Flying for Fun
In my July column I talked about the terms "original designs," "plan-built," "kit-built," and "factory-built" as they relate to model aircraft. Hopefully my militant objection to the badly misused, and therefore incomprehensible, term "scratch-built" hasn't upset anyone. I'll further confuse the issue this month with a look at partial kits (a.k.a. short kits) - essentially, kits that contain all parts of a model design that require cutting with a jigsaw or band saw. The builder then provides required sheet and strip wood to complete the project. This approach allows the creation of models that are not so "cookie-cutter" common, without the more-challenging aspects of building from plans.
Flying for Fun
A Splendid Subject: In the last several columns I've been "banging the drum," promoting unusual modeling subjects. This month I have a rare, yet extremely appealing aircraft: the Boeing Model 80. Many people are familiar, to one extent or another, with the Ford and Junkers trimotors, and to a lesser extent with the American Fokker units. Did you know that they were preceded by trimotor commercial aircraft, not only from Boeing and Stinson, but Armstrong Whitworth's Argosy (now there is one ugly airplane), de Havilland's Hercules, and several other domestic and foreign manufacturers?
Flying for Fun
In the Beginning: In the late 1970s, a few RC (Radio Control) modelers began to build and fly much larger aircraft than previously seen. Several factors were involved in the development of these seven- to 12-foot-span model aircraft that weighed 15 pounds and more, including: "my airplane is bigger than yours," smoother flying characteristics (particularly in windy weather), improved visibility, and the use of less-expensive building materials and engines. Recalling those early days, the Bud Nosen series of large Scale models was originally designed around .60 cubic inch (cu. in.) two-stroke engines. Why? Because they were the largest model aircraft engines available.
Flying for Fun
The following fundamental material might lead the reader to say "I already know that," and skip this column. Yet, a brief refresher is in order considering a "failure to remember" in several instances. It's a Gas: The Earth's atmosphere is composed of molecules of several gases, ranging from oxygen to the rare ones such as helium. The atmosphere is held around the Earth's surface by gravity, and thins to nothing about 100 miles up. The closer to the earth's surface that atmosphere lies, the more dense it is. One law of physics states that heating a gas causes its molecules to disperse in proportion to the temperature; conversely, cooling the gas causes its molecules to move closer to each other, and it becomes more dense.
Flying for Fun
The Piper Skycycle Saga: In 25+ years, no column subject of mine has generated more mail responses than the Skycycle. I'm not talking several dozen letters, but more than 100! For months following the two columns, modelers wrote indicating strong interest in building models of the prototype. I had mentioned the possibility of a well-known and respected person dusting off his prototype molds and marketing his 1/3-scale Skycycle kit. He had asked for anonymity while he was making up his mind, so I forwarded the letters to him. I can now relate that the potential kitter was Bert Baker of Everett, Washington who was responsible for the design of those incredibly beautiful and good-flying Yellow Aircraft warbirds. Bert severed his association with the company a year ago or so, and was considering running some limited-production kits on his own.
