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 This article entitled "The Boom in
R/C Boats" appeared in the June 1955 edition of Popular Electronics
magazine which, during the early years of its existence devoted quite a bit of print
space to radio control airplanes, boats and cars. As with all things electronics,
a huge surge in consumer interest was occurring with over-the-air communications.
Bill (William) Winter served as the editor of the Academy of Model Aeronautics'
(AMA's) American Modeler and American Aircraft Modeler magazines
from 1966 through 1974, but his efforts to promote all form of modeling - airplanes,
helicopters, cars, boats, trains, and rockets - covered many decades. His first
recorded article, "Building the Famous Udet Flamingo," (co-authored by Walter McBride),
was published in the March 1935 issue of Universal Model Airplane News
magazine...
 It would be interesting to do a side-by-side
comparison on what was considered engineered
control line
stunt model airplane design in 1957, when this article was written, to what
is today considered to be optimal design criteria. I am trying to get back into
control line stunt flying and have one model built currently, the Enterprise-E.
It has been flown a few times and is (was) extremely sensitive on the controls when
set up per the plans. A little bit of control handle movements resulted in a huge
amount of both elevator and flap deflection. Fortunately, access to the flap control
horn is available through the removable top fuselage hatch, so I was able to relocate
the pushrod from the bellcrank to the flap horn, and then from the flap horn...
 When Melanie and I got married in 1983,
part of her dowry included some of the toys she had as a little girl. A
Hasbro Lite-Brite
was one of them. Our kids played with it when they were young, but somewhere along
the line during our many household moves, it disappeared. We probably donated it
to the Salvation Army at some point - a lot of our stuff has ended up there. About
a month ago we started watching for a good one on eBay that didn't cost too much.
Finally, there was a 1967-vintage Lite-Brite in like-new condition up for auction
that we got for around $45. It has a nice box...
 Per "Wild Bill" Netzenband's report in this
1961 issue of American Modeler magazine covered the Vancouver Bi-Liners,
MAC highlights, Alan Nichols' success in Thompson Trophy Racer events, encouraging
clubs to adopt the affordable, and slow-flying contests. He addresses backlogged
club crest submissions, noting the impracticality of featuring all due to volume.
Alan Nichols debunks the myth that models wear out quickly, citing his year-old
Nobler and a five-year-old Fierce Arrow with original engine. Memories resurface
of McDonnell Aircraft's picnic air shows, where Phil Hamm's reliable metal jet stood
out. Southern California's new Control-Line Association, led by John Gudvangan and
others, seeks enthusiasts. Detroit's Metropolitan Speed Association unveils an $8,000
Rouge Park speed circle, aiming for a competitive...
 This article entitled "Why Pilots Will Matter
in the Age of
Autonomous Planes" appeared in the June 2025 issue of IEEE's Spectrum
magazine. "Long after planes start flying themselves, humans will still be in the
loop. In August 2001, an anonymous guest posted on the forum at Airliners.net, a
popular aviation website. 'How Long Will Pilots Be Needed?' they wondered, observing
that '20 years or so down the road' technology could be so advanced that planes
would fly themselves. 'So would it really be useful for a person to go to college
now and be an airline pilot if a few years down the road they will be phased out
by technology?' Twenty-four years later, the basic technology required to make aircraft
fly themselves exists, as evidenced by the fact that most commercial flights are
flown largely on autopilot..."
 This is the February 8, 1942, "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...
 This is the complete set of
Peanuts Skediddlers,
sold by Mattel. Linus is extremely difficult to find, and when you do, he typically
sells for $200 or more. If you find a Linus Skediddler with the original box, expect
to pay $400. Over time, our (Melanie and me) Peanuts collection of memorabilia has
grow from the few items she had left over from her girlhood to complete sets. Everything
was gotten via eBay auctions. It took a lot of patience to be able to get good quality
items at an affordable price. Here is a bit of history I gathered on the Skediddlers.
Phenomenon: In the mid-to-late 1960s, Mattel capitalized on the explosive popularity
of Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip by releasing the Skediddler - a line
of friction-powered toys. Unlike wind-up mechanisms, these toys relied on a simple
push-and-go design: sliding them across a surface activated internal gears, causing
the characters' limbs and heads to jerk in a whimsical "skedaddling"...
 This 1949 Air Trails magazine article
warns that the
Soviet
Union has surpassed the U.S. in military aircraft production by a 15-to-1 margin,
with advanced jet fighters, bombers, and long-range piston-engine planes already
operational. Soviet scientists have also conducted atomic tests and are close to
producing compact A-bombs. Intelligence reveals a Red Air Force of 15,000 first-line
aircraft, including 2,400 jets, some surpassing American designs. The Soviets broke
the sound barrier before the U.S. and have developed powerful turbojet engines,
some with innovative features like variable-pitch stators. German scientists and
captured technology accelerated Soviet progress, particularly in rocketry and jet
propulsion. Their aircraft feature advanced construction techniques, such as metal-plywood
sandwich wings, and superior armament...
 A long time ago (circa
1977) I bought a used glider winch at an auction held by the Prince Georges Radio
Club, in Maryland. It cost me somewhere around $25, which was a lot for me in the
mid 1970s. The motor and control circuitry was contained in a plywood box, with
a jack for the foot switch and terminals to clamp jumper cable to from a car. In
looking at these plans for the
AAM Glider Winch shown
here from the April 1973 American Aircraft Modeler, it looks a lot like mine, only
mine was in a wooden box. It worked extremely well for my 99"
Windfree and 99"
Aquila sailplanes. Unfortunately,
I sold it shortly after getting married in 1983 (couldn't eat the winch). I would
love to have it back. Actually, what I would rather have at this point is a winch
that is powered by a cordless drill that would be lighter...
 We take for granted most of the technology
that surrounds us. Unless you were alive 60 years ago at the dawn of microelectronics
and space flight, it would be difficult to imagine a world without cellphones, desktop
computers, color TVs, the Internet, and even
satellite-base weather forecasting. Everyone likes to make jokes about weathermen
being no better at predicting the weather than your grandmother's roomatiz[sic],
but the fact is that, especially for short-term (2-3 days) predictions, we get pretty
good information. As a model airplane flyer, I check the wind level forecast nearly
every day to see whether my model plane can handle it. AccuWeather's free hourly
forecast is usually pretty darn accurate for today's and tomorrow's wind...
 In this 1937 "Smoke Scream" in a 1937 issue
of Flying Aces magazine, by Joe Archibald,
Lt. Phineas
Pinkham, the 9th Pursuit Squadron's resident troublemaker, stumbles into chaos
when he encounters an elephant named Hungha Tin and its Hindu mahout. After the
elephant drinks a bottle of arnica meant for a local's backache, it goes berserk,
wreaking havoc across the Allied camp. Meanwhile, Brigadier Scruggs confesses to
Pinkham that he sleepwalked and handed top-secret battle plans to an unknown spy.
Pinkham, framed by the mahout - who's actually a German agent - unknowingly smokes
a drugged cigarette and nearly flies a stolen Spad to the enemy. The vengeful elephant
interrupts his forced defection, allowing Pinkham to escape with Hauptmann von Spieler
as his prisoner. Back at base, Pinkham...
 The Academy of Model Aeronautics is granted
tax-exempt status because part of its charter is for activity as an educational
organization. I think as time goes on, it gets harder for the AMA for fulfill that
part of its mission because presenting anything even vaguely resembling mathematics
or science to kids (or to most adults for that matter), is the kiss of death for
gaining or retaining interest. This article, "Control-Line
Aerodynamics Made Painless," was printed in the December 1967 edition of
American Modeler magazine, when graphs, charts, and equations were not eschewed
by modelers. It is awesome. On rare occasions a similar type article will appear
nowadays in Model Aviation magazine for topics like basic aerodynamics and battery
/ motor parameters. Nowadays, it seems, the most rigorous classroom material that
the AMA can manage to slip into schools is a box of gliders and a PowerPoint presentation...
 Peter Bowers first became know to me because
of his Fly Baby homebuilt airplane. It won the
Experimental
Aircraft Association (EAA) design contest in 1962. Back in the middle and late
1970s, I was taking flying lessons and dreaming big about building my own aerobatic
biplane. Being an avid woodworker, the Fly Baby appealed to me because it was constructed
entirely of wood, except for a few critical metal fittings. My plan was to build
the biplane version of the Fly Baby. Like so many other things, the aeroplane never
got built. Peter Bowers was not only an aeronautical engineer and airplane designer
but also an aviation historian and model airplane enthusiast...
