T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
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501.2 | Setting the record straight? | NORDIC::COLBURN | | Wed Mar 30 1988 06:28 | 7 |
| Unless the B-29 I saw 2 years ago at Burlington airport crashed,there
is a flying B-29 left in the world.A gorgeous B-29 and a B-24 came
here to the Burlington,Vermont few years ago for 3 or 4 days and
when they left they did a few low-level passes over the airport
for the photographers in the crowd.It was beautiful!!
Kevin
|
501.4 | THERE IS _ONE_ AND "FIFI' IS HER NAME....... | MAUDIB::CASEYA | THE DESERT RAT (I-RC-AV8) | Wed Mar 30 1988 10:59 | 26 |
| The sole, surviving, flyable B-29 Superfortress belongs to and is
regularly flown by the Confederate Aif Force, based in Harlingen,
Texas.
Known as "Fifi," this is the same B-29 which Col. Paul Tibbets flew
in the CAF's annual airshow in Harlingen in a re-creation of the
dropping of the first A-bomb a few years back. You may recall the
flap this stirred up among the Japanese who thought it was tasteless
to recreate such a terrible event.
Fifi has been used in the filming of several movies, one of which
was "Enola Gay," the TV movie about the A-bombing of Hiroshima,
starring Patrick Duffy.
My CAF buddy, Gerald Martin, was among the crew that assembled Fifi
from several scrapped airframes and flew it back from the California
desert to Texas. Having spent a few days with Gerald this past
January, I'm sure Fifi is alive and well as Gerald would surely
have told me if something had happened to her. Due to her extreme
rarity, however, I'm sure Fifi is not extensively flown anymore.
:
| | 00 Adios, Al
|_|_| ( >o
| Z__(O_\_ (The Desert Rat)
|
501.5 | We came out on top ! | GALVIA::ECULLEN | It will never fly, Wright ! | Thu Sep 20 1990 10:06 | 157 |
| Hi Guys,
What follows here is a memo that I wrote to save our DIGITAL flying
site here in Ireland and Ballybrit (GAO). After a couple of meetings
etc it was resolved in the favour of, yes, the RC guys ! Nice change.
So here it is. Al (Ryder) you may want to put this somewhere else
(couldn't see a suitable KEYWORD for it).
Regards,
Eric.
*** mail headers removed ***
Hello Liam,
How are things ? Just a quick note to let you know that one of the
local farmers beside the Ballybrit plant, adjoining the Gaelic pitch we
use to fly off, complained there recently - sometime over the weekend I
think.
I guess it is the result of a couple of crashes a month (18-AUG) or so
ago, and possibly a degree of noise to a lesser extent. Although as you
know the field is quite isolated from family homes etc.
I will detail these two crashes a bit for the sake of history ! Tim's
plane dived into the ground after a tip stall on landing approach
coming over one of the farmers fields. A couple of flights later I did
a loop, forgetting that I had flicked the elevator onto low rates -
hence I hadn't enough throw for the height and ploughed into the ground
again on a field supposedly belonging to the farmer. Unfortunately the
farmer, wife and daughter were out and were looking on. Not that we
were in the mood to pacify them after our bad luck, they inquired about
the safety etc of the planes and the possible damage they might do. We
replied briefly but in an honest and sincere manner.
Going back a bit, the fields that we dropped into were both empty at
the time. Also from our experience, cattle and sheep ignore the planes
and have never been disturbed by them, either here or in any of our
past flying locations. Some of the farmers using the racecourse know
that were are there and have not been concerned. They were more
concerned about stray dogs attacking the animals.
So over the weekend a local farmer, Michael Broderick (51952), called
DEC security to complain about the planes. That the planes were flying
over his fields and that during the week the noise was preventing
children from sleeping. The nearest houses are a considerable distance
away, so the noise level can only be fairly low if at all noticable
I called Mr Broderick on Sunday afternoon around 16:00 to talk to him
about his point of view. Well he said he was representing a number of
people (I didn't ask who, as I thought that it was easy for him to say
that - but if it comes to anything more - well then we can ask) who
were not happy about the planes. His main points were that of the
noise, flying over his fields and safety.
I reasured him of our commitment to safety - being of the utmost
importance. There are from time to time onlookers or people walking
through whom we caution on the dangers of standing near or in line with
the propellers, standing in the middle of the field etc. We ask them to
move if they are in any possible danger. I am not sure if he talking
about people on DIGITAL private property or in the fields, certainly it
could not be in the gardens of the houses, I ask ?
