Free Flight: Sport & Scale
HOT: The hottest new development on the model scene seems to be one of the oldest-the compressed air motor. Free Flight Scale has passed through some power fads, as you probably know. In the sixties it was the 1/2A Gas engine, in the seventies CO2. Electric was big in the eighties, and now compressed air seems to be on the rise for the nineties. The motor that has gotten much attention of late is the Italian Power Max Z. Doug McHard relates his experiences with this unit in the April and May issues of Aeromodeller. He is averaging minute-and-a-half flights on his Piper Super Cruiser. The motor is rated at seven bars pressure, which is over 100 psi, and is filled with a hand pump. As the head blows off at nine bars, some reinforcement is needed to help it stay in place when overfilling the clear plastic tank.
Free Flight: Sport & Scale
"What goes up must come down." That's a truism for everything except taxes. Certainly, the return to terra firma accounts for most modelers' grief. Assuming that your model is Free Flight and has no pilot to flare at the last moment, it generally flies right smack into the deck, with only minimal help from ground effect. Quite often, the only purpose of the landing gear (I like the word undercarriage better, as the gear serves for more than landings in the classical sense) is to make the plane look Scale, help it ROG (rise-off-ground-Ed.), and cushion the crash. Paul McIlrath (Cedar Rapids, IA) has some interesting thoughts on undercarriage construction that he'd like to pass on. Paul writes: "You should remember that much of the force on the wheel and gear is backward, not upward. That's true for both takeoffs and landings. Although the industry standard (single strut wire) is neat and effective, there is a simple variation that can noticeably improve its operation.
Free Flight: Sport & Scale
ONE of the greats of Free Flight Scale is gone. One day while March was making its grand entrance, Walt Mooney was planning his trip to this summer's Flying Aces Nats. The next day, while at work, his 64-year adventure on Earth came to an end. Were Shakespeare to eulogize him, "... the most Roman of us all," would come close to describing Walt. He exemplified what our hobby is all about. Walt, known to one and all as the Ole Perfessor, packed more into his time on Earth than you or I could if we lived to be 100. His job was to design full-size aircraft for Ryan. In his spare time he designed model aircraft. He built and flew hundreds of 'em, and flew 'em well. Not only that, but he shared them with us through countless articles and his Bag of Peanuts plans business, which he ran on an almost no-profit basis.
Free Flight: Sport & Scale
WHO WAS Miss Neta Snook? Many thanks to everyone who sent in entries to this great contest! You guys really know your history, not only of model planes but of the people who made and flew full-scale craft. Neta, now known as Neta Snook Southern, is the lady who taught Amelia Earhart to fly. She learned at a school where the students had to build their own trainer, a Curtiss Jenny copy, from memory! She was the first female student at the Curtiss school in Newport News, had a fascinating career as a barnstormer and instructor, and was an airport manager and test pilot for Bert Kinner in Los Angeles. She retired from aviation in 1922 when she married and, apart from taking the controls of a Spirit of St. Louis replica in 1977, never flew a plane again. She presently lives in Los Gatos, CA building gopher traps and giving Bible classes.
Free Flight: Sport & Scale
REMEMBER the infamous April Fool's Thunderbolt plan we mentioned in the August '89 issue? A footnote to the story: Mik Mikkelson, who drew the ersatz Stahl P-47, forwarded to me a letter he received from the great man himself telling Mik that he had been contacted by the editor of a leading model magazine asking if he had any more lost plans! I checked Earl's signature on the letter, but coming from Mik, it's a little bit suspect. Please note the new address for FF Scale correspondence at the top of this column. Living in Los Angeles having lost much of its charm over the past few years, we decided to escape while we could. Fortunately, the USPS still delivers your great letters and pix out here in the boonies, so keep 'em coming! I look on retirement as a great opportunity to get caught up in my letter writing. I am up to 1985 already! Maybe I'll get back to you soon, so don't despair!
