SMALLnet post457

...Another Good Guy has Gone West. Long-time SMALLster Charley Fries died last week. He was a frequent contributor to our Postings, and provided lots of helpful information....

This year's annual Little Rock SMALL meet turned out to be just as enjoyable as ever. We had three days of clear weather, marred only by a bit of wind from time to time. SMALLsters came from everywhere to join in the fun. Alan Porter & Steve Adams flew in from California; Brian Sodt arrived from Vancouver, Washington; Joe & Cindy Malinchak came from Pennsylvania; and Scott Christensen from Iowa.

Eric Clutton drove to Little Rock from Tennessee; so did Charles Sully from Georgia, & Pat Tritle from New Mexico...

We had plenty of attendees from closer in: Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and (of course) Texas. Helen Randolph graced our meet with her presence -- she and Jo Hansrote were the only Dallas residents who came...

It turns out that this was the last SMALL meet to be held at the Burns Park site. Ron Stanfield (the CD) reported that once again, model flyers have been evicted from a neat flying site, in favor of something or other that's "more important"... [JW]

WOW what a great time for everyone at the SMALLfly in Little Rock. Time flies when you're having fun, and it went by all too quickly. I didn't get a chance to speak with half the people I had planned on talking with.

I have posted some photos of the event on the web at < www.modelflying.com >. I am hoping that anyone who might have additional photos of the event and would be willing to share for posting would send them along my way to < >.

There's also information on the web at < www.modelflying.com > from Joe Reeder and Patrick LeRay of Shreveport, Louisiana regarding their upcoming SMALLfly on Saturday, June 25.

I saw a TV program recently that showed the manufacture of the wings, tail, etc., of an interesting full-size "kit airplane". It looked like a mini Beaver. The aircraft manufacturer is Murphy Aircraft Mfg. Ltd. -- website < www.murphyair.com >.

The fuselage has a shape much like that of a Beaver, but the span is only 36' instead of 50' (aspect ratio is 7.2 vs 10 for the original Beaver). This is an STOL aircraft, like the Beaver, using a Russian 9-cylinder radial, and is much less expensive than competing aircraft in its class -- though "some assembly is required".

The name of this interesting aircraft? The Murphy Moose. It looks like it would make a good flier in small scale. I have written to the company to ask if they have a 3-view that could be used for drawing up a model plan. Ian

My local CL racer/engine guy told me to get a can of John Deere starter fluid -- so we can supplement the maybe stale diesel fuel I have.

We're running a Dunham replica Elfin 2.49 which has begun to run well in the air but is getting harder to start. A 10X4 Zinger prop hauls the about 20-ounce Hayseed RC Old-Timer pretty well.

Anyhow, he says to use an old triangular church key can opener to puncture the spray can -- without releasing the pressure first!

I won't do it. Thought it would be worthwhile to try to release the pressure like we do for rattle paint cans -- turn it upside down and press the spray nozzle. If that doesn't work, I'm thinking about using an awl, on the bottom, over near the rim to try to puncture near the propellant bubble.

So, what is the appropriate method for getting the liquid ether out of the can? Al Lidberg

...I've heard of several techniques for de-pressurizing cans of "starter fluid". All of them began with freezing the can first. Presumably that's to reduce the propellant pressure & minimize ether evaporation.

I haven't done much "ether replenishing" myself -- haven't needed to, with my "never-open" diesel fuel container technique. But when I HAVE used John Deere fluid, I just plugged in a short piece of metal tubing (a la WD-40) to the John Deere spray nozzle & connected that to the "fill" tube of my diesel fuel can.

I tried that once with a freezer-cold can; and again with the can at ambient temperature. Couldn't see much difference.

Anyway, as Eric Clutton assures me, ether content on diesel fuel isn't critical. He claims that if you can smell the ether, you have enough... I like LOTS in my fuel, though.

Al, your "awl through a bottom corner" ought to work OK. One of the guys who de-pressurizes his "starter fluid" cans recommended something like that. Your idea sounds better. (The "church key" procedure that you rejected fails to appeal to me too...) [JW]

Al had another question: Anyone have ideas for removal of Stixit or other contact cement-like adhesives from a balsa structure? Need to repair a model that is covered with clear Micafilm attached with Stixit. The replacement covering will be Polyspan, and it will be attached with dope.

The de-covering will be done with a heat gun, but there's bound to be residue that may react with a nitrate/ambroid mix. The fall-back situation would be to cover with Moneycoat to over- come the residual Stixit, but I'd rather use a more rigid covering.

...Stixit can be dissolved with Methyl Ethyl Ketone -- MEK for short. This may be hard to obtain "over the counter" in Arizona. If so, try a hardware store that sells plastic pipe. The solvent that's used for "welding" that stuff together is MEK.

Be careful of MEK's fumes -- they're POTENT. [JW]

Many of us who build plastic model aircraft tone down the exact colors we buy for years to account for the "distance effect". By adding some white or gray to our paint, we mute their colors a bit to better match how they would appear when observed at an appropriate real-world distance.

Hey.. Aircraft finish. In 1942, (I was Ten) we lived on a small farm east of Newton, North Carolina. A big airbase was in Charlotte, 40 miles South. I heard aircraft engines this day.

