'81 AMA Texas Nats: CL Aerobatics
TEN YEARS is a long time for an impatient, talented flier to wait to win the Nationals. When you have already won the Nationals four previous times and the world title twice, it becomes even more difficult to settle for seconds and thirds-which is what Bill Werwage has had to do since last winning Precision Aerobatics in 1971. However, he put his considerable knowledge and skills all together at the right time to beat an outstanding field at the Texas Nationals. On the Walker Cup finals day, each of the five finalists led the scoring at one time or another; however, the final standings were Werwage (Lakewood, OH), Ted Fancher (Foster City, CA), Les McDonald (Miami, FL), Wynn Paul (Lexington, KY), and Kirk Mullinix (Bellflower, CA).
Control Line: Aerobatics
CAMOUFLAGE. Or, how to cover up your mistakes. Or, how to hide some of the "bad spots" on an old plane. Let's suppose it's June 1, and you haven't even begun a new airplane for the summer. You have last year's 12-pointer hanging on the wall; the wing is straight, you have a good engine, you know how to fly this plane; but, it'll be lucky to get 10 points at the Nationals, and even your best friends will keep saying, "Build something new, you can't fly that old wreck again!" Well, maybe you can. You could quite possibly repaint the entire plane, which entails very liberal use of alcohol and K2R Spot Lifter to get all the fuel off the plane and make the surface ready to take paint. This would also require sanding most of the old finish off and probably making spot repairs in some areas, for instance: fillets, around the cowling, some dings in the wings, around the canopy, and perhaps the wing tips. To give the impression that you have a new plane, you might try to change the overall color; remember, reds and blues are very difficult to spray over. You may also have to switch to one of the epoxy-type paints in order to get good adhesion to the old surfaces.
Control Line: Aerobatics
SO, you want to build a Stunt plane that has dihedral in the wing? That Spitfire or Bearcat that you've always admired is just itching to jump off the drawing board onto your workbench. "But, how do I set up the dihedral and the leadouts so that it doesn't fly crooked?" Let's take a look at the subject. Assisting in this article is Scott Bair, Atlanta, GA, a research engineer who, over the past four years, has built six Stunt planes with dihedral in the wing. In addition to the use of dihedral in his planes, Scott uses unique building methods which include a Free Flight-like fuselage structure of longerons and 1/8-in. bulkheads covered with paper, which gives a strong yet featherweight finished result. In the future, we will see some of his masterful building projects that result in 46 oz. airplanes with 670 sq. in. of wing area!
Control Line: Aerobatics
Good news for Old-Time Stunt fliers. The 1983 Nationals will probably have a fantastic turnout in OTS, especially since the Massachusetts location will attract many Stunt fliers from the New York-New Jersey-New England area where OTS is very popular. Event Director of CL Precision Aerobatics Lanny Shorts is trying to lure John Miske to be the Event Director for Old-Time, and the event will probably be held on Tuesday of Nationals week.
Control Line: Aerobatics
HERE'S MORE on control line handles as a follow-up to the column on the building of the "Paul-Robbert Super Handle" (April 1983 in Model Aviation). Firstly, Lew McFarland will shortly be marketing the George Aldrich handle through his X-Cell Hobby Shop, Eastland Shopping Center, Lexington, KY 40505. This handle was very lightweight and adjustable for inside/outside turning equivalence. Secondly, I received a very detailed letter from Windy Urtnowski regarding some flying experiments with handles. Excerpts are as follows. (Keep in mind that Windy flies with many of the New Jersey crowd including Glen Meador, Lou Dudka, Lou Woolgast, Bob Hunt, Doug Stout, and Bill Simons-and this group is never at a loss for words for advice, questions, encouragement, experimentation, and lots of good old bench-flying!)
