Radio Control: Giant Scale
GIANT Growing Pains. Big Birds have been around for a long time, but really widespread awareness of them and interest in them developed in only the last four or five years. The Quarter Scale Association of America (QSAA) was organized in 1977 by a group of Nevada and California RCers, and their annual fly-in has become an outstanding affair. QSAA membership has grown from the original dozen or two to over a thousand enthusiasts all over the world. This growth is an indication of the tremendous interest in large models, but QSAA members are only a small part of the total movement.
Radio Control: Giant Scale
LET'S share the wealth. For a column like this to be of any real value it has to contain a lot of how-to information, not just who flew what, where, and when. We'll try to pass on all the where-to-get-it and how-to-do-it data we can lay our hands on, but we've got to get most of that data from you. Even long-time, very experienced modelers are finding that they have to come up with new materials and new methods when building the big birds. Personally, I think that is Giant Scale's greatest appeal at this time. New techniques and variations on old standbys are being generated at a great rate. MA wants to help spread that wealth around.
Radio Control: Giant Scale
THIS is the first in a monthly series on big airplanes. "Oh great," you say, "another Monster Man. What are his qualifications to tell me anything about my hobby?" A reasonable question that deserves a reasonable answer. I have been building models for over 40 years, starting with pine and balsa solid models when I was about six. Soon it was builtup rubber-powered scale models. Remember those beautiful Comet and Megow kits? And most of them only a dime! When I was really flush I laid out a buck or more for a Cleveland kit. After WW II I was pretty heavily into control-line. I did a little free flight, but what was really needed was an outlet for a frustrated hot-shot pilot. It was inevitable that radio control would be next.
1979 QSAA Fly-in
AFTER the 1979 QSAA Fly-in in Las Vegas, there can be no doubt that the Big Birds are here to stay. From two dozen airplanes in 1977 to almost 200 this time around is phenomenal growth, but there are even more important indicators. Three things stand out: the type of airplanes seen, the quality of the airplanes, and the kind of event. As for the type of airplane, you'll see almost any type, but they are predominantly scale models. Less than 5% are not recognizable as modeled after a full-size airplane, past or present. And some of that small percentage are modeled after possible future airplanes. Few are museum scale caliber and some aren't even good sport scale, but it is obvious that a lot of people are interested in reproducing real airplanes and realistic flight.
Radio Control: Giant Scale
SAFETY INSPECTION CHECK LIST. I have often commented on the fact that the Giant Scale movement has been intensely safety concious right from the beginning. This is not because BIG is automatically dangerous, but simply because our birds are truly miniature aircraft, not just large models. To anyone who has ever had anything to do with full-scale flying, whether military, civil, or private, it is natural to treat Giant Scale operations in the same manner. In fact, the popularity and appeal of Giant Scale is due largely to the fact that these mammoth miniatures fly like-and must be operated like-the real thing.
