Dual Battery System
DO YOU FLY Giant Scale airplanes? Are you running multiple servos and experiencing some glitching from your radio? Could be you're short on battery power. Some modelers like to use six or seven servo functions-and, to top it off, they double up on some servos to increase power for added safety. That means it's possible to wind up with eight or nine servos in one airplane! When the radio system is on, the servos are sitting at idle drawing a small, fixed amount of current. When a command is given (a stick on the transmitter is moved), a servo or several servos respond by moving and by drawing significantly more current. This increased demand for current causes a momentary voltage drop to ripple through the entire system-and the receiver, sensing the low voltage, temporarily loses sensitivity. During that split-second loss in sensitivity, the receiver sends a glitch to all the servos, and the resulting twitch can be seen at the control surfaces. This situation becomes even more pronounced when the battery is on the flat part of the discharge curve.
Joe Nall Fly-In
They came from many places-even as far away as Canada, Germany, Brazil, and South America-to be part of the largest gathering of Giant Scale model airplanes in the world: the 17th annual Joe Nall Giant Scale Fly-In, held May 13-15, 1999. The Fly-In is a prestigious IMAA (International Miniature Aircraft Association) event, sponsored by Chapter 94 of the IMAA with help from neighboring clubs. The four-day event has been held on Pat Hartness's 400-acre private estate at Greenville SC for the last 16 years. Arriving two days early and passing through the big iron gates at the entrance, I looked skyward and noted many airplanes flying. It looked as if the event had already started.
Master's World Aerobatic Championships
Thank you, Lord, for the week of perfect flying weather you gave us. It was a little cool a few mornings, but perfect, with ideal flying conditions during the Masters World Aerobatic Championships, held at Hartness Field, Greenville, South Carolina. September 8-12, 1998 were the contest days, and the 8th and 9th were set aside for qualifications, with slots open for more pilots. I arrived Wednesday, September 9 in the middle of the afternoon, and had missed the qualification flights. However, five pilots did qualify, bringing the total number of entrants up to 18.
Joe Nall Fly-In
Hundreds of Giant Scale modelers and AMA members made their way through the big iron gates at the Hartness estate, Greenville SC, to attend the 16th Joe Nall Fly-In May 14-17. The four-day event was held at Hartness Field, privately owned by Pat Hartness. The event was sponsored by the Confederate Air Farce and Chapter 94 of the International Miniature Aircraft Association (IMAA), with help from neighboring clubs. I have attended this annual event for the past 10 years, and occasionally I think of how it used to be when Joe Nall was here to do the announcing. The crowds were much smaller; there were far fewer airplanes, meaning one could fly without a lengthy wait for the frequency pin.
Masters World Aerobatic Championship
THE MASTERS World Aerobatic Championships, held September 11-14, 1997 is now but a memory, but it will linger with most as a perfect event, with outstanding flying weather and great camaraderie among the contestants. I had the privilege of covering the inaugural last year and was interested in how it would go this year. I was not disappointed. The event was held at Greenville, South Carolina, on the private estate of Pat Hartness, where the Joe Nall Giant Scale Fly-In takes place every May. The flying field is known as Hartness Field.
