New in the Sky: Jaffe SA-32T Turbotrainer
THE North American AT-6 Texan was arguably the finest training plane of World War II. A major reason for its success was that it flew so much like a fighter, with a particular resemblance to the P-51 Mustang. Once a student pilot had mastered the AT-6, top-of-the-line combat planes were only a short step away. The SA-32T Turbotrainer, a recently introduced Jaffe Aircraft Corporation prototype, represents this same concept of a single-step-to-the-top primary trainer, albeit in 1990s garb. The slick, dark blue-and-white prototype on display at the 1991 Paris Air Show was an obvious descendant of Ed Swearingen's SX300, a high-performance home-built that held several FAI world speed records until they were topped by an even hotter home-built, the Questair Venture. But the SX300 still holds the distinction of having been the first to boost the speed of 300-hp two-seaters into the 300-mph range.
Early Bird Engines
THE VERY first gasoline-powered model airplanes were more-or-less scale models of full-size airplanes. Not because of the fascinating challenge of making little ones exactly like the big ones, but out of sheer neccessity. Since only a few full-size airplanes had so far managed to stagger through the air, it was assumed that only by making models as similar as possible was there a chance that they, too, might fly. As far back as 1908, hobbyists in Great Britain were leading the way, building and trying to fly miniature craft powered by small, gasoline-fueled engines. The models were large and clumsy by modern standards, and their engines were huge and slow-turning and weak. But they were, without a doubt, the forerunners of today's efficient designs. And considering that man-carrying airplanes had been flying in Europe only since late 1906, and in Britain only from late 1908, gas models were not far behind.
