Angus Says – Stealth Squadron FAC#49

A Tribute to Ed Novak

A New Tribute Event for all-sheet balsa sport flyers –

Stay Tuned for More!

Click to Enlarge Images

Ed Novak at White’s Farm (Pinkham Field) in Durham, CT in 1979

NRE Tribute Event Rules (click to view larger)

Commando from the 1943 Air Trails magazine Victory Squadron. Original model is to left; new model by clubster Tom N. at right.

The Spirit of the FAC

This post is dedicated to Ed Novak, an original member of the modern Flying Aces Club (FAC), and a long-time friend. Ed passed on earlier this summer at his home in CT.

But First….Upcoming Flying Meets!

With the FAC Nationals in Geneseo, NY in the rear window, the local New England flying meet schedule is heating up. Hope to see you at our August meets – click the links below for the details.

Aug 11 – Durham, CT

Aug 24 – Amesbury, MA

The Modern Flying Aces Club – Early Years

In the mid-late 1960’s a small group of free flight modelers in southern CT began flying rubber-powered scale and sport models in the style of the pre-WW2 era Flying Aces magazine and the original Flying Aces Club. The emphasis was on fun as characterized by the adventures and tongue in cheek humor of that fictional Flying Aces hero, Phineas Pinkham. Building and flying unique and unconventional models was encouraged, and a sometimes schmaltzy newsletter was started. The spirit caught on, the little club grew to national status, and the modern Flying Aces Club (FAC) was born. Eddie Novak was a key member of that early, wacky and creative crew of flyers.

In fact, Ed was perhaps the first FAC junior flyer not related to the club founders Dave Stott and Bob Thompson. His parents would drive him to the first FAC meets at Pinkham Field in Durham, CT. Yes, that Pinkham Field is the same Whites Farm field that we fly at in Durham, CT today!

The Spirit of the FAC!

Ed was a relentless advocate for the Spirit of those early wacky and adventuresome Flying Aces. Flying model competition was important and as this aspect of the FAC grew, Ed was there to remind us there was more to our Flying Aces Club – Fun!

To celebrate this Spirit and Eddie’s influence over the years, the Pinkham Field Irregulars (as that group of local flyers is known) have come up with a new Ed Novak Tribute Event. This is a fun celebration of the simple all-sheet balsa sport models popularized in WW2 era model magazines.

Rules for the Tribute Event are presented HERE. A number of construction Plans and Articles for these models will be made available for download (free) from this website soon.

The Louis Garami “Commando” published in a 1943 issue of Air Trails is one of these Tribute models. At the top of this post, we’re happy to share a photo of Louis’ original model and one recently built from his plans by clubster Tom N.

We’ll let you know when the downloads are available on our club website here. Stay tuned and keep that building board at the ready!

Make a Q-Tip Indoor Prop!

ALERT: March 3 Glastonbury date will be a FULL DAY contest & flying session!

Feb 4 Contest Results in this post.

click images to view larger

Components of the Halley prop. 6 in. dia. Ikara prop shown for comparison.

A Bristol Brownie Peanut Scale Model fitted with a Halley prop described in the featured article.

Brownie’s prop & noseblock close up. Note brass tube bushing and latch free wheeler

Ray’s outstanding Voisin Hydro Peanut Scale model uses an efficient paddle-bladed prop.

Kash builds a Crossbow Embryo model at the Feb 5 Club Mtg at the Georgetown Public Library

Steve E’s unique Kyushu Shinden Canard NoCal at the Feb 4 Georgetown meet. Note the lightweight indoor style “pusher” propeller.

I Need a Better Prop!

OK, before we get into how to make that better prop, let’s share some important updates.

FIRST: The Sunday March 3 Glastonbury H.S. indoor event will be a Full Day 8am-5pm Contest and Flying Session . This is a make-up for the cancelled January full day session. Remember, there is no February Glastonbury indoor flying session, so be sure to make the March 3 Full Day session. Hooray, and thanks to John K for setting this up!

SECOND: Results from the Feb 4 Georgetown, MA meet are below:

2/4 FAC Kanone Report – Sheet 1

2/4 FAC Kanone Report – Sheet 2

Make a Lightweight Indoor Prop

At the Glastonbury, CT high school indoor sessions, you may have noticed a tall gent flying some incredibly small (isn’t that always the way), beautiful and well-behaved models.