I respected his wish for us not to fly low over his fields, and in as
far as possible we will not. I pointed out that the wind direction is a
main consideration here and that they are flying at low speed on
approach. As far as noise is concerned I am surprised - noise level is
very low - both Tim and myself are using the best and quietest of
engines OS46S- ABC's which are of the quietest running. Of comparative
noise's around in the area one has farm machinery and the local
commercial air traffic. I could make more noise with a lawn mower.
Another reason for my surprise is the length of time that it took for
him to act - lately the evenings have been short and we are packing up
by 20:00 on the, one possibly two, weekdays that we go out. And this
time, by any standards, is early in the evening before lights out for
young kids. If he had complained in April through to about mid August I
might accept this more.
Anyway I strongly suspect that his wife was the main force behind the
complaint - he wasn't too upset when we met him on the 18-AUG.
To rectify this situation we are going to limit out flying over the
farmer's fields in as much as possible. We are taking this as limiting
our low altitude flying over the fields. At reducing the noise late at
night - the evenings are getting shorter and we will be eliminating the
weekday flying probably by the end of this month. The weekend flying is
generally on Saturday afternoon and possibly Sunday afternoon (seldom).
We will endeavor to use the larger, higher pitched propellers to reduce
noise to as low as possible. That said the noise levels are below the
maximum level acceptable by the Model Aeronautices Council Of Ireland
(MACI).
Insurance is another point that is worth mentioning. All people who use
the field have and always will be insured by MACI.
That said, I suspect that the end of this is yet to come ! We have
compromised here and expect this to be recognised. This compromise
limits us a lot in the use of airspace surrounding the field. And it
makes us have to fly down wind if the the wind direction is from the
west, or south west and possibly south to some extent.
Here are details of some mishaps/events that have occurred in the 5
months that we have been using the field. Tim Pasley and myself are the
only RCM guys using the field except for a couple of times one extra
person was out.
26_APR_90: Got DEC Ballybrit flying site.
27_APR_90: DEC-Ballybrit - Hit the tree in the top corner -
broke off nose !
13_JUL_90: Hit that Tree @DEC again - minor damage.
18_AUG_90: Bad crash. Looped into ground
18_AUG_90: Tim went straight into the dirt !
The number of flights is about 700+ each. So in 5 months for the two of
us you are looking at 0.2% from a statistical point of view. That is
very seldom - if you look at the log of flights over the period below.
Only a percentage of these flights may have annoyed Mr Broderick. I
have specific details on all days, weather etc but I won't clutter this
note with all that.
MONTH FLIGHTS
April Flights 140
May Flights 172
June Flights 85
July Flights 214
August Flights 77
September Flights 70
***************************** NB ***************************
Not to forget that we are extremely appreciative of DIGITAL giving us
the permission to have use of the field.
************************************************************
It's unfortunate that Radio Control Modelers don't have any particular
rights to pursue their hobby. Always is the case that they get the
short straw.
If you feel that it may be of interest to forward this to relevant
persons please feel free to do so. This note is in anticipation of
further communication from Mr Broderick and those that he may
represent. And should it continue I would like to be heard and if
possible those who decide, to come out while we are flying some day to
see for themselves.-
Kind regards,
Eric, PTG/Mervue/Ireland/Galway.
DTN 890-2228
Home 21092
|
501.6 | a show for cub scouts | ABACUS::RYDER | perpetually the bewildered beginner | Tue Jun 04 1991 23:25 | 17 |
| I just put my foot in my mouth; I said yes to a request to put on a
show for a Cub Scout jamboree(?) in Wilton NH on the afternoon of 6/15.
The audience will be about 50 boys (ages 8-12) plus about 20 adults.
The request is for "[model plane] activities that draw their interest".
The site is a baseball field with the audience on one side with no
audio/visual aids such as a public address system. The duration is at
least an hour, at most three.
I'd like some suggestions. With only a week and a half between now and
that day, I have to move quickly to plan, recruit, and detail. This
Wednesday night I'll bring it up to my club, but planning anything is
not their strong suit. (They make DEC look decisive in comparison.)
Hmmmn. If I felt confident about the preparations, I bet we could get
some good local TV and/or newspaper coverage.
Alton
|
501.7 | a handout for youngsters | BRAT::RYDER | perpetually the bewildered beginner | Fri Jun 14 1991 01:53 | 74 |
| The following is a draft of a one-page handout for the cub scouts mentioned
in .-1 Comments?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
What does it cost to get started?
