|
 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
• EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2024 July 22-28
• The Smallest
Air Force One
 Post World War II was a big time for
model building and operating. Veterans and their families helped relieve the stress
and anxieties of the era with both scale and original design
model boats, cars, trains,
submarines, motorcycles helicopters, airplanes, tanks, even oddities like bicycles,
farm equipment, carnival layouts, animals, and historic buildings (of which
many of those appeared in model train layouts). The level of artistry and craftsmanship
was impressive, particularly considering the sparsity of pre-made miniature accoutrements
like hardware fittings, mechanisms for operating control surfaces and mechanisms,
and even appropriate finishes. Radio control was in its infancy, being largely the
realm of modelers with knowledge...
 Website visitor Steve R. wrote requesting
that I scan and post this "Square Hare" article from the September 1962 issue of
American Modeler magazine. Says, Steve, "I built one of these back then
on Galloping ghost and it went great till servo failed (modified mighty Midget motor).
Later I built another for Class one Aerobatics fitted with OS 40 and Kraft Propo,
this was very successful. Nostalgia strikes and I'd like to build another as a sport
model." Square Hare from Delaware is a bit unique in that its wing has no spar and
is constructed from diagonally arranged ribs sandwiched between 3/32" balsa sheeting.
Looking at all the hardware required just for the elevator control really makes
you appreciate modern radio gear with servos. Hopefully, Steve will grace us with
a photo of his completed Square Hare.
 "On September 9, the House of Representatives
passed H.R.2864: the
Countering CCP Drones Act. This would add future equipment made by DJI technologies
to the FCC's Covered List on the premise that it poses a risk to U.S. national security.
The Countering CCP Drones Act would essentially ban UAS and related tech produced
by DJI from operating on U.S. telecommunications infrastructure. This trails several
'inaccurate and unsubstantiated' claims against the company regarding sensitive
data sharing with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This would not directly affect
customers, at least for now, though it is guaranteed to have a massive effect on
DJI's..."
 I had no idea that there were multiple versions
of the Ford Trimotor
(aka Tin Goose). This article from an 1962 edition of American Modeler
magazine provides a fairly in-depth look at the history of the airplane. If you
follow politics at all, you know that Halliburton is a name that became a household
word when George Bush chose Dick Cheney as his vice president. According to author
Joe Christy, SAFE-way airline, which operated Ford Trimotors, was started by Oklahoma
oilman Erle Halliburton, and was sold to TWA (Trans World Airline) in 1931. In an
incredible stroke of good fortune, Melanie and I were able to take a ride in a Ford
Trimotor in the summer of 2013, flying out of Erie International Airport (see my
Ford Trimotor video)...
 The
1955 Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) National Model Airplane Championships,
held at the Los Alamitos, California, Naval Air Station was by all measures a smashing
success - "the best run Nationals competition in history." Extensive coverage of
the event appeared in the Annual Edition of Air Trails magazine. Free flight
and control line model airplanes were there, but no radio control types attended;
the technology was not yet within reach of enough hobbyists to warrant inclusion.
A look at the photos makes evident the amazing quality and variation of models,
both scale and non-scale. Take a look at the F4U Corsair with the folding wings,
the Ford Trimotor, Fairchild C-119, and the Fokker DR-1 triplane. Speaking of quality
models, two of the feminine kind were on-hand to award trophies. Hillevi Rombin,
Miss Universe of 1955, and movie starlet Marla English, are pictured with two lucky
winners..
 Ummm... was this really a "space walk?"
If so, then I "sky walked" when I climbed to the top of my 6-foot wooden ladder
yesterday. "The world's first commercial space walk, performed by billionaire
Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis, tested new technology and was practically
flawless. It wasn't a small step - more a clamber, really - but as billionaire entrepreneur
Jared Isaacman
climbed partway out of a SpaceX Dragon capsule located nearly 740 kilometers
above Earth on early Thursday morning, he made a giant leap into spaceflight history.
