Free Flight: Duration
INSPIRATION. It is the day after Christmas as I begin this column. Outside, nickel-size snowflakes have been falling heavily for an hour or so, and the pesky things have already built up a fluffy white blanket on the ground to a depth of two or three inches. As the family is out running around returning all of their gifts that were either too large or too small, I sit here staring through the window of my workshop, nursing a miserable head cold, and wondering how they ever proved that no two snowflakes are ever alike.
Free Flight: Duration
NFFS for 1986. I had lots of good things to tell you about National Free Flight Society (NFFS) doings for 1986, but my alternate-month co-contributor, Bob Meuser, beat me to it! His January 1986 column tells all of the good news about NFFS' new discount membership plan, nomination for the Ten Models of the Year, and FF Hall of Fame awards. Perhaps I ought to mention that NFFS memberships should be mailed to NFFS, 8383 Zancanaro Ct., Citrus Hts., CA 95610. Single memberships are $15; and multiple new (not renewal) memberships mailed in the same envelope go for three for $13.50 each; four for $12 each; and five for $10 each.
Free Flight: Duration
THE LOST IS FOUND. Our quest for attempting to discover the origins of the interesting Forster-powered "mystery model," for which we ran a couple of photos in this column in the September issue, has paid off beyond the fondest expectations of everyone involved. Bob Larsh reports that he received a telephone call from Ed Keck of Webster, NY shortly after the September issue was distributed. Ed had just returned from the Westover Nats, which he had attended because of his present RC interests-and when thumbing through the issue which had arrived during his absence was astonished to see the photos of the very model that he had lost 37 years previously! Bob says that Ed gave sufficient intimate details that only its creator could have known and that the model had indeed been originally lost in a large cornfield in Michigan. One of the details that was not disclosed in the September article was that the Forster was a .305 and not the more popular .29, which might have been assumed.
Free Flight: Duration
THOSE "red-hot" Bantams: I would assume that we have all owned model engines, at one time or another, which have caused us nothing but utter frustration, regardless of what may have been accomplished or claimed by others using the same engine. My personal candidate for this category had always been that diminutive little powerplant, the Bantam .19. I found that most would start and four-cycle quite easily, but the cussed things would quit running when I went to lean out the fuel mixture. Boy, were they contrary! Lightweight, attractive, and well-constructed, the once-popular Bantam had been shown on the machinery end of many of the Class A ignition designs of the early Forties era.
Free Flight: Duration
NEW EVENT considerations. As promised at the conclusion of our last gathering, I shall (for the most part) attempt to step over some of the dust and cobwebs of the vintage competition activities of Old-Timer and Nostalgia Gas in this session to enable catching up with some of the action that is more akin to what we might label as "Modern Free Flight." With this in mind, what could be more apropos than reviewing the why and wherefore of a new-event promotion, such as that of the latest offering from the San Diego Orbiteers: the .020 Pee Wee 30 Event. The promotion of new events is really nothing new to this innovative group, as their resume includes such organizations as AMA Peanut Scale, P-30 Rubber, West Coast Bostonian, and most recently the 49'er Event.
