|
 Airplanes and Rockets website visitor
Michael M. wrote to request that I post this article, along with the ones for
the Satellite 1000 free-flight
champion, and The Giants of Free Flight. His reason was that he wanted to get
his flying team back together again in Bill Hunter, who passed away recently.
This 1972 American Aircraft Modeler magazine article on covering with Mylar is very
extensive and is another example of such efforts that were common in hobby
magazines of decades ago - a large part of my motivation for making them
available. It is rare...
 1943, in the midst of World War II,
was about the beginning of the time when all the
fantastic predictions of flying cars, video phones, domestic robots, two-day
work weeks, meals in pill form, self-driving lawn mowers, self-driving cars, moon
and planet habitats, and other creations were being pitched by technical magazines
like Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Science and Mechanics,
Mechanix Illustrated, and others. Even the "women's" mags were full of
promises of automated everything to make housework simpler. While many of the fundamental
inventions has since been created, only a few have evolved to full maturity as envisioned.
A flying machine in every garage is one which has not. Such a Jetsons...
 We will be moving back to Erie, PA, where
overcast skies dominate, and the city lights kill views, so I am going to try to
sell this before leaving. I'd keep it as a museum piece for display if I was going
to have room, but we might be going into an apartment. The entire system has been
stripped down and refinished, with original components retained for authenticity.
Included are telescope, mount, clock drive, finder scope, 9 mm and 18 mm
eyepieces, 2x Barlow, dust covers. This is truly a unique opportunity. Please contact
me via e-mail if you are interested in buying it. Local pick-up only, or I'll deliver
for $50 within 100 miles of Greensboro, NC, with payment in advance...
 Here is a very simple technique for creating
and applying custom
lettering - or even complex graphics - using Monokote covering. It makes cutting
out and positioning the individual pieces easy on flat surfaces or surfaces with
a simple curve or bend. Complex surfaces like cowls and wheel pants can be more
challenging, but at least the shapes can be created this way. Use any word processor
or graphics program to create the exact size and text and/or graphic shapes, including
spacing and alignment, italics, font face, etc., that you want on your printer.
Print it out on regular printer paper (20# works fine). Tape the paper onto the
Monokote and cut out each character with an x-Acto...
 This
Midwest Products Sharpie Schooner is one
of two static display models that I built for my dearest, Melanie (the other being
a Midwest Products Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack). She actually bought them to build
herself, but decided to let me build them instead. I used my woodworking, metalworking,
and painting skills for the structure and accessories, and she used her sewing skills
to make the sails. Applying all those tuft strings on the sails was quite time-consuming.
Deft Gloss clear was sprayed on the entire structure and sanded between coats for
a smooth surface. Then, Testors enamel paint was applied on the bottom of the hull.
The effort paid off with a 1st Place ribbon at the 2004 Dixie Classic Fair, in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina...
 The Russian MiG-15 and French Mystère jet
airplanes were prominent first in the Korean War and then into the Vietnam era.
They were two of the earliest jet fighters in air warfare. Many of the American
jet planes were being modeled around 1956, when this issue of Young Men magazine
came out, but at least in domestic magazines, plans for foreign jobs were fairly
rare. Here are plans for the two aforementioned Russian and French jets which use
the Jetex 50 engine for propulsion. Construction is all balsa, consisting of
a minimal framework covered with 1/32" balsa...
 Snow season arrived here in Erie, Pennsylvania,
already (13" on November 10th), and I didn't want to miss the chance to do some
flying off of snow skis. Last winter I mounted a pair of DuBro snow skis to my
Herr Engineering
J-3 Cub and flew a couple times with them, but they were the standard model
that are too big and heavy for this 1/2A-sized model. DuBro's Park Flyer Snow Skis
seemed like they might be a better choice for the J-3, so I ordered a pair. The
size is just about right, but the vacuum-formed plastic was a bit too thin for me
to confidently install them on the J-3. I decided that they would be perfectly useable
with a little sturdying up. As can be seen in the photos, there are two stiffening
slots...
 While looking for the edition of TV Guide
that published the first airing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," I noticed that the
time period coincided with the launching of the
Gemini VII spacecraft.
In a stroke of good fortune, it indeed included an announcement that regularly scheduled
programming would be preempted as necessary to provide live coverage of the launch,
to give timely updates, and to coverage the splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. 2:30
Gemini Space Flight The 14-day Gemini VII space flight is scheduled for launching
from Cape Kennedy's Pad 19 at 2:30 P.M. Astronauts Frank Borman and James A. Lovell
will be making man's longest journey...
 "An aviation company pushing the boundaries
of
solar-powered flight has successfully finished the first in a series of tests
for its uncrewed airplane, taking off from Mississippi's Stennis International Airport
for six flights high over the Gulf of Mexico. The company, Skydweller Aero Inc.,
says its aircraft - essentially a giant drone with a wingspan greater than a 747
- had one flight lasting 22.5 hours and another lasting 16 hours during the initial
testing campaign. The company says it is developing technology to enable its airplanes
to eventually spend months cruising at 40,000 feet, guided by a team of techs on
the ground and using only the sun for fuel. The top of the plane is equipped with
17,000 solar cells..."
 A scheme I have considered for control line
models is one of the entries in the "Sketch Book" section of the February 1949 issue
of Air Trails magazine. Mr. Joseph Johnson shows how he used a moveable
rudder on his scale airplane to increase tension on the control lines when up elevator
is commanded. A similar system could be devised for stunt models which increases
right rudder (for CCW circles, left rudder for CW) as either up or down elevator
is fed in. Another option I have never tried is to have a
moveable
rudder controlled by a spring connected to a sliding bellcrank platform that
would increase outward rudder when line tension lessens, and decrease it when the
lines get tight. Such a system would be most useful for compensating for wind gusts
that slacken the control lines. Maybe some day I'll have the time to experiment
with that. A handful of other ideas are included...
 Website visitor Bob wrote to ask that I
scan and post the construction article and plans for the
F-84G Thunderjet control
line model. It appeared in the July 1970 issue of American Aircraft Modeler magazine.
The unique feature of this model is that the power is supplied by the pilot. A fishing
pole and line is used to drag the airplane around the flying circle and a separate,
standard two-line elevator control is used to maneuver the model. Construction is
sheet balsa. Author Joe Wagner (well-known in the modeling world) claims that with
a bit of practice just about any aerobatic maneuver can be accomplished except for
the overhead routines like the figure eight...
 "Drones
will be deployed for long distance inspection of infrastructure as well as site
security following new rule changes published by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
The aviation regulator's new rules will enable drones to fly beyond the visual line
of sight (BVLOS) of remote pilots in so-called 'atypical' operations through its
new policy for atypical air environments (AAE). BVLOS flights have been taking place
in the UK for several years, but these flights have occurred primarily in trials
under strict restrictions..."
 The 1956 Air Trails magazine Annual
Edition reported on the World Championships in Germany for the International Wakefield
Cup, F.A.I Free Flight, and Nordic A/2 Glider events. The three '55 World Championships
were held in September at the U.S. Air Force's Finthen Airfield, near Wiesbaden,
Germany. Competition was fierce amongst European and American contenders. It is
worthwhile to remember that 1955 was a mere eleven years after the end of World
War II, and that former foes were gathered together for a sporting contest.
There could easily have been men there who, without knowing it, were competing against
military adversaries they met on the battlefield or in occupied towns a decade earlier...
 This
rocket
boost glider called the Dyna-Soar was powered by American Telasco's version
of the Jetex 50 engine. Jetex rocket engines were quite popular with model airplane,
boat, and car builders through the early 1970s, at which point the fuel supplies
began to disappear. Most Internet sources posit that Imperial Chemicals Industries
(ICI) ceased making the fuel pellets due to a combination of liability and regulation
issues. ICI, based in Scotland, manufactured the Jetex fuel pellets* from a measured
blend of guanidine nitrate, 2,4-dinitroresorcinol, potassium nitrate...
