AirMail You can reach FMat 108 Phil Hardin Rd., Newton, NJ 07860, or via e-mail at
maureenf@flying-models.com
Spinning in his grave As you have probably heard from many
others, page 46 of the October 2011 issue shows a picture of a Falcon 56 and suggests that it graced many a Sig ad. Carl Goldberg spins in his grave.
NED WATTS via e-mail
What can I say except major brain fade.
When I was proofing the issue I remember saying that wasn’t right and then proceeded to forget about doing anything about it. Guess we’ll have to own up to the goof in the next issue we do. By the way, the e-mails about this goof are rolling in! –Editor
We knew that! The October issue was great as usual with
lots of good reading in all columns. I espe- cially enjoyed the coverage and photos of the Toledo Weak Signal Show. The caption for Gerry Armstrong’s Falcon 56 however said the model would have graced a Sig adver- tisement, but the Falcon 56 was produced by Goldberg Models. Seeing the vintage R/C models makes me want to get my DeBolt Cruiser kit out and start building! TED KAFER
Campbell, CA
Good website Recently I asked for help in locating a Walt Mooney design, and have a website that will be of great interest to all the freeflight fans. The site is as follows:
http://web.mac.com/ tectonite/iWeb/Site 5/
Mooney.html. Thanks for your help.
HARRY L KEEL, JR. via e-mail
A-4 backstory This is just some more non technical info regarding the A-4 Skyhawk [see Air Mail, August 2011]. I hired into Douglas at the be- ginning of the A-4 program and was involved with the A-4 from the first plane through the last delivery. It started at the El Segundo plant and later moved to Long Beach. We were flying from LAX and as commercial avi- ation was expanding the airport manage- ment preferred that we moved our flight pro- gram somewhere else. That somewhere else became Palmdale. A special transport trail- er was designed to hold the fuselage, wing and stabilizer which was then trucked to Palmdale for assembly and testing. The di- rector of manufacturing for the A-4 was a man named Norm Heath so the trailer full of parts was immediately dubbed a “Heathkit”! The A-4 mission was to drop an atom bomb
and get out. It was a rather small order and minimum funds were available for tooling. The plane proved so versatile that the Navy added an autopilot, radar and a loft bombing system. Then they ordered more planes and again more planes but no funds for tooling and this “Minimal tooling “approach dogged production for the life of the program. The Navy kept adding equipment and opera-
FLYING MODELS
tional features until there was just no more places to install the “Black Boxes” so an avionics pod was added on top of the aft fuse- lage. The TA-4 trainer was added to the mix. I am 84 now and my memory may not be as accurate as it was but I think the first A-4 gross weight was 17,000 pounds. In the end the Navy raised it to 24,000 pounds which required a beefed up landing gear. Remem- ber this was a carrier airplane and also the only carrier jet without a folding wing. Every A-4 pilot I have talked to had fond memories of their A-4 pilot time because it was a great airplane and fun to fly. I have a Sonex “homebuilt” and I think of it as my civilian version of the A4.
BILL HEBESTREIT via e-mail
More confident about e-C/L Just wanted to thank you for the article
by Dennis Adamisin on e-C/L. I've been an IC C/L builder/flyer for over 50 years and a subscriber for many years. Lately I've been considering e-C/L but the differences have had me overwhelmed. I'm not very technical with electronics. I've read a few articles on e-C/L planes by other authors but still came away unsure of what was what. I didn't feel that I could go out and find the right items to build a successful e-C/L model. After reading Dennis Adamisin's insight-
ful article I now feel much more confident that I could get into e-C/L. He explained things in a way that this old IC head could understand by relating the components to the ones I'm familiar with. All the advan- tages of the e-C/L planes are coming to mind, especially the nearby places to fly. Now I could fly much more often. I look forward to the next article and hope
there will be a construction article for a .35 sized model with all the details explained the way Dennis has done in this first in- stallment. Thanks Dennis, thanks Frank. GREY HAYS Memphis, TN
Fixing an “oops” It seems there is always an oops. The link
to B&B Hobbies in the Option 55 article (FM November 2011) is incorrect. The intended contact is their e-mail address bbhobbies @
qwestoffice.net.
JIM HILLER Spokane, WA
Getting the name straight I was just reading the FAC Outdoor Champs article and noticed on page 65 my buddy, Charlie Sauter, has been incorrectly identified as Charlie Sander. Just thought I’d bring it to your attention. That being said, it was an excellent article. I am so glad that you continue to cover freeflight events around the country and carry advertising for a lot of great resources I’d never hear about otherwise. Keep up the great work! ERIC SPECHT
Dayton OH 17
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