Free Flight: Duration
GRAVE DIGGER: One of this month's photos shows two sizes of my latest 1/2A design intended for Category III rules. This is a successor to my previous Power Play model and combines ideas from it with some from Gil Morris's Matchsticks and Dale Mateer's Benchmark. While the fullsize 1/2A has had some success, it's the other, smaller model-a "1/8A Gas," if you will-that has received the most attention. I've always had a fondness for the Tee Dee .010, and threw this model together in a few hours' time as a "play toy" during contest lulls. With a projected span of only 221/2 in. and weighing slightly over one ounce, it is a screamer! With the engine static-tested at 30,400 rpm, it has a distinctive sound that attracts everyone's attention as it takes off. Acceleration is unbelievable-so much so that visibility can quickly become a problem.
Free Flight: Duration
IT IS with great sadness that I report the March 22 passing of longtime Free Flight modeler George Pharr of Cincinnati. Modelers throughout the Midwest will remember George as one of the original Southwest Ohio Free Flighters (SWOFF) from the late 1960s. He was also a prolific builder and excellent competitor. At times he dabbled in the other modeling disciplines, but his primary interest was competition Free Flight. His eldest son, George IV, or "Bubba," often flew with him and was quite successful in his own right-he was an AMA scholarship winner, valedictorian of his class, Rhodes scholar, and so on. George flew virtually every competitive Free Flight event at one time or another, but his flying skill is perhaps what I will remember least about him.
Free Flight: Duration
PROJECT GRANDPA: Mentor. The January 1992 issue of Model Aviation featured the "PGM Trainer," an intermediate-level model in a building program designed by famous Free Flighter Larry Conover. In the construction article, Larry provided an address for further details on the PGM program. I have long been an admirer of both his designs and his writing, so I requested the latest information. I received a manuscript for another model in the PGM series (a rubber-powered Fokker E-II), a feature article on the program from a local newspaper, and a full program description from Education Research Group, of which Conover is a member.
Free Flight: Duration
NEW products: Joe Klause at Kustom Kraftsmanship has released his latest price list, featuring reworked Cox engines, assorted kits and construction accessories, custom T-shirts, and more. There are many quality items offered, but one new item in particular qot my attention. KK has developed a new cylinder head assembly for Cox .049/.051 engines which features the Nelson glow plug-the same plug made popular on the .15 and other Nelson engines. The new head is threaded for acceptance by the existing cylinder, and the plug screws into the top of the head.
Free Flight: Duration
POWER FLIERS don't publish: So says Keith Hoover, who seeks to solve the problem by editing the 1992 NFFS Resource Book on Power Models-the State of the Art. If the press release I recently received is any indication, this will be quite a formidable effort. It's Keith's intent to cover virtually every aspect of power flying, from the winning current designs to the classics-Satellites, Pearls, Stardusters, etc. Also featured will be sections on individual components and techniques, such as adjustment, finishing, innovative design, international design, props, and fuels.