 Leonardo da Vinci is usually credited with
producing the first illustration of a helicopter concept. It employed a rotating
helical corkscrew device at the top in order to enable the craft and occupant to
"screw his way aloft, in much the same manner as Archimedes designed his eponymous
helical screw device to lift water from a lower level to a higher level. Water,
being dense and cohesive with itself, was easily elevated, whilst air, not being
dense or cohesive, did not yield to the same technique. In fact, if the "aerial
screw" were able to spin rapidly enough and was of an efficient aerodynamic design,
it would work. Here is a 4-screw drone to prove it. These "Windmill
Planes" presented in the February 1939 issue of Popular Science magazine represent
the state of the art at the time. Surprisingly omitted is an example of Igor Sikorsky's
helicopter design, which he first flew successfully in September...
 "On the occasion of the 50th anniversary
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which began its operations
on October 1, 1958, we offer this list of the
50 most memorable images from NASA's history. We recognize that any such ranking
is inherently subjective. The rationale for why any one image ranked two slots higher
than any other combines several factors, including our attempt to balance the list
between human spaceflight, satellite imaging, and planetary exploration. Many wonderful
images did not make the final cut - we couldn't convince the editors to give us
20 pages instead of 10. The list omits significant events from space history that
were not NASA achievements..."
 This sort of cutting edge technology used
to be the domain of military operations, but nowadays it can be found in amusement
parks and even at backyard parties. The parachute training facility which appeared
in a 1937 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine was real whiz-bang stuff
at the time. Although Russia's system is featured here, I have to believe other
countries were doing the same sort of thing. Using a
high power fan to boost the paratrooper trainee in a simulated parachute descent
was an excellent method of introducing men to the sensations and reactions to control
inputs via shroud lines. The story noes not mention whether the fan was forceful
enough to simulate a free-fall experience. Just today a saw a news item showing
such recreational free-fall machine companies called Urban Air and iFall...
 Since first starting with control line model
sin the late 1960s, I always intended to build a multi-engine model of some sort,
but didn't get around to it until around 2016 when I began construction on a Douglas
DC-3 (maiden flight occurred in 2023). With the plethora of ready-to-fly (RTF) and
almost RTF (ARF) models on the market today at very reasonable prices, there is
no real good excuse for not doing it; so I'll have to stick with my bad excuses.
But I digress. This simple twin
"Wee-38" Lightning which
appeared in the December 1959 issue of American Modeler magazine, uses
a pair of Cox .020 or .049 engines and solid balsa components. You could electrify
the model with equivalent brushless motors, ESCs, and a LiPo battery pack. It would
be nice if a series of ESCs would be marketed for twin motors, since unlike with
brushed...
 The
Space Race was one of the most significant geopolitical and scientific competitions
of the 20th century, driven by the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet
Union during the Cold War. It spanned from the late 1940s through the 1970s, with
a focus on achieving superiority in space exploration, a domain viewed as critical
not only for scientific advancement but also for military and strategic dominance.
Rooted in rocket technology developed during World War II, the Space Race transformed
the world's understanding of science and technology, culminating in the most dramatic
achievement: the landing of humans on the Moon in 1969. This treatise explores the
key milestones, the countries and key players involved, technological developments,
the interplay between military...
 This article appeared in the November 2024
issue of Astronomy magazine - not sure why. "Brothers is a place that has
somehow slipped outside the passage of time. Located in a sea of sagebrush in central
Oregon, this former stagecoach stopover once serviced horse-drawn migrants bound
for the Willamette Valley. Thanks to the nonprofit organization
OregonRocketry, Brothers has outlasted the surrounding ghost towns to find new
purpose as one of the preeminent high-power rocket launch sites in America. The
group has purchased land and established a site out here in coyote country for the
advancement of amateur rocketry and education of future aerospace engineers. They
have a waiver from the FAA that currently allows them to blast the things nearly
four miles into the air..."
 "Japanese
operator SoftBank announced that the Sunglaider, its large-scale solar-powered uncrewed
aircraft system (UAS) designed for
High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) stratospheric telecommunications, was
utilized in a field trial conducted by AeroVironment and the U.S. DoD in New Mexico,
the U.S. During the trial, carried out in early August, Sunglider succeeded in achieving
stratospheric flight, the Japanese operator said. With a wingspan of 78 meters and
the capability to carry payloads weighing up to 75kg, the Sunglider is larger than
other publicly announced HAPS UAS..."
