|
 During World War I,
the United States spent $1,500,000,000 on military aviation, resulting in the
development of various
advanced aircraft designs. This 1937 issue of Flying Aces magazine
mentions a few of them. This was 19 years after the armistice. Although these
planes did not see combat due to the war ending sooner than expected, they
showcased American ingenuity and engineering prowess. Notable examples include
the L.W.F.G.2, which had a top speed of 130 mph and carried seven guns; the
Loening monoplane, which was the fastest two-seater fighter at the time with a
speed of 146 mph; and the Curtiss single-seater fighter, capable of reaching 160
mph. These aircraft laid the foundation for modern American military aviation...
 While looking through some old issues of
American Aircraft Modeler magazine, I was quite surprised to find that
none other than radio great
Paul Harvey is (or
was) a builder and flyer of radio controlled airplanes. There was a feature article
done by Paul Harvey in one of the issues in the 1974 timeframe. Mr. Harvey then
wrote a regular column titled "Paul Harvey Views." Understandably, the column only
ran for a few months - probably because of his extremely busy schedule. This one
is from the December 1974 edition...
 "In August last
year Nokia and Axiom Space announced they were working to equip the latter's next-generation
lunar
spacesuits with 4G/LTE connectivity for the for NASA's Artemis III mission to
the moon. The idea is that arming the new spacesuit, called Axiom Extravehicular
Mobility Unit (AxEMU), with high-speed cellular-network capabilities means it can
support HD video, telemetry data and voice transmission over multiple kilometers
on the moon. This means the Artemis III crewmembers will then be able to capture
real-time video and communications..."
 Previously I posted the first part of a
story about two 1980s-vintage bicycles I bought from a guy off craigslist. That
was the complete teardown and restoration of
Melanie's Columbia
Commuter III, 3-speed women's model. This page has photos from doing the
same thing to my
Huffy 3 Timberline, 3-speed men's bicycle. One important aspect worth repeating
is the use of Krud Kutter for removing all the oil and grease. The stuff is amazing.
I soaked all the parts overnight that would fit in a bucket filled with a gallon
of it. Upon removing even the grimiest and greasiest components like the gearbox,
bearings, and the chain, I discovered they were squeaky clean. A toothbrush removed...
 Being
a long-time fan of John T. Frye's "Carl & Jerry" technodrama™ series, I
have been intending to attempt a contemporary version which has a Ham radio theme.
Its purpose, as with "Carl & Jerry," is to encourage young people to adopt electronics
as a hobby and even as a career, while using Amateur Radio as an enticement. Ham
radio offers practical experience in electronic theory, fabrication, and operation
in an environment that encourages community service, mentorship, camaraderie, and
self discipline. In the U.S., there are approximately 760,000 licensed amateur radio
operators; worldwide, the estimated number is around 3,000,000. The American Radio
Relay League (ARRL) and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) track these
statistics. This title of the series is, for now anyway, "Calvin &
Phineas Hamming It Up," and the first adventure is called, "The Phantom QRM."
Call signs are fictitious, chosen to hopefully not step on someone's real call sign.
The boys' names derive from my grandson's name...
 You might wonder why an article entitled
"Winning
the National Radio Control Meet" for model airplanes would appear in the ARRL's
QST magazine. The answer is that back in 1940 when it was published, a
Ham license was required to operate a radio control (R/C) transmitter. There were
no license-free bands for hobbyists as there are now. In fact, it wasn't until 1976
that the FCC suspended their requirement for registration as an operator, which
has returned in the form of an FAA "drone" (aka USAS) pilot directive. The author,
William (Bill) E. Good (W8IFD, W2CVI), was the twin brother of Walter (Walt) A.
Good (W3NPS), both of whom held doctoral degrees in and physics, and were referred
to as "the fathers of radio control." The photo of Bill shows his station...
