Radio Control: Giant Scale
SOPWITH TRIPLANE. A couple of months ago I told you about Woody Clapp and his Sopwith Triplane. I had the thrill of sitting in the cockpit and handling the controls while Woody fired up the engine. So there I was, hauling back on that ridiculously long stick with the wickerwork loop at the top, and savoring the wind in my face after too many years of hot, stuffy cabins. It was hard to resist the impulse to give it the coal and head for that wild blue yonder.
IMAA 2nd Annual Giant Scale Fun-Fly Festival
BIG IS REALLY BETTER. During the last weekend of August 1982 the International Miniature Aircraft Association, with a big assist from Byron Originals, demonstrated the truth of the association's motto, Big is Better. At the IMAA's Second Annual Fun-Fly Festival, from Friday the 27th through Sunday the 29th, over 375 registered participants and approximately 450 Giant Scale models literally flabbergasted the populace of a large chunk of northwestern Iowa. A lot of the participants were flabbergasted as well.
Radio Control: Giant Scale
STARS SPANGLED RALLY REVISITED. This makes the third year in a row that I have been lucky enough to get to Olean, NY for the Southern Tier Aero Radio Society's Annual Scale Rally. While Scale models of any size are welcome, over the years this event has become known as a showcase for Giant Scale models. This is understandable, since the STARS as a group have been active in big models for several years. They are known for making things like Bristol Scouts and Fokker D-VIIIs by the squadron.
Radio Control: Giant Scale
REDUCING THE RISK. I'm not going to devote this whole column to the subject, but from time to time I plan to talk about what we can do to reduce the risk of injury, to ourselves as well as others, when operating our Giant Scale aircraft. Last month I defined "risk" as being the product of "seriousness" and "probability," and went on to express my opinion that the seriousness of any RC model striking someone was high enough that increments due to the size or weight of the model have little meaning. Since seriousness can't be reduced, if we are going to reduce the risk it has to be by reducing the probability.
Radio Control: Giant Scale
HOW BIG is still beautiful? The following letter is typical of three or four such letters I have received in the 2 1/2 years I have been writing this column. "Dear Bob: If a fellow modeler wishes to fly an RC aircraft that weighs nearly as much as a full-grown adult human being (see your June MA issue regarding that model B-29), I don't wish to stop his endeavor. However, I believe very strongly that model aircraft controlled merely by glitch-vulnerable radios and which fly faster than I am permitted by law to drive my own automobile on public highways, and which also weigh more than five baseball bats or as much as a typical standard-size Chevrolet spare tire and rim, have no rational basis in our model aircraft activities whatsoever-these monsters are too dangerous and present an unacceptable risk to everyone within their potential flying range, Bob.