 The
Cessna
Skymaster (336/337) has always been my favorite twin-engined civilian lightplane.
A military version of it is designated as the O-2 Skymaster. For as long as I can
remember, I have threatened to build a control-line model of one. Well, that time
has finally arrived, and I began by ordering these plans from the AMA Plans Service.
It will be powered by a pair of 480-sized brushless motors, and throttle will be
controlled by a hand-held car/boat format transmitter, the one I use on my control-line
Douglas DC-3. I am modifying the fuselage construction to accommodate the motors,
and am adding formers to simplify the building process. Mr. Welch's original omitted
formers in the cabin area...
 Fox model airplane engines had a reputation
for ruggedness and contest-winning performance, but were also notoriously difficult
to get started - at least without an electric starter. In 1961, when this full-page
advertisement appeared in American Modeler magazine, electric starters
were not in many modelers' field boxes, and particularly those owned by youngsters
whose modeling budget came from meager allowances and paper routes. Born in 1958,
I was 15 or 16 years old before being able to afford the luxury, and I remember
relentlessly flipping the propellers on my
Fox 15 and Fox 35 control line engines. Half the time when they...
 If you have ever wanted to try your hand
(thumbs, to be more specific) at a floatplane, then this
1/2A size Aeronca
Champion which appeared in the March 1957 issue of Model Airplane News magazine,
is just the ticket. Although designed by Walt Mooney as a free flight ROW (rise-off-water)
model that easily converts between wheels and floats, modifications to 3 or 4 channel
radio control would be a snap, especially since the plans show separate construction
for the control surfaces along the hinge line. With about a 46" wingspan and lightweight
but strong construction, this model could easily have been designed with modern
electric power...
 I did a quick Web search on how to
repair damaged book bindings, and as is typical, most of what is out there is
a rewritten regurgitation of other pages. Tape and glue are the order of the day
per those instructions, but that is really insufficient to effect a good repair
on books - particularly older volumes - which use string and fabric along the spine
to form a very rugged and durable binding for standing up to repeated use. When
you desire to restore a book to as close to its original condition as possible,
the more extensive method described in this 1965 Popular Mechanics magazine article
is needed. All the tools and materials required are described, as is instructions
for assembling a book...
 "Rohde &
Schwarz has been at the forefront of addressing the evolving threats posed by advanced
drone technology to security, public safety, and critical infrastructure. As drones
become more sophisticated and complex, malicious drones equipped with advanced capabilities
present significant challenges. To counter these threats, Rohde & Schwarz has
developed cutting-edge
Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (CUAS) designed to detect, neutralize, and mitigate
emerging drone risks effectively. In a recent interview, Martin Woywod, Product
Manager for Counter-UAS Systems at Rohde & Schwarz, explained the urgency of
counter-drone technology in today's world..."
 Airplanes and Rockets website visitor Lars
B. wrote from Sweden requesting that I scan this "Wind Flying" article
from the September 1972 edition of American Aircraft Modeler magazine.
It describes a method for replacing engines and motors with human power for preforming
some pretty impressive C/L aerobatics on windy days. Basically, you drag the model
airplane around on its control lines, which often required not just turning in a
circle while standing in one place, but walking around a small circle in order to
get more speed. If there is any wind, you need to put extra effort into the pulling
when moving into the wind. I can remember doing this as a teenager, only I did it
with the engine in place but not...
• FCC Rules for
5 GHz Band Drone Operations
•
EAA Weighs in on MOSAIC
• Smithsonian
Opens Hangar Doors to Pilots
|
 As the old saying goes, a picture is worth
a thousand words. That being the case, here are 8,000 of some of the most amazing
words that I've ever seen regarding
Cox control line airplanes.
These photos were sent to me by Airplanes and Rockets website visitor Charlie H.
According to his e-mail, there are around 300 models in all, many of which are still
in their original boxes. I see some pretty unique examples in the photos. If my
understanding is correct, he is interested in selling his collection. It must be
worth a small fortune. I will let you know how to contact him if he does want to
sell part or all of the models...
 Old seafarers' superstitions wore on long
past the days when sailors believed their ship might run over the edge of the Earth.