Well, on very small and light models such as those that clubster Doug Halley flies, the right prop is critical. A commercial one-piece plastic prop (eg Peck, North Pacific, etc.) can sometimes be just too heavy, or maybe a different pitch is needed. Our Stealthy roving reporter caught up with Doug and asked for more info on the unique adjustable paddle-bladed props on his models.

Doug came through with a detailed article outlining how to make his “Q-Tip Prop” and where to get the components used to build it. Tom N built a Q-Tip prop for his Peanut Scale Bristol Brownie and can attest to its ease of construction. The Brownie won a Peanut Scale event outdoors at a recent FAC Nationals with this prop.

Paddle-bladed props like this work great on lightweight models such as the super cool Kyushu Shinden that Steve E was flying at the Feb 4 Georgetown indoor meet. Be aware, however, that these props are not “legal” for some competitive events – Dime Scale, Chameleon One-Design, for example – they’re too good!

Many thanks to Doug H for sharing his excellent lightweight indoor propeller design with us. And better yet, how to make it and set the pitch!

How to Make a Q-Tip Prop

1/7/2024 Glastonbury Meet Cancelled!

Legendary model magazine editor Bill Winter shares his perspective. Read Now

Click to Enlarge Images

Bill Winter – pioneer rubber scale modeler and long-time editor of American Aircraft Modeler magazine.

Clubster Matt K. launches his 54in Comet Taylorcraft at Waywayanda, NY.

Chris M. readies his Whitehead pioneer scale model. It flies!

A 50in Waco biplane soars at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA. Built from a pre-war Megow Models plan.

A Nieuport 17 peanut scale model climbs for the gym rafters. Built from a 1930s vintage Peerless Models plan.

1/7 Glastonbury Meet Cancelled

Due to SNOW forecast.

Don’t miss the Jan 14 Georgetown Indoor Flying!

Sunday January 7, 2024 – CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER!

Sunday January 14, 2024 – Stealth Squadron Winter Meet (Georgetown MA)

Why Free Flight Rubber Scale?

When asked if he flew “those remote control models”, Free Flight Rubber World Champ, Bob Hatschek replied:
“No. The ones I fly are much more advanced. They’re fully automatic.”

Great response Bob, but what about those Rubber Scale Models – why make the effort?

Way back in April 1969, Bill Winter -legendary 1930’s rubber scale modeler and long-time editor of several international model airplane magazines – shared his perspective. His editorial is as relevant today as it was 50yrs ago.

Check out Mr. Winter’s editorial below and share your thoughts via the Comments to this post.

Straight & Level, AAM April 1969

See you in the gym in early January skysters!

Build a Towline Glider for the August & September Amesbury meets!

Download free full-size plan for the Megow Primary Glider HERE!

Click to Enlarge Images

Multiple tow hooks for different towing conditions

Tow hook mount is simple and works great!

Underside view of the Megow Primary Glider model. Thread rigging is functional.

Megow Primary Glider model by Peter Kaiteris FAC.

Towline gliders are Fun!

The gang had a blast flying FAC Scale Gliders at the recent FAC Non-Nats in Geneseo NY. So much so that our local flyers convinced skyboss Angus to add the event to the August 26 and September 9 meets at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury.

What, you don’t have a Scale Glider? No problem. The simple, quick to build and great flying Megow Primary Glider plan is available for download free below. The file prints on an 11×17 sheet of paper. Think of this as a super simple dime scale model. It doesn’t have a propeller or noseblock and the fuselage is a simple flat frame. Sure, you can easily make one in time for the late August Woodsom Farm meet!

Building Tips

We’re including several pics of clubster Pete K’s Megow Primary model to help get the juices flowing. Look closely and you’ll see a few simple mods Peter made to his Primary.

Build the model directly off the plan. Use stiff 1/8 square balsa for the upper longeron that the wing sits on. This can be a weak point. Peter added thin card stock gussets at the fuselage upright joints to make it even more robust. Don’t forget to add the thread flying & landing wires per the plan after the model is covered and assembled. This rigging is functional and keeps the model from twisting while going up on the towline. Consider reinforcing the rigging points on the wing with tissue discs.

