Free Flight: Sport/Scale
CRASH! Oh, no! Addie Naccarato runs into her office where her new 80-in., ultralight rubber model has just been placed for safekeeping, and there it is . . . smashed. Of all things, a picture has fallen off the wall and wiped out a wing and the fuselage! Hardly any time left before the big day at the U.S. Free Flight Champs (Taft, CA) where the Farman Moustique was slated to fly! Many of us would have thrown in the towel at this point, but Addie was not about to give up that easily. She worked day and night, even missing some of the events at Taft. Her Winnebago hummed with activity into the wee hours, and when Scale Day dawned, the Blacksheep Squadron Farman Flying Team toted its pride and joy to the field.
Flying Aces Nats
FOUR YEARS AGO, I had the privilege of bringing you an account of the Flying Aces Club Nats held in Dayton. It was fun. This year's FAC bash was even better. If you couldn't be there, be my guest as part of the Southern California contingent consisting of Fernando Ramos and myself from the Flightmasters and Bill Noonan from the San Diego Scale Staffel. Leaving the smog-laden environs of Los Angeles is always a pleasure. A couple of hours in Fernando's hangar behind his country estate on the way to Noonan's is sheer delight. Models, mostly Scale, hang everywhere.
Reno 1984 Nats: FF Outdoor Scale
DEEP, COARSE GRASS in all directions, but sunny skies and no wind. What a marvelous day for Free Flight! Never mind that the R.O.G. strip huddled off in a corner was hard, surrounded by rocks and stiff mesquite, and near a fence. Most fliers opted to ignore the R.O.G. takeoff so necessary to place. Flying over the grass was where it was happening, and there were great flights aplenty. Arriving on the site just in time to see Bill Stroman's lovely B.E.2C sauntering off in a letter-perfect straight-line flight, we figured it would be a fight for second place after that. Moments later, Bobby Haight's museum-quality A.D. Scout Sparrow was dieselling slowly up in lazy circles. Wonder who'll get third? Brian Nelitz' Fokker E-3 with CO-2 motor insisted on drawing all gazes as it flew beautifully again and again. Once in a while you'd see a bad flight, but thanks to the tall grass, no damage resulted. The required trim adjustments were quick to put things right-with the exception of my Bleriot, which resisted obstinately all attempts at directional control, going in equally to either side. Otherwise, things were going great.
Reno 1984 Nats: FF Indoor Scale
THE SITE, situated at the end of the large Convention Center building, had a few things going for it not always present at previous Nats. It was within a few steps of the registration area and the exhibit hall, so many people had a chance to see the fun. I was astonished to find that some modelers had never before seen an Indoor model fly! Another advantage was that the building's ambience was not that of a sauna such as often found in places like Ohio, Louisiana, or Illinois at this time of year when the air conditioning is turned off.
Free Flight: Sport/Scale
GOOD GRIEF! Who'd have thought there was so much interest in rubber-powered helicopters! After the picture of one of Emmanuel Fillon's little styrofoam wonders appeared in this column, I have received a ton of mail wanting to know more about them, where plans can be obtained, etc. As far as I know, Mr. Fillon's plan is not commercially available at this time, but interested persons who write French may wish to contact him. Drop me a line to obtain his address. His latest designs climb well, attaining heights of 10-12 meters, but the descents are not always good when the rotor loses speed. He is presently working on a free-wheeling rotor which goes into negative pitch for the descent. The secret of the successful 'copter seems to be in the flexible wound-wire geared drive and the super-light construction. Note that the tail rotor blades are adjustable to obtain zero fuselage rotation.
