At
Tuskegee, Alabama, March 7, Colonel Frederick V. H. Kimble, U. S. A., pinned wings
on the blouses of five young Negro lieutenants, members of the first
graduating class of the Army's first Negro air school. Since last July they
had undergone all the primary and advanced training to which white Army cadets at
Randolph and Kelly fields are subject. Now they are charter members of the Air Force's
99th (all Negro) Pursuit Squadron, established last summer at a $2,000,000 airdrome
near Alabama's famed Tuskegee Institute and now developing into one of the Army's
biggest training bases...
"Claimed
to be a world first, the demonstration took place at Swinhay House. A McMurtry Spéirling
PURE Validation Prototype 1 (VP1) was driven on to a custom-built platform which
then rotated 180 degrees to invert the stationary vehicle. Relying on the huge 'Downforce
on Demand' created by twin 23,000 RPM fans on the car's undercarriage, the Spéirling
remained firmly attached to the platform and was driven a few feet forward before
the rig rotated it back to ground. 'This demonstration was an exciting proof-of-concept
using a small purpose-built rig, but is perhaps just the beginning of what's possible.
With a longer inverted track or a suitable tunnel, we may be able to drive..."
Balsa wood was a special thing to me as
a kid. To me, it represented the essence of model airplanes and model rockets. At
the time - the 1960s and 70s - plastic and foam as model components were considered
a sign of cheapness, low quality, amateurishness. It was like having "Made in Japan"
stamped on it. Now, of course, it's a different world where Japan is renowned for
some of the highest quality electronics and cars and the plastic and foam ARFs represent
some of the highest-performing aircraft at the flying field. I have owned a few
of those foamies, but still, at least for my tastes, nothing beats the look, feel
and aroma of balsa. Somehow the tell-tale surface texture of foam, even with a nice
paint job, ruins the authenticity of an otherwise beautifully factory-finished scale
F4-U Corsair or P-38 Lightning. Sorry, that's just the way it is. Sig Manufacturing
was...
When this
Trans World Airline (TWA) advertisement appeared in the April 29, 1950, issue
of The Saturday Evening Post magazine , the airline industry was transitioning from
relying on amphibious aircraft for long-distance overseas flights to using land-based
planes. These new aircraft, like the 300-mph Skyliners mentioned in the ad, offered
increased speed and comfort, revolutionizing air travel and making it more accessible
to the general public. TWA capitalized on this newfound ability to fly customers
quickly and comfortably to destinations across the U.S. and around the world, emphasizing
the potential for adventure and leisure even within the constraints of a typical
two-week vacation...
An
April 1942 issue of Life magazine, just four months into WWII, carried
this full-page advertisement celebrating the
Lockheed P-38 Lightning, a revolutionary fighter aircraft hailed as the world'
s fastest - nearing the speed of sound - with unmatched maneuverability, outclassing
enemy planes in combat. Built by Lockheed for the U.S. Army and British RAF, the
P-38 embodied American ingenuity and freedom, flown by daring pilots defending democracy.
The ad positions the Lightning as a symbol of U.S. air supremacy, critical to Allied
victory in WWII, while promoting Lockheed's role in advancing aviation for both
wartime protection and postwar progress. The closing tagline, "Look to Lockheed
for Leadership," reinforces the company's wartime prestige and vision for the future...
Some of the adventure stories in Flying
Aces magazine were practically full-length novels. The May 1934 issue included
one of Donald Keyhoe's pieces entitled, "Death
Flies the Equator," featuring intrepid G-2 agent, Dick Knight, and his sidekick,
Lothario Doyle, who team up to pit good against evil across the globe. The notorious
"Four Faces" cabal fixed on achieving world domination are a constant challenge
for the wits and wile of our heroic pair. Dick Knight supplies the brunt of required
brainwork while ex-Marine Doyle breaks bones and faces when needed. Both are accomplished
airborne dogfighters, avigators (archaic term for aviator / navigator), and mechanics.
