Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
THAT SERVO tester which was covered in the December Model Aviation has created the greatest response of any item that has appeared in my column. Unfortunately, the response was mostly due to having the circuit schematic inadvertently left out of the original column. A partial schematic was in the February issue and an errata to correct it appeared in the March issue. Some people have written to say that they have had the parts for months and still can't get a schematic. I have copies of the original article, which includes the schematic, that I'd be glad to send to anyone who sends me a self-addressed stamped envelope. The March 1978 column included a discussion of the sources of yaw associated with rolling maneuvers. It generated a substantial number of letters, too. Most of the letters were from aeronautical engineers who took me to task about things which were not mentioned in the column, rather than what was printed.
Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
WOULD YOU be surprised to hear that most things cost more these days? I doubt that anyone would care to argue the point. Have you paid any home or car insurance bills lately? They went up, too, didn't they? In the face of all the price increases, it makes the AMA liability insurance look like quite a buy. It makes you wonder how the AMA is able to avoid insurance premium increases, in the face of increasing costs almost everywhere else. Well, the simple truth is that the insurance our AMA license provides has increased in costs many times over what it was only a short time ago as previously reported in the "AMA News" section. A much larger fraction of our annual AMA dues goes to pay for insurance coverage.
Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
ONE OF THE things we radio control fliers are known for is the assistance we provide to newcomers. There are endless stories told by beginners about how experienced fliers took time to help them build, trim, and teach them how to fly their first airplane. It is to the credit of our hobby that we provide help when it is needed the most. These new fliers are the people who will be the experienced modelers of tomorrow, who will help other novices with their first airplanes. With such a fine record of welcoming and helping new fliers, it is puzzling to see the way many clubs react to two groups of people: spectators and fellow modelers who visit the flying site. The spectator is curious about radio control flying and probably wants to watch some flying and talk with some fliers about the hobby so that he can make a decision about whether to take up RC flying as a hobby. However, the typical treatment we give spectators is to ignore them. At the worst, we lock them out of the flying site. Take a look at your club's attitude toward spectators. If you were a spectator at your field who was thinking about joining the club, how would you feel about the club and the hobby?
Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
BY THE TIME this is published, the Nats will be upon us and I hope to see a lot of you at Lake Charles. I enjoyed the 1974 and 1975 Nats there and look forward to going back to savor the entire range of competition which can be witnessed in a setting like Lake Charles. The hot weather may slow down some of the northerners who attend but it's just like home for those of us who live along the Gulf Coast. You can plan to be warm during the day at the field, but the motels and the McNeese State dormitories are air conditioned for night-time relief. You should also plan to enjoy some of the local food, especially the crawfish. If you haven't tried them, they look like lobsters, only smaller, and are served in many of the same ways as shrimp. Recently, I had a great rediscovery of Louisiana crawfish at the annual contest in Lafayette. The contest is formally called the Model Aviation Day Contest, but it's familiarly known as the "Coonass Nationals." For those of you who don't know, a native Louisianan usually likes to be referred to as a "Coonass"-no kidding.
Radio Control: Sport Aerobatics
RECENTLY, I began a class for fellow club members on how to fly aerobatic pattern maneuvers. The class started off with a discussion of the proper airplane setup for the Novice pattern. It soon became apparent that many fliers have difficulty with flying in general, and pattern flying in particular, because of poor airplane setup. Typically, airplanes have control deflections which are far in excess of what is required for performing most maneuvers. I don't know if they are set up this way to insure that adequate control power will be available for emergency situations, or if the builder copied the local "hot dog" flier who has an airplane which can perform snap rolls immediately after takeoff. Nevertheless, what follows are my opinions on how an airplane should be rigged for the Novice pattern.
