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Important Facts About Balsa Wood, Sig Catalog

Important Facts About Balsa Wood, Sig Catalog - Airplanes and RocketsBalsa 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...

TWA in a 1960 Saturday Evening Post

TWA - Trans World Airline, April 29, 1950 The Saturday Evening Post - RF CafeWhen 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...

Lockheed P-38 Lightning

Lockheed Aircraft Corporation P-38 Lightning, April 6, 1942 Life - RF CafeAn 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...

Death Flies the Equator

Death Flies the Equator, March 1937 Flying Aces - Airplanes and RocketsSome 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-Type Rotor Wing-Control Line Model

Flettner-Type Rotor Wing-Control Line Model, March 1957 American Modeler Magazine - Airplanes and RocketsFlettner 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...

The Fantastic Secret Weapons of Germany

Speaking of Pictures... These Are the Fantastic Secret Weapons of Germany, September 10, 1945 Life - RF CafeWithout 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...

Talking Them In

Talking Them In (February 1938 Boys' Life Article) - Airplanes and RocketsDuring 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...

Televising the Moon

Televising the Moon, October 1964 Radio-Electronics - RF CafeIn 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...

Build the S.S.P. Helicopter

S.S.P. Helicopter from the August 1972 American Aircraft Modeler - Airplanes and RocketsImagine 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...

Heli-Taxis Are Here

Heli-Taxis Are Here, May 1946 Popular Science - Airplanes and RocketsIn 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...

United Aircraft Corporation

United Aircraft Corporation, April 29, 1950 The Saturday Evening Post - RF CafeIf 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...

Tiniest Flying Robot Soars Thanks to Magnets

Tiniest Flying Robot Soars Thanks to Magnets - Airplanes and Rockets"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..."

Snoopy Wind-Up Alarm Clock Restoration

Snoopy Wind-Up Alarm Clock Restoration - Airplanes and RocketsBeing 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...

DX Hams Do Get Around

DX Hams Do Get Around (November 1940 Boys' Life Article) - Airplanes and RocketsIn 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...

Cessna 150 3-View

Cessna 150 3-View from the May 1959 Model Aviation - Airplanes and RocketsThe 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.

Airports: Biggest and Busiest

Airports: Biggest and Busiest (March 1940 Boys' Life Article) - Airplanes and RocketsLaGuardia 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...

Cox Model 789-3, 1½-Volt Starting Battery

Cox Model 789-3, 1½-Volt Starting Battery - Airplanes and RocketsLong 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...

Planes That Didn't Make It

Planes That Didn't Make It, March 1937 Flying Aces - Airplanes and RocketsDuring 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...

Paul Harvey Views

Paul Harvey Views, December 1974 American Aircraft Modeler - Airplanes and RocketsWhile 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...

A 4G Moon Suit

Axiom Space's 4G Moon Suit - RF Cafe"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..."

Huffy 3 Timberline Men's Bicycle Restoration

Vintage Huffy 3 Timberline, 3-Speed Men's Bicycle Restoration, early 1980s - Airplanes and RocketsPreviously 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...

Calvin & Phineas Hamming It Up®™: The Phantom QRM

Calvin & Phineas Hamming It Up®™: The Phantom QRM - RF CafeBeing 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...

Winning the National Radio Control Meet

Winning the National Radio Control Meet, March 1940 QST - Airplanes and RocketsYou 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...

New Radio Control Gear for Model Airplanes

New Radio Control Gear for Model Airplanes, August 1940 QST - Airplanes and RocketsOften 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...

Dope Can

Dope Can, from April 1957 American Modeler - Airplanes and RocketsAmerican 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...