Many of these stories involve fantastic weapons and deception devices, sabotage,
moles, traitors, and incredible feats of flying. They really are "page-turners,"
and the only things that keeps me from reading straight through is wanting to be
able to spread the entertainment across t
Flettner rotors were at one time believed
to be the next big thing in air-driven propulsion. They would replace cloth sails
on boats and fixed wings on aeroplanes. I remember seeing such fantastic contraptions
in magazines like Mechanix Illustrated and Popular Mechanics back
in the 1960's and 1970's. The nouveau sails and wings were actually built on experimental
vehicles which can be found in a Google search on Flettner rotor. They operate on
the Magnus effect, which is where a lifting force is generated by a spinning sphere
or cylinder moving through the air (or water, or any fluid), thereby causing an
unequal pressure to build on opposite sides. I had a Magnus rotor kite as a kid
in the late 1960's that was made of thin, molded plastic...
Without
a doubt, Germany has in the past far overestimated its ability to conquer the world
by leveraging its undeniable history of innovation and determination. A success
in the Franco-Prussian War gave it a sense of superiority and invincibility. WWI
and WWII were lost primarily due to the
blitzkrieg strategy later failing to overwhelm and subdue the enemy in short
order, causing protracted wars and diminishing resources from within its domain.
If Germany had instead exploited its technical prowess in world markets, it might
have been an economic superpower today. The native population was/is brilliant.
Today, Germany's leaders are, in acts of self-flagellation and penance...
During the late 1930s, commercial air transportation
experienced a significant boom, largely fueled by the introduction of the Douglas
DC-3 in 1935. This aircraft, widely recognized for its efficiency and reliability,
revolutionized air travel, making it more accessible and popular than ever before.
The rapid growth of this sector placed an
unprecedented demand on air traffic control services, as exemplified by the
busy operations at Newark, the world's most active airport at the time. The article
from the 1938 issue of Boys' Life magazine further illustrates this, detailing
a trip from Newark to Pittsburgh, where Air Traffic Control, managed by the Bureau
of Air Commerce, played a critical role in ensuring the safe and orderly movement
of a burgeoning number of flights, underscoring the vita...
In
this October 1964 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine, editor Hugo Gernsback
writes about the historic feat on July 31 of that year, where NASA lunar probe Ranger 7's
RCA-designed television cameras successfully transmitted the
first close-up televised pictures of the moon's surface to Earth after six previous
failed attempts. The unmanned spacecraft traveled 240,000 miles through space over
68 hours to capture 4,316 still images with its six high-resolution cameras. These
images provided crucial information for future manned lunar explorations, revealing
that the dust layer on the moon's surface is likely only 2 to 12 inches deep, and
showing small craters down to sizes of three feet. The success of Ranger 7
marked a significant advancement in lunar exploration technology, paving the way
for further unmanned missions and eventual manned expeditions to the moon...
Imagine if your path to flying an R/C helicopter
involved first designing, then building, and then troubleshooting the contraption.
That was the burden of pioneers. We have people like
S.S.P. Helicopter
designer Gene Rock to thank for being able to enjoy the state-of-the-art models
that are available today. This article from the August 1972 edition of American
Aircraft Modeler magazine describes the process of machining all the metal
parts for an Enya .45-powered craft. Mr. Rock even designed a very successful mechanical
gyro for keeping the tail under control. If you have ever tried flying an R/C heli
without any type of gyro (I have, on a DuBro Tristar), you will fully appreciate
what a pleasure it is to not have to manually counter torque changes (throttle)
with tail rotor stick input from the transmitter. Around 2008 I bought a Blade MCX2
coaxial rotor helicopter for flying inside, and the gyro is so good on that thing
that you can put it in a full speed pirouette...
The 1946 Popular Science magazine
article discusses the development of tailless aircraft, focusing on the American
John K. Northrop's creation of the
Army's XB-35 bomber. This innovative plane, weighing 89,000 pounds empty, can
lift 60 tons of bombs, gas, crew, and cargo under overload conditions. Its boomerang-shaped
wing is 4,000 square feet in area, providing great lifting power and higher speed
due to reduced parasite drag. The XB-35 is expected to outfly the fastest conventional
fighters and has a theoretical range of 10,000 miles. Control is achieved through
various mechanisms like wing slots, rudders, and "elevons." The plane also enjoys
military advantages such as comprehensive fire power aft and the ability to carry
the atom bomb. Northrop's design overcame several engineering obstacles...