"Penny gliders" --- about a dollar or less
Free-flight gliders --- about five dollars
Free-flight rubber --- maybe $10 dollars?
U-control "gas" power --- about $100
Radio controlled gliders --- about $200
Radio controlled "gas" power --- about $300
Radio controlled electric power--- about $300 or more
(not really suitable for beginners)
Do NOT get a car radio with the intention of later using it in a plane.
It is a violation of federal law to do so, and it is unsafe. [Is this
really an FCC regulation or an AMA ruling? I'm not absolutely certain.]
Except for free-flight gliders, do not try to learn without help. It
is too expensive and disappointing and, in some cases, dangerous. To
get help and guidance, join a club or at least talk to a knowledgeable
hobby shop owner. Model clubs, both radio control and U control, offer
free advice and instruction. Alternatively, a hobby shop owner might
be able to arrange for some help from one of his "regular" customers.
If you are going to fly anything but small gliders, join the Academy of
Model Aeronautics --- mostly for the insurance coverage, but a club is
apt to require AMA membership as a prerequisite for joining the club.
Besides, the AMA magazine includes plans for planes you can build.
If you are going to fly planes, you might want to understand HOW
planes fly. If you want your plane to fly well, you MUST learn how
they fly. How do you learn? Start with a book from the library or
your school. [Is there a scout merit badge book on the topic?] Then
spend some time at a flying field and ask questions. During the school
year, ask your science teacher. You will find it fun to learn a fact
and then see it demonstrated by your own plane after changes to it made
by your own hands. Once you are hooked by this hobby, you will never
stop learning --- not even when you are old.
Books:
(Available from Carstens Publications, Box 700, Newton, NJ 07860)
Carroll, "Learning to Fly R/C Model Airplanes"
Sarpolus, "Building and Flying Control Line Model Aircraft"
Schroder, "How to Build & Fly R/C Gliders"
[Anyone know of a good, simple, theory-and-practice-of-flight book?]
R/C Clubs:
Southern NH Flying Eagles R/C Club
Butch Bason, President 603-487-2281
(members in Wilton, Hudson, Concord and in everywhere in between)
(flying fields in New Boston and in Merrimack)
Ashelot Valley Flyers (in the Keene area)
Bruce Thompson, President 603-352-6175 (this may be the VP's phone)
Hobby shops near Wilton:
Hobbies Plus, 650 Amherst St, Nashua (on 101A near Alexander's)
[There used to be a shop in Peterborough. Where did it go?]
|
501.8 | Too low for power estimate! | TINCUP::OSWALD | TANSTAAFL! | Fri Jun 14 1991 16:40 | 35 |
| Al, nice table, but I think your estimate for power flight is too low.
Plane kit, Aerostar 40 or Eagle 2 $65
Engine, OS .40 FP $65
2 2oz thin CA $12
1 2oz thick CA $ 6
2 rolls Moneycote $22
1 4 channel radio $119
3 Wheels $ 5
1 gas tank $ 5
3'fuel tubing $ 2
$301
1 gallon fuel $10
1 fuel pump of some kind $10
1 starter battery of some kind $15
$35
AMA dues $40
Grand Total $376
When someone asks me I usually say $350 bare minimum for the plane and radio in
flying condition. $400 including minimal field equipment. There are always
more little things to buy for that first plane than I listed. The flight
equipment listed is absolute minimum and isn't really much fun to fly with,
but you can usually borrow stuff from others in the club for a while. Getting
a new OS .40 started without a starter is a real pain.
Also, I know you can get most everything I listed cheaper through mail-order,
but I don't like to get people started that way. Hobby shops, while more
expensive, should offer help that more than outweigh the extra cost.
For what its worth,
Randy
|
501.9 | R/C ornithopter on CNN | ELMAGO::TTOMBAUGH | Janine T., come fly with me! | Tue Nov 19 1991 10:25 | 17 |
| Did anyone see the CNN report last night on the R/C glow powered
ornithopter ?
Two profs at a univ. in N.Y. state ? Didn't catch the location, have
been working on it for 20 years.
It looks like a boxy standard class glider, the engine is out of sight
inside the fuselage, driving the outboard flapping wing sections
through some sort of reciprocating linkage that wasn't deducible
from the pictures . Control is by conventional elev. and rudder.
Mating the high rpm glow engine with the low cyclic rate of the
wings with a durable mechanism must have been a real project in
itself, but the upshot is that this thing really flies well.
