Control Line: Aerobatics
NOTED RC PATTERN columnist and competitor Dean Pappas once remarked that he tended to repeat subject material or touch on the same subjects every three or four years. A telephone conversation the other day prompted me to consider revisiting some simple troubleshooting procedures. Then I had a string of problems during a practice session that reinforced the idea! I was getting my airplane ready for the Nationals. I had just flown it in a contest and everything performed flawlessly, but I had to draw out some fuel to get the run-time down. This caused me to change my starting procedure, so I decided to construct a slightly smaller tank. Since I had just received one of Randy Smith's new Black Resin four-chamber resonator pipes, naturally I thought it was also time to try it.
Control Line: Aerobatics
Each Nationals seems to take on its own character, with neon paint schemes, checkerboards, and the like. This year's Nats at Tri-Cities, Washington July 10-15 was something else; there were so many different themes that instead of trying to select just one, I'll try to capture some of the more interesting ones. Foremost, we had more multiengine airplanes than ever-a total of three. These included Paul Walker's astonishing B-17. Equally impressive was another semiscale, a P-47N by Bill Werwage.
Control Line: Aerobatics
CALL IT WHAT you will, the World Championship Team Trials for Control Line Precision Aerobatics (F2B) serves one purpose: to select the best fliers to represent the United States. If you have any tendency to take this lightly, just ask one of our former World Champions what it feels like to stand number-one and listen to your national anthem played for your accomplishment. I have asked Bob Gieseke, and you only have to look into his eyes to know what it means and why the top fliers consider being on the team such a prestigious achievement. That's why the best Stunt fliers in the country gathered in Muncie, Indiana over the Labor Day weekend.
Control Line: Aerobatics
WHEN THERE'S TIME to reflect on modeling in general and our event in particular, I can't help but come to the conclusion that these are the "Good Old Days." Look at the marvelous array of items that are available and draw your own conclusions. Consider a couple of the new engines, a sample of the control systems, and the lightweight parts that are available. Then compare them to what was available to us 10 years ago. The other day I was watching Frank Williams work with the Modusa Stalker 10cc. He had installed it on a profile model to experiment with it before he made the decision to develop a new design. As configured, it was a rear-exhaust model coupled to the Stalker muffler, which is very light and quiet. This setup looks like the Chinese side-mount design that Tom Dixon copied in his Praxis (11/95 MA).
Control Line: Aerobatics
ALTHOUGH MANY WHO READ this column are not competition-oriented and fly for the sheer joy of feeling a good airplane perform, the following suggestion is just as relevant to the sport flier as the up-and-coming competitor: It is a given that the more one flies the more you enjoy, the better you fly, and the better the airplane flies. But all this is predicated on the assumption that you will fly as much as the opportunity presents. Unfortunately, this is not always the case-many times the result of being "too tired." By now you're probably wondering where I'm going here; the answer is fairly obvious: better physical condition. Some further discussion is appropriate to make my case before I offer some suggestions on specifics. Years ago, I used to shoot target pistols competitively. In preparing to move up in the skill classes, I did exercises that strengthened the arm and shoulder muscles. Obviously, the stronger muscles facilitated a steadier arm and the ability to shoot well in the longer match courses. The increased strength permitted longer, more productive practice. If you consider that holding a pistol on target requires the same general skill and strength as what we do, then there is a lesson to be learned.