In 1946, Popular Science magazine
highlighted the
burgeoning
potential of helicopters, detailing their versatility and the innovative ways
people envisioned using them, from hunting expeditions and aerial orchestras to
funeral services. The article underscored the helicopter's unique capabilities,
such as vertical take-off and landing, and its proven utility during World War II
in diverse environments. Commercial helicopters were on the cusp of becoming available,
with initial deliveries set to start that year, though primarily for business and
government use due to high costs and complexities in operation. The piece also discussed
the challenges faced by manufacturers, including mechanical complexities like torque
and the need for mass production to reduce costs...
If
you do a lot of overseas air travel for work (or any other reason), this
en route time map from a 1950 issue of The Saturday Evening Post
magazine might give you a bit of cheering up. Compare the length of time in the
air back during the day of propeller-driven airliners versus what you typically
experience today. United Aircraft published that a trip from New York to London
took 12-½ hours (with favorable winds). The same flight today takes around 7-½ hours,
a 40% reduction. From Seattle to Tokyo was 28-½ hours, and is now 10-½ hours, for
a 63% reduction! Those shorter flight times are due to both faster jet-powered airplanes
and an ability to climb to and cruise at altitudes where jet stream winds are highly
additive. Of course having to endure 10-½ hours crammed into a narrow seat with
the back of the front...
"Like a bumblebee flitting from flower to
flower, a new insect-inspired flying robot created by engineers at the University
of California, Berkeley, can hover, change trajectory and even hit small targets.
Less than 1 centimeter in diameter, the device weighs only 21 milligrams, making
it the world's smallest wireless robot capable of controlled flight. For a robot
to fly, it must be equipped with a power source, like a battery, and electronics
for flight control, both of which can be challenging to integrate into very small,
lightweight devices. To overcome this issue, Lin and the UC Berkeley team used an
external magnetic field to power the device and control the flight path. The robot
is shaped like a small propeller and includes two small magnets..."
Being very far-sighted, having a modern
alarm clock next to the bed with large LED numbers is a great convenience for seeing
the time at night. However, I have always hated the electronic alarm sound and neither
do I want music since it tends to put me back to sleep. The old fashioned wind-up
mechanical alarm clocks did the job quite handily, and I missed having such a clock
after many decades of doing without. So, I decided to look for a Peanuts-themed
clock from the 1960s or 70s. This Snoop
alarm clock came up for bid on eBay, and I picked it up for under $10, probably
because the seller said it did not work. He was correct that it didn't work in its
selling condition. However, I disassembled...
In this November 1940 issue of the Boy Scouts
Boys' Life magazine, amateur radio operators, or "hams," are described
as having the ability to communicate across vast distances, connecting far-flung
locations such as Goulds, Florida, Cali, Colombia, Cairo, Kenilworth, England, Bombay,
and Brisbane. These operators, licensed by the Federal Communications Commission,
engage in various activities such as talking to distant stations, participating
in contests, and providing emergency communication during natural disasters. With
call letters assigned by international treaty, these stations use a combination
of code and phone to make contact, exchanging reports and QSL cards. The
Radio merit
badge was first offered in 1918 and has been...
The venerable
Cessna 150 first came on the scene
in 1958. Per Wikipedia, "The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation
airplane, that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use. The Cessna
150 is the fourth most produced civilian plane ever, with 23,839 aircraft produced.
The Cessna 150 was offered for sale in the 150 basic model, Commuter, Commuter II,
Patroller and the aerobatic Aerobat models." The design has changed considerably
since 1958, with two of the most notable changes being the vertical fin and the
rear fuselage behind the cockpit. Note that a photo of the 1958 Cessna 150 is on
the cover of this edition.