Starting Control Line Combat

Starting Control Line Combat, Annual 1960 Air Trails - Airplanes and RocketsAccording to this 1960 Air Trails magazine "Starting Control Line Combat" article, the contest event first appeared in the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) rulebook in 1950. Hard to believe that was 72 years ago as of this writing. It's equally hard to believe it was only 8 years before I was born - ugh. Control line combat remains a very popular sport today, and is one of the relatively few aspects of the hobby which has not changed considerably. Engines have gotten more powerful and reliable, and building materials have improved, but the basic outline of the airframe is about the same. The story reports on combat rounds having up to five planes flying at once, duking it out for air superiority. Too bad there's not a video of it with all the flyers trying desperately to not become entangled in each other's lines or even keeping out of each other's way. There must have been a lot of smashed balsa after that event. Anyway, this article provides a lot of detail concerning all aspects of model construction, engine and fuel tank setup, and flying. Interesting fact: In the early days of control line combat, prolonged inverted flight was permitted...

Construct a Solid of the Army's New Martin "167"

Construct a Solid of the Army's New Martin "167", December 1939 Flying Aces - Airplanes and RocketsPlastic model kits were rare in 1939. For that matter plastic "anything" was rare at the time. It was not until after World War II that injection molded plastic was commonly found in commercial and household items. Accordingly, the majority of small static display models were carved from balsa, basswood, pine, or other soft woods with straight grain and no knots. Many craftsmen honed their skills carving, sanding, painting, and detailing solid models such as this Martin 167 bomber which appeared in the December 1939 issue of Flying Aces magazine. Boats, ships, cars, trains, trucks, and other types of vehicles and equipment was commonly modeled, for both military and civilian varieties. In one of the vintage modeling magazines - possibly Flying Aces - there was a photo of a guy with his extensive model of a circus, including tents, beasts, human performers, transport trucks and trailers. Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes...

Big Twin R/C Outboard Motorboat

Big Twin R/C Outboard Motorboat, May 1957 American Modeler - Airplanes and RocketsAirplanes and Rockets visitor Kevin B. requested that I scan and post this article on the "Big Twin" R/C outboard motorboat model. It appeared in the May 1957 edition of American Modeler magazine. American Modeler was one of the forerunners of today's Model Aviation (the official AMA publication), and was more all-encompassing in regards to modeling as it included model boats, cars, rockets, and trains. It also was known to occasionally have articles on full-size aircraft. Anyway, the Big Twin is 32" long and is built of traditional model boating materials like mahogany plywood and spruce. This model's claim to fame is the use of balsa planking on the hull - which is much easier to form than spruce - and then a layer of fiberglass is laid over it for strength and waterproofing. An Allyn Twin outboard motor is specified for power...

Solar Eclipse from Greensboro, NC, April 8, 2024

Solar Eclipse from Greensboro, NC, April 8, 2024 - Airplanes and RocketsOn April 8, 2024, one of the best total solar eclipses of the last century crossed the United States from Texas to Maine. Because the moon was near its closest orbital point to the Earth, and the Earth was about midway between its orbital apogee and perigee, the sun appeared relatively small and the moon appeared relatively large. That combination caused the moon's shadow to be very wide across the face of the Earth. Note in the NASA eclipse map at the right how much narrower the path of totality was for the August 17, 2017 eclipse. Maximum eclipse for this location was just shy of 81%. That was enough to cause an eerie feel in the sky, but it was nowhere near dark. Let me state that when I first became aware of this solar eclipse, it was sometime around 2016, when I was living in Erie, Pennsylvania. Due to scheduling issues, Melanie and I decided to not travel to South Carolina to view the August 21, 2017 eclipse, figuring we would have a front-row seat to it on April 8, 2024, from our house, which was only a few miles from the center of the path of totality. Life happened, and we ended up moving back to North Carolina in 2022. Because hotel rooms just about anywhere in the path of totality were in the $300+ per night range, we stayed here and missed totality...

The Gravity Plane

The Gravity Plane, December 1954 Popular Electronics - Airplanes and RocketsI purchased a couple batches of vintage Popular Electronics magazines off of eBay for use on my engineering website, RF Cafe; however, upon scanning through the pages I was pleasantly surprised to find that many articles on radio controlled airplanes were included. The 1950s and 1960s were relatively early in the R/C sport, and such things were still considered a novelty. Of course, today the toy shelves of even Walmart are full of R/C products. Kids today take them for granted... as I suppose my generation took for granted Erector Sets and Lincoln Logs. Anyway, I have begun scanning and OCRing (Optical Character Recognition) some of the articles and posting them here on AirplanesAndRockets.com. This first Popular Electronics, from the December 1954 edition, was written by none other than Bill Winter...

