Free Flight: Duration
IF ONE is good, two are better. . .dethermalizing systems, that is. The sketch shows a fuze back-up for a clockwork-timer dethermalizer. Or you might think of it as a timer backup for a fuze. Timers sometimes quit running, fuzes sometimes go out or don't get properly lit. The chances of both happening on the same flight are pretty slim. There are disadvantages to the two-DT system. More weight, more junk hanging out in the airstream, more things to think of during the pre-launch countdown. But there are also disadvantages to losing a model.
Free Flight: Duration
NEW FREE FLIGHT CLUB: We are pleased to announce the formation of the Nashville Free Flight Society, complete with a classy logo, and already a prestigious honorary member: Mr. E. T. Packard, founder and president of Cleveland Model and Supply Co. (Plans of all of those glorious FF Scale Cleveland kits are still available, incidentally.) Principal founder and president is Orville C. "Ocie" Stewart, who needs no introduction to the Free Flight community. Other officers include: Harry Whitiver, VP; Nancy Durr, recording secretary; Steve Durr, chief chaser; and Roland Baker, Jr., membership chairman. Baker, who is Chief Pilot for Northern Telecom, is the guy to contact if you want to join or learn more about the club. His address is: 6640 Ellesmere Rd., Nashville, TN 37205. Welcome aboard!
Free Flight: Duration
CONTROLLED warps: Warps can be good or bad. If they occur where they want to be, it is unlikely that they will occur where you want them to be, and that's bad. Most Free Flight models employ washout in the wingtips; that is, the wing tip panels are twisted so that the tips are at a lower angle of incidence than the rest of the wings. Three degrees is a typical value. Some claim that tip washout substitutes for dihedral on models that don't have any, dihedral that is, as on some Scale models. I have never been quite able to figure out why that should be true, and I don't accept the explanations I've seen. But it seems to work.
Free Flight: Duration
THIS month I'll start off with one of my favorite subjects-variable-configuration aircraft (VCA). Whenever I ride a modern Jumbo jet. I am awed at the sight of all that junk that they crank out of the leading and trailing edges of the wing prior to landing. What is even more impressive, however, is that the driver somehow manages to get it all back into the box before the aircraft gets to the terminal. It's a matter of manners, I understand. They do that in order not to frighten the other aircraft. The flaps-down configuration is considered a threatening gesture, and a well-mannered aircraft simply doesn't do that sort of thing in polite company. Anyhow . . .
Free Flight: Duration
MEUSINGS: A lot has been said in both the visible and the underground model aviation press concerning the new 1980-81 Easy B rules, affectionately called Botched B, Bungled B, etc., the event that "nobody" wanted. True, it would have been nice if the AMA rules for Easy B reflected what everyone wanted the rules to be (wishful thinking at best, as there has been nothing but controversy over the rules for Easy B since it was invented). And it would be helpful if modelers would pay more attention to rules proposals and to inform their FF Contest Boards of their opinions. But a key point seems to have been missed.
