Control Line: Scale
PERSEVERANCE. If you don't succeed at first, try again. It appears from the mail I received concerning my August and September columns on CG, balance, and lead-out positioning that they were pretty well-read. While most of the mail was supportive of the material presented, a couple of the letters, one from Paul Burke (Palmdale, CA) and another from Tom Dixon (Atlanta, GA), did point out that I could have been more specific or technical in a couple areas of my presentation. After reviewing both the column and the letters, I realized that what I presented on a model's CG wasn't quite clear enough, and with thanks to Paul and Tom for their comments, I'll try to put some words together here to provide a better picture.
Control Line: Scale
RULES CHANGE PROPOSALS. By the time you receive and read this column we will be about half way through our rules change cycle for the 1988-89 rule book. Also, according to the Rules Change Procedure schedule, you should have had an opportunity to review the new rules proposals which were in the "Competition Newsletter" section of the December issue of Model Aviation. As you have probably noticed, I submitted a dozen or more proposals in this cycle and hope that all of you interested in the competition aspects of CL Scale will carefully review them. And, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the ideas presented, please let your district's Scale Contest Board member know how you feel so that he has some input on which to make his voting decisions.
Control Line: Scale
MULTI-ENGINE starting aid. Art Snowden, a member of the Master Ski Invaders CL Club, South Bend, IN suggests that the use of a metered switch box can be a great help when starting multi-engined models. Art is presently building a Royal B-17 for Control Line flying and during the building process has given much thought to the problems that can be encountered while trying to start four engines. He believes his switch box, which will allow all four engines to be alternately connected to the starting battery, will make the engine-starting procedure easier. The box, consisting of a series of jacks and switches, will allow all four glow plugs to be connected to the starting battery before engine-starting is attempted. A simple push of a numbered switch will allow the battery supply to be connected to the corresponding engine on the model, and when engine starting is accomplished a push of the same switch turns off the power.
Control Line: Scale
ADDING a dummy engine or dressing up a windshield can certainly enhance a model's appearance. Our good friend Richard Schnieder (Marrietta, GA) who gave us the tip on dressing up the tail wheel strut of his Gulfhawk (October '86 column), has offered two more building tips that the Sport Scale modeler might find useful for enhancing the appearance of his/her model. The first tip is how to easily fabricate a lightweight dummy radial engine. The second is how to make (or dress up) the model's windshield. Both of these ideas were also used by Rich on his Gulfhawk model. Dummy engine. Rather than try and cut out dozens-maybe hundreds-of cylinder cooling fins and spacers and stack them to create dummy cylinders, Rich decided to create a single cylinder form from which any number of cylinders could be made.
Control Line: Scale
SPRINGTIME is preparation time. Bob Emmett of the Seattle Skyraiders suggested in a recent Skywriter column that the spring months are a good time for reflection on last year's contest performance. He thought that perhaps the time could be used to consider some basic, non-rule-book rules for use both on and off the flying field: ones that could make the coming competition season more successful and enjoyable for you. While the rules Bob spoke of were general in nature and would apply to most events, I have, with some modification, made them apply specifically to our Scale events. The rules are: 1) Know the rules for your particular Scale event. Be sure to read and know the rules (AMA or local) for the event/events being flown. Know the number of laps of flight it takes to make an official flight. Know the proper flying line size for the weight of your model. Are mufflers required at the particular contest site? Know your flight options and points for each, and so on.