That's because Isaacman is a private citizen who is flying in a commercial spacecraft
on a voyage he paid for - not a government-agency...
 Here are plans for the
Boeing B&W 1916
Biplane that I electronically scanned from my purchased copy of the March 1965
Model Airplane News magazine. When I have more time, I will dig the magazine
out of storage and scan/OCR the rest of the article. For now you can at least review
the plans. Click on the images for larger versions. I have even large files for
them at the original 200 dpi resolution. Designed and built by Mr. Francis Reynolds.
Plans for this fine model were drawn by Mr. Ray Vinup. All copyrights (if any) are
hereby acknowledged. "The Boeing Model 1, also known as the B & W Seaplane,
was a United States single-engine biplane seaplane aircraft. It was the first Boeing
product and carried the initials..."
 When building my Enterprise-E control stunt
airplane, I knew that the amount of control surface throw available for both flaps
and elevator was extreme, but I wanted to have the reserve capability in case it
was needed. It was definitely NOT needed! Fortunately, because of the way the top
fuselage hatch is designed for removal there is easy access to the flap control
horn, and thereby the ability to move pushrod clevises around to decrease throws.
Even with doing that, however, the model is still very sensitive to control line
handle movements. My only solution was to obtain a
control line handle with
line spacing less than the 4-1/4" on the stock Sullivan handle. That spacing has
been a little too much for other models as well, so an alternate handle would be
nice anyway...
 I received a lot of feedback after first
posting this piece on how to straighten cupped
and/or bowed laminated countertops. That was a couple years ago. Since I continue
to see severely deformed countertops in Lowes and Home Depot, it is worth brining
attention to it again. You might be able to get a really good deal on the otherwise
unsellable laminated countertops, then use my easy method for nearly perfectly flattening
them. Al that is required is sawing a cross-hatch pattern part-way through the bottom
surface, and then screwing, gluing, and clamping them whilst being held flat. The
wood around the outside edge serves as the space normally placed between the top
of the lower cabinet base and the countertop. Tyr it. You'll like it!
 "Gotonomi,
a UAV satellite connectivity solutions provider, has announced the completion of
further successful flight trials and the opening of orders for production units
of all variants of its
UAV satcom terminals at Commercial UAV Expo 2024 in Las Vegas. The launch marks
a significant milestone, transitioning from pre-production flight development kits
to type-approved, commercial terminals, enabling scalable beyond visual line of
sight operations (BVLOS) for drone operators wishing to offer inspection, surveillance,
and delivery services. Following extensive verification testing, including flight
trials..."
 When I first saw this "U-Control
Model Plane" article in a 1952 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine,
I expected it to have been written by one of the Stanzel brothers. Long after their
entry into the model airplane manufacturing world, Joe and Victor created their
line of battery-powered, electric motor-driven control line models in 1958. It eventually
included a helicopter, a monoplane, and a flying saucer, amongst other craft. The
Stanzels, BTW, invented the Monoline control line system which was adopted by U-control
(aka control line) speed modelers because it created much less aerodynamic drag,
facilitating higher airspeeds. Maybe this article was a motivation for the Stanzels...
 Another of Melanie's family's relics is
this pine clothes chest.
After more than 100 years of use and abuse, this chest was in dire need of restoration.
Construction is very low density pine, with dovetailed corners. Finish was a clear
varnish with no stain. The bottom, back, and inside had no finish at all. Restoration
consisted of knocking apart and re-gluing most joints, sanding, and filling in the
multiple dings and scratches where they were really deep. Minor imperfections were
kept for the sake of character. Minwax dark walnut stain was used inside and out,
and allowed to dry for a week. Then, two coats of Deft satin clear were brushed
on with 320 sanding and 0000 steel wool between coats...
 "The SETI Institute, in collaboration with
the Berkeley SETI Research Center and the International Centre for Radio Astronomy
Research, has initiated a pioneering study using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA)
in Western Australia. Led by Dr. Chenoa Tremblay of the SETI Institute and Prof.
