Control Line: Scale
FLYING IN THE WIND. One of the most dreaded things that can happen at a Control Line Scale meet is for the wind to come up heavy and put fear in the hearts of each of the competitors at flying time. It is that time when each contestant makes the "Do I?" or "Don't I?" decision to fly his model that day. It is just this situation that leads Orin Humphries (Scale columnist for Flying Lines newsletter, News of Northwest CL Model Aviation) to make the statement that the typical Scale model can be 10 years old and only have 70 or less flights on it! Why should we fly in the wind and risk all that work? Orin has learned, and perhaps you have too, through sometimes bitter experience, how to fly in the wind and has the following advice to those who have not.
Control Line: Scale
ELECTRIC Control Line flight. While I know that there are those of you out there who have tried (or are experimenting with) Electric Control Line flight, Clancy Aarnold (Lawrence, IN), along with Jack Sheeks (Indianapolis, IN) has sent me the first real evidence that the activity exists. The Electric Control Line activities that I'll be talking about took place at the Forest Manor School in Indianapolis through the cooperation of teacher Roger Wathen and other gym instructors of the school. Roger is quite familiar with model flying, as he is known for his use of model aircraft in school work.
Control Line: Scale
OVERCOAT or UNDERCOAT: No, I am not talking about what is to be worn during cold winter months (as it is now, while writing this column-it's January), but about "over and under" coatings as they apply to the paints, fillers and sealers we use on our great flying creations. The accompanying table on compatibility was taken from Wing Tips, Newsletter of The Mid-Hudson Modelmasters of New York. The information and table presented here includes Aerogloss dope, butyrate dope, and polyester resins as sealers. Fillers include DuPont 30S auto primer, DAP Vinyl Spackle, dope-and-baby-powder, and polyester resins. Paints include acrylic enamel (lightweight and very glossy), acrylic lacquer (lightweight and semi-glossy), alkyd enamels (heavyweight and very glossy), butyrate dopes (very light and satiny), epoxy enamels (moderately heavy and very glossy), and polyurethane enamels (moderately heavy and high gloss).
Control Line: Scale
WRAMS SHOW. Each year, in late February, the Westchester Radio Aeromodelers, Inc. holds its annual hobby-industry Radio Control show at the County Center, White Plains, NY. In addition to manufacturers' and suppliers' booths, the show includes a swap shop and a static contest featuring RC airplanes and boats of all types. While the show is aimed at the RC modeler, many of my Control Line friends and I make it a point to get to the show to see what is being offered, and what can be used in our Control Line models. As I have said in the past, it is also a good opportunity for the modeler, especially the newer modeler, to collect brochures and catalogs as he visits each of the concessionaires' booths. These catalogs can serve as a product reference library, during the ensuing year, for model and hardware selection.
Control Line: Scale
CONTROL SYSTEM: In my February 1985 column, I covered the general operation of the three-line control system and some of the possible difficulties that might be encountered if line lengths are not accurate, or if different manufacturers' parts are mixed and matched. At that time, I did not talk in detail about the basic installation of the plane's control unit-and why the need exists for a job well done in this area of the model's construction. What brought this subject to mind was the extra amount of time and effort I spent recently installing the control system in my latest Scale project, a P-51 Mustang.
