Free Flight: Old-Timers
BEFORE we get to nuts, bolts, and gluing sticks, I want to let loose some philosophical comments. I often think of an incident from 1960 when I was holding Bob Wilder's Wakefield while he practiced winding to absolute maximum turns prior to our going to try to get him on the U.S. Wakefield team. Sixteen strands of 1/4-in. rubber is a lot, and to get all the power possible the expert stretches the rubber almost to the breaking point throughout the entire winding procedure. We both were grunting and straining . . . trying to concentrate on the number of turns and just the right feel or tension to the pull. This was before Bob made his now-famous torque meters that make this job so much easier. He would pull so hard I could feel my heels cut into the grass at the Wichita "Beech Field." A boy of about 10 years was watching our labors with amazement. After a flight, as we prepared to do it all again, the boy said, "Hey! I have an .049 Baby Bee I will sell you guys for three bucks that will fly that thing without all that work."
1988 SAM Champs
THE ANNUAL MIGRATION of certain bird and animal species to ancestral breeding grounds has long been studied by scientists. Certain of the creatures perform amazing feats of navigation and endurance to reach their goal. I have made a study of the members of the Society of Antique Modelers for many years now, and I find them unique in that they migrate annually to a moving target, with each successive destina-
Free Flight: Old-Timers
A couple of the photos this month show an interesting 1938/39 Wakefield-with a folding prop-which has never heretofore been published. It is the design of Jim Bohash, who called it the U.S. Standard Wakefield, and it not only got him on the 1938 and 1939 U.S. Wakefield teams, but won many contests in the U. S. and Canada. Jim tells me that the 1938 Wakefield contest, held at Paris, France, was quite an adventure. Frank Zaic was the team manager and guide, "So we were always lost." Zaic was "broke, as usual," Jim says, and the French customs seized 300 of his Yearbooks-which he had brought along to sell in order to have enough money for his return fare!
Free Flight: Old-Timers
MAIL: I read and appreciate mail from my readers, and lately I have been pleased to notice an increase in letters from younger builders who did not grow up building the models we now call Old-Timers, and who are having some trouble learning how to do some basic things. That will give me stuff to write about for a few years, and I will start with selecting some photos to show how to get things together using a jig. Instructions so often say, "Build two identical sides," and then, "Join with crosspieces." About equally as helpful will be the next step, "Now cover."
Free Flight: Old-Timers
CHEF'S SURPRISE: Well, it is time to invite the muse again-but no intelligent muse would want to be near a person with a head cold as bad as mine, so what you are going to get this month is what you always get after the holidays: leftovers! I like my columns to have a theme stated, some development, and a conclusion. This ain't going to be one of those. It isn't just the fact that I've got this virus and that I want to get this column off my conscience before the Superbowl next weekend. No, it isn't just that. It is that I have all these little leftovers that need to be used.