Steven Tingay of Curtin University, this research marks the first
search for alien technology in galaxies beyond our own, specifically targeting
low radio frequencies (100 MHz). The MWA's extensive field of view (FOV) allowed
the research team to examine approximately 2,800 galaxies in a single observation,
with known distances for 1,300 of these galaxies..."
 This report of the
1962 (16th) British
Nationals appeared in the 1963 Annular edition of American Modeler
modeler, which I believe was published in January of 1963. Just as back in the day,
the U.S. Nationals were held on a military installation (U.S. Navy sponsorship),
the British Nats were held at Barkston Heath R.A.F. station. Although technically
it was an international event, it appears that Brits and Yanks were the only competitors
- or at least the only ones mentioned. See anyone you know?
 When
Dyna-Jet engine in new or like-new condition is listed for sale or auction on
eBay, it usually sells for north of $500. Sometimes buyers get lucky and win an
auction for less. This 1946 Popular Science magazine article entitled "Baby V-1
Flies for Fun" appeared just a year after Germany had surrendered unconditionally.
Only a year before that, Londoners ran for cover in underground shelters when V-1
"Buzz Bombs" were heard making their tell-tale 45 Hz "buzz" noise as they made
their way toward England. "V-1" was from the German Vergeltungswaffe 1 meaning
"Vengeance Weapon 1." The only reference to a "robomb" I see other than this
article is from a 1944 issue of Time magazines entitled, "Science: How the Robomb
Works." As Paul Harvey would famously say, "Now you know... the Rest of the story."
 SpaceX
and Blue Origin have been in the news for the last decade for their efforts (some
successful, some not) to
autonomously land a spacecraft vertically under its own power. Love it or hate
it, NASA has been doing that for nearly six decades. Granted, it was on celestial
bodies with lower gravitational acceleration than on Earth, but the earliest craft
(Surveyor 1, 1966) had relatively crude electronics aboard, including a Doppler
radar, flight computer, and video camera. The now legendary Apollo Guidance Computer
has been written about extensively, and is a testimony to the brilliance of the
scientists, engineers, managers, operators, and technicians who built and flew it.
Articles like this one in the May 1967 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine...
 I am not aware of the origin of this matrix,
but it is a very useful tool for determining whether certain
filler
materials and finish chemistries are compatible or, equally important, incompatible.
It was included in the July 2012 edition of the Bean Hill Flyers control-line club
newsletter. This might save somebody the grief and angst from applying a finish
over a base that will cause it to bubble, peel, blister, or not ever dry. One important
point this chart indicates is that you can apply butyrate dope over nitrate dope,
but you CANNOT apply nitrate dope over butyrate dope. There might be other instances
of one-way compatibilities, but if you are not sure, do a test first or avoid the
deadly combination altogether. You also need to verify compatibility of the various
rattle can...
 According to Guiness World Records, the
current holder of the record for the
fastest model car is the "Radio Controlled Bullet," by Nic Case, having achieved
a speed of 202.02 mph (325.12 km/h), in 2014. In 2019, Estonian Ando Rohtmets set
the tethered model car speed record of 215.92 mph (347.490 kmph). All
modern speed records are set using electric motor power, unlike these models reported
on in a 1948 issue of Popular Science magazine which used liquid fuel and
internal combustion engines (ICE). However, not all of those ICE powerplants had
pistons. Mr. Frank Brennan showed up with a DynaJet-powered model car, purportedly
fashioned after the Nazi V-1 "Buzz Bomb" (remember this was only a couple years
past...
 The Estes
Saturn 1B rocket is another model that I really wanted to have as a kid,
but just didn't have the money. In those days, I launched everything that I built,
so I could not see spending a huge amount of my paper route money only to take the
risk of destruction due to the parachutes not deploying properly or maybe an engine
malfunction. I had launched enough rockets to know that the probability of something
going wrong was directly proportional to the cost and time spent building. Instead,
I stuck mostly with models that cost no more than about $3 (in 1960s-1970s dollars).
