Control Line: Aerobatics
I THOUGHT we'd spend our time together this month talking about a couple of engine problems. I received a letter a few months back from Charly Pate of Nashville, TN. Along with a few nice words about the column and the Nats, Charly asked me the following question: "What determines where the fuel tank should be placed? All fuel tank heights are referred to in relationship to the needle valve; i.e., `Set the center of the fuel tank even with the needle valve,' etc. Often the tank's location is not even shown on plans. I remember that Al Rabe once made a fixture which allowed him to raise and lower the needle valve, hoping, of course, to fine tune his engine without shimming the tank. It was a failure. Sure would like to see some comments on this."
Control Line: Aerobatics
WHY is it? Is there anyone out there who can explain to me why it is that no matter how well you think you've got things organized, it never fails that nothing is ever finished until the very last minute? Here I sit, bleary-eyed at the typewriter, trying to whip out pearls of wisdom-for which I'm sure you are all waiting in breathless anticipation. It's nearly midnight, and my deadline is only three days away. "Well," you say, "three days is plenty of time. What's he crying about?" "Well," I say, "if the column was all I had to do before the end of the month (August) it would be easy." However, as I sit here my semipro Stunter is dripping oil all over the cars in the garage wondering why I'm not cleaning it up for its airplane ride to Indianapolis tomorrow for the team trials. Since it's the geriatric five-year-old Citation V instead of the new Temptation which I flew at the '89 Nats, it requires just a bit more cosmetic attention (more on that in a bit).
Control Line: Aerobatics
TELL you what. This month let's talk about warts. What! Warts, Ted says? All along you thought Model Aviation was the official journal of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, not the American Medical Association. What do warts have to do with Control Line Stunt? Good question, says I. However, the warts we're going to discuss grow on the trailing edge of the outboard flaps of some Stunt ships, not on your tired tootsies. Warts are the small projections added to the outermost end of the outboard flaps on many successful Stunters-such as my 1986 Nats-winning Citation V (see the photo).
CL Aerobatics
DATE: Saturday, July 22, 1989. Place: Richland airport, Richland, WA. Today the sun rose in the east and set in the west; the tides of the world's oceans responded to the moon's come-hither flirtations; and Jimmy Casale won the Walker Cup. Rest easy, America, all is right with the natural order of things!
Control Line: Aerobatics
THE IMAGE. I received a letter from one of Europe's finest Stunt pilots. Because I know the individual so well, and because I respect his opinions-whether or not I might share them-I have chosen to devote my column this month to his article, "The American Dream." Suffice it to say that, notwithstanding my friendship with the author, I don't share most of his opinions . . . and next month I intend to publish a public reply stating why. Nonetheless, the fact that a mature and accomplished modeler with worldwide competitive experience sincerely believes in the accuracy of the image he paints of us in this article should give us pause. To the extent that his views may reflect the opinions of the rest of the Stunt world, it is worthy of our consideration.
