The wit and wisdom of Bill Cavanaugh |
arf arf arf
Long ago there was a comic strip called Little Orphan Annie. Annie had big ellipsoid eyeballs and a sand-colored dog named Sandy. Sandy was a very intelligent animal who frequently got Annie out of trouble by dint of his exceptional canine insight. However, Sandy, as smart as he was, had a very limited vocabulary. All he could say was ARF! Sandy must have set the standard for comic strip dogs, since ARF is what they say to this day (see Cathy's dogs in her March 7, 2001 strip). In retrospect, Sandy - in addition to all his other virtues - may have been clairvoyant. Because, let's face it, ARF is here, and it has arrived with a vengeance.
At the recent WRAMS show, ARFs were everywhere. Virtually every booth had them hanging for all to see and admire. Kit planes were definitely in the minority. Of course you could still buy antique-type kits, mostly rubber-powered, but this is a niche in the hobby.
Almost-ready-to-fly has been around for a long time. Lanier had them 25 years ago. But in those days, almost nobody would be found dead with an ARF. Building your own plane was what everybody did; there just never seemed to be a choice in the matter. All the best designs were in kit form. The few ARFs that were available were considered inferior and no self-respecting modeler would even think of using plastic. The very word was synonymous with cheap.
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More Soar Stuff
At the BASS awards banquet last December, I gave a little talk about modeler's stuff which was primarily an appeal to our spouses to be tolerant of that which is important to us, even though it competes for space in the house. Since then I have received a number of comments about this talk, which indicates to me that I touched a nerve here and there. So herewith I will expand on this vital subject and get more into the highly technical aspects of stuff.
Stuff can be broken down into several categories. These categories are
(a) Essential Stuff
(b) Good Stuff
(c) Stuff that has Value for Sale or Trade
(d) Stuff that is Obsolete and Unneeded
(or category (c) stuff that has been around for at least five years)
We will analyze each category in turn.
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The Invincible Part 2
Our narrative thus far: Willie Watson, a middle-of-the-pack competitor suddenly started winning every contest he entered. His sailplane the Invincible with a bulbous nose, four trailing edge control surfaces and a strange polka dot color scheme, was always guarded by a family member and was an object of much curiosity among contest competitors. Sam, Joe and Bill hatched a scheme to get a closer look at the Invincible. They watched until Willie retired to the woods to commune with nature and his daughter who was guarding the sailplane went into the van. Sam picked up the sailplane and took it to a prearranged spot where Joe and Bill were waiting. With some difficulty they removed the hatch and looked inside the fuselage .......
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Ode to Balsa
BALSA WOOD. I have had a long-time love affair with it. It brings back modeling memories dating to the time I started building stick and tissue models when I was a teenager. I love to work with balsa, to cut it and sand it and admire my workmanship. I find myself running my hand over it, touching it,
caressing it. A finely sanded piece of balsa is sensuous, with its own particular feel and smell. I must confess that, like a philandering lover, I also love all kinds of wood. Oak, walnut, maple, cedar, teak, mahogany, pine, spruce and, yes, even obechi. But my true love is balsa.
No other wood has the incredible variety and versatility of balsa. From mushy soft to bone hard, from flexible enough to form tubes and rings to stiff and
super strong, depending on the part and cut of the log: straight grain, cross grain or quarter grain. Each has its own characteristics of strength and flexibility.
We older guys have all heard the stories about how balsa became scarce during WWII because shipbuilders were using enormous quantities of it to insulate Liberty ships. But do you know that much of it was used to build full scale WWII fighters? What fighters you ask. How about the famed DeHavilland Mosquito? The following quotation is from FLYING magazine:
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Madness on the Precipice
What is in last place on your list of favorite R/C sailplane hobby things? Mine is a mid-air. This event can spoil your day, for sure. So what do you think of pilots who deliberately try to have mid-airs? Crazy, wouldn't you say? Well I finally visited Chickies Rock, and that's just what they do there. It's called "combat," and they try to knock each other out of the sky. It's not quite as loony as it sounds, however, because they fly little slope soarers that are practically indestructible. They are made of tough foam taped together with glass strapping tape; they literally bounce when they crash. Of the dozens of crash landings I witnessed, not one was damaged enough so that it could not be picked up and flown again.
Chickies Rock is a Pennsylvania state park just East of the Susquehanna river off of Rt 30. Cross the bridge, exit immediately onto 441 North, go about half way up the mountain maybe less that a half mile and turn left when you see the sign. It is about one hour from the intersection of the Baltimore beltway and 1-83 North.
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The Invincible Part 1
Author's Note: Names in the following narrative have been changed for obvious reasons.
This story can now be told. For reasons that you will understand later, it could not be told before now.
Do you remember a few years ago, the big winner on the contest circuit was Willie Watson? Willie won every contest he entered. He was simply amazing. He could find lift when no one - and I mean no one - else could find the slightest bit of up. He maxed consistently and never got less than 99 on a landing. The strange thing about Willie was that up until that winning year, he was a mediocre flyer, at best. He generally could do no better than the middle of the pack, though he had been flying for years. When he started to win, he was jocularity known as Willie Who? By the end of the season, his name was the best known name in the soaring community.
The top flyers naturally wondered how Willie suddenly got so proficient. Willie's explanation was that he had come up with this great original design sailplane that was far superior to all currently flying sailplanes. Beyond that, he was totally secretive.
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Cold Outside? ... Fly Indoors.