This Saturn 1B model has long been in my rocket building queue, but decade
passed before I felt justified spending the money and time to buy and build one.
The Saturn 1B was one of the Saturn V's predecessors and was used as the
launch vehicle for the first few Apollo missions...
|
 Early in 1982, fresh out of the USAF as
an Air Traffic Control Radar Repairman, I was fortunate to land a job as an electronics
technician at the Oceanic Division of Westinghouse in Annapolis, MD. It turned out
being more of a high level electronics assembly job building printed circuit boards,
chassis, wire harnesses, sonar transducers, and integrated systems, mostly for the
U.S. Navy. A fairly extensive collection of high quality hand tools were required
in order to get results which would pass rigorous Navy inspection standards. Snap-On
was the supplier of choice because at the time they made extremely high quality
(and expensive) small pliers, wire cutters, screwdrivers, wrenches, nuts drivers,
etc. I don't know whether there are still roaming Snap-On tool trucks visiting businesses
anymore, but at the time we got a weekly visit. Onboard was a tool refiguring workbench
for sharpening cutters, repairing screwdriver tips, and other things. Restored components
of the c1976
Craftsman 7−Drawer Machinist's Tool Chest. Craftsman 7−Drawer Machinist's Toolbox
- top open. Cleaned and groomed felt surfaces...
 In 1960 when this article appeared in
American Modeler magazine, radio control (R/C) was still in its infancy and
was a rich man's sport (mostly). R/C also required an amateur radio operator's license
in order to use the transmitters. Control line and free flight constituted the purview
of the vast majority of aeromodelers.
Towline gliders were
very popular in areas where enough open area was available - and back then there
was a whole lot more open area than there is today. Take a look at the backgrounds
of photos and movies in the 60's and before and notice how relatively undeveloped
the land was, even around larger metro regions. Anyway, this article offers sage
advice to modelers considering getting into towline gliders. Many kits were available
in the day...
 The
Prop-Rod car
was one of the earliest models produced by L.M. Cox Manufacturing. For many years
the models went by the trade name of Thimble Drome, but later were know simply as
Cox Models. It was featured in magazine advertisements as early as 1961 when it
appeared in American Modeler. The Prop-Rod came with a Babe Bee .049 engine mounted
with its cylinder inverted, which could make starting it difficult since fuel could
pool in the glow head. As with airplanes having inverted cylinders, starting it
was often done by holding the model upside down. It was designed to run either on
a tether stretched along a sidewalk, on a tether mounted in the center of a circle...
 This is the Sunday, January 23, 1944, "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
for Starcraft Aviation Factory who divided her time between wringing out new airplane
designs and chasing bad guys. She was the creation of artist and storyteller Russell
Keaton. All I have are the Sunday editions, but it was a daily strip as well. From
the time of the Wright Brothers' successful flights at Kill Devil Hill, Americans
have been in love with aviation. In the early days, access to flight was limited
to those with know-how and access...
 "The
fact that every part of this ship was built by the lowest bidder." That, according
to Gene Kranz (NASA Flight Director during the Gemini and Apollo missions), was
Alan Shepard's reply when asked what he thought about as he sat atop the
Mercury Redstone rocket*, waiting for liftoff. Shepard knew the boost vehicle,
the "Redstone," was originally designed as an expendable ballistic missile and not
for safely launching humans into space might have had something to do with it, too.
This 1957 vintage article (5 years prior to Shepard's flight), describes some the
electronics systems that were used in the program both onboard for stabilization
and on the ground for guidance. "A new type computer can solve in five minutes a
ballistic trajectory problem which would require a man more than a year to complete."
Today, a cellphone app can do it in less than a second...
