Around the Patch 2015/03
A successful first flight with a new model is one of the great pleasures in aeromodeling. From the moment a photo or drawing captures the imagination, the mind inevitably springs to some version of a warm spring day with a light breeze down the runway and its wheels tickling the grass as that airplane floats off into the blue for the first time.
AROUND THE PATCH - 2015/01
Before I begin, I miscaptioned a photo in my November 2014 column. On page 100, Vance Gilbert’s model is actually his D.H.95 Flamingo entered in FAC Rubber Scale. Vance averaged 48 seconds per flight for a seventh-place finish.
Around the Patch - 2014/11
Summer is in full swing as I write, and this year saw something new on my schedule. I made my first pilgrimage to the Flying Aces Club (FAC) Nationals in Geneseo, New York. Geneseo Airport is home to the National Warplane Museum and it is on those very grounds that modelers from across the country and around the world converge.
AROUND THE PATCH - 2014/09
At this time last year, I was well into my Caudron project for last fall’s Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology (NEAT) Fair Air Racing Society demonstration. I barely got the model flying before our scheduled slot. I was frustrated enough to take a number of cosmetic shortcuts at the end of that project to ensure that it actually made it into the air. Once I returned home, I sat down with a pencil and paper and made a list of things I wanted to improve.
Around the Patch 2014/07
This summer marks my 36th year of building model airplanes. My first projects were plan-built, based on magazine articles. Inevitably I moved on and bought a few kits, but I’ve always enjoyed turning raw stock and a set of drawings into a completed flying model. Truth be told, many of the kits that I could afford as a young teen were close to plan-built anyway.