 "FlightGear" is an Open Source (aka
Free) flight simulator program which I first wrote about in 2012. It has come a
long way - and was pretty dran good, aven back then - and is now a viable competitor
for Microsoft's Flight Simulator (MSFS). The leatest release as of this writing
is 2024.1.1. The graphics are superb and easily on par with MSFS. FlightGear has
a joystick interface, but I don't own a joystick, so my experience with it using
keyboard inputs. VR headsets are also supported now. The basic download comes with
a couple dozen aircraft, and there are many additional models available as separate
downloads. FlightGear runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. Thanks to all the folks
who have spent their valuable time developing FlightGear! FlightGear website: "FlightGear
is an open-source flight simulator. It supports a variety of popular platforms (Windows,
Mac, Linux, etc.) and is developed by skilled volunteers from around the world...
 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...
|
 This
cobbler's bench
has been in Melanie's family for a couple generations. We don't know whether it
belonged to a family member who used it for as a cobbling tradesman. It was in pretty
rough shape when it was given to us a couple decades ago. It is constructed of pine
wood, with the main surface being about 2 inches thick. I chose to sand the
finish off rather than use chemical stripper because it was fairly brittle and came
off easily, and also because the wood is somewhat soft, so I did not want to risk
gouging it with a scraper. One of the legs had been broken and needed repair, and
some drawer joints needed reāgluing. All of the square strips on the work surface
were removed for sanding to avoid dark residual finish in the corners...
 As with most careers in technology fields,
many of the most successful and imaginative people engaged in some lesser form of
the craft as a hobby in their younger years. Burt Rutan, famous for his canard airplane
designs and as founder of Scaled Composites with its SpaceShipOne suborbital craft,
is a very familiar example of that.
Roy Marquardt, a Caltech graduate who initially worked for Northrop Corporation,
is not quite as well-known; however, his aerospace company, Marquardt Aircraft Company,
was widely regarded for its founder's "outside-the-box" thinking with his unique
jet-powered designs. The Whirlijet shown in this 1949 issue of Air Trails magazine
was likely the motivation for the JETicopter Jetex engine powered model distribute
in the early 1950s by American Telasco. Marquardt's ramjets typically had no moving
parts except for the fuel pump, and could run on low octane gasoline...
 Here is a vintage Jetex-powered
Comet Lockheed F−94C Starfire kit that, prior to my receiving it, had
been started by the previous owner. It was designed and drawn by Gerald Blumenthal.
The copyright date printed on the plans is 1953. Many of the parts had been cut
out of the printwood balsa sheets, but none of the airframe has been assembled.
There were no laser-cut kits back in the era of this kit, when the die-cut balsa
sheets often were more appropriately referred to as "die-smashed" due to dull cutting
edges on the die. It was also not uncommon for the die-cut part to not exactly match
the outline of the printed pattern. Cutting out the parts with an X-Acto knife takes
more time, but at least for the small shapes and for accuracy that is the way to
go. I have not done a full inventory of the kit, but it appears most, if not all,
parts are present ...
 This
Nufnut free flight model airplane article and plans came to being in response
to laments from would-be model airplane builders who tried and failed at their first
(and sometimes more) attempts to make and fly something even as simple as a rubber
powered model. The author decided to present detailed instructions on building and
covering an open frame stick and tissue model, being sure to detail areas that generally
cause the most trouble. The most difficult task for most beginners is covering the
airframe with tissue and then obtaining a warp-free structure after application
of dope. If you are new to the hobby and either have experienced such disappointments
or are considering getting into the fine hobby of model airplane building and flying
and seek sage advice on how to avoid discouraging pitfalls, then you have come to
the right place. Tufnut is a somewhat unique design with its solid balsa fuselage
that has a slot cut in it for containing the rubber band, rather than just using
a stick with the rubber hanging underneath...