 After about a 12-month hiatus from flying
any kind of model airplane, and having sold all of my RC gear prior to moving to
Erie, PA, I looked around for something that would get me back into the air quickly.
My first inclination was to build yet another Spirit 2-meter sailplane and put a
brushless motor in it like before, but I really didn't want to have to take the
time to build it first. I also did not particularly care for most of the ARF gliders
that were available, but seeing the ParkZone
Radian sailplane on the Horizon Hobby website and watching the video of its
flight convinced me to spring the $250 for the RTF version. There certainly is no
better value out there - a nice-looking sailplane with brushless motor and controller,
servos, a 3-cell Li-Po battery, and a charger, along with a 2.4 GHz spread spectrum
radio system. You cannot buy the parts individually for that much. See September
7, 2009 update: Assembly was a piece of cake - just slide the horizontal stabilizer
/ elevator into place and secure it with the supplied clear tape, then connect the
pushrod wire to the control horn...
 Believe it or not, there was a day when
building your own electronics was a good way to save money if your budget was smaller
than your appetite for R/C systems, radios, even TV sets. Heathkit comes to mind
for all us old-timers as a source of pre-kitted products, but like most electronics
companies of yore, they no longer offer kits; it is much cheaper to have complete
systems built overseas. Besides, modern components - resistors, capacitors, ICs,
etc., are far too small for most people to work with successfully. Here is a two-part
article from the April and May 1972 editions of American Aircraft Modeler
magazine showing how it was done with a custom 2-channel digital proportional radio
control system dubbed the
AAM Commander. It
still makes a good read because of the theory of operation that is covered...
 Here is the full set of building instructions
for the beautiful 1970s era
Airtronics Aquila sailplane. A fairly compressive building description was published
in the May 1975 issue of R/C Modeler magazine when the Aquila first appeared,
but these are much more extensive. Aquila kits have not been manufactured for many
years, and some of the ones that appear on eBay are missing the instruction booklet,
so now you can access a copy of the original in its entirety. Photos of the kit
parts and plans can be seen on my main Airtronics Aquila page. You can also see
the 105% Aquila I built from enlarged plans.
 I have received many requests for the scanned
plans file for the Comet Sparky free flight model. Along with the plans, I provide
three files that contain the printwood
patterns. Printwood patterns, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, are
the ink pattern that were printed directly onto the balsa so that the model builder
could cut the pieces out. This was the el cheapo way of producing a kit where the
expense of die cutting was not incurred by the manufacturer. Truth be told, the
die cutting was usually so lousy that you were better off cutting the parts yourself.
Well, it would be if companies like Comet didn't make a habit of using balsa with
about the same density and hardness as oak. Cutting 1/16" square longerons in fuselage
bulkheads or wing spar notches in wing ribs was a real challenge - especially if
you were a kid whose only form of razor sharp tool was a used blade from your father's
razor. By the way, the printwood patterns are necessary because most plans from
kits do not include templates for all of the sheet balsa parts. That is as true
today as it was 50 years ago...
 "Days of the Americans" is one chapter out
of a book entitled "The Big Distance." Per this article which appeared in the December
1945 issue of Flying Age magazine, "The Big Distance, the official story
prepared by the AAF, is to the struggle in the Pacific what Germany was to the European
phase of the war." Unlike the European Theater of World War II, much of the
populations of South Pacific islands were inhabited by people who were barely out
of the Stone Age in terms of cultural and scientific evolution. The arrival of Northern
hemisphere Western and European Anglo Saxons brought a culture of sophistication
never dreamed of by the backwards civilizations indigenous to the islands. That
was a common theme of the villages visited by the McHale's Navy crew in the 1960s
TV series. While reading the story, I was a bit taken aback by the narrative of
Americans having come to the island paradises and bringing their gigantic machines
and inexplicable habits, but then the author states, "There always will be a faction
among the elders who will attempt to establish the basic facts of the legend of
the Americans through use of pure logic, simply pointing out that if the Americans
had not been there, the Japs still would be. If the Americans weren't actually present,
the question will be posed...
