The October 1950 Air Trails magazine
showcases modelers' innovations, including H.G. Oliver's Plexiglas skids for
speed models and Don Nelson's booster battery setup. Ray Biernacki suggests
keeping brushes soft with thinner fumes, while Richard Larson offers a
footswitch for bench testing. Ted Jones improves dethermalizer safety, and
Charles Francis simplifies its design. Willard Hafler's flying wing excels in
speed and sport flying, and Leon Shulman repurposes a crankcase recess as a fuel
tank. The magazine encourages readers to submit their own ideas, paying $2 per
accepted sketch. These practical, cost-saving solutions highlight the creativity
of mid-century model aviation enthusiasts, blending engineering ingenuity with
accessible materials - a snapshot of hobbyist innovation in postwar America...
"IEEE Spectrum
interviewed Bertrand Piccard at a pivotal moment in the hydrogen-powered
aircraft project, with the plane, called
Climate Impulse,
about 40 percent built. Piccard spoke about the contributions of his corporate
sponsors, including Airbus, to the Climate Impulse project and about why he's
confident that hydrogen will eventually succeed as an aviation fuel. He'll fly
around the world in a hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft. Few explorers have reached
the heights, literally and figuratively, that Bertrand Piccard has. He is the
quintessential modern explorer, for whom every big mission has a purpose, which
generally boils down to environmental and climate-change awareness. In 1999, he
was the first person to circumnavigate..."
Amazingly, even during the Cold War
years it was not uncommon to see aircraft modelers from the "Iron Curtain"
countries participating in international contests. Even Commies like flying
model airplanes. Because their societies and politics were so closed and
guarded, getting information about their modeling supplies was darn near
impossible except during events where inspection could be made. Being a
generally friendly bunch of guys, the modelers would share their designs with
the Free World, and vice versa. Then, in subsequent years the Commies would show
up with equipment that was exact replicas of ours - copyrights and trademarks
held no legal weight behind the Iron Curtain. Truth be know, most or all of the
participants were probably KGB agents (or other Commie country equivalents)
engaging...
While talking to a lady working one of the
tables at the 2016 Brodak Fly-In (July 14, 2016), she happened to mention that the
Brodak Manufacturing &
Distribution operations plant is located about a mile away, right behind Brodak's
Hobby Shop in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania. I made sure to stop by after first visiting
the hobby shop. Brodak, unarguably the largest seller of control line models and
flying supplies, has the advantage of being its own manufacturer for most of its
products. Because of that, they are able to sell at the lowest prices possible for
a proprietary line of goods. Control line model airplane kits, nuts and bolts and
washers and other assembly hardware, flying lines and handles, landing gear, nitro
fuel, dope, thinner, adjustable line leadouts, balsa, plywood...
The
1961 AMA Nationals (NATS) showcased American excellence in model aviation as
Joe Bilgri, William Bigge, and Carl Redlin dominated the World Indoor Championships
in England, with Bilgri's record 37-minute flight securing individual honors. The
event featured engineering marvels like Ken Spitulski's scratch-built radio-controlled
freighter and Paul Williams' Twin Ringmaster, a dual-engine stunt plane. Pan-American
Airways concluded its 14-year sponsorship of payload competitions, marking the end
of an era. Veteran modelers like Carl Goldberg rubbed shoulders with rising talents,
while unique designs such as Doug Joyce's canard-style "Lightning" demonstrated
the hobby's creative spirit. The competition also included lighter moments like
the Miss Model Aviation pageant and Testor's best-finish award...
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to less than $10 per month. That barley covers the domain registration and secure
server fees for AirplanesAndRockets.com. If you plan to buy items via
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Not being able to hold off any longer, I
finally began working on a scratch-built version of the
Airtronics Aquila. I had the good
folks at Staples enlarge the plans to 105% to push the wingspan just over 100" (~104")
so it will be my biggest sailplane ever - yeah, I know, lame. By scaling up so slightly
most of the structural components like the spars, balsa and plywood, etc., will
be able to stay per the original without risking overstressing. However, since this
Aquila will sport a brushless motor in the nose (sacrilegious?), I am beefing up
some of the areas and using harder balsa in places I might not have otherwise. Since
I do not have easy (pronounced "affordable") access to the large pieces of 1/8"
LitePly...
