Radio Control: Giants
THOSE OF YOU who have followed my column throughout the years may remember that I'm not all that thrilled with computer Radio Control (RC) radios. Although there are a couple of computer transmitters in the local "inventory," they're only set up for single-model applications. Part of my aversion results from the confusing instruction manuals that come with the transmitters. Some instructions are the product of foreign manufacturers, and the translations leave much to be desired. Setting up an RC computer transmitter for three or more models may also become frustrating.
Radio Control: Giants
WITH ALL of the common and technological distractions, it's amazing that people have time to build and fly Radio Control Giant models. If it isn't the television, it's the computer monitor; if it isn't a fax, it's a collection of E-mail from the Internet. Somewhere in there, a person has to go to work, eat, sleep, and find the hours to glue stick "A" to longeron "B." Although it might not mean much, I'd like to send "attaboys" to all of the readers who have bolted together a Giant. If you can find a couple of extra minutes, why not shoot some great photographs of your pride and joy? I can use them in this column!
Radio Control: Giants
Most modelers are faced with major model reconstruction from time to time because it's common (unfortunately) for RC fliers to be afflicted with the well-known "pilot's disease"- running a model into the ground too hard. The "disease" is often the result of the infamous RC maneuver The Figure Nine. Depending on the construction skills of the "victim," the glue supply, and the state of the wreckage, the rekitted model may or may not be a subject for rebuilding. My old friend "Mr. Gee Bee," Henry Haffke, surprised me when he wrote about his current rehabilitation project. Henry built an RC model of the Ryan PT-20 (the military trainer version of the Menasco-powered Ryan STA) 26 years ago, and he flew it with success in many contests.
Radio Control: Giants
There are literally thousands of Giant Scale modelers who are never recognized. Their names don't appear on the rolls of Top Gun, the Masters, or as winners of regional or national contests, yet their skill in designing, building, and flying Giants equals that of the great names that appear in the model airplane magazines. Their hobby satisfaction comes from Giant Scale fly-ins and rallies. Their Special Interest Group (SIG) is the International Miniature Aircraft Association (IMAA) - an organization whose fundamental tenet is to bring Giant Scale modelers together for the fun and camaraderie that participating in the hobby provides.
Radio Control: Giants
IN ARTICLES by model designers, the old cliché, "It flew right off the drawing board," appears with agonizing regularity. The models do not always do that well, but the models that don't fly as planned never make it to the pages of the magazines. Scale designs are more frequently the victims of "no-flightitis" than their freelance brethren, often because their prototypes weren't world-beating aircraft. Also, shrinking a full-scale airplane to model size often presents balance, airfoil, wing area, angle-of-incidence, and decalage problems that are impossible to overcome. The tradeoffs in producing a true Scale replica often produce a "dog" when flight is attempted.