They carried over into maritime services well into the 20th century, and probably
to some extent into the 21st century. It was common to blame a long string of bad
luck on one poor sap whose appearance on the scene just happened to coincide with
the supposed curse. He was called a "Jonah," after the Biblical character whose
presence on a fishing boat caused a constant run of bad weather until the crew finally
tossed him overboard where the leviathan of the deep swallowed him. In this story
from a 1938 edition of Boys' Life magazine, a particular
seaplane
suffered problem after problem, like water in the gas tank causing dead stick
landings on rough seas, so the pilots and mechanics referred to it as "Jonah's plane."
As with many stories of the era, this one centers around airplanes and ships...
 A Christmas Story has long been
one of my favorite Christmas movies. A Charlie Brown Christmas is my favorite
animated movie, and It's a Wonderful Life gets the #1 spot for a film,
but this runs a very close second. It first aired around Christmas of 1983, so I
was 25 at the time - a bit old for Christmas movies you might say... but you'd be
wrong. Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Melanie and I watch those
three movies, plus Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole
Christmas, and A Christmas Carol (the original with Alastair Sim).
A Christmas Story was adopted from a story that Jean Shepherd read on his
radio show on WOR, in New York, on December 25, 1972. A friend of mine who lived
there at the time happened to record the original broadcast on his reel-to-reel
tape deck, and a couple years ago he sent me a copy on CD. The movie, of course,
expounds on the story, but in this case it adds a lot. Jean Shepard narrates in
the background of the movie as Ralphie remembering his childhood...
 This "Starting
Control Line Flying Scale" article in the 1960 Annual Edition of Air Trails
magazine is still a good primer on how to go about getting into scale flying model
competition. Some of the contest rules have changed over the decades since, but
the basics are the same. The table of model sizes and engines might need to be adjusted
for electric powered models, but in the scale world there are still many modelers
who use internal combustion engines - especially in the large airplanes. A quietly
humming motor does not give quite the same real-world affect as a screaming engine.
Even with all the research going into full-scale electric aircraft, we're still
many moons away from have a viable military fighter, transport, or commercial commuter.
The drawing is by the famous Cal Smith (as is the cover image), but the text of
the article is not attributed to any named author...
 If you ever had any doubt whether Bill Winter
was one of the model airplane hobby's earliest and most prolific contributors, check
out this article that appeared in the January 1955 edition of Popular Electronics
magazine (only the third issue since its inception). Radio control systems were
just beginning to be commercialized and priced at a point where a lot of the public
could afford it. Quirks and high unreliability that plagued early systems had become
less of an issue so that airplane and power plant design efforts could take priority
with aeromodelers. In this article, Bill addresses setting proper
wing incidence and engine
thrust angles for good, repeatable, stable flight...
 Modern day scale models are amazingly detailed
with functional miniature instruments, control yokes and joysticks moving in unison
with stabilizer, rudder, ailerons, throttle, and others. Access to relatively inexpensive
3-D printing, laser printers, and laser cutters has greatly enabled scale modelers.
The state of the art has advanced for far that competition is extremely stiff. Even
so, in the 1960's when this "Cockpit
Details for the Scale Model" article appeared in Air Trails magazine,
the skill level was quite impressive given the resources available at the time.
This particular subject is an instrument panel for a Piper J3 Cub, but photos from
scale contents of the era showed highly detailed cockpits for civilian and military
aircraft ranging from Cessna 180's to B-36 bombers and F−86 Saber jet fighters...
 (add other photos) A nice vintage
Sunbeam Model FP−11A electric frypan, like one we had decades ago, showed up
at an estate sale. I plugged it in and it heated up quickly, so I paid the man $5
and brought it home. The magazine advertisement shown on the left is from 1956,
so it's more than sixty years old! Melanie and I have been on a mission for many
years to find Made in the USA products for use rather than support Red China. That
goes for appliances, tools, electronics, clothing, household goods, and whatever
else can be found. Before investing time into cleaning it up, I wanted to give it
a good going over. A quick check with the thermocouple showed that the temperature
was out of alignment with the dial. I removed the protective cover and found the
adjustment screw provided for setting the temperature. After a few iterations of
adjusting and measuring, I arrived at a place where the frypan would heat up to
about 20° degrees above the set point, turn off, then turn back on about 20° degrees
below...