 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)...
 Ahhhh, the days before electric powered
everything. I will be the first to admit that the ease of operation, cleanliness,
and quietness of an e-powered model is convenient and helps keep neighbors happy,
but the undeniable fact is that from a motivational perspective, nothing in modeling
compares to a screaming
internal combustion engine (ICE) with blue smoke pouring out of
the exhaust - especially when no muffler is installed. Go on, you can admit it,
unless of course you have never partaken in that aspect of our hobby. When I was
a kid, if I could hear even the slightest hint of a glow engine running, I'd be
on my bicycle pedaling as fast as I could toward the source of the beautiful sound.
Sometimes it was a kid down the road with his Cox tethered car, or on rare occasions
a fellow model airplane flier. A man a couple blocks away flew R/C airplanes and
helicopters, and my sudden presence every time he started up an engine probably
made him cringe (although I did stay out at the street unless invited over). I would
be content to sit on the side of the road and listen to the engine run and if lucky,
get a whiff of the exhaust. I've told Melanie that if I ever lapse into unconsciousness
and cannot otherwise be revived, fire up a Cox .049 in front of me or wave a spent
Estes rocket engine under my nose. I there still is no response...
 Yes,
this is another article that will probably appeal to a small percentage of RF Cafe
visitors, but please countenance my indulgence in things aeronautical as well as
things electrical. The early 1930s was a time when both
airplanes and electronics were a wonder and a mystery to most of the public
worldwide. Of course today both are still a mystery to the public but the wonder
is gone - it's merely taken for granted. Many idiosyncrasies of airborne electronic
communications were encountered for the first time, like the need for proper grounding
and static electricity dissipation. Ruggedization of chassis assemblies in terms
of mechanical vibration and shock as well as for temperature extremes was a real
challenge to engineers, technicians, and pilots...
 Many moons ago I designed and built a combined
salt & pepper
and napkin holder for use on a round oak table we had when first married (1983).
It had a Lazy Susan turntable for the base to facilitate easy access by anyone sitting
at the table. At some point during our many household moves, we sold both the table
and the turntable at a yard sale. For a long time I have been planning to build
another to replace it. Finally, I used some leftover hickory wood from my Grandmother
clock project and built what you see here. It is about 11½" in diameter; the size
was kept as small as practical so as not to take up too much room on the table.
One improvement over the first iteration was only placing vertical supports near
the four corners, which keeps the back open for inserting napkins without needing
to remove the salt and pepper shakers...
Website visitor Christian H. for buying my Estes Alpha II rocket kit.
He and his son built it and sent this photo - nice job! The original
Astron (Estes) Alpha kit, as can be seen in the
photos, had balsa fins and nose cone. The fins were cut from sheet balsa and needed
to be glued individually to the body tube. Then, both the nose cone and fins needed
to be coated with filler and sanded before painting. I wonder whether the new model,
which uses lightweight plastic and does not require painting, is lighter than the
original?
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)...
 Prior to the advent of commonplace high-speed
digital computers, designing advanced aircraft structures required a lot of effort
building scale models and testing them in wind tunnels and, when possible, in
actual flight. The process was both expensive and time-consuming. As computer simulations
have been fine tuned, the need to build models have been nearly entirely eliminated.
Modern aircraft can go from computer monitor to production with the full-size prototype
being the first actual version of the plane to be built. This article from a 1957
issue of American Modeler magazine reports on some of the very labor-intensive
experimental and scale models built for testing and concept verification. Many of
the technicians who did the planning and building were hobbyists who were fortunate
enough to gets jobs to get paid for engaging in their passion...