 Often when I see photos of some of the
early
radio control gear for model airplanes, I have a simultaneous reaction of aghastness
and marvel at the crudity and ingenuousness, respectively, of the electromechanical
devices - the same kind of reaction I have to stories about early surgical procedures
and equipment. In 1940, when this article appeared in the ARRL's QST magazine, successful
takeoffs and landings were considered notable events not so much because of pilot
ability (or inability), but because of the low reliability of available electronic
and mechanical gear. Vacuum tubes with attendant heavy, high voltage power supplies,
and heavy metal gears and shafts required large airframes to support...
 American Modeler magazine published
stories on many forms of modeling including airplanes, cars, boats, and rockets.
A lot of attention was paid to teenagers in order to encourage a pursuit of careers
in engineering and science. In case you don't know, the U.S. Navy used to sponsor
the AMA Nationals specifically to attract young modelers into the service. This
1957 edition reports on the activities of James M. Blackmon, Jr., who was the nation's
youngest rocket builder to receive national recognition by the
American Rocket Society.
He built in his basement a 6' tall liquid-fueled rocket...
 This November 1961 installment of American
Modeler magazine's "Sketchbook
- Hints & Kinks" column has a very interesting alternative to the traditional
"stooge" that is used when a helper is not available to assist in launching a control
line airplane model. The drawing is a bit confusing, but what's going on is the
flyer starts and holds the model at a point just outside the dashed line circle,
and the pole is set midway of the diameter of the circle. That gives the airplane
half the circle to take off before it is free of the pole. Then, it is flown normally.
I can see where, as the inventor states, the process could be a spooky until the
flyer has gotten used to it...
 "Delta Air Lines and JetZero are partnering
to develop a
commercial blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft that would be 50 percent more fuel
efficient than those in current operation, the carrier has announced. The development,
which builds upon a Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) investment
in the BWB technology, comes as Delta continues to focus on its goal of net-zero
emissions by 2050. BWB aircraft received a boost in 2023 for its BWB aircraft when
the U.S. Air Force awarded it $235 million over four years for the development and
production of a full-scale demonstrator. The aircraft is to take its first flight
in 2027..."
 Website visitor Tom A. wrote to ask me to
post this "Baby Biplane" article
from the October 1971 edition of American Aircraft Modeler magazine. It
was one of the For the Tenderfoot models that the magazine published almost
monthly for many years. The Baby Biplane uses a very simple structure but as with
any biplane of any size, the extra work of building a second wing and adjusting
it to fly properly take a little more work. Using the modern trick of printing a
colored patter on the Jap tissue prior to attaching it would make Baby Biplane look
really spiffy...
 Estes does not sell the D-13 engine line
anymore, but it does sell a D-12. The D-13 produced 9 pounds of thrust according
to this article and the 1971 Estes catalog (p94), whereas according to the 2014
Estes catalog the D-12 produces only 7.4 pounds (p79). If you want similar performance
with readily available
rocket engines,
you will need to get them from a company like Aerotech, which makes an F30FJ-6 model
that produces 9 pounds of thrust. With that solution you're look at about $12 per
launch. I believe that with modern materials like graphite for spars and/or leading
edges, and the lightweight airborne systems, the flying weight could be significantly
reduced, and a much lower thrust (and cost) engine could be used...
 Here is a detailed account of
American model aviation magazines, presented in chronological order of their
founding, including publication date ranges, editors' names with their tenures where
available, and a description of each magazine's purpose and target audience. These
titles - spanning from the early 20th century to the present as of February 2025
- reflect the evolution of model aviation from rubber-powered gliders to modern
RC drones. The data is drawn from historical records, enthusiast archives, and trends
A conceptual timeline follows, imagining the overlapping publication spans, though
an image isn't generated here - envision a horizontal chart from 1915 to 2025 tracking
these magazines' lifespans...