 Crash Carringer was one of Arch Whitehouse's
later ace pilot characters. Officially an aircraft salesman for Hale Aircraft Corporation
on Long Island, New York. However, in his efforts to prove the superiority of his
prized Hellion monoplane fighter with a twin tail boom configuration, he often ended
up fighting and winning dogfights against evil worldwide crime organizations who
were often in league with governments of notorious for desiring to rule the Earth.
World War I had been over for nearly two decades and World War II was
newly on the table following Hitler's and Hirohito's invasions in Europe and Asia,
respectively. Accordingly, those two countries played prominently in the stories.
As with most of these sorts of stories in Flying Aces magazine, they were quite
long, filling eight to ten full pages...
 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...
 Walter A. Musciano is a name familiar to
most people reading model airplane magazines anytime from the 1940s through about
the 1970s. He was prolific model designer and artist / draftsman. His detailed
drawings of full scale aircraft are deemed to be amongst the best. This
Cub Controller
is a 1/2A job sporting a 19" wingspan. It uses both a built-up fuselage and wing,
so building requires a tad more work than the typical profile fuselage and sheet
wing often found on models of this size. The effort pays off, though, in a much
nicer looking craft. Mr. Musciano intended the Cub Controller to be a beginner
level project for building and flying, but having a model or two under your belt
prior to this would definitely be an advantage. If anyone builds a Cub Controller
today, he would probably use electric power rather than the glow fuel Cub .049 or
Cox .049 engine. You just can't beat the scream of an old fashioned 1/2A engine,
but the ease of operation and no messy oil to clean off afterward is definitely
nice...
 The topic of
R/C system reliability rarely is mentioned in model airplane magazines these
days. Many of the high-end, big dollar planes like jets (turbines), giant scale
and giant 3D, do use redundant receivers and batteries because the pilots have thousands
of dollars worth of equipment and hundreds of hours of personal time invested in
them. Operating at 2.4 GHz with spread spectrum modulation, there is little
to no chance of radio interference, which was a huge problem back when this article
appeared in a 1955 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. William ("Bill")
Winter, who would later serve as president of the Academy of Model aeronautics (AMA),
was editor of Model Airplane News magazine at the time. Vacuum tube receivers
and electromechanical escapements and relays were being used in model airplanes.
The very nature of construction of those components made them extremely vulnerable
to vibration and shock induced intermittent or total failures. The models themselves
were necessarily large and often underpowered for carrying such heavy loads aloft.
We owe the R/C pioneers a lot for taking the arrows of trial and error to ultimately
give us the carefree systems we enjoy today...
 Declaring
any kind of straight LC tank circuit to be high stability is a bit of a stretch
when compared to the Q available simply by adding a crystal, even in 1958. Tone
modulation was an early method for achieving remote control of model airplanes,
boats, and cars. The number of channels with these
tone modulation systems is two times the number of modern proportional systems
in that moving the rudder left took one channel and moving it right took another.
Up and down elevator likewise took two channels. Therefore, this four channel system
is only two channels by today's terminology. Technology evolved into fully proportional
systems on crystal-controlled 27 MHz using pulse position modulation (PPM),
then to 72 MHz, and today nearly every every R/C uses a combination of frequency-hopping
spread spectrum (FHSS) and direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) in the 2.4 GHz
ISM band...
 Website visitor Wells S. just wrote asking
for another article to be posted - this time it is a very nice scale radio controlled
Spitfire IX. It appeared in
the February 1962 issue of American Modeler magazine published by the Academy
of Model Aeronautics (AMA). As was common in the era (1962), construction is very
robust and therefore heavy (10 pounds with a 64" wingspan). A Super Tigre .56 powered
the model in the article, and an Orbit radio with Bonner servos were used. My favorite
line in the article is, "In flight the Spitfire is very stable but snaps through
maneuvers and will tie knots in itself if you can operate transmitter switches fast
enough." We've come a long way, baby...
