These archive pages are provided in order to make it easier for you to find items
that you remember seeing on the Airplanes and Rockets homepage. Of course probably
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the top of every page.
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 "The Perlan 2 high altitude glider has achieved
another altitude record over the high peaks in the southern part of the Patagonia
mountain range. After being pulled to an altitude of 42,000 feet, the Perlan 2 continued
to climb past
62,000 feet.
This altitude is beyond the Armstrong Line, which defines the point beyond which
the blood in a human body would boil unless protected by some form of pressurization.
Perlan Mission II's chief pilot Jim Payne, and pilot and project manager Morgan
Sandercock shattered the previous record, set by the same pilots about one year
ago in the same region of Argentina. At that time, Payne and Sandercock flew to
52,221 feet. The team recently started using a tow plane ..."
 This particular page is from page 47 of the
July 1957 issue of American Modeler magazine. If you can find one of these
older model Thimble-Drome (Cox)
PeeWee .020's on eBay in the original packaging, it will typically end up selling
for $75 or more. Thimble Drome is no longer in operation. Use the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics' inflation calculator to see what items cost in today's dollars.
For instance, that $3.95 PeeWee .020 would be $35.19 in 2018 money - a factor of
nearly 10x ...
 "Indicates an overwhelming interest in nighttime
operations, other expanded operations. On the eve of the two-year anniversary of
the FAA establishing regulations for operating small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS),
also known as drones, the
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) today released
an update to its analysis of waivers by the FAA for UAS operations beyond the scope
of the Small UAS Rule and found that nearly 2,000 have been granted. The analysis
finds that nearly 92% of the waivers grant permission to operate UAS at night, which
is not permitted under the FAA rule. The report also shows that first responders
around the country ..."
 I finally found the scanned file for this
Stunting "Vickers
Wellesley" article that appeared in the May 1957 issue of American Modeler
magazine. Somehow the magazine disappeared and I had to dig back into an old hard
drive from 2011 to find the file. Anyway, here is yet another fine Walter Musciano
design of the British bomber of World War II fame. Designed for a .35-size
engine, this 58" wingspan control line model with 420 cubic inch of wing area should
be capable of basic stunting. An electric power setup could easily be adapted to
the airframe, and some weight could be saved by thinning out the structural members
a bit. Smooth-running brushless motors don't put anywhere near the vibratory strain
on models as internal combustion engines do ...
If you are a fan of control line (aka CL, C/L, U-control) Jim Walker and have
not yet visited the Jim Walker &
The American Junior Aircraft Company, this is the time to do so. "Jim Walker
was really one of a kind. He was a visionary, a showman, an inventor and a passionate
promoter of Model Aviation. Whether he was flying his Two-Speed ignition engine
Fireball with U-Control or his 10¢ Model 74 Glider, Jim Walker captivated the
crowds and the imagination of a generation of youngsters with his incredible flying
skills. Producing Ready-To-Fly model planes years before balsa became common, his
American Junior Aircraft Company shaped the future of the hobby world with his innovative
ideas ..."
 Note: Be sure to look at reader comments
at the bottom. "The FAA recently changed its mind about exempting model aircraft.
Radio control aircraft hobbyists are currently standing up to the FAA, Department
of Defense, and select members of Congress in order to preserve the freedom of their
pastime, to fly small model aircraft in select locations around the U.S. In a petition,
RC pilots say their fight revolves around 'Rule
336,' which is a section in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act from 2012 that
exempts model and remote control aircraft enthusiasts from regulation if they were
flown for 'hobby & recreation' purposes. Earlier this summer, the federal government
reversed the original ruling, leaving enthusiasts vulnerable to federal regulation ..."
 Alain Pons, of France, sent my a paper copy
of the plans for his custom-designed 6-foot wingspan R/C canard model airplane -
"Alain's Duck.".
I had it scanned to JPG format at Office Max and then did some clean-up to enhance
the contrast and eliminate most of the fold lines. You can easily scale the plans
to any size you need to fit your tastes. Thanks again to Alain for making this available ...
 Airplanes and Rockets website visitor Rob P.
wrote to ask that I post the construction article for George Wilson's "Quick Floats," which
appeared in the May 1973 issue of American Aircraft Modeler magazine. It's
nice to know that even with all the prefabricated floats available for purchase
today that there is still someone who prefers to build his own. The original Quick
Floats design was sized for a .60-powered stunt airplane, but you can easily scale
them up or down as needed to fit your model. I normally do not include a full-resolution
scan in order to give the AMA Plans Service an opportunity to sell a copy (very
low prices); however, a visit to their website does not show a listing for Quick
Floats. Click on the plans images below for the larger versions. Beware that scans
from the magazine may contain skew ...