 Low-wing airplanes had not quite caught
on with the flying public prior to World War II, so Aeronca had an uphill battle
in gaining acceptance of its "Model-L" series of
planes. It ended up being a complete success. The article has an interesting tale
of salvaging partially-complete airplanes during a flood in Cincinnati in 1937 using
techniques that would never be allowed in today's highly regulated and monitored
world. Interestingly website visitor Glen M. sent me a photo of an Aeronca
LC on floats - the "LCS" model the author of this American Aircraft Modeler
magazine article suggests might have never been built. To be fair...
 As of
February, 2025, when this is being written, several major
artificial intelligence engines are publicly accessible through free tiers,
temporary free access, or subscription-based models with broad availability. I have
been evaluating ChatGPT-4 (OpenAI) and very recently, Grok 3 (xAI). I requested
from both ChatGPT and Grok, tables of comparison and contrast between the two, based
on "Aspect" criteria I provided. Those results are presented below. They seem to
be mostly honest assessments. Perhaps not surprisingly, Grok 3 often invoked
the name of its founder (Mr. Musk) during my interactions with it on wireless
communications topics. I will reveal more on that later...
 "September 30 marked the end of the FAA's
fiscal year and with it, the annual conclusion of the annual 12-month tracking of
fatal accidents among experimental category aircraft. The preliminary numbers
from the agency received late last week appear to present an excellent snapshot
of safety over the past year. While the final totals are still being tabulated,
the initial total of 37 accidents is well below the FAA's not-to-exceed figure of
46 for the period. That includes 29 fatal accidents in homebuilt aircraft. More
details will be available in the coming weeks as the FAA's annual total of GA activity..."
 Hi Johnson was a well-known designer
and manufacturer of model airplane engines in the middle of the last century. His
series of throttled engines was widely used in the early years of radio control.
A lot of research went into producing the engines to produce long lifetime, easy
starting, and consistency of operation. The
Johnson
35 R/C, which is the subject of this 1962 American Modeler magazine
article, was one of the first to used dual ball bearings on the crankshaft, contributing
mightily to the accomplishment of the aforementioned goals. The state of the art
for all types of model flying had advanced to where pilots could expect...
 With all the news lately about AI (artificial
intelligence) and whether the good it can do offsets the bad, I decided to ask both
Grok 3 (X.ai) and ChatGPT (OpenAI) to compose short essays on a few model aviation
related topics. While that will not settle the aforementioned dilemma, it will provide
a peek into the "good" side of what AI can do. I have been using ChatGPT for a few
months, and just recently Grok 3. Here is a side-by-side, unedited comparison
of the results of submitting the exact same query to both AI beings. Note that the
content for both Grok 3 and ChatGPT is fairly brief, not long-winded treatises
that would fill a book. Having used both for a while, it seems when you hear about
students using AI...
 As with most things these days related to
model airplane components, extensive research into materials, structure, and functionality
have been thoroughly researched and engineered to the point where the modeler has
little more to do that install parts into his craft. Parameters have been thoroughly
analyzed using computers over a wide range of input stimuli to determine the optimal
configuration. The effort dedicated by author Wayne Schindler to design and conduct
an experiment to determine the optimal dimensions and shapes for a
ducted
fan propulsion system is nothing short of academic. His efforts produced a list
of design parameters to consider when building a ducted fan-powered model airplane.
The net result in Mr. Schindler's case was an amazing 325% thrust improvement...
 "A
study from Canada has found a 26% annual chance that space debris will re-enter
the atmosphere and
pass through a busy flight area. The chance of space debris hitting an aircraft
is very low, but the research from a team at the University of British Columbia
highlights that the potential for uncontrolled space debris to disrupt flights and
create additional costs for airlines and passengers is not. The research is published
in Scientific Reports. In 2022, a re-entering 20-tonne..."
 The
Gloster E.1/44, presented in this 1948 issue of Popular Science magazine,
was a British experimental jet fighter developed in the 1940s as a potential single-engine
counterpart to the twin-engine Gloster Meteor. Designed by the Gloster Aircraft
Company to meet Air Ministry Specification E.1/44, it was powered by a Rolls-Royce
Nene turbojet and featured a sleek, straight-wing design with a tricycle landing
gear. Initially conceived as a simpler and more economical jet fighter for the Royal
Air Force, the project faced numerous delays due to shifting priorities...
 During
World War II, Americans, Britains, Frenchmen, and other civilians were seriously
engaged in helping to defend their homeland. Those who were not in the military
gathered bottles, tin cans, tires, and clothing to use in the war effort. Others
volunteered at the Red Cross, veterans' hospitals, and USO offices. Some stood guard
at their nation's seashores and land borders, both as armed sentries and as troop
and aircraft spotters. As part of the civil defense effort, listening devices were
built to help detect the sound of approaching airplanes. In patriotic tradition,
magazines like Popular Science published many articles to assist the population
contribute. Here is a plan for a "Homemade
Plane Detector." It used a horn "antenna" that...
 As a member of the Academy of Model Aeronautics
(AMA) since around 1971 (AMA # 92498), I have witnessed a lot of change in the organization
as well as in the model industry. When I first joined as a teenager, AMA headquarters
consisted of rented office space in a Washington, D.C., building, Richard Nixon
was president, and the war in Viet Nam was on nightly news. AMA headquarters moved
into a brand new building, which included museum space, on purchased property in
Reston, Virginia, in 1983. A growing AMA membership and the desire to consolidate
national competitions to a central location resulted in
establishing residence in Muncie, Indiana, where the 25,000 square-foot Frank
V. Ehling Complex celebrated its grand opening in 1992. Since then, an additional
25,000 square feet of space...
 I did not bother to look up what the
world record endurance flight length is for an R/C glider as of this writing,
but in December 1956 when this article appeared in the first edition of American
Modeler magazine, a team of three modelers did 8 hours, 34 minutes and 21 seconds
at Torrey Pines, California. That would be an amazing accomplishment with today's
equipment, but these guys did it with a vacuum tube receiver and an escapement mechanism
driven by a twisted rubber band - rudder-only! No elevator control, no flaps or
speed brakes, no gyroscopic stabilization, no proportional rudder deflection. It
was left, center, or right...
 This is the earliest known photo of me with
a control line airplane - a Cox PT-19 Trainer.
I'm guessing it was summer of 1969, when I would have been 12 to 13 years old (my
birthday is August 18, so it could have been before or after). I remember that 1969
was the year because it was the year that Hurricane Camille tore up Biloxi, Mississippi
(where I would many years later be stationed for electronics training in the USAF)
and the rains even in Mayo, Maryland, where I lived, were torrential. It is the
airplane with which I first learned to fly control line. There was another Cox control
line plane that I had prior to the PT-19 Trainer, but I cannot recall...
 Mr. Bill Gaylord has been gracious enough
to allow me to post photos and information about his fine
Guillow's free-flight
model airplanes that he
converted to electric powered R/C. The level of craftsmanship is incredible
both in the frame-up and the covering and finish. You can find lots of photos and
details of the build on the RCGroups bulletin board. I do not see whether he has
ever flown any of these models. My guess is that with the structural beefing up
required to support the motor, battery, and R/C gear results in a high wing loading.
I personally would never dare risk these models by trying to fly them! They would
all spend their days as hanger queens - display only...
 It is kind of amazing that as recently as
1950, aircraft manufacturers were still using
radial engines on new aircraft. This 1950 issue of Air Trails magazine
reports on the Navy's P2V-4 Neptune, the latest model of Lockheed's patrol bomber,
which is powered by two 3,200 horse power Wright Turbo-Cyclone radials. In-line
engine formats are definitely more streamlined, but from a maintenance perspective,
being able to change out a single cylinder rather than an servicing the entire block
was definitely handier. Having only ever ridden in one airplane having a radial
engine (a Ford Trimotor), I can't say...