Decade of Progress - Propellers

Decade of Progress - Propellers, December 1945 Flying Age Including Flying Aces - Airplanes and RocketsIt really is amazing how quickly aeronautics evolved in the mere four decades between when the Wright brothers first flew their Flyer until when this 1945 issue of Flying Age magazine printed a history of development of propellers. The technology went from fixed pitch, hand-carved wooden models to variable pitch, machine formed and finished high strength metal alloy variants. Those c1945 props needed to withstand the incredible forces of not just 1000-plus horsepower engines, but the centrifugal force and bending moments imposed on them by high speed rotation and rapid changes in axial orientation as the airplanes they were attached to performed high−G maneuvers. Research and development from American, European, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese engineers and scientists are to be primarily credited...

Shoe Rack Project

Shoe Rack Project - Airplanes and RocketsOur one-car garage does not have a lot of extra space in it, especially considering it also holds a riding lawn mower, a snow blower, a backup power generator, and various and sundry yard and car tools. That doesn't leave much room for the assortment of shoes and boots needed by Melanie and me. We had been using a stack of cinder blocks to stuff shoes in, but they looked rather crude and the holes were not really big enough to allow the shoes to be fully enclosed. After completing building a set of stairs into the basement, there were end pieces of the stair treads left over that were just the right width to fit into the space where the cinder blocks used to be stacked. 2x3 framing lumber ...

Build the S.S.P. Helicopter

S.S.P. Helicopter from the August 1972 American Aircraft Modeler - Airplanes and RocketsImagine 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...

Consolidated PBY-5A Canso / Catalina

Consolidated PBY-5A Canso / Catalina - Airplanes and RocketsOn August 26, 2013, Melanie and I toured the inside of this Consolidated PBY-5A Canso (PBY-5 is the Catalina) while it was on display at the Erie International Airport. It was on tour by a crew from Canada, which is appropriate since it was this particular airplane was manufactured in Canada in 1944 by the Vickers company. World War II ended before it could ever see combat reconnaissance duty. The PBY-5A has a wingspan of 104 feet 0 inches and is powered by a pair of 1200 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial engines. Top speed is 179 mph. It sported six .303 Vickers machine guns and could carry up to 2000 pounds of bombs and depth charges. Hopefully, these photos will be of use to scale model researchers...

Midget Radio-Controlled Auto

Midget Radio-Controlled Auto, October 1952 Radio & Television News - Airplanes and RocketsThis "Midget Radio-Controlled Auto" article from a 1952 issue of Radio & Television News magazine was a major feat of engineering by Mr. William Minor. He designed and built the car for his 6-year-old son. The amount of electronics and mechanics he crammed into such a small volume in that R/C car would have qualified him for an engineering position at a Japanese SLR (single lens reflex) camera company. Although not explicitly mentioned, operating the car by radio control back in those days required an amateur radio operator license. Interestingly, he mentions that when choosing a frequency, he opted for one above the television broadcast channels so as to avoid interference with nearby TV sets. I've mentioned before how turning on my 27.195 MHz R/C system I had as a kid in the early 1970's would cause the neighborhood women to scream at me for messing up their daytime soap operas. Even though nobody would deign to undertake such an extensive project nowadays, I thought the extreme effort by Mr. Minor was worth honoring with a posting of his article...

University Scholarships Go to Top Car Modelers

University Scholarships Go to Top Car Modelers, December 1954 Air Trails - Airplanes and RocketsWhile the originality and craftsmanship exhibited in the model car designs entered in this contest sponsored by Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild is unassailable, I find myself being grateful that most of them never hit the car lot showrooms (although some designs are not too far off of what has been produced here and in Europe). The date of this Air Trails - Hobbies for Young Men magazine article was 1954 and imaginations ran wild with concept car configurations, and while just about anything goes in such competitions, some were downright, dare I say it?, ugly. Of course a look at some of today's concept cars register the same emotions, so I suppose the old adage about the more things change, the more things stay the same holds true here. Scholarships handed out...

