Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
FIRST, a correction: In the Nats-issue column I mentioned that Chip Hyde borrowed Mike Klein's airplane after his midair with Wayne Apostolico at the Nats. Mike McConville (West Chester, OH) wrote to tell me that "Just for the record, Chip flew my airplane, not Mike Klein's, after his midair at the Nats." Mike added a lament: "I've been competing for 12 years now and won the 1981 Nats in Expert class. I was the 1984 U.S.A. alternate to the Tournament of Champions and placed fourth in FAI at the 1988 Nats. Yet my life goal remains unfulfilled-I have never gotten a picture or even a kind word in your column.
Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
AN UPDATE on the "toad." You may remember that, in the April issue, I wrote about Paul Verger's attempts to "detoad" an unsatisfactory airplane by using all the magic of a Futaba 1024. Paul didn't end up with a prince-he had a toad on life support. Well, Paul called to report a breakthrough. It seems that when Nat Penton (deQuincy, LA) heard about the struggle to detoad the airplane, he called to offer his services. Paul Verger has popularized Nat's reputation as a high priest of voodoo aerodynamics in his column in the K-Factor. (Remember? That's the newsletter of the NSRCA.) Anyway, Nat figured that this problem was right up his alley. He listened to the symptoms and said he'd get back with the detoading team of Paul, Mike Hayden, and Jim Fife.
Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
MANY of you are aware that I did not exactly welcome Turnaround Pattern. The reasons are complex, but my resistance was mainly a reaction to what appeared to be an attempt by a few individuals to cram something down our throats, whether we wanted it or not. It was like, "Eat your vegetables, they're good for you!" That apparent attitude by Turnaround promoters was resented by many of us and caused hard feelings for years regarding the event. Years have softened the edges of my feelings about Turnaround. I can think and talk about Turnaround now without getting all riled up. I even attend and compete in an all-Turnaround contest once a year in Jackson, MS.
Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
PLANNING to go to the Toledo RC Exposition? Also plan to attend the first annual FAI Pattern Judging School. Ron Chidgey will be holding it from 8:00 a.m. to noon on April 8-9 at the Radisson Hotel. I understand that this will be very much like the judging school he conducted in Europe last summer. You can attend the school in the morning and participate in the Expo activities all afternoon. Reservations: (419) 241-3000. I sure miss attending the Toledo show. While I was stationed in Dayton, OH (1964-69) and Washington, DC (1969-72), I went to the conference for many years at the old Lucas County Recreation Center (home of the Toledo Mudhens!). If you havea chance to go, don't miss it.
Radio Control: Sport and Aerobatics
FIRST I want to rectify an error. In my August 1988 column I discussed how to determine the center-of-gravity of a canard (tail-first) airplane. I noted that the sign of the term involving the tail length had to be changed, and it should be multiplied by two when converting the equation from a tail-last equation to a canard equation. Unfortunately, when the canard equation appeared in the August column, the "2" multiplier was missing. It's really necessary to get that canard center-of-gravity equation printed correctly. It appears below as Equation 4.a.
