Radio Control: Scale
EAA Model Show: After observing many years of mall shows, we have found the perfect environment for a model aircraft show. On March 20, 1988 we attended the first annual EAA Air Adventure Museum Model Aircraft Show at Wittman Field in Oshkosh, WI. The event was co-sponsored by EAA and two local clubs: Winnebago RC Fliers and Valley Aero Modelers. Show managers for EAA were Education Director Chuck Larsen and Museum Director Carl Swickley. The vast museum building, due for further enlargement before the next show, has no space shortage. Polished floors and sparkling airplane displays accented the models, surrounded by aircraft of wide variety from the Wright Flier replica to a duplicate Voyager fuselage. The emphasis was on history and home-built types.
Radio Control: Scale
MODEL STRUCTURES: Balsa has been the basic structural material for our model aircraft since our beginnings in the hobby dating back to the late Twenties. In the early years, our only real concern was the relative hardness of the 1/16-in.-sq. sticks that were used for spars and longerons of rubber-powered Scale models. Fundamentals change with time, and we now weigh each sheet of balsa to determine its ultimate use. None of those early models contained a scrap of plywood. The only hardwood was the occasional bit of bamboo in wing tips and tail surface outlines. With the advent of RC came the use of heavier materials.
Radio Control: Scale
SCALE INSTRUMENT panels can be produced photographically. The technique is quite simple for anyone having a camera that will focus close to the subject, or equipped with an inexpensive close-up lens attachment. Full-size instruments must be available, either in the plane being modeled or a similar plane. In order to be certain that the image size on the negative will be correct and would not need to be reduced or enlarged later, a focus distance must be found. This is done by placing a small piece of tracing paper in the camera with the back open or removed, so that the paper is in the exact position normally occupied by film.
Radio Control: Scale
MORE ON scale instruments: There seems to be no limit to the ingenuity of scale modelers. Bob Lopshire offers an alternate method of producing scale instrument faces. Try using Kodak High Contrast Copy Film. This will eliminate reflections. Photos are made as outlined in the September column, then the negatives are placed under glass on a copy stand and rephotographed to obtain a film positive. The positive is then mounted over a white backing for white on black faces which yields a glass-covered effect. Should the real instrument have a black face with luminous markings, a sheet of very pale blue green backing gives an instant reproduction.
Radio Control: Scale
EXPERIMENTAL Aircraft Association members, for a number of years, have been building planes that are reduced-size versions of military aircraft. Their problems in scaling down are similar to those encountered by modelers. Ben Owen of EAA headquarters staff, who is also an AMA modeler, has summarized the scaling technique as follows: What this proves, or shows, is that there are different reductions in each measurement in scaling. For convenience, engineers have historically used linear measurement when scaling. The fact that a linear reduction of 1/2 does not mean 1/2 of the area or 1/2 of the weight or volume should be clearly kept in mind. Examples:
