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