LaGuardia Airport was dedicated on October
15, 1939 as the New York Municipal Airport, and opened for business on December
2 of that year. It was built on the site of the old Gala Amusement Park at a cost
of $40 million. This aerial photograph shown here was taken within a couple months
of when LaGuardia first opened since this "Airports:
Biggest and Busiest" article appeared in the March 1940 issue of Boys' Life
magazine. The recent Google map satellite view is below the page scan, and I superimposed
the 1940 runways and taxiways on top of it for comparison. You can see where expansions
were built into the water to accommodate longer runways...
Long before rechargeable nickel-cadmium
(NiCad) and nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries were used for starting model airplane
engines, we used standard primary type (non-rechargeable) 1.5-volt dry cells. In
fact, the nominal 1.2-volt-per-cell potential of NiCad and NiMH batteries were barely
high enough to sufficiently light the ignition coils in the glow heads and/or glow
plugs, which were designed for 1.5 volts. Today's glow plugs work just fine on 1.2 V
or 1.5 V. I have written before about how as a kid on a very small modeling
budget, I would often spend a long time flipping the propeller of my
Cox .049 engines while using
a single, worn-out D-cell battery (usually "borrowed" from my father's only flashlight).
One Christmas my parents got me a field kit that included a can of 25% nitro Cox
fuel, a glow head clip...
During World War I, the United States spent
$1,500,000,000 on military aviation, resulting in the development of various
advanced aircraft designs. This 1937 issue of Flying Aces magazine
mentions a few of them. This was 19 years after the armistice. Although these planes
did not see combat due to the war ending sooner than expected, they showcased American
ingenuity and engineering prowess. Notable examples include the L.W.F.G.2, which
had a top speed of 130 mph and carried seven guns; the Loening monoplane, which
was the fastest two-seater fighter at the time with a speed of 146 mph; and the
Curtiss single-seater fighter, capable of reaching 160 mph. These aircraft laid
the foundation for modern American military aviation...
While looking through some old issues of
American Aircraft Modeler magazine, I was quite surprised to find that
none other than radio great Paul
Harvey is (or was) a builder and flyer of radio controlled airplanes. There
was a feature article done by Paul Harvey in one of the issues in the 1974 timeframe.
Mr. Harvey then wrote a regular column titled "Paul Harvey Views." Understandably,
the column only ran for a few months - probably because of his extremely busy schedule.
This one is from the December 1974 edition...
"In August last year Nokia
and Axiom Space announced they were working to equip the latter's next-generation
lunar
spacesuits with 4G/LTE connectivity for the for NASA's Artemis III mission to
the moon. The idea is that arming the new spacesuit, called Axiom Extravehicular
Mobility Unit (AxEMU), with high-speed cellular-network capabilities means it can
support HD video, telemetry data and voice transmission over multiple kilometers
on the moon. This means the Artemis III crewmembers will then be able to capture
real-time video and communications..."
Previously I posted the first part of a
story about two 1980s-vintage bicycles I bought from a guy off craigslist. That
was the complete teardown and restoration of
Melanie's Columbia Commuter III,
3-speed women's model. This page has photos from doing the same thing to my
Huffy 3 Timberline, 3-speed
men's bicycle. One important aspect worth repeating is the use of Krud Kutter
for removing all the oil and grease. The stuff is amazing. I soaked all the parts
overnight that would fit in a bucket filled with a gallon of it. Upon removing even
the grimiest and greasiest components like the gearbox, bearings, and the chain,
I discovered they were squeaky clean. A toothbrush removed...
Being a long-time
fan of John T. Frye's "Carl & Jerry" technodrama™ series, I have been intending
to attempt a contemporary version which has a Ham radio theme. Its purpose, as with
"Carl & Jerry," is to encourage young people to adopt electronics as a hobby
and even as a career, while using Amateur Radio as an enticement. Ham radio offers
practical experience in electronic theory, fabrication, and operation in an environment
that encourages community service, mentorship, camaraderie, and self discipline.
In the U.S., there are approximately 760,000 licensed amateur radio operators; worldwide,
the estimated number is around 3,000,000. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) track these statistics. This title
of the series is, for now anyway, "Calvin &
Phineas Hamming It Up," and the first adventure is called, "The Phantom QRM."
Call signs are fictitious, chosen to hopefully not step on someone's real call sign.