 1954 was just a decade after World War II,
during which time the Army Signal Corps introduced a method of printing - or etching
- metallic circuit conductors on an insulator substrate, and thus was born the printed
circuit board (PCB). The first boards used a phenolic-paper laminate, which is the
shiny brown substrate material that is still found in some industrial applications
like motors and control panels. Ferric chloride was used to etch away the copper
foil not masked off with photoresist chemicals. I made many crude PCBs using a resist
ink pen to draw circuit traces and component mounting pads, then etched away the
exposed copper with ferric chloride
purchased at Radio Shack. This line from the article is reminiscent of people
who remarked similarly about the first televisions and computers: "One of the first
questions that arises is: 'What good is it and what do I gain by using it?'" Printed
inductors were already being used, as the photo shows...
 Mr. Peter M. wrote a couple weeks ago
requesting a high resolution version of this 4−view line drawing of the
De Havilland
DH60G Gipsy Moth in order to assist his in creating a 3D computer model of it
on the 3D Warehouse website. It appeared in the May 1969 issue of American
Aircraft Modeler magazine. As you can see from the screen capture above, he
did an amazing job! Click on the image to view the live 3D model that can be rotated
and zoomed. Peter's model replicates the airplane flown by Amy Johnson on her historic
11,000-mile solo flight in 1930 from solo from London England to Darwin Australia.
Many thanks to Peter for making this available...
 Airplanes and Rockets visitor Jochen S.,
a school teacher from Germany, wrote to request that I scan this
Super Sabre Trainer
(SST) article that appeared in the May 1972 edition of American Aircraft Modeler
magazine. The SST reference had marketing gravitas in the day because of the public
fascination with the Supersonic Transport (SST). The Super Sabre Trainer is a ½A
control-line model designed by Dean Swift for his 6-year-old son to learn to build
and fly C/L airplanes. It is a simple, profile fuselage with sheet balsa surfaces.
Jochen wants to use the SST in a program to introduce students to aircraft modeling.
He says they will also benefit from trying to read the article in English and to
convert inches to metric units...
 In 1956 when this
Northern Minx
article and plans appeared in Young Men magazine, state of the art radio
control (R/C) was still composed of vacuum tubes and discrete components, usually
connected together via point-to-point wiring. Batteries were of the lead-acid type
for the transmitter and carbon or alkaline for the airborne receiver. As you might
guess, that resulted in heavy models which needed to be relatively large in order
to keep the wing loading down. Northern Minx only had a 48-inch wingspan, and used
a simple one-tube receiver with a rubber-powered escapement for channel control
of both the rudder and the elevator. The plans show only the rudder control installation,
and the photos appear to only show a single escapement, though. The builder just
about needed to use a shoe horn to squeeze all that in the fuselage. Interestingly,
the Northern Minx has a break-away nose section containing the firewall, engine,
fuel tank, propeller, spinner, and cowling...
 Wives poking fun at their hobby-obsessed
husbands is not a new thing. Good-natured articles contributed by wives have appeared
in all kinds of specialty magazines for decades. This one entitled "Why
Not Authentic, Prefabricated Husbands?" was written by the wife of a model airplane,
rocket, and boat builder. Her name is Laurie Cunningham, which makes me wonder if
she is the better half of Chuck Cunningham, who wrote the "Cunningham on R/C" column
for R/C Modeler magazine for many years. Mrs. Cunningham's experience is not
unlike my own wife's (Melanie) dilemma living with me going on four decades. Throughout
our house on display are Estes rocket models, plastic and balsa model airplanes
and boats, and even a helicopter or two. Most of them are ones I've never flown
or floated for fear of messing up the carefully applied finish. Fortunately, the
in-service models are now all electric so there is not a mess of glow fuel dripping
onto the floor - just an occasional tire mark on the wall. In exchange for her tolerance...