 Website visitor Bob G. wrote to request
help with identifying a Cox .020-powered free flight model that he remembered seeing
in an old edition of American Aircraft Modeler modeler magazine. He couldn't
recall the name for sure, but gave a good enough description and a guess at the
approximate timeframe that I was able to find it for him - the "Mini−ROD." His completed
Mini−ROD is shown to the left. The finish has not yet been applied. You can see
where the wing panels are joined temporarily with masking tape. The horizontal stabilizer
is in its dethermalizer position. Wing and stabilizers are sheet balsa with airfoil-forming
ribs underneath. A Cox .020 engine will power the Mini−Rod. Bob is planning on building
a lot of the Tenderfoot series of models that appeared monthly back in the era...
 As with most of the handyman's type of magazine
of the era, Popular Science features a very broad array of topics, including
full size and model aeroplanes. The May 1968 issue of Popular Mechanics
had plans for a full-size homebuilt airplane made of spruce and plywood, using a
modified Volkswagen engine. This June 1941 issue had plans for building a
rubber powered free flight model dubbed the "Minute Man." It is a simple stick
and tissue job that can be built for a few pennies worth (at the time) of balsa,
glue, Jap tissue, and rubber (of course in today's hyperinflated Bidenomics world
the price is measured in dollars). Old timers like myself are familiar with the
designer, Frank Zaic. He was the founder of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA)
in 1936, an organization which still thrives today. He was also co-founder of Model
Aviation magazine, which has undergone a myriad of name changes over the years,
and is now back to it's original name. Frank's experience as a draftsman for the
U.S. Patent Office is apparent in the quality of his plans...
 It's a good bet that many modelers, myself
included, have dreamed about
owning a hobby shop. How nice it would be to spend our days amongst
walls, shelves, and display cases filled with every type of modeling kit and accessory.
Melanie and I actually looked into buying one when we lived in Colorado Springs
in the early 1990s. It's a good thing we didn't in retrospect, given the way the
local hobby shop (LHS) has suffered tremendously since Internet-based purchases
have become so popular - especially being tax-free in most areas. There are still
big hobby shops left, but they are few and far between. I'm as guilty as the next
guy for not doing more to support my LHS, but usually it's for convenience sake
more so than price and not paying sales tax. This article from the November 1962
edition of American Modeler magazine, a time when local hobby shops were
still the rule rather than the exception, is a humorous "day in the life of a hobby
dealer." You can just imagine how plausible the scenario might be...
 Although I have never owned or run one of
the vintage ignition type model airplane engines, the articles telling of their
operation makes me glad that glow engines were the powerplant du jour by the time
I entered the modeling realm in the late 1960s. Just as the smaller A−size and smaller
glow fuel engines are generally more finicky to start and adjust to run consistently,
so were the similar sized ignition engines - like the
Arden .099
probably was. Persistence and anticipation of the joy of hearing a model airplane
engine fire up and scream - and of course the smell of the burning glow fuel - as
you prepare to launch the craft skyward is what made all the hassle worth it. My
friends and I spend untold amounts of time struggling to get our Cox .049s started
and running well enough get a few turns around the control line circle before the
carefully...
 With the entry of the United States into
World War II came the need for service members to be trained on many new technologies
- among them being airplanes and the ability to identify them quickly. Electronics
technicians and airframe and powerplant mechanics were in need, of course, but everyone
had to be able to tell friend from foe when airplanes were approaching. In order
to assist the war effort, a call went out to civilians to begin producing thousands
of
models at a 1:72 scale so that at 35 feet away they appeared in
size to be that of a full-scale version at about half a mile. Detailed paint jobs
were not required - only that the profile from all angles look exactly like the
real thing. In fact, the models were painted flat black so as to look like a distant
airplane against the background sky. Both Allied and Axis airplane models were needed
so that soldiers and sailors could quickly spot a potential danger and decide whether
to take cover and prepare to fight, or to continue with business as usual. This
article appeared in the May 1942 edition of Popular Science, meaning that it was
probably written sometime around February, only a few months after the Japanese
attacked our naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941...
