Control Line: Aerobatics
ARF STUNT! Are we ready for it? Is ARF Stunt ready for us? What is ARF? These are just three of the questions for which we will search for answers in this month's episode of "As the Nobler Turns." (Yuuchh! Who wrote that drivel? Couldn't have been me . . .) Well, whoever wrote it, it is an appropriate entree to this month's column. You'll remember that at the end of last month's effort I mentioned the new Cox Super Chipmunk 1/2A almost-ready-to-fly (ARF! There, one of the questions is already answered!) Control Line Stunt flier which arrived on my doorstep sometime last summer. It was accompanied by a letter from the Cox people which concluded by noting they were looking forward to my review.
AMA Nats: CL Aerobatics
THE BATTLE to determine the best Control Line Stunt fliers in the United States for the year 1988 is history. Characteristically, the story of this year's Nats isn't just one of winners and losers. It is more a story of people and places and the things they choose to do to add a spice of individuality to their common avocation, flying Stunt airplanes. It's the story of an invasion of friendly foreigners, intent on carving themselves a slice of American Stunt history. Of an individual pilot, one of the best ever, who chose to do it his way, even though at first "his way" appeared to be a novelty footnote to the competition . . . and then nearly ran away with the whole ball game!
Control Line: Aerobatics
HOLY COW, guys! Those other fellows have really learned how the game is played. In this case, those other fellows are our comrade Stunt fliers from the People's Republic of China and the U.S.S.R. For any of you who haven't heard by now, the Chinese and Russian teams did it to the rest of us yet again at last August's CL World Championships. That's right. Once again these two teams beat all comers, simply reversing their placings of two years ago. This time the P.R.C. won both the team and individual honors as 1986 runner-up, Zhang Xiang Dong, took the gold medal. 1986 Champ Andrei Kolisnikov was a very close second, followed fractionally by China's Wang Jian Zhang.
Control Line: Aerobatics
DUE to the curse of publishing lead time, by the time you read this epistle you will most likely know the results not only of the 1988 Virginia Nats but also of the Kiev, Russia CL World Championships. Unfortunately, as I write it is late June, and my new ship for the Nats ain't done, the old ship needs a really good engine, and the old reflexes just don't seem to be what they used to be when I do find the time to go practice. I just received an engine from Tom Lay at T&L Specialties which he guarantees is a monster, and I'd really much rather be out running it. However, duty calls, so stand clear for another month of Stunt stuff.
Control Line: Aerobatics
HI, GANG. This is going to be an odds-and-ends month. There are lots of exciting things happening that should be passed on, so here goes. Class act: That's all I can say about the terrific response from Cox Hobbies, Inc. regarding my review of their Super Chipmunk ARF (almost-ready-to-fly-Ed.) Stunter last month. Kudos also to the Model Aviation editorial staff for the way they handled the matter. I was a little concerned about submitting a column which contained an opinion which was less than totally complimentary to a product from one of Model Aviation's advertisers. Would Cox take exception to the column even though they had solicited the review? Would MA choose not to run it for fear of alienating an advertiser?
