Flying for Fun
Wow! My July 1997 column featured the Piper Skycycle as a potential Scale model, and in the nearly 20 years that I've been writing columns for Model Aviation, no other subject has generated so many letters and photos. The response proves, as I had suspected, that the Skycycle is an exciting Scale subject. By coincidence, the July issue of Scale R/C Modeler also contained a piece on the Skycycle! The article featured some of the old material to be found in Air Trails and Air Progress, since the publisher acquired the rights when Potomac Publications failed several years ago.
Flying for Fun
WOOD: This information about balsa is going to be a refresher for old hands, and basic information for newcomers. I am doing a kit review (for another magazine), and the design uses a great deal of sheet balsa in its structure. The plywood and balsa are above average, but wide variances in grade and weight still exist in the kit box, so individual sorting must be done to best utilize the supplied material. This project reminds me of some long-known, but often-ignored realities about balsa. For optimum strength and durability, one must select and grade the kit wood on the basis of use. An old adage states, "straight-flying models are built straight." To that I add, "you can't expect to build straight with the wrong wood." Have you ever observed someone sorting through every sheet of balsa in a hobby shop, yet buying none of them? This builder has a specific use in mind for which only one type of balsa is suitable, or he or she may be hoarding the good stuff for future use.
Flying for Fun
CHEAP THRILLS: Last month I chatted about the fun of flying really small Free Flight (FF) models. Those comments were directed primarily at the K&B Infant. 020 reproduction that Bob Langelius is selling. The appeal of sport FF lies in the large amount of fun that is available for very low equipment and material costs, and in the availability of flying fields - many playgrounds and athletic complexes are suitable. It's difficult to fly aerobatics (at least deliberately) with sport FF models, but the beauty of an aircraft following only the commands of wind and gravity can be very rewarding. It saddens me to realize that many readers have never experienced this thing of pure beauty; they're missing out some of modeling's very special moments.
Flying for Fun
And Now, a Commercial Message: It is inappropriate for the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) to endorse particular products or to publish product reviews. (Those functions are well-covered by other publications anyhow.) However, column writers can report on what we perceive to be useful items (and sources). I'm on the lookout for anything that will add to the fun of flying, such as the following. More "Back Then" Stuff: I'd like to share personal recollections, featured in my April 1991 column, from the 1948 National Aeromodeling Championships (Nats):
Flying for Fun
THE GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY: Guess who's been reduced to watching old movies on cable? Recent eye problems have kept me out of the workshop, as well as making it very difficult to read; it doesn't leave much else to do. Now there is a definition of boredom! At any rate, this month's column will start with the ugly: When using one of those beautiful polished metal spinners from Tru-Turn it seems almost immortal to let them become dull and tarnished. Unfortunately, the nature of aluminum is to become oxidized when exposed to the atmosphere (that's why they are displayed in vacuum-sealed bags at the hobby shop). Additionally, the usual abuses of fuel and exhaust residue, starter cones, and fingerprints lead to pretty ugly looking spinners in a hurry. I've tried polishing aluminum spinners with tripoli and jeweler's rouge, stainless-steel spoon cleaner, and silver polish-with generally poor results.