SIG Manufacturing Company Advertisement c1963

SIG Manufacturing Company Advertisement, January/February 1963 American Modeler - Airplanes and RocketsSIG Manufacturing, forever located in Montezuma, Iowa, is among the ranks of a dwindling number of America's original model airplane kit and accessories makers and distributors. Sig's catalog from the early 1970s was the first hobby catalog I ever owned. You can bet I read it cover-to-cover many times, wishing to own everything on its pages. In case you don't know, the name SIG is a shortened version of Sigafoose, which is the last name of the company founders, Glen and Hazel Sigafoose. According to a press release, "In February 2011 SIG Manufacturing Co., Inc. was purchased by Herb Rizzo (President), David Martin (VP and General Manager), and Ron Petterec (VP) ...

Ace All Star Biplane Kit

Ace All Star Biplane Kit - Airplanes and RocketsMy Ace All Star biplane was built while I was stationed at Robins Air Force Base, in Warner Robins, Georgia (just south of Macon). A pair of foam wings help it to build quickly. Ace sold both this tapered chord version and a constant chord version of the foam wings for decades, and they are still very popular on eBay when they come up for sale. I put an OS .15 engine up front, and three channels worth of Hobby Shack Cirrus 4-channel radio in it. My memory of the All Star is not very clear, although I do remember flying it in a field somewhere out on the back 40 (more like back 400) acres of the base where no full-size air traffic ventured. It lost its life during some dumb low-level maneuver, and went down really far away. That involved walking through a lot of tall grass - in Georgia, where snakes and even alligators were not uncommon. I seriously considered just leaving it there, but my unwillingness to abandon that amount of investment (quite a lot for a USAF enlisted guy's pay) overpowered the chicken-ness in me and I cautiously waded over to it. I snatched it up and made like an F-15 back to open ground exactly in the path from which I came...

Model Aircraft Covering Weight Comparison

Model Aircraft Covering Weight Comparison - Airplanes and RocketsWhen deciding which type of covering to apply to a model airplane structure, it would be helpful to have a table of covering material density for comparison. Here is such a table which shows, for instance, that 21st Century Fabric is the heaviest type of covering you can use. MicroLite covering is the lightest weight. Not shown are most doped or painted coverings because finished weights are so dependent on substrate type (silk, Silkspan, tissue, etc.), paint or dope type, and number/thickness of coats. To calculate the covering weight, multiply the density by the total surface area of your model...

Rathgeber's "Minimum" Article & Plans

Rathgeber's "Minimum" Article & Plans, March 1957 American Modeler Magazine - Airplanes and RocketsIf you have been looking for an unusual project that should build fairly quickly, cost very little, contain non-standard materials, and qualify for a vintage design contest, then Rathgeber's "Minimum" fits the bill. It is a 1/2A control line speed model with about an 8" wingspan that appeared in a 1957 issue of American Modeler magazine. It does not appear to have been intended for serious competition, but given the single-line control and extremely high thrust-to-weight ration and minimal drag design, it might have been a contender back in the day. Designer George Rathgeber does not give specifics on timed flights. My guess is that it was a handful to fly due to lack of tail feathers ...

PAA-Load Events for 1961

PAA-Load Events for 1961, May 1961 American Modeler - Airplanes and RocketsAt some point you have probably read about an old model aircraft contest event called " PAA-Load." This advertisement for participants appeared in a 1961 issue of American Modeler magazine. As its name implies, the challenge involved hauling specific weights of 'payload' aloft and vying for the longest flight. What you might find surprising is that the 'PAA' part of the event title comes from Pan American Airlines (PAA, aka PanAm), who created and sponsored the activity as an educational effort to encourage youngsters to consider the necessary accommodations to efficiently and profitably transport people and cargo from point A to point B. Careful attention to airframe configuration and weight, powerplant size, propeller, wheel size and weight, covering material and finish, etc., was required to win...

How to Target AirplanesAndRockets.com for Your Google Ads

Google AdSense - it makes good sense - Airplanes and RocketsSome 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)...

