Written by Dave Gee
Safety Comes First
Column
As seen in the July 2019 issue of Model Aviation.
Speaker Exchange
Club meetings need to be kept fresh and interesting. A guest speaker always goes over well but finding one can be a challenge. My club has had recent success with a simple idea: We swap speakers with a group in the next county. Our local modeling comrades have great old stories, and the next club over hasn’t heard them yet. My club sent Kurt Young to tell about owning and flying his classic full-scale Navion. In exchange, we welcomed Fred Hesse and his giant, solar-powered RC airplane. Cool! There are amazing people with fascinating stories throughout our hobby. I admit that the "Club Meeting Speaker Exchange Program" isn’t really a safety concept, but if it worked for us, it might work for your club too! Next month it’s my turn. I’ll speak on how to deal with the embarrassment of losing a contest to some newbie kid pilot. I’m an expert on the subject.An Outside Viewpoint
On the subject of newbies, I recently had a detailed conversation with a security checkpoint person about the current state of our hobby. He examined my computer bag and noticed the material that I had gathered for this column. "Oh, you do model airplanes? I’ve always wanted to try that!" For a nonmodeler, he raised some interesting questions. How has "the drone thing" affected lifelong model aviators? Had I seen the news stories about drones interfering with full-scale aviation? Did the new laws apply to our airplanes as well as multirotors? Were there separate groups for drone fliers and fixed-wing users? His questions made me see things from a new perspective! I was glad to say that AMA includes all of the miniature aviation spectrum and lobbies for laws that make sense for everyone. Yes, "the drone thing" has certainly changed our hobby, mostly for the better because of increased exposure and recruitment. New safety rules and "best-practice" procedures have been worked out. As with anything, there have been a few problems with inexperienced or thoughtless operators. Commercial drone users and sport pilots alike join AMA, but the rules are very different depending on the purpose of your multirotor. As for the laws, it’s tough to keep up with the constant changes. We depend on AMA bulletins to keep us up to date on compliance. My new friend was fascinated and said he’d visit AMA’s website to see about getting involved. He wanted to start with something simple such as an RC B-17. Who was I to discourage him? It was great to have an opportunity to promote our hobby’s reputation and image as being fun, challenging, and safe. Aeromodeling historically goes from trend to trend. Whenever the next big thing comes along, we get publicity and new pilots. It happens to be drones now, but old-timers might remember when 3D flying was red hot, or the rise of Control Line flying, or when the first RC helicopters took over the sky. Heck, it goes back to the days when gas power pushed rubber bands aside. One day, multirotors will take their place in the spectrum of modeling when something even newer becomes the hot ticket.Image
Mystery Airplane
In the early 1940s, the hot ticket was the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft. Big and powerful, this airplane fired the imagination of modelers. I obtained a vintage P-47 profile glider kit that was from shortly after the World War II rationing of balsa was lifted. My own Bubbletop Jug model is built strictly from the plans for an authentic look, but this classic design would work fine in foam sheet. CO2, rubber, or electric power would go great, and maybe even an RC system. To receive digital files of the parts scans and instruction sheet via email, just identify the mystery airplane. You chaps and ladies will find that this month’s classic mystery airplane is a piece of cake. This shark-mouth fighter from the Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum, at the former Hendon Aerodrome in London, might look like a P-40, but check out those British markings.Image
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