 $25 R/C helicopters are available from Amazon
that climb and turn on demand (kinda). For under $60 you get a fully controllable
model with counter-rotating rotors that anyone can fly like a pro in after an hour
or two of practice. Double that amount and a 3-D-capable, ready-to-fly helicopter
is available to you, complete with a spread spectrum radio, gyro stabilization,
a brushless motor, and Li-Poly batteries... with a computerized charger. Engineers
have labored endlessly to bring this state of the art technology to all corners
of the world. It was not that way all so long ago. To wit, take a look at this article
from the March 1969 edition of American Aircraft Modeler magazine, that
reported on Germany's first ever R/C helicopter competition that was held
in the fall of 1968. There were no kits (let alone RFTs), no special heli engines,
no gyroscopes, no carbon fiber blades, to "how-to" manuals, not even any reserved
frequencies for the newly arrived proportional radio control systems. All helicopters
there were designed and built from scratch, and no two looked alike; large number
or unique color schemes were not necessary to keep track of a cookie-cutter production
craft...
 Finding an article in a modern model airplane
magazine like this "Carve
the Italian Beretta 9mm Pistol" from a 1954 issue of Air Trails is
highly unlikely. For that matters, seeing an advertisement like the Polk's Hobbies
Antique Gun Reproductions on the same page has equally low odds. It's not that boys
are no longer interested in guns, it's that publishers are afraid to promote them
in any manner - even for historical education purposes. Our politicians promote
policies that allow criminals to enter the country bringing drugs, weapons, and
other contraband; judges set criminals free or lightly sentence them; schools teach
kids that all guns by all people (including police and military) are bad, and then
want to remove all guns from law-abiding citizens. As the old saying goes, then
only the bad guys will have guns. The morons believe putting an orange cap at the
end of the barrel on toys guns will save the day, when all a criminal needs to do...
 These couple
vintage model
aviation comics appeared in the May 1957 issue of the Academy of Model Aeronautics'
American Modeler magazine. The one on page 8 might need some explanation in order
"get it." Back in the era, aviation of all sorts - both model and full-size - was
still a novelty for most people. When either type of aircraft was seen close to
the ground where people could get up-close looks, a crowd would often gather. In
this comic, a huge group of people stopped to watch the model airplane fly, so the
modeler decided it was his civic duty to provide a show for the onlookers. Many
decades ago, comic strips had a very broad appeal with people. Daily newspapers
and magazines often carried a large variety of single pane comics and strip comics...
 For a long time I have been kicking around
the concept of tethered
R/C, where the airplane would be completely under remote control, with its inboard
wing being attached to a tether that is in turn anchored to a pivot point in the
center of the circle. My first effort was to convert an electric-powered control
line stunt model to have R/C control of the elevator and motor speed. After doing
the conversion, I decided that it would be safer to start out with a slow-flying,
inherently stable model, so since I was in the process of building an electric-powered,
three channel Carl Goldberg ½A Skylane, it was used as the Guiney pig. The steerable
nose gear was pegged in the center, and the rudder pushrod was secured with a screw
in the servo mount so that it has permanent right rudder. A tether attachment point
was epoxied into the left wingtip. It weights 25.3 ounces ready to fly. The
wing chord was increased by about 0.5" over the plans outline in order to get a
little more area and decrease the wing loading a tab bit...
 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)...
 Website visitor Mark Radcliff (yes, THE
Mark Radcliff, of 75-77-79-81 USA F3a RC Aerobatic Team fame, and until recently,
VP of that AMA's District III) wrote to request that I scan the article for
Steve Wooley's control
line Argus, which, appeared in the August 1961 American Modeler magazine. The
Argus was the star of the 1960 world championships in Hungary. Note the unique wing
construction where rather than using full ribs, upper and lower outlines are used
that sit over and under the beefy solid wing spar. The entire article is very short...
 February 1942 was just a couple months into
the USA's official involvement in World War II. We had been informally assisting
Europe against Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy, and China against Japan's
Hirohito, a couple years prior to the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, upon
which the U.S. declared war on Japan. Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.
a couple days later. We were suddenly in the game big time. Only because Hitler
and the Soviet Union's Stalin couldn't agree on how to share rule of a conquered
Earth were we spared warring against what would have been an overwhelmingly formidable
force.
Flying Aces magazine provided a lot of coverage of the USAAF's efforts
during the war, in large part to motivate young men to fight for God and country... |
