Flying for Fun
THE LAST PAGE: My July 1995 column was headed "A Detective Story;" in it I detailed a 20-year search for documentation of the second Ford Flivver prototype (3218) and the eventual discovery of sources for that material. This month's column shows the end product of that search, and can be referred to as the "solution" of the mystery. Have you ever noticed good mystery novels usually solve the case on the last few pages? Did you ever read a magazine mystery only to turn to the last page and find it missing? Not in this instance-the solution is at hand!
ARCSD Defender
In the early days of engine-powered Free Flight, the Texas Oil Company donated a trophy to be presented to the winner of a fuel-allotment event held annually at the National Championships. With the revival of interest in models of the pre-WW II era, the Texaco fuel-allotment event was reborn, and has remained a popular Free Flight (and later RC) event in the SAM (Society of Antique Modelers) movement.
Flying for Fun
POTPOURRI: Almost 40 years ago the Air Force sent me to southern Louisiana to be a tooth plumber. We were immersed in a French/English (Cajun)-speaking culture; it was highly enjoyable and enlightening. The International Miniature Aircraft Association's (IMAA) Rally of Giants will be held in Lake Charles, Louisiana June 13-16, 1996. Several AMA Nats have used this venue. Should you attend, do yourself a favor and travel a bit east to St. Martinsville/Lafayette and try out the local food and music. One French word that was commonly used down there was potpourri (pronounced po po ree) meaning "a mixture of pieces." Somehow over the years the term has become fashionable in English usage; it commonly describes a smelly mixture of leaves and herbs in a glass container.
Flying for Fun
I HAVE STRONG OPINIONS ABOUT NEWCOMERS to the model airplane hobby. While some of my opinions are counter to those that are generally accepted, they are the result of more than 55 years of involvement in the hobby. I am certainly no "expert," but I do have experience on which I base my opinions. In the January 1995 Newcomer issue of Model Aviation I attempted to draw a comparison between planting seeds and growing active participants in our hobby. In that column I tried to subtly suggest that it was unlikely that young people under 20 would develop anything beyond a temporary interest in modeling. My premise was that recent empty-nesters, retirees, and father/son combinations possessed the necessary components for long-term active participation, but contemporary teenagers would likely be unable to overcome the built-in obstacles.
Flying for Fun
THE GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY: Guess who's been reduced to watching old movies on cable? Recent eye problems have kept me out of the workshop, as well as making it very difficult to read; it doesn't leave much else to do. Now there is a definition of boredom! At any rate, this month's column will start with the ugly: When using one of those beautiful polished metal spinners from Tru-Turn it seems almost immortal to let them become dull and tarnished. Unfortunately, the nature of aluminum is to become oxidized when exposed to the atmosphere (that's why they are displayed in vacuum-sealed bags at the hobby shop). Additionally, the usual abuses of fuel and exhaust residue, starter cones, and fingerprints lead to pretty ugly looking spinners in a hurry. I've tried polishing aluminum spinners with tripoli and jeweler's rouge, stainless-steel spoon cleaner, and silver polish-with generally poor results.
