Where Are The Kids?

The solution is us-you, me, our club, your club-and since there are lots of us, there are lots of solutions. We should act whenever there is an opportunity to share our hobby with children who are interested. We can make a difference

Cloud Kitten

BACK IN THE "OLD DAYS," when I was younger, Free Flight was much simpler. Build the airplane, fill the tank, start the engine, cross your fingers, and let it go. The engines then had much less power than those of today, so the models would cruise on up until the engine ran out of fuel, then the model would glide back down. The Veco Dakota by Joe Wagner is a good example. The little Dakota biplane was very popular because it flew well and because of the glide, it would come back to fly again. With this concept in mind, I designed the Cloud Kitten based around the Ace RC mini foam wing and the Cox Pee Wee .020. The Pee Wee has lots of power and the thick foam wing takes the Cloud Kitten out of the floater category.

Fighters Two

THE BOEING P-26 "Peashooter" and the Japanese, Nakajima KI-27, "Nate" are fighters of the early stages of World War II. They were designed and produced in the 1930's when camouflaged paint schemes were not in favor. The Peashooter and Nates were painted with bright and distinctive markings and colors, making them very attractive models. Models of these aircraft are seldom seen because of their very short noses, but as 1/2A profiles, both balance just right. Many times I have looked at these aircraft to build as models, but it took some neighborhood kids flying 1/2A profiles to prompt me to build them so I could play too. With TD .049's, they both fly very fast on 26¢ wire control lines and are a lot of fun to fly.

Cessna172

Presented as realistic sportjob, this 40-powered gem can serve as an intermediate trainer to help landings and use of throttle techniques, providing hours of easy stick time.

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