 1963 was five years since America's first
communications satellite, Echo, was placed in orbit. Echo was a passive, spherical
reflector that merely provided a good reflective surface for bouncing radio signals
off of. By 1963, when this
Eavesdropping on Satellites article appeared in Popular Electronics
magazine, the space race was well underway and active communications satellites
were being launched at a rapid pace. Spotting and tracking satellites has long been
a popular pastime with two types of hobbyists: amateur astronomers using telescopes
and binoculars, and amateur radio operators using antennas and receivers...
 The other night Melanie and I were watching
an episode of the old Gilligan's Island television show titled "Wrongway Feldman,"
which was about a long-forgotten, famous aviator who took a wrong turn during a
race and ended up being stranded on the same island as seven famous castaways. The
"Spirit of the Bronx" airplane featured in the show was referred to by Wrongway
as a Krieder Reisner KR21. It is a right nice looking biplane. I immediately hit
the pause button and looked it up on Google. The KR-21, according to the EAA AirVenture
Museum's website, was manufactured in the 1929-1930 timespan, had a 22'-7" wingspan,
and a 125 hp Kinner B5 (R-440), 372 cubic inch, 5-cylinder radial...
|
 Some companies
have expressed an interest in being able to target Airplanes and Rockets via the
Google
AdSense program. Yes, it is possible to do that. As you might expect, finding
the exact information on the Google AdSense website is a bit difficult. This short
video does a good job summarizing exactly how to implement the "Ad Targeting" option,
then "Placements," and then add "Websites." Just enter airplanesandrockets.com
. There are other settings to optimize your advertising campaign with keywords (both
included and excluded), pricing, scheduling, statistical data collection and reporting,
etc. If you are currently using Google AdSense, then please consider this method,
and if you are not using AdSense, now would be a good time to look into it. I have
had reports from some companies that experience great results using AdSense (not
just on Airplanes and Rockets)...
 If you like re-visiting the old days of
radio control (notice I didn't use the adjective "good") to see how far we have
come in terms of equipment, then this article from the January/February 1963 edition
of American Modeler magazine is just what you are looking for.
Dr. Walter Good (no relationship to the adjective mentioned above) developed
this "handheld" transmitter at a featherweight seven pounds to replace his previous
32-pound monstrosity. Modern digital transmitters with 100,000x the processing capability
weigh less than a pound. Being a tube circuit admirer, I have always been impressed
at what designers were able to do with so little. Some day our kids will look back
at the Futaba 14M and wonder how we managed to keep model sin the air with the need
to actually hold a transmitter at all (brain wave control will be standard equipment)...
 Glass-filled nylon and other types of high
strength plastic for gears and structural components were things of the future in
1962 - about a decade or so at least - when this article appeared in a 1962 issue
of American Modeler magazine. Likewise for
high torque, miniature motors that used powerful rare earth magnets - at least
at a price affordable to hobbyists. Not only were early servos big and heavy, but
they drew a lot of current from the airborne battery, were slow, and were driven
by analog proportional circuits (i.e., low positional precision). Servos available
today are modern marvels of materials, mechanical, and electrical engineering. While
it was not too hard to imagine in the 1950s and 1960s how a servo might be improved
over the (then) state of the art, it is hard to imagine how the ones we have today
could be significantly better, at least in terms of how any further improvement
would greatly benefit radio controlled flying models...
 I am in the process of building a Douglas
DC-3 control line model that uses a pair of ElectriFly Rimfire .10 motors,
and wanted to know whether it would be possible to use a single electronic speed
controller (ESC) for them. Unlike brushed DC motors with which you can - and I have
in the past - gotten away with
powering two motors from a single ESC, the brushless motors use
a three-phase signal that is both amplitude and pulse width modulated. Such a waveform
is not likely to be able to drive more than one motor properly, particularly given
the motor's interaction with the ESC due to its time-variable complex impedance.
I did a fairly extensive Internet search trying to find a definitive answer as to
whether it can be done, but they were all just guesses. Many people
seemed very knowledgeable on brushless motors and their controllers ...