Our house was close to the middle of the farm. A cadet in a P-39 picked our house to use for a strafing run. Had to be doing at least 250, at altitude of 100 feet...

I was screaming and jumping with delight as he passed directly over me !! The P-39's color scheme was unlike anything that was ever printed in camouflage books, to this day. It looked like Zinc Chromate, with a small amount of O.D. mixed in. The entire aircraft was this flat color. All markings were present, but no blue undersides -- nothing but this green. What a thrill... the first combat airplane I had ever seen up close !

A week or so later, I went with my uncle to Charlotte Airbase, and viewed line after line of P-39's, which were too far away for me to judge their colors..

Oddly, since that time, I have only built one P-39, that being a Jack Armstrong card model.

Oh yes...I have .020 kits: Cal-Aero, Brooklyn Dodger & Playboy Sr; Micro Models, Miss America; RN Models, Playboy Sr. Cabin. I am interested in doing some swapping for Miniature Aircraft Corp. kits. Walt Grigg

...Walt, I'm a little older than you, and in the early 1940's the Bell Airacobra was among my favorite airplanes. I've liked it ever since. That's probably why I remember two published illus- trations that show just the color scheme that you describe.

One's a B&W photo, in a book titled "Air Power", published in 1943 by Look magazine. The other is in an issue of Wings magazine from about 25 years back. I know I have that issue -- but couldn't find it just now, dagnabbit. [JW]

EARLY R/Cers' KISS WAS LOUSY R/C FOR PLAY!! ( KISS: "Keep It Simple, Stupid" ! )

D. B. Mathews stated in his FLYING FOR FUN column in the May, 2005 issue of Model Aviation that his memories of early R/C were being challenged by several letters he had received from modelers, who provided accounts of all sorts of good results with the primitive radio equipment of that time. Mathews' reply was that "Most modelers of that era remember exactly what I remember: an occasional rare success surrounded by hours of failures."

Therefore, a controversy exists today regarding the reliability of early R/C equipment. Nevertheless, the early history of R/C is accurately recorded and documented by our model magazines, books, etc. Hopefully, revisionists will leave our history of R/C alone. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case. We SMALLsters have something at stake in this dispute, because our R/C history is related to this controversy on early R/C reliability.

Mathews' May column has interesting pictures of Armin Lindow's Super Aerotrol receiver, by Berkeley Models, mounted in a Hal DeBolt removable radio box, circa 1953. His May column includes a picture of the late, great Bill Winter, editor of several model magazines over the years, tuning a Citizens band 27 MC receiver with a MacNabb meter; plus other 50's and 60's R/C pictures.

The late, great Howard G. McEntee, who also had been editor for several model magazines and the author of the excellent Radio Control Handbook of 1954, stated in it that "Ever since some time in 1938, when the first miniature thyratron, or gas-filled tube, was developed especially for model radio-control purposes, the single-tube receiver has been predominant."

McEntee stated in his Handbook that probably 70% of the R/C receivers being used at that time were one-tube receivers; and that "until recently...the majority of radio-control receivers employed just a single gas tube!" McEntee also stated in that book that "there was a time when a radio-control builder would not even consider trying a two-tube receiver, because of its supposed complexity, and a three-tube receiver would have been unthinkable."

McEntee's statements clearly indicate that KISS was nearly an obsession with early R/C modelers, dating clear back to 1938, with the advent of Raytheon's RK-62 gas tube (4" tall!) developed ESPECIALLY for Radio Control. Early R/C'ers were also greatly influenced by R/C's most famous twins, Walt and Bill Good, who pioneered and popularized R/C modeling more than any other R/C modeler(s) and won the R/C event at the AMA Nationals in 1938, 1939, 1940 and 1947 WITH A SINGLE HARD TUBE RECEIVER!

EARLY R/Cers' KISS WAS LOUSY R/C FOR PLAY will be continued in the next SMALLnet posting: R/C's very first SMALLster, who is the true father of MINIATURE R/C.

Because of KISS and the very disruptive lasting effects of WW2 on R/C modeling, he has never received credit for his milestone in R/C progress -- even though his R/C work was published in the leading model magazine of his time.

What was the consequence of not understanding, recognizing, or acknowledging the importance of his R/C work, or giving credit where credit is JUSTLY due: over a decade of R/C frustration and mayhem that resulted in early R/C radios that would not even work on the bench, or early R/C models that far too often flew away or crashed! Roger

In the previous Posting JW stated, "I haven't found ANY paint that would normally be used on a model airplane that's affected by diesel fuel."

As for castor oil working its way into and through a doped finish, or slowly seeping into a plywood firewall via the various holes drilled in it : That's certainly happening; but one of the big culprits is that Butyrate dope is glow EXHAUST resistant. If there's any nitro at all in the fuel, THAT is what's discolouring your doped finish. It's the raw fuel you might spill on it from time to time, especially around the firewall.

Plastic films haven't been mentioned in this respect. Curiously, Ultracote's colour/adhesive is NOT resistant to diesel fuel exhaust. At least that has been my experience. Maybe I got a bad batch. On the other hand, Monokote seems to be impervious to just about anything. Wish they made a light version of their standard film for us 1/2A guys. Ian

SMALLnet Posting post457