Free Flight: Indoor
"Are you one of the many unfortunate individuals who like to build free flight models but can't seem to get them to fly worth a damn? Do you feel like the other modelers are snickering at you behind your back? Perhaps you are suffering from congenital tail heaviness, warposis, churnchophobia, tall grass allergy, or one of the many other modelers' afflictions. Do not despair! Help is on the way.
Free Flight: Indoor
BOYD FELSTEAD: Late in May, Boyd Felstead passed away two hours after speaking with his daughter. Boyd was an Indoor pioneer in Australia and New Zealand. When Indoor began its comeback after AMA's adoption of ceiling categories in 1960, Boyd began corresponding with Indoor fliers all over the world. Boyd was literally 'way out in the boondocks: no place to fly and no one to fly with.
Free Flight: Indoor
THE 1994 NATIONAL AEROMODELING Championships is over. The entry at Indoor was small, the site one of the better ones in the country, and a few of the best Indoor fliers in the country were there. It was a really good contest, with strong and spirited competition in several events. Anyone (especially Texans) who passed up this meet missed a good event. The Coliseum at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, was rated by one flier as a 6 on a scale of 10 (from a flyability standpoint). To put that in context, he rated the Akron air dock as 10 and the ETSU MiniDome (site of the NFFS US Indoor Championships) as a 9. Another flier rated the Coliseum as the fifth best site in the country; it certainly is by far the best site within a radius of 900 miles.
Free Flight: Indoor
HANGAR NEWS: The previous column may have been pessimistic about the use of Hangar #1 at Tustin, but the latest word is that the expected lease deal for the hangar fell through. So for now, the guys are still flying there regularly. Meanwhile, the hangar at Moffett Field, near San Francisco, is used for monthly sessions on the third Saturday each month. This hangar has problems, including a huge opening for truck access that has no door. The fliers are cautiously feeling out the hangar, learning when turbulence is less, etc. Indoor RC Electric Duration: Bob Wilder has done it again! On February 19, Bob upped the ante with a time of 48:09 at the Cat. I Bedford site. Is this guy unstoppable, or what? The airplane is his original design with 40-inch span, 250 sq. in. area, and weighs 110 grams. He used a DC5 West-Tek (?) coreless motor, 8:1 home-built gears and four 600 ma cells. The prop was a carbon-fiber 9 × 4.5 West Tek.
Free Flight: Indoor
END OF HOUR-LONG FLIGHTS? After the Marines moved out of Tustin, the two hangars are being leased. First to go was the second hangar, but the one used for Indoor is expected to be next. The hangars seem to be viewed as excellent locations for movie sets The International E-Mail A-6 Indoor Contest: This landmark event is getting a lot of activity, with raw flight times posted on the Internet. Before the contest finishes (March 31, 1998) the raw times will be adjusted according to ceiling heights to produce final scores. Sample raw scores (time/ceiling height): 4:45/22.25; 5:05/26.5.
