Free Flight: Scale-Sport
THE Frenchman, E. Fillon, one of the most productive and creative modelers I know, sent me the plans of his latest creations, an FF electric "Gossamer Condor" with a pilot that really pedals! It looks great at about 1 meter span with a Graupner geared motor. It's covered with clear Mylar and has the batteries down under the pilot's seat for a super-low C.G. Flight testing has been curtailed due to the "Mistral," but it looks very flyable. Can be patched "scale," since McCready used Magic Mending tape! Perhaps making a model once in a while which is really weird may not win a contest for you, but the attention you'll get will be more than that gained by the guy standing all by himself with his trophy and his Fike! Mull that one over, Cloudsters!
Free Flight: Scale-Sport
AMID THE woes of urban sprawl devouring flying sites and my "vintage" Pirelli turning traitor, a ray of sunshine now and then shines through. Free-flight scale may at last have a chance for a comeback on the international scene. In August, the CL and RC Championships, at Woodvale, England, will include an unofficial free-flight scale event! From Bill Hannan, one of the prime movers in the campaign to include FF Scale, comes the news that even an indoor peanut class may be forthcoming! Due to the "first ever" nature of the event, proxies are being accepted. Full details are not yet available as of this date, but entry information may be secured from M. Duce, Esq., 22 Hoghton St., Southport, England. As a great volunteer group is hosting the event, suggest including a couple of International Reply Coupons (available from your post office) to aid the answer. I am sure that donations in the form of cash (International Money Order), or merchandise from interested clubs, individuals, or manufacturers, would be more than welcome. Next year's event tentatively is scheduled for Canada, which would certainly put it within reach for many U.S. enthusiasts.
Ms. Peach
JUST BEFORE the nats last Summer, I received a top-secret communique from the Flying Aces GHQ in Connecticut containing the message that the famous (what, you haven't heard of it?) Embryo Endurance event would be flown for the first time at the National meet. I spent many restless hours wondering what I should build to fly in this revered class, invented by the intrepid birdmen of the FAC. The spirit of the event is Fun, liberally sprinkled with nostalgia for the old Jimmy Allen Thunderbolt, Flying Aces Moth, Triangle Sportster, or Comet C-1 Pursuit. Then, like a Thunderbolt (Jimmy Allen) it came to me in a vision at 1 a.m. I leaped from the bed, startling my wife and neighbors with a lusty "Eureka!" and grabbed pencil and paper. In less than an hour, the design was on paper, with the name inspired by my lovely wife: "Ms. Peach."
Free Flight: Scale-Sport
KEEPING in touch with what is going on with free-flight scalers is sometimes difficult. Many tend to spend most of their time off in a corner building those little marvels of miniature magnificence and ignore the fun to be had from close associations with others of a similar inclination. Well, that's a shame, for clubs which once had a strictly local character now enjoy national, and even international memberships. Such outstanding groups as the Flightmasters, Cleveland Free-Flight Society, and the Flying Aces, tie kindred souls together with a sharing of knowledge, philosophy, and fraternity via their newsletters. To be on the mailing list of the Mid-Hudson Modelmasters, Miami Indoor MAC, or the D.C. Maxecuters, or the San Diego Scale Staffel, is an experience. The informal, relaxed and often humorous atmosphere can't be beat.
Free Flight: Scale-Sport
FLYING Aces Fever is what Lin Reichel, C. D. of the first-ever Flying Aces Club Nats held recently at Johnsville N.A.S. near Philadelphia, calls it. The FAC Nats, Mecca for free-flight scale rubber modelers who believe in the "good old days" of modeling when one enjoyed the "simple fun of simple models," climaxed 13 years of growth for what has to be called a full-fledged movement. The five FAC groups attending were the GHQ squadron from Connecticut, the Detroiten Geschwader from Michigan, the Cleveland Free Flight Society from Ohio, the Erie Model Aircraft Association from Pennsylvania, and the D.C. Maxecuters. Many of the fliers were what you could call associate and spiritual members, coming from 13 states as far away as California. With 252 models entered in 13 rubber events (and one power event, a concession to the invention of the gas engine) one might have expected some great flying from the cream of the nation's tissue trimmers.