The boys' names derive from my grandson's name...
You might wonder why an article entitled
"Winning
the National Radio Control Meet" for model airplanes would appear in the ARRL's
QST magazine. The answer is that back in 1940 when it was published, a
Ham license was required to operate a radio control (R/C) transmitter. There were
no license-free bands for hobbyists as there are now. In fact, it wasn't until 1976
that the FCC suspended their requirement for registration as an operator, which
has returned in the form of an FAA "drone" (aka USAS) pilot directive. The author,
William (Bill) E. Good (W8IFD, W2CVI), was the twin brother of Walter (Walt) A.
Good (W3NPS), both of whom held doctoral degrees in and physics, and were referred
to as "the fathers of radio control." The photo of Bill shows his station...
Often when I see photos of some of the
early radio control gear for model airplanes, I have a simultaneous reaction
of aghastness and marvel at the crudity and ingenuousness, respectively, of the
electromechanical devices - the same kind of reaction I have to stories about early
surgical procedures and equipment. In 1940, when this article appeared in the ARRL's
QST magazine, successful takeoffs and landings were considered notable events not
so much because of pilot ability (or inability), but because of the low reliability
of available electronic and mechanical gear. Vacuum tubes with attendant heavy,
high voltage power supplies, and heavy metal gears and shafts required large airframes
to support...
American Modeler magazine published
stories on many forms of modeling including airplanes, cars, boats, and rockets.
A lot of attention was paid to teenagers in order to encourage a pursuit of careers
in engineering and science. In case you don't know, the U.S. Navy used to sponsor
the AMA Nationals specifically to attract young modelers into the service. This
1957 edition reports on the activities of James M. Blackmon, Jr., who was the nation's
youngest rocket builder to receive national recognition by the
American Rocket Society.
He built in his basement a 6' tall liquid-fueled rocket...
This November 1961 installment of American
Modeler magazine's "Sketchbook
- Hints & Kinks" column has a very interesting alternative to the traditional
"stooge" that is used when a helper is not available to assist in launching a control
line airplane model. The drawing is a bit confusing, but what's going on is the
flyer starts and holds the model at a point just outside the dashed line circle,
and the pole is set midway of the diameter of the circle. That gives the airplane
half the circle to take off before it is free of the pole. Then, it is flown normally.
I can see where, as the inventor states, the process could be a spooky until the
flyer has gotten used to it. The risk, as I see it, is that if the model lifts off
and clears the pole before making its half circle...
"Delta Air Lines and JetZero are partnering
to develop a
commercial blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft that would be 50 percent more fuel
efficient than those in current operation, the carrier has announced. The development,
which builds upon a Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) investment
in the BWB technology, comes as Delta continues to focus on its goal of net-zero
emissions by 2050. BWB aircraft received a boost in 2023 for its BWB aircraft when
the U.S. Air Force awarded it $235 million over four years for the development and
production of a full-scale demonstrator. The aircraft is to take its first flight
in 2027..."
Website visitor Tom A. wrote to ask me to
post this "Baby Biplane"
article from the October 1971 edition of American Aircraft Modeler magazine.
It was one of the For the Tenderfoot models that the magazine published
almost monthly for many years. The Baby Biplane uses a very simple structure but
as with any biplane of any size, the extra work of building a second wing and adjusting
it to fly properly take a little more work. Using the modern trick of printing a
colored patter on the Jap tissue prior to attaching it would make Baby Biplane look
really spiffy...
Estes does not sell the D-13 engine line
anymore, but it does sell a D-12. The D-13 produced 9 pounds of thrust according
to this article and the 1971 Estes catalog (p94), whereas according to the 2014
Estes catalog the D-12 produces only 7.4 pounds (p79). If you want similar performance
with readily available
rocket
engines, you will need to get them from a company like Aerotech, which makes
an F30FJ-6 model that produces 9 pounds of thrust. With that solution you're look
at about $12 per launch. I believe that with modern materials like graphite for
spars and/or leading edges, and the lightweight airborne systems, the flying weight
could be significantly reduced, and a much lower thrust (and cost) engine could
be used...