Hobby People Ad, March 1970, American Aircraft Modeler

Hobby People Ad, March 1970, American Aircraft Modeler - Airplanes and Rockets

This particular Hobby People advertisement is from page 53 of the March 1970 issue of American Aircraft Modeler magazine. Hobby People was probably the first company that I ever did mail order from to get airplane supplies. Hobby People is no longer in operation. All copyrights (if any) are hereby acknowledged. Use the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator to see what items cost in today's dollars. For instance, that $3.99 "Cox .049 Babe Bee" engine would be $26.16 in 2018 money. The "regular" price of $6.00 would be $39.34 in 2018. Cox International ...

Radio Controlled Flight

Radio Controlled Flight, January 1947 Radio News - RF CafeEven though the U.S. Army Air Force and other research agencies around the world were at the forefront of experimenting with remote control airplanes, helicopters, tanks, trucks, cars, boats, and rockets, hobbyists were forging their own paths in the electronic art. I did not know until reading this article that drones were flown through the radiation field at the Bikini Atoll atom bomb test site for data collection. In fact amateur radio operators have long had the privilege of broadcasting for the purpose of remotely controlling a vehicle - the only scenario of Earth-based transmission whereby the "control operator" is not required to identify his/her call sign at an interval prescribed by the FCC (currently at least once every 10 minutes and at the end of the broadcast). Vintage modeling magazines have articles on early radio controlled (R/C) airplane experimentation. Target drones subject to remote control were not just small models, but also full-size aircraft that were deemed not airworthy enough to carry a human crew...

Dr. Ralph Brooke's "Whistler" Article & Plans

Dr. Ralph Brooke's "Whistler" Article & Plans, July/August 1963 American Modeler - Airplanes and RocketsDr. Ralph Brooke was a member of the 1963 U.S. International Team, which won the World Champion ships at Genk, Belgium. He custom designed "Whistler" full house radio control model airplane is featured in this 1963 issue of American Modeler magazine. The engine was a Veco .45, which was smaller than the .60 size used by many competitors of the day. The plans are well-drawn, but the wing portion is broken across the two sheets, and only the left half is shown. The wingspan is only 59", so it really wouldn't have been that much trouble to put at least the entire wing half on one sheet. That has always been a pet peeve of mine. Otherwise, the Whistler is a nice looking model and could easily be adapted to electric power ...

Ever Hear of a "Submarine Library?"

Ever Hear of a "Submarine Library?", May 1956 Young Men • Hobbies • Aviation • Careers - Airplanes and RocketsAmazingly, the General Dynamics Corporation's Groton, Connecticut, Electric Boat Division is still in operation after all the years passed since this article appeared in Young Men magazine. According to the company website, "Established in 1899, Electric Boat has established standards of excellence in the design, construction and lifecycle support of submarines for the U.S. Navy. Primary operations are the shipyard in Groton, CT, the automated hull-fabrication and outfitting facility in Quonset Point, RI, and an engineering building in New London, CT. The current workforce is more than 14,000 employees." Why "electric boat?," you might ask? Submarines, whilst submersed, are typically driven by electric motors powered by storage batteries. When on or near the ocean surface, a diesel engine powers the craft while recharging the batteries. Nuclear powered subs can run underwater nearly indefinitely since they do not require air for combustion. Shown here are some of the many models of the world's submarines throughout their relatively short history. The library's more than 1,200 books record of Alexander the Great having had himself sealed in a glass barrel and lowered into the water in order to observe submarine phenomena. For some reason the library's employees are not named. The man building the models is in a business suit, but then it was still fairly common at the time for men to wear a suit and tie even at home whilst performing domestic chores or participating in a hobby...

Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) Plans Service - Airplanes and Rockets
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Model Aircraft Museum, AMA - Airplanes and Rockets

Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) - Airplanes and Rockets

Academy of Model Aeronautics

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Tower Hobbies

Horizon Hobby logo - Airplanes and Rockets

Horizon Hobby

Sig Manufacturing - Airplanes and Rockets

Sig Mfg

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