Flying for Fun
STUFF IN USE: I hope that the last flying season was a great one for everyone. I know I certainly flew my fill. In the midst of all that flying several new techniques (at least to me) have been developed and some new products tried. Furthermore, I've snooped around a bit and found some good ideas others are using. This column will be centered on those subjects. Some of which may be old hat to many modelers but others may find something new and useful. AMA does not endorse products nor print product reviews in its publications; a good policy, in my opinion, as it avoids any possible questions concerning objectivity or fairness.
Flying for Fun
A DETECTIVE STORY: Researching drawings, photos, colors, and data on aircraft can become a hobby unto its self. The challenges and potential rewards are directly proportional to the prototype's rareness and obscurity. There is voluminous documentation on some full-scale prototypes, while virtually nothing exists for others. One of my most challenging and frustrating searches has been for materials on a really rare airplane. I had a set of drawings for a CL Scale prototype Ford Flivver done by Don Pratt Aviation Archives.
Flying for Fun
DO CHIMPS HAVE BACKACHES? Ergonomics has become a popular term in advertising, particularly by those selling automobiles. Basically, the concept involves the measurement of effort used to perform a task. Ergs are a measurement of energy. In common usage, ergonomics reflects an effort to maximize the comfort of seating, to make instruments easy to reach, read, and operate, to make entry and egress more convenient, and to minimize of the expenditure of energy needed to operate a machine.
Flying for Fun
THIS COLUMN IS being written in June 1995. TV news and weather reports have shown a continuous series of floods around the country. Pictures of people being rescued from rampaging streams, water to the eaves of homes, automobiles floating down streets like fishing bobbers, and general chaos seem to dominate the news. Considering the human tragedy and the property loss it seems almost profane to write anything about people having a good time around standing ground water.
Flying for Fun
TRAVELAIR: As the 20th century began, oil was discovered in El Dorado, Kansas. Eventually this oil field extended eastward for more than 40 miles from the outskirts of Wichita; at the time it was the largest oil discovery in the US. As so often happened, many struggling oil investors became immensely wealthy, very quickly. Some of these high rollers, wildcatters, and wheeler-dealers had bundles of venture capital; some of that new wealth found its way into the then-infant aircraft industry in Wichita. It's likely that had there not been oil in El Dorado, there would not have been airplanes in Wichita.
