Letters to the Editor - 2001/03
Cover Identification Correction
The cover description for the January
2001 Model Aviation was incorrect.
The Extra 300S was built from a Great
Planes kit and painted by Joe Avina of
Newhall CA. The model belongs to Marty
Vagts, who took the photo.
The .40-size Extra has custom-made
graphics by Joe Waters and a fiberglass cowl
and wheel pants by Stan’s Fibre Tech. Powered
by a Saito 80 engine, it weighs 61⁄4 pounds.
Our apologies for the error.
—MA Staff
Aeronca Champ Memories
I have read with interest the article by
Stan Alexander in the Jan. 2001 issue of
Model Aviation.
He, however, states that the Aeronca Champ
was first produced in 1944. I soloed in the
Champ in the spring of 1942. At the time, I was
a senior in high school and age 17. Incidentally,
when I soloed I did not know how to drive an
automobile, and walked to high school!
Everything he said about the Champ I
totally agree with.
Don Cameron
Tucson, Arizona
The short article about the Aeronca
Champ in the January 2001 issue brought
back fond memories.
With the assistance of a full-scale Champ
at a local airport and Paul Matt plans, I built a
scale model of this for the 1968 Nationals.
Placed 3rd in [static] judging, but with the
marginal flying skill, placed 12th or 13th.
My model sprayed water through the booms,
and was verified by one judge. It had a 77-inch
wingspan, and was powered by a Fox .74.
The windshield was a challenge. I wanted
to make the windshield with the “pregnant”
look, not the flat fold-over that is commonly
used. I used a piece of clear material, heated
in the kitchen oven and gently formed over a
male mold that I sculpted from wood, plaster,
and body putty.
It was entered in a couple meets after
that, and retired. It now gathers dust and
time warps in the tail feathers, hanging in
my garage, contemplating the glory days of
flying 32 years ago.
This article resurrected fond memories.
Richard Hansen
Cozad, Nebraska
Texas Wildcat
YOU COULD HEAR IT COMING from 10 miles out. The Texas Wildcat, its slip-stream howling through brass tubes in the fuselage-mounted box radiators, gave a terrifying screech as it roared by in a wide-open pylon turn at nearly 200 mph. It's easy to see why the racer was nicknamed "Whistling Bill." The Texas Wildcat and its sister ship, the Cactus Kitten, were sponsored by flamboyant Texas oilman and aviation enthusiast, C.E.J. Cox and his strong-willed wife, Nellie, in an unsuccessful attempt to bring the prestigious international Gordon Bennett Trophy race to Houston. On April 13, 1920 Nellie, who was already famous for being the first woman in America to have her own personal plane and pilot, ordered the Curtiss Aeroplane Company to build her a Gordon Bennett racer. Two months later, Mr. Cox ordered a second racer.
'91 SAM Champs
CROUCHED in front of his Lanzo Bomber, the pilot presses the rubber cup of the electric starter firmly against the engine spinner and squeezes the switch. The propeller spins briefly, then disappears as the engine roars to life. He turns the needle valve slightly and the roar changes to a howl, the plane straining against the mechanic's grip. The pilot picks up his transmitter and walks around behind the plane in the swirling dust. He calmly checks the controls, then nods to his mechanic. The Lanzo accelerates and is instantly airborne, engine screaming. The pilot rotates the model into a near-vertical climb, its wings rocking slightly as he twitches the sticks. A jet trail of vaporized castor oil lingers behind.
Curtiss Seahawk XF7C-3
SOUNDS of nostalgia: the high-pitched whine of an inertia starter sliding down the scale as the pilot kicks in the big radial. The engine coughs, barks, then settles into a ragged rumble-sounds beloved by all true biplane fans. For them, the only real airplanes have two wings and round engines. Even apart from that special breed of enthusiast, most people at air shows today show more interest in the early biplanes than in today's sophisticated, high-tech streamliners. It's the special character and colorful personalities of the two-wingers, both on the ground and in the air, that really grab their attention.