 The cost of balsa, like everything else,
has been rising significantly since the COVID-19 "plandemic" hit the world a couple
years ago. Along with it the price of manufactured kits has gone up as well. A simple
1/16" x 3" sheet of balsa now costs around $2.00 (Sig price). In 2019, you could
get it for $1.13 per the stored page at Archive.org. That's a 77% increase. Being
a scratch builder of model airplanes, I frequently watch e-Bay, RC Universe,
RC Groups, etc., for bargains on balsa, but they're getting harder to come
by. If you have to order a balsa block online, there is a good chance it will end
up being more dense (i.e., harder and heavier) than desired. Since local hobby shops
(LHS's) are very rare these days, there is seldom an opportunity to go in and look
for a suitable block prior to purchasing...
 This Russian Mosca I-16 fighter airplane
bears some resemblance the Bee Gee series of American racers. According to the Wikipedia
entry, "The Polikarpov I−16 (Russian: Поликарпов И-16) was a Soviet
single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's
first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain
operational status and as such 'introduced a new vogue in fighter design.' The I-16
was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the Soviet Air Force
at the beginning of World War II. The diminutive fighter, nicknamed 'Ishak' or 'Ishachok'
('Donkey' or 'Burro') by Soviet pilots, figured prominently in the Second Sino-Japanese
War, the Battle of Khalkhin Gol and the Spanish Civil War - where it was called
the Rata ('Rat') or Mosca ('Fly')." Its maiden flight occurred ...
 There are not too many control line float
planes around for good reason. Unless you have an amphibious plane that can take
off and land on water or a hard surface, it is hard to find a place where you can
stand in the water far enough from shore to ensure a compete flight circumference
of water. In most cases the water would be pretty deep. Even waist depth water can
make turning difficult. A sandbar would be ideal, or maybe you are fortunate enough
to have access to a shallow pond (natural or manmade). This
Macchi-Castoldia Schneider Cup Racer C/L model fits the bill as an amphibious
plane if you build the wheeled dolly included on the plans by Paul Palanek. the
article and plans appeared in the Air Trails 1958 Annual edition...
 The
Peanuts© comic strip,
drawn by Charles Schulz, has been my lifetime favorite. That it is also the world's
favorite strip is no wonder. Now that I have crossed the half-century threshold,
I tend to look back at the innocence and complexity of the themes with a perspective
other than simply entertainment - although I still thoroughly enjoy reading them
just to get a few good laughs. Since Charles Schulz's death in 2000, books have
been published documenting his life and how his experiences influenced Peanuts characters'
appearances and behaviors. It is apparent from the content that Mr. Schulz hearkened
from an era much different from today. It is hard to imagine a start-up comic akin
to Peanuts being accepted in the much cruder, meaner, and less polite world of 2009.
One interesting tidbit that I found in Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz, is
a list of the edition of The Saturday Evening Post where Schulz's first for-pay
comics appeared...
 Buhl Aircraft Company, founded in 1925 in
Detroit, Michigan, really had just two successful airplane designs - the CA−6 Airsedan
and the
LA−1
Bull Pup. The Buhl A−1 Autogyro was a novelty aircraft that never gained popularity.
It came out in 1931, a year before the company went out of business. This 1/2A size
Bull Pup construction by Charles Hollinger article and plans appeared in a 1950
issue of Air Trails magazine. The Bull Pup began life as a rubber powered model,
and Mr. Hollinger adapted it for powered free flight at a request from Air
Trails editors. Its 35" wingspan is a convenient size and makes for an economical
building project, even more so with today's balsa prices. A conversion to electric
power with three-channel R/C would be easily accomplished...
 The
Thermal-G R/C Club
held its annual summer fly-in on August 15, 2010, at the Erie Tech Center. The day
was sunny (a little too warm for me) and quite windy. Because of the wind, most
models were grounded, but a few brave souls did some flying, including quite a bit
of 3-D stuff. I always get nervous seeing that stuff done so close to the pit area
- especially in high wind - but at least up to the point that Melanie and I left,
there had been no incidents. Also present were members of the Bean Hill Flyers control
line club. Here are a few pictures I took of the flight line...