 "Bye Aerospace announced August 20 a successful
first flight for a solar-electric aircraft created with surveillance and patrol
missions in mind. The company founded by CEO George Bye hopes to be the first to
certify an American-made electric airplane, the
Sun Flyer, which was designed to reduce the cost of flight training and prove
that electric propulsion is a viable alternative to petroleum-based fuels in general
aviation. The mission of the Solar-Electric Survey Aircraft, or SOLESA, is somewhat
different, Bye explained in an email, though the two platforms share many components
and systems. 'The SOLESA ‘could’ be available to the 'public,' but not likely, because
of the solar cell expense to the aircraft ..."
 Dr. Ralph Brooke was a member of the 1963
U.S. International Team, which won the World Champion ships at Genk, Belgium. He
custom designed "Whistler"
full house radio control model airplane is featured in this 1963 issue of American
Modeler magazine. The engine was a Veco .45, which was smaller than the .60
size used by many competitors of the day. The plans are well-drawn, but the wing
portion is broken across the two sheets, and only the left half is shown. The wingspan
is only 59", so it really wouldn't have been that much trouble to put at least the
entire wing half on one sheet. That has always been a pet peeve of mine. Otherwise,
the Whistler is a nice looking model and could easily be adapted to electric power ...
 "Airbus has praised the success of the drone's
maiden flight and plans to increase the device's duration, while the UK government
is set to become the first one to adopt the technology for its needs. While Airbus
is mostly known for its passenger aircraft construction, it is also one of the global
leaders in space engineering. The company's press-release published on Wednesday
reveals another achievement in this sphere. A
Zephyr S HAPS drone (High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite) successfully landed in
Farnborough, the UK upon finishing its first trial flight. The drone was in the
air for 25 days, 23 hours, and 57 minutes, breaking the world record ..."
 "Engine maker Rolls-Royce has released details
of a new EVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) vehicle at this year's Farnborough
Airshow. The hybrid aircraft, designed to carry four or five passengers, has an
M250 gas turbine which delivers around 500 kW of electrical power. This is
used to drive six rotors that can provide both lift and propulsion, with the wings
tilting forward 90° once sufficient altitude has been reached. Four of the rotors
can also fold into the wings, leaving two at the rear to provide thrust at cruising
altitude while helping to reduce cabin noise. Top speed is estimated at 250mph and
range is predicted ..."
 "The plans for a
launch site for
rockets in Sutherland on the north coast of Scotland have already attracted
lively debate in our news section, so it is an obvious choice for our poll this
week. There have been ambitions to site a spaceport in the UK for over a decade,
but business secretary Greg Clark's announcement at the opening of the Farnborough
Air Show was the first concrete sign of these plans being put into government policy,
and were accompanied by an announcement of a £50 million UK space launch fund. We
have suggested a number of options as responses to the question. Is the plan an
unequivocally good idea ..."
 Vernon (Vern) Estes is single-handedly responsible
for the prevention of untold eyes, fingers, arms, hair, and even lives, due to his
invention of safe, prepackaged, solid fuel model rocket engines. Estes Industries
was founded in 1958, the year this article on model rocketry safety appeared in
American Molder magazine. Shortly after Estes began operation, they published
a newsletter titled, "Estes Model Rocket News," which had amongst its contents numerous
tips on safe handling and use of model rocket
engines, and many warning against trying to build your own engines. The thought
of kids and even adults handling picrate, the fulminate, and the iodate compounds
is enough to send chills down my spine. G. Harry Stine, editor of the model
rocketry column in American Modeler ...
 The Museum of Flight produced a very nice
video titled, "A Conversation
with Vern and Gleda Estes." If you are or once were a model rocketeer - a term
coined by Vern - you will definitely want to view video. After watching the video,
go straight to the VernEstes.com
website and look through the vast historical information there, which includes an
incredible film of the beginnings of the Penrose, Colorado, headquarters and factory.
Vern and Gleda built the first structures by hand, block by block. It was truly
a bygone era of rugged individualism. We owe the pair much gratitude for transforming
model rocketry into a safe, affordable hobby.
 I wish these types of drones were around
during my USAF days. "U.S. Army instructors at Fort Benning, Georgia recently opened
a new
drone training school to teach young soldiers to become as familiar with these
tiny flying devices as they are handling M4 carbines. The 3rd Squadron, 16th Cavalry
Regiment, 316th Cavalry Brigade opened its new small unmanned aerial system, or
SUAS, course facility June 11 and recently began giving classes to basic trainees
'so they can become familiar with drones before they show up to their units,' Sgt.
