Sm Tall alk W
hen I was a kid back in “the old- en days”, it seemed like the one thing just about every kid did was build models. Some did cars, others preferred airplanes or ships and boats, and more often than not, when we weren’t dabbling in plastic kits, we built small gliders and rubber powered “flying” models. Later we worked our way up to U- Control, and some eventually got into R/C in their later years. Monday mornings at school we gathered on the playground, each with a couple spare parts from the kit we’d built over the week and played the “guess what kit this piece came from” game. It was great fun, and after awhile we all got pretty good at it.
In my early days of modeling we didn’t have TV, the Internet, I-phones, cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, text messaging, video games, or the plethora of other distractions available to the young people growing up in the “modern era”. Well, we did have TV, but for a number of reasons I spent most of my time grounded from it, usually because I was building something rather than study- ing and my grades usually reflected it. I’m not recommending that kids these
days take that route because education truly is important, especially in the day of run- away technology where just a high school diploma is practically worthless when it comes time to make your way into the mod- ern workplace these days.
Passing the torch
Unfortunately, in the day of the buy-it- and-fly-it sport of R/C, you just don’t find many young people (kids, as it were) getting into modeling anymore. Of course with all of the modern distractions available it’s really
PHOTOGRAPHY: PAT TRITLE
The Airtractoris on the ramp awaiting its next mission over Arkansas dropping fertilizer on the fields. All of the added details were worked up “on the fly” using photographs as reference that truly brings the model to life.
not a big surprise, so when a young modeler does crop up he really will stand out from the crowd. The one of whom I speak is Jaden Shumate. As they say, “the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree”, and in this case, Jaden’s dad, Rodney Shumate, whose work we’ve been keeping an eye on here for a while now, is diligently passing his skills along to his son—and his son has learned those lessons well.
I can definitely relate to the work Jaden is doing because it follows very closely with the paths I took coming up through learning ba- sic modeling skills. Jaden is not only an ac- complished R/C pilot who soloed at age 4, but also has a strong interest in freeflight modeling as well, which is an excellent training ground for learning how to build a good straight R/C model, and then knowing
how to trim it for the best performance once it is committed to flight.
It’s also a bit unusual to find a young mod- eler who’s not only interested in warbirds, but also in Old Timers and scale crop dusters and civil aviation types as well. Jaden has been building models for four or five years now, his favorite being of the rub- ber powered freeflight type, and has recent- ly added an R/C build or two into the mix be- tween his freeflight builds. Oh, did I mention? Jaden is 12 years old! Jaden has built several freeflight kits, in- cluding the Flying Aces Moth. The 24-inch span Moth was built from the Peck Polymers kit. The model is covered with tissue and dope, which is becoming another lost art with all of the far easier to use iron-on Mylar covering materials available today.
by pat tritle You can reach Pat Tritle at 10313 Snowheights NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112 or via e-mail at
patscustommodels@aol.com
Jaden Shumate proudly shows off his finished Peck Polymers kit built Flying Aces Moth (above right). The Mothis one of many freeflight models that he’s built over the last four or five years. Another of Jaden’s more recent works of modeling art is the Aeronca Champ (above center) built from a Guillow’s kit.
60
Though not a great flyer, the kit shows the level of skill that Jaden has worked his way up to from building these basic kits. Also built from a Guillow’s kit, the 21-inch span Fly Boy(above right) has proven to be a good build and a good flyer to boot.
SEPTEMBER 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68