Jackpot
It is one thing to test a model in isolation and get to know how it flies, but at a recent gathering of Bill Winter and his friends I was privileged to fly at least 15 different airplanes before taking Jackpot up, and this comparison might help you to prepare to fly this model. Even though we RCers fly our models through a control system which, unfortunately, does not provide sensory "feedback" from varying air pressures and perspectives from the cockpit, Jackpot provides strong feedback through its visual cues. Of all the models that I flew that day, Jackpot was the most rock-stable of all. It is a completely forgiving and insensitive airplane, just like a well-designed trainer, yet it provides a great platform from which to explore advanced areas of flight. If you can fly any trainer you can fly Jackpot, and Jackpot will do so much more.
Just for the Fun of It
HOW DO YOU define "fun?" I don't have a marimba band in my shop. My eyes don't dance when I think of flying, building, or, horror of horrors, maintenance. The three-letter word fun is short to look up. The dictionary says: providing entertainment, amusement, or enjoyment. "Enjoy" sounds right. And there was a note: ". . . a person to be with." Joe Wagner is a person to be with. I have not met Joe face to face. But he has been with me a long time. Joe is the Dakota man. That versatile little all-balsa biplane lives on and on. Joe is an authentic pioneer in FF Rubber, FF Gas, and CL Stunt. Long ago he was a designer/production engineer for Veco. He is not "above" RC, a man of surprising interests, beyond modeling. Thanks to the April issue writeup by Ed Whitten, you probably know about his fun organization, Fun Flyers. Joe does know how to "enjoy," as you will see from his comments and pictures.
Just For the Fun of It
THINGS ARE FUNKY on the Funny Farm. We moved three houses down the block. The Oregon Trail should be so long. The slumbering cat, the source of my aerodynamic insights, has declared the desk off limits. The workshop is a shambles. I am grounded. It is 97º again. Is the flying season that I enjoy over before it began? The desk reminds me of Louis Garami's workbench. Louis never cleaned anything. He'd push everything against the wall. A sneeze set off fearful avalanches. So Louis would do a breast stroke with his hands to clear a spot no bigger than the one on which my Hermes sits, and there he'd build a classic like the Strato Streak.
Just For the Fun of It
MONDAY. RAINING. I'm glad. Can't go flying. So I don't have to choose between you guys and self-indulgence. And I can avoid a head-to-head with a messed-up fuel tank (the filler gadget is defective!) in the new Eagle. What will I write about? I am thinking of farmers and levers-and the radio is playing Sentimental Journey, which Bucky Taylor sang endlessly as we gallivanted in a Super Cruiser. A "30" appears-writer's code for "end." Having tossed its rider, my Hermes heads for the barn and the oats. Sentences appear like the printout of some faraway computer that pleaded insanity.
Just For the Fun of It
MOONLESS MADNESS. When I fly these days, I expect to be transported to the flying site in a curtained sedan chair. I don't want the weather to be too cold or too hot. It must not be windy. The grass must be neatly mowed. The pin I need is labeled "Reserved." Kindly guys must assemble my plane, do a range check, and set the idle. Pour me another coffee, light my pipe. Play it again, Sam! It was not always thus. In the days of Charlemagne, neither wind, nor cold, nor snow or sleet stayed our appointed rounds. The natives of far off Cathay, beyond the Sierras, and the Sun Belt, know nothing of the lives of snowbirds and polar bears. Or Vikings. The gentleman with the horns in the picture is Lloyd "Pete" Peterson. No, the snow really is not that deep. The caption says, "Don't fall in the creek, Pete!" Pete: "What creek?" The occasion was the First Annual February 29 Spur of the Moment Fun Fly.
