Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
I HAVEN'T made comments about AMA elections in the past, but the election of Don Lowe as the new AMA president made me very pleased. I've known Don for more than 20 years and have shared many hours with him as a modeler, club member, contestant, government employee, and as a friend. Don is one of the nicest persons I know. He is intelligent, level-headed and unbiased. He's going to be one of the best AMA presidents we've ever had. While I'm in a happy mood, I'd like to comment on one of the enjoyable things I do each month: I read R/C Report. When the publication started eight months ago, I was delighted by the sense of humor exhibited by editor Gordon Banks. I don't know how you feel when you read a magazine, but, for me, reading R/C Report is fun. The associate and contributing editors have picked up on Gordon's sense of humor. That is not to say their articles aren't informative and interesting. They are. But they are also full of the kind of humor I enjoy.
Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
WELL, GUYS, we wanted to fly more times per day at the Nats, and we got it. We'll be flying for three days in our respective events and should have no trouble getting in at least six flights. That's the good news. The bad news is that Sportsman/Advanced flies July 12, 13, and 14. Expert/Masters flies July 15, 16, and 17. Besides that, frequencies are allocated by class. For some fliers the arrangement will be awkward, if not impossible, if a flying buddy is in Sportsman and you're in Expert, for example. Some people can only take off a few days for the Nats, and the six days for all of Pattern may be too much. Having to change frequency will be more of an annoyance than a backbreaking expense, but some of us will gripe about it.
Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
HOW many times have you heard the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?" That's the basis for comments I've been hearing about the AMA's new RC frequency identification system which is to go into effect January 1988. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, check page 100 in the April 1987 issue of Model Aviation. The new frequency-identification system will do away with virtually everything that's now in use. For example, all of your frequency channel-number tags will have to be replaced. The new system requires black numbers on a white background. What was wrong with the other channel numbers, I don't know. In addition, a red streamer ". . .imprinted with the following wording: `72 MHz AIRCRAFT USE ONLY' " must be on the top of the transmitter antenna if it is in the 72 MHz band. What the wording is supposed to accomplish I don't know, either, since the red streamer is to be used only in the 72 MHz band for aircraft operation.
Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
HERE'S a scenario for you to try out: There's this contest in which the contestants are supposed to run from one end of a hallway to the other end. They are penalized each time they touch a wall. Sound reasonable? Oh, I almost forgot-they are blindfolded so they can't see the walls. Does it still sound reasonable? Why should the contestant be penalized when he touches a wall he can't see? That's the rules. Now try this scenario: There's an RC Pattern event called Turnaround in which the contestants are penalized whenever their airplane flies out of the box. The limits of the box are marked so the judges can see them. The only problem is that the pilots can't see them. Consequently they are being penalized for flying out of a box they can't see.
Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
JUNE'S column contained a suggestion for softening Part A of Dave Brown epoxy by putting it (with the top off the container) in a microwave oven for 20 to 30 seconds. The editor then inserted a comment and an example showing that I'd been fortunate to get away with doing that because some people are severely allergic to heated epoxy. Actually, I don't think I was fortunate. Fortunate (lucky) is when you bet on something against 1,000-to-one odds and win. Since very few people are as allergic as the person in the cited example, I'd say that the person who's that allergic is unfortunate. Unfortunate is when the odds are 1,000-to-one in your favor and you lose.