 The Baltimore Sun newspaper, published not
far from where I grew up near Annapolis, Maryland, carried
Flyin' Jenny from the late 1930s until the strip ended in the
mid 1940s, so I saved a couple dozen from there. The first one I downloaded has
a publication date of December 7, 1941 - that date "which will live in infamy,"
per President Roosevelt. Many Americans were receiving word over the radio of the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor while reading this comic at the breakfast table
...
 I
finally got around to scanning selected content from the 1986 issue of The Old
Farmer's Almanac. The "Old and New Mathematical Puzzles" feature was always my favorite,
so that's what is posted first. Difficulty levels are assigned as 1 for the easiest
to 5 for the hardest. Solutions are provided for levels 1 through 4, but level 5
(problems 12 through 15) problems were to be mailed in (no e-mail in the day) to
vie for a cash prize for providing the "best set of solutions," though I don't know
how one solution to these problems can be deemed "better" than another. Problem
#5 is interesting in that you must assign a value for the various numerical prefixes
and quantities. Sure, we all know what "atto" and "score" are, but what about "crore"
and "myriad?"
 Surveyor 1, the first in a series of
seven, launched from Cape Canaveral on May 30, 1966 and landed on the moon at Oceanus
Procellarum on June 2, 1966. As the name implies, its mission was to analyze and
map the lunar surface in preparation for manned landings there at the end of the
decade. As detailed in this 1965 Popular Mechanics magazine article, Surveyor 1
was equipped with many instruments and tools for photographing, measuring, and testing
the moon's features and composition. Prior to its visit, nobody was certain whether
the lunar surface was covered with a thick layer of dust that would envelope a craft
and render a manned visit impossible. Turns out, the dust layer was quite thin.
Even so, there was still some concern prior to Apollo 11's landing, because
conditions might vary...
 Little did most people know that two months
after this October 1941 issue of Flying Aces magazine arrived in their
mailboxes, the U.S. would be drawn into what would become World War II, following
the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. Flying Aces
was chock full of factual and fictional stories about the last war (War War I),
and the things the Krauts and Nips were already pulling across Western Europe, North
Africa, China, and the South Pacific. Much more subject material was near at hand.
Oddly, the magazine changed its theme and title to Flying Age shortly before
the end of WWII, electing to focus more on full-scale aircraft rather than models.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Inflation Calculator, the $9.75 Phantom
P-30 engine would cost you about $194 in 2023. In 2020 it would have been $163.
That means the total rate of inflation for the last three (3) years has been around
19% (~6.3%/year). In 2016 the equivalent price would have been about $153, so from
2016 to 2020 the increase was just 6.5% for the entire four years (~1.6%/year)...
 Here are a few more photos from the
1959 AMA Nationals,
in continuation of coverage in the July and August issues of Model Aviation
magazine. Some are behind-the-scenes shots rather than just flight line action.
Vintage unbuilt kits of a lot of the airplanes you see in these pictures are selling
for a small fortune today on eBay. BTW, this series of Model Aviation is completely
different than and precedes the current incarnation of Model Aviation that
followed the American Aircraft Modeler and American Modeler titles.
Its size is just 8½" high by 5½" wide, and were typically only about 20 pages. The
February 1959 issue has about twice as many pages because it also contains the 1950-1960
"Official Model Aircraft Regulations Governing Sporting Model Aviation in America."
I have all 12 issue from 1959, and don't know if others are available...
 This is not just another vintage Comet Model
Hobbycraft, Inc., F−86D Sabre Jet from 1952. What makes this kit unique is
that it has the signature of well-known (at the time) Comet draftsman Gerald J.
Blumenthal on the box cover. John Zawiski was the designer. The f-86D Saber has
a wingspan of 13-1/4" and a length of 15-1/16". The model was meant to be flown
either as a free flight glider or attached to a tether line where the pilot drags
it around in a circle. A few of these have sold recently on eBay for around $20-$30,
so they can still be found. This particular kit, provided by Mr. Steven Krick,
is going to be offered as a donation to the AMA's National Model Aviation Museum
in Muncie, Indiana, because of the signature ...
