Midnight Combat
In Michigan's Oakland Yard dome, over 50 model aviation enthusiasts gather biweekly for winter flying, featuring events like Zagi Combat and various electric models.
Midnight Combat
John Kilsdonk's "Midnight Combat" explores indoor RC flying at Oakland Yard in Michigan, highlighting Zagi Combat events, community camaraderie, and winter flying sessions.
Supercat
HAVING TOILED for many years in the Control Line events and being chronically infested with the competition end of things, it was only natural when I went into RC that I was interested in competition flying. Like most "beginners" I was very eager to learn, but unlike most newcomers I was also quite aware that it would be difficult, and there would be many failures along the way. I had resigned myself to the acceptance of failure as part of the learning process. My basic philosophy was (and still is) that experience is the process of elimination of things that won't work. You try to learn from your bad experiences.
The "Mystery" of Muffler Pressure
IT WAS a week or so before Christmas when Bill Winter called me and asked if I would write a "how-to" article on muffler pressure. It seems the old man (careful, John!) had been out flying a week or two before and was having some fuel draw problems on one of his RC models. Someone suggested that he try muffler pressure and after a little deliberation he did and presto his problems went away. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Actually, I could relate very well to Bill's problem as I continually witness similar situations each time I go to my club's (Michigan Signal Seekers) flying field. Having been interested in engines first and model airplanes a close second all my life, it disturbs me a great deal to see other modelers continually abuse their engine out of ignorance of what to do about poor engine runs.
Model Engines: And Their Essentials
FIRST THINGS FIRST. This is an article on engines, not on motors. I had a thermodynamics professor many years ago who was quite insistent that his students should understand that engines are not motors. Since I have always tried to learn my lessons well, my foremost pet peeve has remained when engines are called motors. An engine is a prime mover. That is, an engine is a primary converter of energy to mechanical motion. Motors normally are secondary energy converters. Actually, some model airplanes do use motors, but the power source is an electric motor, rubber strands, or CO-2 motor. This article is about engines.
