Park View: BP Hobbies Pitts Special EP ARF - 2008/01
Special was in Missouri in the 1970s. I was
there to attend a photojournalism course, and
we were told to take a topic with us that we
could do a story about.
I landed in Springfield and rented a car.
As I was driving to a town called Cassville, I
passed a small airport and thought it would
be a good subject for my story. I walked into
the hangar and a man asked if he could help
me. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a
tiny Pitts Special. I asked if he minded if I
did a story about his operation, and he said he
would be delighted.
Sal's Dream: Test pilot and modeler share a piece of aviation history
AS PART of my duties as a District II Associate Vice President for Suffolk and Nassau (NY) counties, I attended a Fun-Fly at the Brookhaven Model Airplane Facility in Bellport NY, co-hosted by the Long Island Aero Radio Society (LIARS) and the Suffolk Wings. One of the participants, Sal Calvagna of Holbrook NY, approached me with photo album in hand and began to tell me about a late-summer meeting between a group of model enthusiasts and one of the last remaining test pilots for the fastest airplane of World War II. Sal is a Scale model devotee and a member of the International Miniature Aircraft Association (IMAA). He and a group of other local large-scale devotees travel the Northeast and attend as many events as their wives permit!
Radio Control: Soaring
It is December, and the temperature here has been in the 60s for the last few weeks. I was out flying in a light jacket this past weekend; the wind was light and the lift was excellent. Typically I would be wearing a heavy coat, and my hands would be so cold that my fingers would feel as if they were going to fall off. The great news is that this weekend promises to be the same, but this will soon pass and the temperatures will get back to normal-in the 30s. This is the time of year that thoughts turn to building. If you are building a competitive model for this coming season, why not consider making it more visible? There is nothing worse than flying in competition and losing site of your airplane when it's up about 1,500 feet. I've included a photo of my Thermal Eagle that I finished for maximum visibility. The wing and stabilizer are jet black on the bottom, and the model is easily visible from the top or bottom. I know it looks a bit gaudy, but it's sure easy to spot.