Towline & Tow Hooks

The towline is lightweight braided fishing line attached to a simple hand winch. The club will provide winches for flyers to use at the August and September meets along with some easy training on how to tow your model to altitude. It’s fun!
The towline has a ring on the end that slips onto the wire tow hook on your glider. Pete mounted three tow hooks on his Primary to make it easier to tow the model in different wind conditions.

That’s it skyster! Download the plan now (below) and get to the building board so you can join in the fun at the upcoming meets. Join the club Zoom meetings, or use the Contact Us form if you have any questions with the build.

Download Megow Primary Glider full size construction plan

Megow Primary Glider

1 file(s) 948.09 KB

Download

Mechanics of the Leading Edge

Indoor flying: Glastonbury CT on March 5 , Georgetown MA on March 12.

Be there!

click images to view larger

A flyer gasps as his model approaches the basket!

Drat my Leading Edge busted!

We recently learned about Young’s Modulus and failure stress
for balsa as a function of density (Material Properties of Balsa for FAC Modelers).

And now our engineer-author William S. is back with a follow up; Mechanics of the Leading Edge. William tells us he took the deep dive into all this technology to solve the age old indoor flyers question “what leading edge won’t break when my plane hits a basketball hoop?“

And to think some of us see these stick and tissue models as just simple toys! Ah yes, to the uninitiated perhaps…

Read the latest article now

Mechanics of the Leading Edge

High Performance Indoor Scale Model Comparison

Indoor Contests: January 8 in Glastonbury, CT & January 15 in Georgetown MA

Click to Enlarge Images

Key Specifications for J Daly Indoor Flying Scale Models

Lessons from the Glastonbury Gym

Do you remember when we used to fly free flight rubber models in the MIT Dupont Gym in Cambridge MA? Perhaps you flew there with us.

One of the top flyers there, Jim D., built a couple of flying scale models from the popular Golden Age Reproductions kits and plans. One was the 25″ wingspan Scientific Curtiss Robin and the other was the Megow 20″ span Caudron C460 Racer. They were fabulous flyers with flight times of 80sec to 2min duration indoors.

Being an engineer, Jim documented the key specifications for his models – weights, wing area, motor dimensions, etc. He also charted the empirical results from a number of flights on each model in the Glastonbury high school gym. Yes, this is the same gym we’ll be flying in on January 8, 2023!

In his analysis (click link below), Jim compares the performance of the two models and draws some insightful conclusions. He comments on high wing vs. low wing configuration, the effects of drag and wing undercamber among other things.

There’s lots of great information in this brief analysis for both experienced and newer modelers. If you can replicate Jim’s specifications, you’ll be very competitive in indoor meets like the ones coming up in January 2023. Good luck skyster!

Read performance Comparison Now

Season’s Greetings!

Giving Thanks!

In appreciation

click images to view larger

George Nason (foreground) and Richard Zapf – Two Happy Guys! **Scroll to Read Tribute**

Guillows 18in Bird Dog – the indoor one design

A Class Act – happy graduates from the 2022 Roudenbush Model Building Class ready to test fly their new models.

To Friends Old and New

Our simple hobby is really all about the people. You already knew that, right? We have a common love of things that fly.
Our friendships are long lasting. We keep and sometimes lose old friends, but then we make new ones. It is nature’s way.

Let’s start with the new. Clubster Steve E. reports that graduates of his latest Model Airplane Class at the Roudenbush in Westford, MA successfully flew their new Tomahawk Embryo models at the Texas Road field. The smiling cadets in our heading photo are (L-R) Alan M, Rob L, Bill B and David A. Way to go gang, and thanks Steve for leading the class. We look forward to seeing our new friends and their models at our meets.

Now for some sad news. We recently lost longtime clubster and pal George Nason to Parkinsons disease. George was a creative soul, quick with a smile and a good word – a fixture at our flying meets and club meetings. Richard Z shares stories from his many years of close friendship with George, his modeling mentor.
Click the link below to read his tribute.

Read “Two Happy Guys” Now

Happy Thanksgiving skysters!

