Control Line: Scale
MORE on Control Line Electric Flight. My April 1985 column on this subject brought a response from Tony Naccarato (Burbank, CA), in which he shared some information on CL Electric Flight activities on the West Coast. According to his letter, he and many of his flying friends have been flying CL Electric for the past 14 years. They have formed the Black Sheep Exhibition Squadron, a group well-known on the West Coast, that puts on contests and CL Electric flying demonstrations that include Scale, Speed, Navy Carrier, and Stunt. Tony indicated that they ran an Indoor Electric CL Scale event at the 1984 Nats with 10 entries. Also, each year, the Electric Champs Meet held at Mile Square Park features CL Scale, Speed and Stunt. The latest of the Black Sheep Squadron endeavors was also (by coincidence) detailed in the April 1985 issue of MA in the report by Eloy Marez (page 21) on the International Modeler Show held in Pasadena, CA.
Control Line: Scale
SCALELIKE construction need not always be accomplished by building up the structure piece by piece. In some cases, a scalelike structure can be cut from a solid block. A case in point is the rudder construction shown in the accompanying photos. The first step is to cut out the rudder's basic shape from a solid block of wood (in this instance a piece of 4 in. × 11 in. × 1-in.-thick planking). Now, carve the rudder to its exact shape and size. When the rudder is sanded out and very smooth, cover it with 3/4-ox. glass cloth and resin. After curing, excess cloth is cut away and sanding is done again. While one application of the resin may be satisfactory for our purposes, a second coat of resin will fill the cloth pores better and provide a stronger final structure. Sand out the second coat of resin as necessary, and you are ready to create the scale structure.
Control Line: Scale
INSTRUMENTS AND PLACARDS: Have you ever needed a special instrument or placard to put the final touch on that Scale cockpit? We, of course, have many instruments and placards that are manufactured for us and readily available at our local hobby shops. We can also obtain odd instruments by cutting them out of instrument panels seen in advertisements in magazines such as Flying and Air Progress. However, if you have gone through the above sources and still can't find the instrument you want, don't lose heart, you can always make/draw one up yourself. The accompanying photo of the rear cockpit instrument panel of my 20-year-old PT-19 (it took second place in the 1965 Nats at Willow Grove) shows a temperature gauge (to the right of the Turn and Bank indicator) that was required in the panel but could not be found among manufactured items.
I985 NATS: CL Scale
FABULOUS. That was the word I used to describe the 1983 Nats held at Westover AFB, Massachusetts. Now, here I am in 1985 trying to find another short superlative to describe this year's Westover Nats. It was SUPER. Once again, the competition/convention theme was stressed by the Academy, as there was always something to do or see-both day and evening. Once you were away from the flying sites, there were seminars and demonstrations by manufacturers, meetings and banquets of special interest groups, and various other activities, which included a very-well-attended AMA general membership meeting. It appears that CL Scale at a Westover Nats has enjoyed another increase in participation. There was a total of 44 models entered (four more than in 1983): 24 in Sport, 11 in Precision, and nine in FAI. Even though the participation was greater than in the past several years, I am sorry to report that we only had two Senior and two Junior contestants.
Control Line: Scale
REFLECTIONS. When I started writing this CL Scale column in September 1982, I wondered just how long I would be able to provide interesting and worthwhile information. Well, here I am on column number 39, and according to the letters I receive I am still, though it's difficult at times, providing what you want to read about. I must admit that, over these past three-plus years, there were times when I was scratching for an item or two to fill out the column. While I haven't stressed my need for column material too often, I would appreciate your input: after all, this is really not my column but yours. It would be great hearing from more of you about your latest project.
