Control Line: Speed
Mike Couts of Prospect, Ohio set the AMA Jet Speed record of 193 mph last year, and I had a photo of him and his jet model in the last column. His daughter Jennifer was also in the photo with her monoline trainer. Well, this year she is flying serious monoline! Mike, Jennifer, Bill Nusz, and his wife Gail, came all the way from Ohio to Aurora, Illinois to fly Speed at our Treetown Modelaires AAA Memorial Day contest May 29. Jennifer flew her new Class B model to a new Junior record of 147-plus mph. It's a typical Speed model, using a K&B .29 engine with minipipe for power, and it has a one-wheel fixed landing gear, a sub-rudder for added stability, and a crankcase-pressurized metal tank.
Control Line: Speed
JETS! Just the word is exciting, and impresses with a sense of speed, daring, and wonder. Many spectators come to the Nats simply to watch the noisiest event: Jet Speed. They seem to enjoy the magnificent roar produced by these firesticks-as if in response to a primeval urge (a latent remembrance of fire-breathing dragons?) I write about pulse jets-miniature models of the engine that powered the infamous German VI flying bomb used so destructively in World War II. Unlike turbo jets with their rapidly spinning rotors, pumps, and other complicated machinery, pulse jets have only one moving part: the reed valve that opens and closes every time the engine fires. Many different pulse jet designs have been built, some with no valves at all. The ones used in Jet Speed, however, are the reed-valve type.
Control Line: Speed
MODELERS KEEP writing to me asking about the availability of control line equipment, especially that for Speed models. I tell them to contact the North American Speed Society: Box 82294, North Burnaby, B.C. Canada. Chris Sackett puts out a newsletter every two months, and once a year he includes a list of equipment suppliers. Many good items are produced by garage or basement dealers, and Ned Morris, an avid Speed flier from Indianapolis, Indiana is one of them. He designed and made up a batch of really nice bellcranks that are just right for .21 Sport Speed, Formula 40, or any other two-line model that you want to build. They are constructed of .040 steel with rotating brass connectors, have brazed connector pins, and are suitable for any of the CL Racing classes if you want internal line connections.
Control Line: Speed
HAVE YOU PURCHASED a new engine lately-maybe one of the newer ABC lapped-piston types? Did you take it out of the box, put a prop on it (as most of us do), and flip it just to test the feel? Were you amazed, perhaps, at how free and loose it was when you flipped it-except at the top of the stroke, where it popped over neatly and cleanly? Did you read the instructions to find out the manufacturer recommendations for break-in running, needle setting to start, prop sizes, and fuel? Does it need prolonged break-in running?
Control Line: Speed
WILL PROTO SPEED become popular again? Some people who think so are promoting a new event that has rules similar to-but more stringent than-those of old B Proto. Many modelers have complained that all Speed models are alike-and they are: just an engine, pan, wing, stab, and a helmet cowl to streamline the engine. The FAI models are different, with their sidewinder construction, but now all of them look alike, too.
