PHOTO: MARK FINEMAN
Noted FAC flyer, Mark Fineman, breathed new life into a Kruse CGS Hawk (above left) freeflight scale design from 1985 and electrified his version of the little scale pusher ultralight. The original model was powered by a Telco CO2
tion of next year’s contest season. For those who were not able to attend, it is a com- pendium of the sights and sounds that makes flying over Muncie’s 1100 acres of mowed grass so special during a full week in late summer.
Homegrown Productions’ “The 2012 Free Flight Model Airplane Championships” is a full 118 minutes of flying—from tip-launch gliders, to high powered FAI ships, to high- climbing rubber jobs, to the goofiness of the annual “Dakota” event—it is eye-candy for the soul of any freeflighter. Some of this year’s special coverage segments include rubber and gas ROW (Rise Off Water) events and Flying Aces Club WWII Mass Launches that are not normal fare for sport flyers—but are certainly entertaining, both for their grace and the ensuing carnage. “The 2012 Free Flight Model Airplane Championships” DVD is available directly from Alan for $24, which includes shipping and handling. The address you will need is Alan Abriss, 94-20 66th Avenue, Suite 1G, Rego Park, NY 11374. Those wanting to use a credit card should go to http://www.
homegrowntv.com for details.
An updated design
Earlier this year, I was contacted by well- known FAC flyer and designer, Mark Fine- man, about my CGS Hawk ultralight scale freeflight power design I had published in Model Aviation magazine back in 1985 or thereabouts. The model was based on Chuck Slusarczyk’s full-scale ultralight, which was a cutting edge and a very popular design of the ultralight movement at that time. Mark indicated he would like to secure documentation on the plane and build it us- ing one of today’s micro-electric motors. Chuck had graciously provided photo and 3- view documentation to me at that time, so I was more than happy to honor Mark’s re- quest, as well as being quite frankly amazed that I could find the stuff, now almost 30 years and three moves later!
The model is a pusher airplane, and the original model was powered by a Telco CO2 motor of the time. CO2
motors, despite their
shortcomings, were perfect in terms of adaptability, because they would run which - ever way you flipped the prop. Unfortunate- ly, the Telco let me down at a crucial time at the Westover Nats and spent most of its time spitting frost out of the cylinder ports due to the much higher humidity of the East Coast. I was only able to eke out a third
FLYING MODELS
PHOTO: RONNIE GOSLIN
engine. The CGS Hawkwas a full-scale ultralight of modeler Chuck Slusarczyk and was a popular ship in the 1980s. Mark’s Hawk(above right) has been very successful and has put in many flights since the electric conversion.
place in AMA Scale due to the Telco’s short- comings, and always felt the design was bet- ter than that. Mark was able to finish his CGS Hawk in time for the big Wawayanda contest in New York in mid-October, and was kind enough to send a couple of photos of the plane at the contest. Mark says, “Of course, as a high wing cabin job it has no (FAC) bonus points to speak of, and could never be competitive to the other power models, which included several twins. Still, it flew nicely and re- ceived lots of compliments.” Mark plans on stepping up the power with a different bat- tery combination in the near future to in- crease the duration. Although it didn’t reach the winner’s circle, Mark, it pleased me im- mensely to see it in the air again after three decades. Thanks for sharing!
A holiday gift for all In the same spirit that Alan Abriss cap-
tures the sights and sounds of the AMA Free Flight Nats, Tom Hallman has once again put his latest “Geneseo Journal-2012” on- line for all of us to share the experiences of the latest Flying Aces Club (FAC) Nationals held in Geneseo, NY this past July. The journey to the largest gathering of stick- and-tissue freeflight scale airplanes in the world, the uncertainty of testing and trim- ming new airplanes, and the joy of competi- tion with like-minded friends are all part of Tom’s observations, still photos, videos, and selected background music that make the journey such a delight.
As Tom says, “What started as a playback of our annual gathering at Geneseo, ended
as a labor of love—a tribute to my Dad and his passion for flight.” We are pleased to fea- ture a photo of Tom’s father, Donald Hall- man who is now 91 years of age and holding Tom’s Pulqui FAC entry. The joy that he shows in his face is echoed in Tom’s celebra- tion of this annual event—and his father’s influence on him.
To access “Geneseo Journal-2012” go to Google and type in the title. You will be tak- en to YouTube and provided a link,
http://hallmanstudio.com/geneseo2012 which will expand to an enriching and per- sonal narrative of this year’s FAC Nats.
The utilitarian nature of freeflight I’m always amazed at the way freeflight modelers are able to adapt and combine non- congruent objects into useful tools. We’ll close out this month’s column with just such an apparatus by reader Fred Burman. The photo Fred sent best illustrates his ingenuity. He salvaged a counter from an old cassette recorder and attached it to his hand drill rubber winder. The counter is driven by a belt (rubber band?) which goes around the drill chuck and a pulley attached to the counter. Fred says the trick was to size the pulley to make the counter read the number of turns correctly. Thanks, Fred! Each month I am faced with the same task, in that the word count needs to fit the column space, and we have come to that pre- cise intersection at this time. May you and yours enjoy the best of the Holiday Season and look forward to a peaceful and prosper- ous New Year. We’ll look forward to getting back together in January, 2013!
PHOTOS: FRED BURMAN
Fred Burman used his innate freeflighter’s ingenuity to mate a counter from an old cassette recorder to his hand drill rubber winder, linked together by a rubber band drive belt and a specially-sized pulley.
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