Expounding on the Expo
Some say that modeling is a solitary sport, but a group of friends can bring the fun to new levels. Well, how about a really big group?
I recently returned from AMA Expo 2013, where thousands of enthusiasts shared their enjoyment of model aircraft. What a great event, and what a great crowd! I was at Expo as a spectator, local club president, volunteer staffer, contest participant, AMA committee member, and of course, journalist.
I put on my columnist hat (yes, I really have one) and roamed the aisles looking for safety-related stuff in the booths. There was plenty!
Tray Chic
Marcene Rankin demonstrated a well-built rig for securely holding your transmitter as you fly. The RC Trayman USA Transmitter Tray is designed to prevent fumbled or dropped radios resulting from mishaps and fatigue. It is pricey, but is built to last and will adjust to fit nearly any pilot. The steady transmitter tray creates a secure feeling, much like being at a desk instead of standing with a box in your hands.
Marcene is the mother of Carl Rankin, who is famous for his incredible soda-straw RC models. Carl always seems to be in a happy mood, and he must have inherited his sunny disposition from his mom.
Helping Fingers
E-Power RC had a booth full of fun gadgets and tools. One item caught my interest because it was a clever new combination of old tricks to help me avoid burning myself with my soldering iron. The Helping Fingers tool has alligator clips on two or three flexible arms that stay where you position them, such as when holding wires to be soldered. The arms go down into a central magnetic base, so it stays firmly in place while you work.
I imagined plenty of uses for this octopus-like tool, and things it could do that other similar gadgets could not. Having a component held firmly while I solder is much better than trying to keep track of where my fingers are in relation to the hot iron!
RcBearings.com
RcBearings.com had a display of beautifully made ball-bearing sets for gas engines. I saw a line of stainless-steel bearings that have nylon retainer rings to hold the balls in place.
The advantage is that during a bearing failure, there are no metal shards ruining the engine from inside—only loose bits of plastic. The engine will often continue to run (although roughly), giving the pilot a better shot at a safe landing. Nice idea!
Forget About Memory Foam!
The MemFo booth had a new product which I do not think is good for our hobby. The company noticed how many 3-D and park-flyer models are made from foam sheet these days, and took it one step further by using memory foam for ARF airplanes. Although this material is great for pillows and mattresses, I do not think it belongs in an airframe.
The MemFo people connected a small computer chip to the foam, and when the pilot makes a good landing or a smooth aerobatic stunt, all he or she has to do is hit the "save" button and the model will remember and repeat the maneuver again and again.
After a series of flight segments is recorded in the memory-foam structure, the pilot can merely select numbers instead of flying the model.
(Note: the MemFo item was an April Fools' joke.)
Shortcut to Trouble
Okay, the MemFo item was an April Fools' joke, but this letter from Matt Bailey is the real thing. Matt wrote:
"Your recent story about a reversed throttle servo reminded me of the time I almost lost my Extra 300. I was 16 and the Extra was only my third kit-built model, with about six flights on it. My elevator pushrod was just barely long enough, with just a few threads into the clevis.
I had decided for safety reasons that I would screw the clevis in a few more turns, and just deal with the resulting down-elevator with trim. With full up-trim, I still had a tiny bit of down-elevator at neutral stick.
"The next flight was hair-raising! I had to continually hold up-elevator, and the sensitivity of the Extra, combined with my relative lack of experience at the time, made for brief spurts of control loss, a number of unintentional loops, and a rather hard landing.
"Lesson learned! I've since become very unaccepting of less-than-optimal control configurations, 'minor' servo or linkage issues, etc.
"I am now 30, and I still have that Extra 300, in flying condition ... and the Tiger II that I received on my 14th birthday. Crashes are optional!"
Many of us have been tempted by such a situation—some minor problem that we know should be dealt with before takeoff. However, our egos assure us that we can handle it.
It takes good judgment and humility to make the right choice on a safety issue. Sometimes we might get away with doing the wrong thing, but that only reinforces the problem with the quick-and-dirty option the next time.
During moments such as this, true friends should give wise counsel and support a pilot who decides to avoid a risk. When it is your airplane and your flight, the temptation to ignore a problem can be strong. We need to stick together and help each other avoid the "dark side."
Solving a Mystery
An anonymous reader and I corresponded for many weeks about a mysterious radio problem he had. No one was hurt, thanks to his stick skills. However, some airplanes were damaged.
An RC model sometimes uses mixed brands of transmitters, receivers, and servos. All of the electronics have their own programming and settings, and when things don't work together it can be difficult to find the problem.
My friend suspected a manufacturing flaw in one part, but couldn't isolate it. The factory said it wasn't the company's fault. After much investigation, the trouble was at last located.
To his credit, he wrote back to me and admitted sheepishly that it was all caused by his failure to read the instructions. In his own defense, he said it was in small print and buried in cautionary boilerplate, but there was the answer.
Ego and experience were no help in this case. Having successfully flown so many models, the pilot trusted his own know-how and confidently skipped a detailed reading of the programming manual. It takes courage to admit something embarrassing such as this, but he did so in hopes that we would learn from his adventure.
Please consider sharing your own story with me. You can choose to be famous or nameless, as long as the information on a close call or preventable incident gets shared with other modelers. Email me or write a letter to me via AMA Headquarters.
SOURCES
- RC Trayman USA
(818) 982-5518 www.rctraymanusa.com
- RcBearings.com
(480) 788-7416 www.rcbearings.com
- E-Power
(714) 982-4547 rcmicroflite.com
- MemFo
Come on, that was just a gag!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