1st Class Hilario Dominguez, the lead instructor for the class, said in a recent
Defense Department news release. Students at the SUAS course showed basic trainees ..."
 "Not even James Bond had an Aston Martin
like this. The British sports car maker revealed a concept version of a flying car,
the
Volante Vision Concept, at the Farnborough Airshow this week. Aston Martin has
billed the futuristic vehicle as a luxury car for the skies. The autonomous hybrid-electric
vehicle, which has room for three passengers, is designed for urban and inter-city
travel, the company said. It's also capable of vertical take-offs and landings.
The vehicle could fly at top speeds of around 200 miles per hour, according to Reuters.
'With the population in urban areas continuing to grow ..."
 The original speakers on my Reader's Digest
800-XR stereo system sounded OK, but they sounded crackly at some frequencies even
at normal volume level, so I decided to
replace the speakers with something more modern. Not wanting to spend a lot
of money on speakers and a crossover network, I opted for a set of car speakers
with built-in crossovers. Since car speakers have a 4 Ω impedance and the stereo
wants 8 Ω, I wired the two new speakers in series. Over time, the right channel
on the Speaker A output became scratchy and sometimes would drop out completely.
There was also an issue with
distortion on all outputs when the volumes was turned ...
 While serving in the U.S. Air Force at Robins
AFG, Georgia, in the early 1980s, I took advantage of the base woodworking shop
to make a set of stereo speaker enclosures, turn a couple lamps on the wood lathe,
and a few other projects. Most have been sold or given away over the many household
moves that have transpired since then. One of the
oak lamps has survived, probably
because I had given it to Melanie as a present before we were married. It is made
from some 3" thick blocks that were found in the wood shop's scrap bin. I laminated
three of them together and then turned an ad hoc design (no preplanned shape) that
can be seen in these couple photos. A couple grooves were added and then brass tubing
was bent ...
 This author must have never heard of the
C-47 Skytrain. "It sounds like something Q, the tech guy in James Bond movies, would
create: A plane that lands on a runway, shrugs its wings off, turns into a train
and rolls on to rails to drop you off at your local station. That's what a French
entrepreneur, who's made millions by connecting engineers with industrial groups,
is pitching to Boeing Co. and others. 'Link &
Fly' is Akka Technologies's new flagship aircraft design, with wings that come
off to hasten turnover at airports and make boarding easier and closer to passengers'
homes ..."
Vernon (Vern) Estes is single-handedly responsible
for the prevention of untold eyes, fingers, arms, hair, and even lives, due to his
invention of safe, prepackaged, solid fuel model rocket engines. Estes Industries
was founded in 1958, the year this article on model rocketry safety appeared in
American Molder magazine. Shortly after Estes began operation, they published
a newsletter titled, "Estes Model Rocket News," which had amongst its contents numerous
tips on safe
handling and use of model rocket engines, and many warning against trying to
build your own engines. G. Harry Stine, editor of the model rocketry column
in American Modeler, printed the Model Missile Safety Code as drafted by the Model
Missile Association (MMA, predated the National Association of Rocketry - NAR) ...
 "Self-flying
vehicle firms got $2M last year, as U.S. military envisions taxis as more
Blade Runner than Back to the Future. Last year, Kitty Hawk and
Joby Aviation received a total of nearly $2M from the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental
(DIUx), a Pentagon organization founded to help America's military make faster use
of emerging technologies. Neither company, nor the DIUx, disclosed the funding at
the time. The website for Cora, Kitty Hawk's experimental air taxi, emphasizes its
role in solving urban transportation challenges: 'Cora is about the time you could
save soaring over traffic. The people you could visit
..."
 "NASA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration
in the National Airspace System, or UAS-NAS project, works on identifying, developing
and testing the technologies and procedures that will make it possible for UAS to
have routine access to airspace occupied by human-piloted aircraft. The UAS-NAS
project uses modeling, simulations and flight tests to develop and test technologies
that provide safe, effective, secure capabilities including detect and avoid (DAA)
and command and control (C2). The SIERRA-B unmanned aircraft system developed at
NASA's Ames Research Center ..."
