a nice prize in the mail. The odds were in my favor, since there likely were no other tickets in the jar.

Mark Crabtree sent me a link to a video that was both funny and sad. Mark is a firefighter/paramedic and he says the video shows why he has job security. In the video, an RC jet model catches fire in the pit area of a flying field. Nobody panics, but the fire-fighting efforts include covering the model with a blanket (which soon caught fire) and pouring beverages on the flames. As the model burns up, the camera pans across to an unused fire extinguisher a few feet away. Oops!

I call this the "Invisible Fire Extinguisher Syndrome." We get so used to seeing the familiar red bottle on the wall that we forget about it when the need arises. At my workplace there are three dozen of these things, but in a safety-meeting game my coworkers and I couldn't name more than five locations, other than the ones in the room we were in.

I try to remind my family of the locations of fire extinguishers in our home. There is one in nearly every room, and we go over the locations as part of our (oh, not again Dad!) emergency-preparedness meetings.

Mark's video showed a costly model airplane being destroyed by fire. I recommend spending $20 on a fire extinguisher and putting the fire out yourself—if you can remember that you have an extinguisher.

For a safety columnist, I sure use many pictures of kids with airplanes. The photo with this column is courtesy of my friend, Karl Gies. He helped some middle school students build and fly their first models. The airplanes are Mark II Denny Darts, part of a series developed from the classic Delta Dart by Neil "Wombat" Dennis.

Karl said, "This group of kids ran from the sixth grade to the eighth grade. The high time was right at 50 seconds. I brought a lot of extra wings, fuselages, etc., to replace ones that got broken. They had so much fun, that we almost had to drag three or four youngsters out of the gym. All of the kids in the picture got their models to fly well."

Modelers such as Karl give our hobby a big boost by working with new recruits. Many modelers never have the chance to be mentored by someone with so much experience. The knowledge passed along can include the importance of safety, such as correct tool use and proper respect for airscrews.

I especially liked hearing that Karl taught the kids how to repair their models instead of just discarding them. The "toss-it-and-buy-another" mindset bothers me on several levels. Besides the environmental angle (foam doesn't grow on trees, ya know), I think life should not be approached that way. A bit of perseverance and sticking-to-it can be a good thing.

Sticking to it is what Gorilla Glue does best. The company introduced a new line of CA superglues for modeling use, and generously provided some to my club for our make-and-take projects at the AMA Expo. I like their products very much, but I was surprised at how particular a modeler can be about glue choices. Some like thinner and some like faster or slower cure rates, etc.

The donated glue came in small tubes that I found just right for inexperienced builders. Using CA takes a bit of practice, and a smaller container limits errors. I thought that the viscosity of the samples was just right.

Sweet Diedra supports my club's efforts at the Expo by helping dozens of kids build their first models, but she said the small glue tubes were annoying. "Just when I get it flowing perfectly, it runs out and I have to open another one!" she said.

Never fear, Gorilla sells its glue in larger containers for those who like it to flow "just right."

Dave Buxton wrote in with his thoughts on my recent mention of RC pilots who turn their transmitters off and use their fail-safe feature as an arming switch. Dave wrote:

"I can offer some examples of why it is a very bad idea to get in the habit of having the receiver on with the transmitter off.

"Let's say that an experienced pilot is asked to test-fly someone's new plane. After landing, he switches off the transmitter as he usually does. But what if his friend's radio is one of the old 72 MHz systems? When he turns off the transmitter, the airplane goes to full power! Or his friend's system is 2.4 GHz but the fail-safe system was not set correctly, which is not unusual. Again, the result could be uncontrolled full throttle. In my opinion, having the receiver on with the transmitter off is a very bad idea."

I agree with Dave on this one. After consulting many skilled pilots, I just don't feel comfortable depending on an electronic device this way. For those who try it, I recommend having a good hold on the fuselage when you turn off the radio.

I have always enjoyed aircraft-recognition quizzes that old magazines used to run. They would publish a cropped photo of an airplane, and readers had to guess which airplane it was by some distinctive feature.

I recently created such a quiz for my club newsletter, using photos that I took at the spectacular National Museum of the United States Air Force, which is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. I thought it was a cinch, but nobody got the correct answers, despite my offer of a package of genuine emu jerky to the winner!

Anyway, since I don't know when I'm beat, I'm sharing a photo from that quiz. Send me an email with the aircraft's name, and I will send you a digital scan of a rare and precious model plan designed by the late Len Marlow.

The Super Flea is a 24-inch-span, twin-tailed, rise-off-ground rubber-powered airplane kitted by Len in the 1970s. I searched for this plan for many years, but you don't need to wait that long; just tell me what the photo shows.

If you can't figure it out, but ask nicely, you'll get the plan anyway. This is via email only. No printed copies are available. MA

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.