 Walter A. Musciano is a name familiar to
most people reading model airplane magazines anytime from the 1940s through about
the 1970s. He was prolific model designer and artist / draftsman. His detailed
drawings of full scale aircraft are deemed to be amongst the best. This
Cub Controller
is a 1/2A job sporting a 19" wingspan. It uses both a built-up fuselage and wing,
so building requires a tad more work than the typical profile fuselage and sheet
wing often found on models of this size. The effort pays off, though, in a much
nicer looking craft. Mr. Musciano intended the Cub Controller to be a beginner
level project for building and flying, but having a model or two under your belt
prior to this would definitely be an advantage. If anyone builds a Cub Controller
today, he would probably use electric power rather than the glow fuel Cub .049 or
Cox .049 engine. You just can't beat the scream of an old fashioned 1/2A engine,
but the ease of operation and no messy oil to clean off afterward is definitely
nice...
 If you do a Google search on
Silkspan and dope covering methods,
a lot of good written instructions can be found. In fact, I suggest you read one
or two of them if you have never done a Silkspan and dope covering job before, or
if it has been a while and you want a refresher course, or if you have tried and
never been able to get an acceptable result. There is no special skill required
to obtain a really nice looking Silkspan and dope finish, there are a couple "gotcha"
scenarios that can ruin an otherwise simple process. I believe the two worst mistakes
you can make are painting dope in air that is too humid, and using a thinner that
is not entirely compatible with the dope (nitrate or butyrate). I decided it might
be a good idea to make a video of how I have been successfully achieving decent
Silkspan and dope finishes for lo these 40 or more years. My finishes have never
won any prizes, but the tissue (Silkspan) has always been nice and taught and the
brushed dope has gone on evenly, with nice, sharp trim lines. The subject of this
tutorial / demonstration is a Sopwith Camel biplane from a Manzano Laser Works kit.
My Camel first flew as a 3-channel radio controlled model, and was covered with
Monokote. It experienced an unplanned encounter with terra firma and broke off half
of the top left wing. Since I had originally planned to build it for control line...
 As
mentioned in an earlier post, a while back I bought a box full of vintage Old
Farmer's Almanacs (OFA) at a yard sale, figuring there would be a bunch of
good items to post here on RF Cafe and on my
Airplanes and Rockets
hobby website. Chief amongst the postworthy features is the Mathematical Puzzles
section. They are a fair challenge to an engineer's cerebration, contemplation,
and deliberation. These particular mathematical posers appeared in the 1974 issue
of OFA. #10, while rated a difficulty of 4 (where 5 is most difficult),
is really not even a mathematical challenge when you think about it (hint - it's
an old riddle you've probably seen before). Enjoy!
 Bill (William) Winter served as the editor
of the Academy of Model Aeronautics' (AMA's) American Modeler and American
Aircraft Modeler magazines from 1966 through 1974, but his efforts to promote
all form of modeling - airplanes, helicopters, cars, boats, trains, and rockets
- covered many decades. His first recorded article, "Building the Famous Udet Flamingo,"
(co-authored by Walter McBride), was published in the March 1935 issue of Universal
Model Airplane News magazine. His 264th, "The Soft Touch," appeared in
Model Aviation (the latest incarnation of the AMA's flagship magazine) in 1996.
This article entitle "The Boom
in R/C Boats" appeared in a 1955 edition of Popular Electronics magazine
which, during the early ...
 Is that Vern Estes in that foxhole preparing
to push the launch button? Probably not, but the materials and methods used here
in this 1948 issue of Popular Science magazine by amateur rocketeers are a big part
of the motivation Mr. Estes had for starting his eponymously named model rocket
company in 1958. To wit: "Rocket is driven by 35 pounds of micro grain powder, mostly
zinc dust and sulphur, which burns out in four seconds. It climbs to 4,000 feet
and reaches speed of more than 400 m.p.h." Handling the explosive and sometimes
unstable chemicals required for the rocket engines was extremely dangerous, and
resulted in many instances of loss of fingers and eyes, severe burns, and even death.
The safety record of Estes engines is borne out by more than sixty years of continuous
production. If they were not nearly perfectly safe, lawyers would have put Estes
out of business long ago. Even Olympic level stupid has not produced an event capable
that anything other than the user's idiocy was responsible for an engine-related
accident.
 Don Berliner wrote a historical article about
the Bellanca 28-70
Irish Swoop racer for the August 1972 edition of American Aircraft Modeler
magazine. Bjorn Karlstrom provided one of his masterpiece 4-view illustrations.