 "In the wake of an investigation resulting
from a 2017 ARRL complaint, the FCC has proposed
fining HobbyKing and associated entities $2.8 million for apparently marketing
noncompliant RF devices and failing to comply with Commission orders. According
to a June 5 FCC Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL), HobbyKing appears to have sold
audio/video transmitters (A/V) intended for use with unmanned aircraft, such as
drones, marketing them as Amateur Radio equipment in some instances. 'The Enforcement
Bureau previously issued a Citation notifying HobbyKing of its legal and regulatory
obligations and ordering it to cease and desist from marketing noncompliant equipment,'
the FCC said ..."
 "DARPA's
Experimental Spaceplane
(XSP) advances toward its goal for rapid turnaround and on-demand launch with the
completion of a test series that put the spaceplane's AR-22 Experimental Spaceplane
Main Engine through a rigorous campaign. In the two weeks preceding the campaign,
the engine ran twice to establish initial performance characteristics and turnaround
processes. Then, starting July 26, the engineering team successfully fired the engine
10 times in just under 240 hours. All firings lasted at least 100 seconds. The AR-22
engine is a variant of the RS-25, also known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) ..."
 "The Amari Cemetery located in Harju County,
northern Estonia, is a place where you'll witness a series of graves decorated with
aircraft tail fins. The answer to why these graves have aircraft fins on them
lies beneath these tombstones, with all those who are resting in these graves. These
are Soviet pilots who were killed while serving their duty during the Soviet occupation
of Estonia. The burial place is truly a sight that will kindle respect for all the
soldiers who put their lives on the line for their country. What could have been
a better way to pay homage to the martyrs than using the fins of an airplane that
they were likely died in? The soldiers were buried on a site that was designated
for the burial of war causalities ..."
 This is the November 2, 2941, "Flyin'
Jenny" comic strip. 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 expect that soon there will be World War II themes.
"Flyin' Jenny," whose real name was Virginia Dare (what's in a name?), was a test
pilot ...
 Here
is a subject near and dear to my heart:
Apollo 11.
The Engineer provided extensive coverage, and they now make available their
complete
archive. This is a year shy of the half-century anniversary. "Just days before
Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon. The Engineer
took a detailed look at the technology that would get him and his fellow astronauts
safely there and back again. How do you mark the most significant achievement in
the history of mankind? The Apollo landings of the late 60s and early 70s are still
seen as the high water mark of humanity, and as The Engineer pointed out,
much of the millions of words of press coverage of the first mission to land, Apollo
11 ..."
 "Saildrone is a Californian company which designs
and manufactures wind and solar powered autonomous surface vehicles, called
Saildrones, designed to monitor the ocean for months on end. The hard wind design
emerged from a decade-long pursuit of the land speed record – company founder Richard
Jenkins ultimately achieved 126.2mph in 2009, having started his Windjet Project
in 1999 while studying mechanical engineering at Imperial College. Using wind power
for propulsion, a Saildrone fleet travels at 3-5kts, with each drone collecting
high-resolution data either by holding station or following a survey pattern. The
drones sail autonomously ..."
 This article provides a really good look
at how varied model airplane designs can be for a defined contest event - in this
case Free Flight Rocket, Jr. Jet PAA-Load and
PAA Load Jet. Wing, fuselage, and tail outlines, pylons or not, sub-rudders,
and engine mounting locations are all over the map, figuratively speaking. "Jet"
as used here refers almost universally to the Jetex engines that were popular at
the time. Jetex motors, fuel, and accessories were imported from England and distributed
in the U.S. by Aristo-Craft Distinctive Miniatures, in Newark, New Jersey. 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 ...
 "China is working
on a
super-powerful rocket that would be capable of delivering heavier payloads into
low orbit than NASA, a leading Chinese space expert was quoted as saying Monday.
By 2030, the Long March-9 rocket under development will be able to carry 140 tonnes
into low-Earth orbit - where TV and earth observation satellites currently fly -
said Long Lehao, a senior official from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, according
to the official Xinhua news agency. This compares to the 20 tonnes deliverable by
Europe's Ariane 5 rocket or the 64 tonnes by Elon Musk's Falcon Heavy ..."
 "Facebook
has cancelled its UK-based high altitude unmanned aircraft project, Aquila. The
project, based in Somerset, aimed to provide Internet basestations that could stay
in the air for weeks at a time at an altitude of 60,000 ft. However the 2 kW
power requirements and the laser communications technology that was intended to
link aircraft in the sky and to the ground were both significant challenges. 'The
only spectrum available for these platforms wasn't suitable for broadband due to
technical and geographical limitations,' said Yael Maguire, director of engineering
at Facebook ..."
 A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,
there existed a modeling civilization that enthusiastically embraced the concept
of building kits for the personal satisfaction of being able to hone craftsmanship
skills, to learn about the make-up of the products being built, and to save money.