Stay tuned to this site for info on the Guillows Bird Dog one design for the upcoming indoor season.

Nov 5 Woodsom Meet Results & Pics

Georgetown Indoor Flying & Contest Dates added to Calendar
(View Flyer for Events)

click images to view larger

Tristan & Sam ready the BE2e for WW1 combat

William’s Laird fuselage suffered some wind damage while on the stooge

Clive ready to launch his GB2 twin flying boat into the wind. Flew great

Steve put in some great flights with his Condor

Bill launches his new Tomahawk Embryo into the Autumn sky

A Perfect (Windy) Day!

Results Page 1

Results Page 2

Wow, near 70 degree temps on a November day in New England with blue skies! A perfect day for flying free flight rubber models – well, except for the wind. Yep, it blew 12-15mph most of the day for our outdoor season close meet at Woodsom Farm in Amesbury, MA.

Still, many outstanding flights were made. Flyers had to wind their motors carefully lest they fly their models off even the big green fields of Woodsom Farm. Several models were lost with at least one OOS (out of sight) flight into a cloud. The mass launch events were hotly contested with several very close and unexpected finishes.

Carlisle ace George S. had a great contest with three wins for the hat trick. Son William S. was not so lucky, his Tomahawk Embryo stomped by a stick & tissue loving dog and his beautiful Laird Solution racer smashed by a Hungly gust while on the winding stooge. Oh, the carnage! All wail!

Steve E continued his winning ways in Pinkham Stick with his high flying Goose canard and copped a second Kanone with his Mad Maxine Embryo Endurance model. Clive G.’s Debut was hot on Maxine’s heels, but made a bee line downwind for the tree line at the hill and was lost on its first official flight. Oh Hung, hath thee no mercy??

Clive settled the score somewhat with a win in the Golden Age Civil event.

Sam and young Tristan trekked to the meet and flew several events. No Kanones (first place finishes) at this meet, but they had big fun flying with the gang and that’s really what it’s all about.

There were lots more flyers and models to see, but we’re running out of room here. Our roving photog did capture some of the action and we’re happy to share it below.

Oh, one more thing. The Georgetown indoor dates have been set. Check the Calendar and the flyer at the top of this post. Get building and see you on the flightline skyster!

October 8 Results & Indoor Season Kickoff

Outdoor season finale at Woodsom Farm is Saturday Nov. 5
(View Flyer)

click images to view larger

Tons of Flying Fun!

Whew, there’s so much going in our local free flight model airplane clubs that it’s tough to keep up!

Let’s do a quick summary. First, despite a fair amount of wind at Woodsom Farm for the October 8 contest, there was a lot of good flying (and chasing). A number of flights flew off the field and into the rough, but fortunately most of these were found and retrieved. The Embryo Endurance event was hotly contested and sadly Steve E.’s Corvette was lost after putting in one of its best flights ever. All wail! Rumor has it Steve is already building a new and better Corvette.

We have one more outdoor meet at Woodsom on November 5 and the outdoor season finale at Whites Farm in Durham, CT is on November 13. We’re betting on good weather for these meets.

Next, we have real reason to celebrate – after two missed seasons due to Covid, we’ll be flying again in the Glastonbury H.S. gym (CT) this coming indoor season. The first flying session is this coming Sunday Oct. 23! See all of the flying dates on the official flyer at the top of this post, or on the Calendar page of this website.

On top of all this, we’ll be flying a full schedule in the Penn Brook school in Georgetown, MA this indoor season as well. Flying there will begin in January 2023 and run through April. Look for dates and flyers to be posted to the Calendar page soon.

On October 29, the Stealth Squadroneers will gather at Roma’s restaurant in Haverhill, MA to celebrate the 100th birthday of Golden Age Reproductions honcho and FAC Hall of Famer, Jim Fiorello. Hit us up via the Contact Us form on the site and we’ll share the details. We’d love to see you there!

Finally, keep your eyes peeled for more info, tips, etc on the one-design models for the indoor season. Clubsters will be building the Nallen Potez 34 dimer and the Guillow’s Bird Dog. Yessir, the balsa chips will be flying as the weather cools here in New England.

See you on the flightline skyster!