Tachometer Modifications
WHEN Heath first introduced the Thumb Tach tachometer, its relatively low cost and ease of operation made it quite popular. As more modelers recognized the utility of having a tachometer in their tool boxes, demand increased, and a variety of tachometers became available. Relative cost has decreased over the years with the lower cost of transistors and integrated circuits. The optical tachometers which sense light variations from the rotating propeller are the easiest to use; they have remained the only types available in kit form at a reduced cost. The two optical tachometer kits, the Heath Thumb Tach and the Ace Tach Master, were designed for ease of assembly-to be finished in one short evening, even by a modeler with no previous electronic kit experience.
Yellow Peril
WHEN MY TWO children started flying Control Line last summer, we started with 1/2A Airplanes because they are inexpensive to operate, the integral-tank Cox engines can tolerate a lot of abuse, and the small airplanes survive the inevitable unintentional landings much better than larger models. Their initial experience was with an used by the Northern Virginia Control Line Association to introduce well over a hundred potential CL pilots to the sport in just one summer. The NVCLA "brick" provided an excellent introduction, but by the end of the second flying session, both children were ready to move up to something else.
Nats Control Line: Navy Carrier
CARRIER participation was considerably improved over what it was at Lake Charles. Dayton is closer to the centers of CL Navy Carrier activity in the northern and eastern U.S. The number of entries did not match the outstanding participation of the 1972 Glenview Nats, but there was plenty of competition. Many familiar faces from last year made it back again along with some new contestants and many of the older names in Carrier flying who did not compete at Lake Charles. The AMA's carrier decks spent some time in dry-dock undergoing repairs and modifications. After much work by the Cleveland Prop Busters, the decks were launched with a new coat of paint, new guides and bags for the arresting cables, and an additional 21/2 feet of length (bringing them up to the required 44 feet for the first time).
Control Line: Navy Carrier
I was quite pleased when Carl Wheeley asked me to write this column. The Navy Carrier events have had little publicity in the past few years, and I am hoping that this column can provide a focal point for Carrier activities and a valuable forum for the exchange of ideas and information. I like to think of all CL modelers as Carrier flyers - those who actively participate in the event and those who haven't yet tried it. I hope to provide good reading for both, and to encourage more of those "haven't yet's" to come aboard and find out what they have been missing.
Control Line: Navy Carrier
THE 1975 NATS will be history by the time this issue reaches you, but there should still be time for you Midwest area Carrier modelers to get in on what should be a top-notch contest. It won't be the year's biggest contest, and it hasn't been around for years like some of our traditional meets, but it offers some of the best awards and rewards of any contest this season. The awards consist of HP 40 engines for the first place winners in Profile and Class I Carrier and a Webra 61 Speed engine for Class II. The rewards to which I refer will result from the fact that all entry fees collected will be donated to the National Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. Bill "Moose" Allen and his friends have done a tremendous amount of work to put this First Annual Aero Challenge for Muscular Dystrophy together to benefit two worthy causes: MD Research and Model Aviation. This contest will be covered on television and should provide a real boost to modeling in northern Illinois and in your own area as an example of how model aviation can benefit the community. Come on out to DeKalb, III., on August 31 and join the fun-it's even tax deductible!