Radio control systems were expensive on a per channel basis compared to today's
systems.
Heathkit, as it did with a very wide assortment of electronics products, sold
a few radio control systems in kit form. The buyer built everything - transmitter,
receiver, and servos. I do no remember whether the NiCd battery packs came pre-assembled.
Note that Heathkit servos used capacitive feedback ...
 I'm looking
forward to JWST data, and sure hope it doesn't suffer a HST-type failure. "An independent
panel has informed NASA that the
James Webb Space Telescope will not be ready for launch until March 2021, and
Congress will have to reauthorize the long-delayed, over-budget mission after breaching
an $8B cost cap, officials said Wednesday. Blunders made by Webb's manufacturing
and test team at Northrop Grumman, the mission’s prime contractor, are largely responsible
for the launch delay, according to Thomas Young, a former Lockheed Martin executive
and NASA program manager who chaired the review board examining the mission's development ..."
 "Boeing has unveiled a concept jet that will
be capable of whisking passengers from New York to London at a blistering Mach 5
- making it capable of crossing the pond in just two hours. The
hypersonic plane would fly almost three times faster than the legendary Concorde
- which was decommissioned in 2003 - and cruise at 95,000 feet, about 3,000 feet
higher than its supersonic predecessor, according to Aviation Week. The concept
aircraft, which was unveiled at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Aviation 2018 conference in Atlanta, is part of a long-range development plan with
both commercial and military applications, the news outlet reported ..."
 Creativity and ingenuity was needed more
often by aircraft modelers back when various aspects of the hobby were in the development
stages and access to a prefabricated device was not as ready as today. If you need
a special-purpose
product or method nowadays, a Google search will usually turn up a solution
in the form of an off-the-shelf item and/or instructions on how to do it yourself
- sometimes even with a video to show you how to do it. In the middle of the last
century, if you wanted a component or gizmo other than common things like wheels,
propellers, and bell cranks, you had to make them yourself from on-hand materials
or do without. I often am amazed at the ideas presented in these Sketch Book
installments. Check out the device designed by Mr. Mustafa K. Artam, of
Istanbul, Turkey, for checking relative thrust ...
 This might benefit some GPS-directed drones.
"There is now
more precise GPS coverage across the U.S., thanks to the recent deployment of
the FAA's Geosynchronous Earth Orbiting 5 Wide Area Augmentation System navigation
payload, which was developed by Raytheon's Intelligence, Information and Services
business. The GEO 5 payload joins two others already on orbit in correcting GPS
satellite signal ionospheric disturbances, timing issues, and minor orbit adjustments,
giving increased coverage, improved accuracy, and better reliability, according
to Raytheon officials. 'GPS alone can't meet the FAA's stringent requirements for
accuracy, integrity and availability ..."
 Although not directly related to the mid-last-century
aviatrix Virginia Dare, aka "Flyin'
Jenny," the "Flying
Jenny" book written by Theasa Tuohy is a novel about a daring tabloid newspaper
reporter named Jenny Flynn. This Jenny was inspired by real-life barnstorming female
pilot Elinor Smith, aka
"The Flying Flapper Freeport." The author's mother and namesake (Theasa Tuohy) was
a contemporary of Will Rogers and friend of Wiley Post ...
 Atomic-powered aircraft was another dream
of mid-last-century visionaries. It was the post World War II era where, following
the demonstration of nuclear energy's awesome capacity demonstrated in Japan, plans
were being made to harness its capacity for peaceful uses. Large scale atomic power
electricity and steam generation stations being designed and built. So, too, were
personal nuclear power packs, atomic-powered car, boats, submarines, airplanes,
rockets, and trains envisioned. Unfortunately, designers soon learned that safe
containment of the fuel made small form factor generators impractical. Unfortunately,
a few accidents in power stations has spooked ...
 Notice the tail number has been blotted out.
"A student pilot who was training at Fullerton Airport in southern California is
in major trouble after an incident on Sunday. Too eager for his first solo, the
man took a Cessna 172 from a local flying club
without permission, but was unable to successfully complete his mission. Fullerton's
airport manager Brendan O’Reilly said the student pilot had recently joined the
RI Flying Club, which had the Cessna 172 as part of its fleet. O'Reilly said the
flying club has been operating at the airport for more than 30 years without any
incidents. The student pilot was not qualified to fly the airplane solo, but somehow
snagged the keys and took the airplane to the skies. The student pilot made not
one, not two, not three, not four, but five attempts at landing, each time messing
up the airplane more ..."
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