 Believe it or not, there are still some people
who scratch build their own model airplanes or build kits that require bending and
even soldering music wire for
making landing gear. I fall into that category, although I occasionally buy
a pre-built model to use while projects are on the building board. This article
from a 1954 Air Trails has some handy tips and illustrations to help someone
doing doing landing gears for the first time and maybe even for seasoned landing
gear builders. In fact, after reading this article, I implemented step #8 that shows
a good way to assure that the wheel retaining washer is soldered perpendicular to
the axel. If you do not use a jig of some sort, the surface tension of the molten
solder tends to pull the washer askew because of the proximity of the bend in the
wire between the wheel axel and where it leads up to the fuselage. The phenomenon
occurs because the natural action of the solder is to minimize surface tension everywhere...
 These images were scanned from my 1976 yearbook
for
Southern Senior High School in Harwood, Maryland. Only pages with information
on Seniors is included. Birthdates have been covered over, but everything else remains.
Please let me know if you would like your picture and/or information removed. On
the other hand, if you would like to send additional information for posting or
would like me to send you the full-resolution scan of your page, then please send
me an e-mail at KirtAAR@aol.com. A full list of all the names that go with these photos can be found at
the bottom of this page. Having them in text format (versus a photo) will allow
search engines to find your name and associate it with Southern Senior High School.
Oh, and yes, all the photos are in B&W; there are only eight pages with color
in the entire book!
 This
propeller extension shaft featured in a 1941 issue of Flying Aces magazine
is an example of a concept that seemed like a good idea on paper, but probably proved
to be a disaster in practice. If you have ever had an R/C helicopter with an even
slightly bent main rotor shaft, then you know how the situation causes vibrations
whose severity varies with the amount of bending and the rotation rate of the shaft.
Helicopter main rotors turn at a fairly low rate compared to an aircraft propeller,
although the mass and diameter of the propeller is much less than a rotor. Even
so, I imagine the vibration caused by even a slightly bent propeller shaft extension
when the engine is running at peak RPM is very high - enough to cause the situation
to quickly get worse. It is a runaway situation where the bend increases, causing
worse vibration, which causes more bending, causing greater vibration, etc., etc.,
etc. An additional problem would be caused by the longer moment arm causing additional
wear on the crankshaft bearings and/or bushings, particularly during abrupt change
in the airplane's pitch angle. The proof that propeller extension shafts were not...
 This is part two of an article that began
in the September 1974 American Aircraft Modeler magazine. The
Supersweep
was used to break the long-standing Indoor Hand Launched Glider (IHLG) record of
one minute and thirty seconds. In 2009, Stan Buddenbohm set a new record for 1:52.12
(see video below). Website visitor Ward B. recently wrote asking that I post
the second article on the Supersweep, so, here it is. Plans can be found in the
September 1974 edition of American Aircraft Modeler.
 It seems most every old time rubber-powered
free flight model has been converted by someone to electric-powered radio control.
The availability of motors and R/C airborne systems weighing in the grams - or fraction
thereof - is making R/C flight for even the tiniest models possible. It would be
interesting to see somebody convert these
Matchbox
Fliers, which appeared in the April 1962 issue of American Modeler
magazine, to at least single-channel R/C using one of the nano-size radio systems
available today. Heck, there's probably a way to even mount a camera to a model
this small these days...
 Even while electric propulsion systems are
gaining ground in the modeling realm,
2- and 4-cylinder
engines are still quite popular amongst modelers. I have made a switchover totally
to electric, but I sure miss the sound and smell of the nitro engines. For those
who still use internal combustion engines, and for those who just want to learn
a little more about how these model engines work, this article by Glenn Lee in the
February 1968 issue of American Aircraft Modeler magazine will be a very
useful read...
 As stated previously, one of my main motivations
for posting articles such as this "With
the Model Builders" feature from a 1941 issue of Flying Aces magazine
is to provide sources for people doing Internet searches for family members and/or
friends. Family tree research is a big pastime these days, and it is always nice
to run across a unique item, especially with a photo, about someone you know and
perhaps were not aware of that particular aspect of his or her life. After having
posted stories from many of the major model aircraft magazines for nearly two decades,
a few people have taken the time to write to express gratitude for making the information
available. You're welcome. |
