Radio Control: Scale
Docu-Search: Dave Beazley is attempting to locate a set of plans for Benny Howard's Pete, a famed racer from the 1930s. Dave would prefer a quarter-scale plan, but at this point any plan would be very welcome. If you know of anything, please write to Dave at Route 1, Box 3210, Palmyra VA 22963. Duane Dahnert used this Docu-Search service to successfully locate documentation for the G-22 Gulfhawk, the A1 Williams version of the Grumman F3F. To complete his project, Duane is still in need of a quarter-scale plan for the Gulfhawk. If you can help, contact him at 7209 Bryant Ave. S., Richfield MN 55423. Wayne Terpstra wrote with an unusual request. He is interested in constructing a CB4-3 Loadmaster; he already has his three-view and the coordinate numbers, but he needs the NACA (National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics) coordinate charts or pictorials. Wayne's numbers are as follows:
Radio Control: Scale
Congratulations to the Academy of Model Aeronautics on its purchase of the IMS (International Modelers Show) in Pasadena, California. IMS has been a solid event for more than 20 years, and I'm certain that the purchase will help to somewhat ease the massive burden on AMA's ongoing educational and flying site efforts. Congratulations also on AMA's Grand Event that took place June 12-14. It's good to see the Academy open its arms to car, boat, and railroad modelers, sharing in their pleasures and allowing them to share in ours. Camaraderie like this can never hurt; it can only improve relations between modelers with varied hobby interests. The second Grand Event was a smashing good time-no pun intended and none made.
Radio Control: Scale
Model Aviation's December issue was packed from cover to cover with reports on the AMA National Aeromodeling Championships (Nats). As much as I wanted to attend this year's contest, I had already spent almost a week in Muncie for the Grand Event, and business commitments rarely permit me to make more than one summer trip to AMA's International Aeromodeling Center. Stan Alexander graciously handled the Radio Control (RC) Scale event coverage in my stead. When you see him, don't forget to thank him for his blow-by-blow, first-hand account in the December issue.
Radio Control: Scale
I've often heard our sport-type counterparts quip that Scale modelers don't fly very well. That's a very broad statement, but admittedly there's more than just a hint of truth behind it. In the days when many of today's Scale fliers got their start in the hobby-long before the time of instant adhesives and laser-cut parts-there was no such thing as an Almost Ready to Fly or Almost Ready to Cover model airplane. There were only kits and plans. Anyone who wanted to fly a model airplane was positively required to build one, and not everyone enjoyed that end of the hobby to an equal degree. As newcomers joined the hobby, they would either regard the building process as a necessary evil or fall captive to the challenge and rewards of constructing a flying machine with their own hands.
Radio Control: Scale
Docu-Search: There's only one Docu-Search request this month: it comes from Walt Buskey. Walt is searching for a photograph of the Ord-Hume OH-7, an early British homebuilt airplane that looks much like a miniature J-3 Cub. Walt currently flies an OH-7 in Indoor Rubber events, but would enjoy building a larger model for RC. If you know of this airplane and have a photo available, please contact Walt Buskey at 100 King Road, Etna NH 03750-3521. Simulators Part Two: If you're anything like me, your building skills enjoy some degree of superiority over your flying capabilities. Today's RC flight simulators have come a long way, and the good ones can really capture the feel of a large number of actual Scale model airplanes.
