F/FSport A
Miles to go...
Art Holtzman is a prolific builder, who’s not afraid of a complex subject. I first ran across him on the Small Flying Arts website many moons ago, where he was posting pic- tures of his Miles M.39b Libellula build—an unusual twin tandem-wing prototype design circa WWII. This is a rarely-modeled air- plane that I was rather keen on at the time, and I peppered him with questions about it, availability of his plans, etc. To my frank amazement and utter dismay, he told me his plans were sketchy at best, practically noth- ing better than back-of-napkin doodles, and that he had figured a lot of it out on the fly— building “in the air” as some might say. Having spent a good deal of time at that point trying to draw up my own detailed plans for the same bird—and having never managed to break balsa on the project, par- alyzed by over-planning and indecisions—I was reminded once again that the perfect is often the enemy of the good. Sometimes you just have to get going to get somewhere. I admired Art’s direct approach, while rec- ognizing it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. He’s never a bull in the china shop, mind you, but he seemed clearly more interested in getting to the finished product than stressing out over the process, and was not going to let a few complicated angles and hard-to-foresee structures get in the way of his vision, which was a rubber-power Miles M.39b sharking through the sky.
If that meant a bit of cutting, refitting, and structural messing-about to get things right in the end, then so be it. And like any- thing, the more you practice something, the better you get at it. It was clear to me Art had some serious building chops. Did it fly? Huh, you know, I never did get a good flight report.
In any event, I was reminded of that long- ago exchange when he began sending me pictures of his latest project, a jumbo Miles M.5 Sparrowhawk built from Clive Gam- ble’s original plan. Compared to the Libellu- la, in layout the Sparrowhawk is strictly conventional, but the structure...ah, the
structure...it’s what we call “Reesian” in the Flying Aces Club.
A relatively new addition to the English dictionary, the adjective “Reesian” is used to describe a structure that is fine but strong, rigid where it’s necessary but flexible where it’s not; apparently complicated (but really not so much); and constructed with light- ness foremost in mind. It’s a very carefully considered design style, perfected by the late, great Dave Rees, in honor of whom the word is coined.
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by david mitchell You can reach David Mitchellat 230 Walnut St. NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20012, or via e-mail at
davedge@me.com
s I write this, the April issue of FM should have settled into everyone’s hands. I’ve received a number of positive comments,
which are much appreciated. Thanks, every- one! Send me pictures of your latest projects, tips and tricks and I will work to get them into the column.
PHOTOGRAPHY: ART HOLTZMAN
There are always plenty of leftover foam carryout boxes around Art Holtzman’s house, which he puts to good use as “inner bulkheads”. He claims to be too ham-fisted to be able to place cross ties into a pair of frames pinned to a board, and that this system allows him to build “in the air”.
Clive’s Sparrowhawk design is a beautiful example of the form, with everything planned and engineered to the last gram. As I considered Art Holtzman on the one hand, and Dave Rees on the other, channeled through Clive Gamble, I could only be amazed at the greatness of our hobby, that it could bring such different people together in a common passion.
Art expressed some doubt as to his ability to pull off the delicate construction at the be- ginning of the project, but as you will see from the photos his concern was unfounded. And as he was so kind as to document his progress, I thought I would share some of it with you all as a testament to what you can do if you only give it a shot!
First off, as you will know by now, I am a sucker for a good building tip. If I have painted Art as a higgledy-piggledy builder, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it may well be that those folks who are practiced in the art of “as you go” building are more devoted to their jigs, tricks and tools than those of us who rely on a well- drafted plan to keep us square.
Art shows in his elegant fuselage photo his method for keeping a fuselage trued up. A series of lightweight template bulkheads cut out of foam carry-out containers and a bit of low-tack painter’s tape provide every- thing you need to forge ahead with confi- dence. Cheap, flexible, easy to cut, and effec- tive; sounds like a winner in my book. Let’s move on to the wing, which features a fairly light leading and trailing edge, lam-
inated tip, and sliced ribs sandwiching a pair of diagonally trussed spars. If there is anything that consistently identifies a “Reesian” design, it’s surely this kind of wing construction. In my experience it is also the first place that folks will begin to abandon a Dave Rees plan, substituting the more traditional sheet ribs with top and/or bottom spars let into the ribs.
That’s a pity! O my brothers, O my sisters,
I implore thee: at least once in your all-too- brief modeling lives—who among us has not sighed “so many models, so little time”— give this kind of structure a go. You may not like it. You may find it impossibly fiddly. But you will learn from it. And if you suc- ceed in pulling it off—what do you have to lose?—you will be amazed at its strength, stiffness and light weight.
Art’s pictures are worth a thousand words; I’m going to paraphrase his own com- ments in the captions, but I would like to draw your attention to a couple of things. First off, note the pins. These excellent tools are available from A2Z Corporation
http://www.a2zcorp.us in their “Model Sup- plies” section, and are considerably sharper and finer than common dressmakers pins. Not an essential for building, but a real pleasure to use nonetheless. Go ahead, treat yourself.
Second, note that Art has driven his pins through some peculiar material that he uses to hold his structures tight to the plan. “What is it?”, I asked. “Silicone baffle seal”, replied Art nonchalantly, as if everyone
JUNE 2013
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