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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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Academy of Model Aeronautics