I scanned, OCRed, and posted the contents for your convenience. The Academy of Model
Aeronautics still provides full-size drawings and plans for most of the airplanes
featured over the years. "The Bellanca 28-70 was a long-range air racer designed
for James Fitzmaurice Irish pioneer aviator, who christened it Irish Swoop. Although
it was built in time for the 1934 MacRobertson Race from England to Australia, it
was never destined to be a competitive long-distance racer but it was ultimately
reborn..."
 Bell Telephone Company played an important
role in the development of the aviation industry by providing communications systems
for airlines. As intimated in this promotion in Boys' Life magazine, in 1961, Bell
introduced the
"air-ground-air" radio system, which allowed pilots to communicate directly
with air traffic controllers on the ground, improving safety and efficiency in air
travel. This system was a major technological advancement, as it replaced the earlier
system of communicating via Morse code, which was slow and prone to errors. The
air-ground-air system allowed pilots to communicate in real-time with controllers,
enabling faster and more accurate instructions for takeoff, landing, and navigating
airspace. Bell Telephone Company continued to innovate in the aviation industry,
introducing new technologies such as satellite-based navigation systems and weather
radar systems, which have greatly improved air travel safety and efficiency...
 Model rocketry was a big deal in the 1960's
as America and Russia pursued the great Space Race. The U.S.S.R. had effectively
trumped us by launching the Sputnik a year before we put the Explorer 1 into
orbit. Yuri Gagarin made it into space before Alan Shepherd blasted of atop the
Mercury Redstone rocket in his Freedom 7 capsule for a couple orbits around
the earth. Boys (and a few girls) around the world proudly referred to themselves
as "rocketeers." Since the Academy of Model Aviation (AMA) usually allocated space
(no pun intended) for model rocket-relate news and evens, it is no surprise that
the sport was included in the "Model World on the International Scene" features. Single-channel
radio control ...
 Here is the method I came up with to straighten
what were initially very
bowed (lengthwise)
and cupped (depthwise) laminate countertops. An Internet search on recommended
ways to correct it turned up nothing. Many suggested that with as severely curved
as mine were, the best thing to do is to discard them and buy new countertops. That
was not an option for two reasons. First, after the COVID scamdemic the cost was
double what it had been just two years prior. Second, the scamdemic, in early 2022,
was still causing a major shortage of building materials, so finding a suitable
selection was nearly impossible. Having been a woodworker for many decades, there
have been a few times I needed to remove warps, twists, or bows from wood surfaces.
Cutting a crosshatch pattern on the underside for stress relief and then flattening
and bracing the surface always did the trick. Attempting to flatten the countertop
by weighing down the edges and screwing the top to the base cabinets would not work
because the tension in the curve would likely have caused the laminate on the top
to split. Cutting slots in the bottom surface made the less-thick wood easily bend
back into a flat surface. The slots were cut about a third of the way through from
the bottom, and were spaced 2 inches apart...
 This is the Tuesday, October 10, 1939, "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 ...
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?
 From what I can remember, this October 1972
edition of American Aircraft Modeler magazine is the first I received after
joining the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA). I was thrilled to be having a monthly
modeling magazine delivered to my rural home because it was rare that a copy of
Flying Models or Model Airplane News would appear on the rack
in our local convenience store. Unlike today's age of instant and ubiquitous information,
getting ahold of desired reading material was not nearly as easy before the Internet.
Somehow, I managed to retain possession of that issue for nearly 40 years now. With
few exceptions, everything else from my childhood has vanished. I remember being
particularly interested in the
Charybdis because it satisfied the desire for a lot of different modeling interests
- helicopters, airplanes, and nitro-powered engines. In 1972 I was 14 years old
and didn't have a lot of walking around money - only what I scraped as profit from
my paper delivery route...
 I never built an
Honest John rocket model when
I was a kid, and to this day still do not own one. The vintage kits on eBay are
through-the-roof expensive. I always liked the unique design and the look of the
nose cone where it bulges out a bit from the diameter of the main body tube. Both
Estes and Centuri made versions of the Honest John. Intentionally or not, there
was an advertisement for the Centuri Honest John model on the page opposite of the
past part of the article in this September 1968 edition of American Aircraft Modeler
magazine, from which this page was scanned. The Honest John M-31 artillery rocket
was a surface-to-surface rocket that was developed by the United States Army during
the Cold War era. It was named after President John F. Kennedy's campaign pledge
to be an "honest" president... |
