Wright Glider
ALTHOUGH THE WORLD didn't bother to notice, the course of the World was changed that fateful day in 1903. However, the remarkable success of the Wright Brothers was no accident of Fate, but rather was the result of patient research involving their wind tunnel, kites, and gliders. This little model, suggestive of the Wright's 1902 glider, is inspired by one built by Jiri Kalina and appeared in the Czech Modelar magazine. We liked it, and with the spirit of detente have brought the idea back to our shores, Americanizing the ship a bit in the process.
PBA Special
THE IDEAL control-line trainer has long been an elusive sort of bird, and curiously enough, the more successful a trainer is, the less often it will be flown! Our reasoning is this: the really well-conceived trainer will quickly prepare the fledgling for more exciting craft, and having thus mastered the lowly seeming, yet most important trainer, the flier will abandon it for airplanes better suited for more advanced flying. Our PBA Special then, is a design intended to grow with the flier's capabilities. Starting as a sturdy, steady Primary trainer, then with a new wing becoming a Basic stunt trainer, and then, with the addition of wing flaps, the metamorphosis is completed as the Advanced stunt trainer.
PBA Special
LAST MONTH we introduced you to our rather progressive concept in control-line trainers, and as a result of your experience with the PBA Special in its Primary guise, you should now be able to make some very nice, smooth flights. In fact, you very likely feel about ready to move on to more exciting flying. Ordinarily, this would mean building an entirely new ship, but not so with the PBA Special. It's ready to move on with you. So, wash the oil and grime (using a good household cleaner such as Fantastic) from the trusty PBA and clear off a space on the workbench; we're going to show you how to fly it upside down (the airplane that is, silly).
Little White Mouse
SURELY THE most really competitive race to be found under current CL rules is the Mouse Race. True, there are far more sophisticated and much faster events, but the glory of Mouse Racing is that any youngster can be as competitive as the Nationals winners, and yet have change left over from a twenty-dollar bill. Not only that, but he'll be having a lot of good fun in the process. The Little White Mouse is just such a machine, inexpensive, gloriously uncomplicated, and best yet, a genuine, certified, winner. It is our opinion that the Little White Mouse is as small a mouse racer as is practical. It is both very fast and docile; a smaller wing would only have to fly at a higher angle of attack to maintain flight and thus would be slower. Finally, while light, the Little White Mouse is quite tough enough to take the knocks of a spirited race.
Avro C.6A Autogiro
"IF YOU FLY, don't stall; if you stall, don't spin; if you spin, don't crash; if you crash, don't burn." Every aviator has heard these sentiments expressed in one form or another, yet to this day, the stall remains a prominent factor in airplane accidents. During 1923, in a successful effort to overcome the danger of stalling, Senior Juan de la Cierva of Spain invented the autogiro. This ancestor of the modern helicopter is, like the helicopter, sustained in flight by a rotary wing, but there the similarity ends. The autogiro's free-wheeling rotor is turned by aerodynamic forces created by the relative wind. This procedure is quite unlike the helicopter's engine-driven rotor. Because of these differences, the 'giro is a much less complex machine (and is, hence, less costly), but it also lacks much of the helicopter's versatility.
