Radio Control: Sport/Aerobatics
LAST MONTH, I promised to include descriptions on how to perform maneuvers from the Novice/Sportsman class on a monthly basis. This month's maneuver will be the Stall Turn. The Stall Turn is an upwind maneuver, meaning that it is initiated from an upwind heading. It is strongly affected by the wind. By that, I mean that the appearance of the maneuver is affected. (We all know that, except for gusts, the airplane doesn't know that the wind is blowing.) The wind has an effect on the airplane only in that we are trying to make the maneuver look the same, whether the wind is blowing or not. What a good flier does is to recognize this and then compensate for the effects of the wind on the appearance of the maneuver. However, a beginning Pattern flier is only concerned with doing the maneuver well enough so that it is recognizable and still have his airplane intact after the maneuver is completed. So, let's treat the Stall Turn from that aspect and worry about the effects of the wind later.
Radio Control: Sport/Aerobatics
ONCE in a while, I get discouraged when I try to get a job done in my club and can't get enough help to make it an easy task for everyone. This happened recently, and I wondered if many clubs have the same problem. Shortly afterwards, I received a package of club newsletters which contained two issues of the Flightline Newsletter (Greater Cincinnati Radio Control Club). One issue had an article by editor J. Wambach, Jr. that showed my club wasn't alone. I've edited that article a bit: "Someone Else. We were saddened to learn this week of the departure of one of our club's most valuable members: Someone Else. His absence has created a vacancy that will be difficult to fill.
Radio Control: Sport/Aerobatics
I DON'T always have a chance to read all the articles in every magazine the moment it arrives in my mailbox. Some articles I set aside for later reading. Such was the case of Glenn Carter's Soapbox article on "More Thoughts on the RC Turn-Around Pattern" which was published in the December 1982 issue of Model Aviation. I recently had a chance to read Glenn's article, and it made me feel irritated to be faced with his false dilemma regarding a decision of whether to fly the AMA pattern with airplanes that "can perform eight-and 16-point rolls by just nudging the ailerons" or flying IMAC (International Miniature Aerobatic Club) rules with a "Scale Pitts or CAP-21 at 50 mph and doing the Aresti maneuvers" (which require) "some very challenging piloting."
Radio Control: Sport/Aerobatics
FLIGHT SCHOOL. For a couple of months, I have been promising to cover how to perform Reverse Outside Loops. While reviewing what had been covered already, I discovered that Inside Loops hadn't even been mentioned! Since it makes more sense to try Inside Loops before Outside Loops, I'll discuss them both this month, starting with the Inside Loops. All maneuvers require a straight and level entry. Fliers usually don't have any difficulty setting up for Inside Loops; however, some have a tendency to have the airplane climbing slightly. Try to get a good flat entry with respect to the horizon. Remember also that if one wing is lower than the other, the airplane will pull off in the direction of the low wing, making the loops into a corkscrew. Get the wings level at maneuver entry, and you'll save yourself the trouble of trying to correct a corkscrewing airplane.
Radio Control: Sport/Aerobatics
Do you know what a mail avalanche is? That's when you offer to send an article and schematic for a servo tester to people if they send a SASE, then you wait a while and go out to check your mail. During the eight weeks since that offer appeared in my column, I have received more than 200 requests for the servo tester article and schematic. That's more requests than I received when the article appeared originally! If you keep sending SASEs, I'll keep sending out the information. While you're sending me things, how about including a few good black and white pictures which can be used with the column?