CNN usually repeats their science & technology portion of the
news over several days, so be on the lookout for this report.
Terry
|
501.10 | | SA1794::TENEROWICZT | | Tue Nov 19 1991 11:13 | 14 |
| Terry,
I saw a short clip. I thought they were from Onterio? Anyways...
They did go into some discussion about what is different on their
design as opposed to a real bird. In that a rral birds wing shape
changes from out streatched to close to it's body during the wing
beating process.
Their design used a different principle of allowing the wing to
flex a bit. They did a lot of wind tunnel experiments to get the
proper amount of flex to allow the wing to lift and propel the
design.
Tom
|
501.11 | Ornithopter coverage on CNN | ZENDIA::REITH | Jim Reith DTN 226-6102 - LTN2-1/F02 | Mon Nov 25 1991 08:45 | 10 |
| I generally watch CNN's Science and Technology week on sundays. This
weekend they had an expanded segment on the ornithopter. It looked like
an oldtimer freeflight but the wings were VERY flexible and articulated
near the cabin. The flapping was induced by the cabin area moving up
and down and the wing struts supporting the hinged areas. The design
and wind tunnel processes were talked about and it appeared that if the
engine stopped flapping the wings, it would glude quite well. High
aspect wings with a stiff leading edge and purely an up and down
movement with the trailing edge flexing to provide the lift. A very
interesting 10 minute segment.
|
501.12 | RC Flying wing on CNN | ZENDIA::REITH | Jim Reith DTN 226-6102 - LTN2-1/F02 | Fri Dec 20 1991 08:32 | 11 |
| CNN Science & Technology had a brief note last night on a guy (famous
theoretical aerodynamist) that built an RC plane which has a
asymetrical wing. The plane has a straight wing which is swept about 60
degrees to the forward motion. Looked like he was flying it with a JR
X-347 from the switches shown. It was a neat flying wing with two fins
and no fuselage. He feels that this will lead to better flighht
characteristics in trans and hypersonic flight.
CNN has a half hour S&T week in review on sundays at 12:30. It will
probably be expanded there (that was how I saw the ornithopter a couple
of weeks back)
|
501.13 | | SA1794::TENEROWICZT | | Fri Dec 20 1991 09:42 | 8 |
| Jim,
Two years ago, my club ran a building contest using the Balsa USA
Stick kit. One flyer built it stock except for a forward swepted wing
It really flew well. Seemed stable and very controlable at lower
speeds. I'd guess he had about 25 degree of swept in each wing panel.
Tom
|
501.14 | Whole (straight) wing flys at and angle | RGB::MINER | Dan Miner, DTN:225-4015, HLO2-1/J12 (@ H11) | Fri Dec 20 1991 13:35 | 15 |
| This is _NOT_ a forward swept flying wing. It is a flying wing
flying at an angle. Imagine a Gremlin with the right wing flying
ahead of the left wing. In other words, forward sweep on the right
wing, rear sweep on the left wing. Looks weird.
_____
| \
| \ Silent POWER!
_ ___________ _________ | Happy Landings!
| \ | | | | |
|--------|- SANYO + ]-| ASTRO |--| - Dan Miner
|_/ |___________| |_________| |
\ | | " The Earth needs more OZONE,
\ | not Castor Oil!! "
\_____|
|
501.15 | | MPGS::REITH | Jim (MPGS::) Reith - DTN 237-3045 SHR3-1/U32 | Tue Dec 12 1995 08:58 | 10 |
| Another show on Model Airplanes
This morning at 5am on Fox 25 (Boston) I saw National Geographic: On
Assignment and they were showing some guy flying what looked to be an Ugly
Stick with a video camera on it (similar to what Rich Bono has). I only saw
the end of the segment but it looked interesting. They switched between ground
and air video. Don't know if there's a repeat scheduled but it was interesting
while surfing through the coverage of the big fire last night.
Jim
|
501.16 | Up in the morning and out to school... | GAAS::FISHER | BXB2-2/G08 DTN 293-5695 | Tue Dec 12 1995 12:15 | 13 |
| ><<< Note 501.15 by MPGS::REITH "Jim (MPGS::) Reith - DTN 237-3045 SHR3-1/U32" >>>
>
>Another show on Model Airplanes
>
>This morning at 5am on Fox 25 (Boston) I saw National Geographic: On
I can only assume he was up at 5:00AM working on my new Gremlin :-)
Bye --+--
Kay R. Fisher |
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