 Don Berliner, who published many articles
and even books on scale model and full-sized aircraft, provided this article on
the
SAAB J 21 fighter in a 1971 issue of American Aircraft Modeler
magazine. Most people nowadays associate the company name SAAB with high quality
automobiles, although Saab the car company went defunct in 2012. From the World
War II era through to today, they produce(d) aircraft. Here is an excerpt from
their current "About Us" webpage; "When Saab was founded in 1937, our primary aim
was to provide military aircraft for Sweden. Today, we serve the global market with
world-leading products, services and solutions from military defence to civil security.
With operations on every continent, Saab continuously develops, adapts and improves
new technology to meet customers' changing needs." The SAAB J 21 went through
multiple design iterations as both a pusher-prop and a jet fighter aircraft...
 The Northrop Gamma was as close to a one-size-fits-all
aircraft as you would come by in the mid 1930's. It is pretty incredible to ponder
the rapid development in aircraft and engines in the short three decades since the
Wright brothers made their world's first powered flight in 1903. Airspeeds went
from 30 miles per hour to more than 200 miles per hour. Engines went from 12 horsepower
to nearly 1,000 horsepower in that timespan. The
Northrop Gamma appeared in more than a dozen different versions
including an air racer, a military bomber, a trainer, a high altitude weather research
platform, a military attack airplane, and a seaplane. It was one of the first production
designs to incorporate a completely enclosed cockpit - a welcome feature to pilots
in cold weather ...
 Dave Platt - aka "Mr. Scale" - is one
of the world's most accomplished scale model airplane builders and flyers. He
somehow manages to turn out magnificently detailed scale models year after year.
If you haven't seen his "Platt's Laws of Scale Modeling," derived from his decades
of experience, you'll want to do so. He has built and flown his scale models in
the realms of free flight, control line, and radio control, using internal combustion
engines with propellers, ducted fans, and turbine jets for propulsion. There might
be someone somewhere equally qualified to comment on scale airplane modeling, but
none more qualified. When this "Find the Scale Wingspan &
Area" article appeared in a 1969 issue of American Aircraft Modeler
magazine, slide rules were the de rigueur...
 This
article by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame,
suggested the use of surplus German V−2 (Vergeltungswaffe 2; i.e., Retribution Weapon 2) rockets for launching
scientific payloads into space rather than for launching terrorizing attacks on
European cities. The October 1945 publishing date was after Germany had surrendered
in the spring of that year and Allied forces were rounding up war criminals and
confiscating documents and equipment. Clarke describes how an "artificial satellite"
could be caused to circle the earth "perpetually" and was published in the October
1945 edition of Wireless World magazine. The pilot-less V−2, along with
the V−1 "Buzz Bomb," were launched from within Germany and caused massive structural
damage and human death and suffering. For war progenitor and aggressor, Germany,
to call it a retribution weapon was a gross misnomer, especially considering it
was the second time (WWI and WWII) in three decades that the country had attempted
to bring Europe under its dominance with brutal assaults...
 Airplanes and Rockets website visitor
Lieven M. requested that this article on the Blohm Voss 141-B (BV 141-B)
be scanned and posted from the August 1970 edition of American Aircraft Modeler
magazine. The BV 141-B, designed by Mr. Terry Aldrich, is a unique scale subject
in that it is a World War II German fighter-bomber featuring an asymmetrical
configuration. It looks sort of like a P-38 Lightning with the right boom missing.
The engine in on the left at the nose end of the single fuselage boom, and the pilot
compartment is on the right, on the wing. The horizontal stabilizer span is about
80% to the left of the vertical fin, and 20% to the right of it. Construction uses
sheet balsa for the wings, tail surfaces, and profile fuselage. Power is provided
by a single 049 engine... |
