In my never ending effort to clean up and clear out my basement since I retired last year, I have gotten to the project of going through my magazine collection and weeding out extras and mags not absolutely necessary to my collection. This job is not without it's hazards such as paper cuts from flipping the pages, and another one is just getting lost in flipping through them and rediscovering articles and designs and contest coverages that you had forgotten about. This is how we did things and learned things back in the old days, kiddies!! You read the mags, pick up a technical hint or some mention of a solution to a problem that you have had, then go out to the field and try it out! You had to make the decision about it and think for yourself! No going on line and asking the "Hey, has anybody tried this?" or " My engine keeps quitting, what do I do now?" You could read the latest news and contest results anywhere you wanted and any time you wanted! No need to worry about viruses, pop up ads for Russian chicks, losing the wi-fi signal, or even a power outage as long as you had a flash light! I still won't take my lap top or phone into the throne room!!
I have been going through a short stack and discovered two mags and articles that would be well served to be on any new modeler's desk or table. One is the July 1973 American Aircraft Modeler and is one of their "For The Tenderfoot " series for beginners. It an article titled "Getting Started in Aerobatics" and is written by our own Larry Renger. It covers all the basics of learning how to fly, some tuning of engines, basic maneuvers, and it has a neat chart that matches up engines with models that they work well with. Everything is covered from the BabyBee .049 to the Fox , Max-S and Stallion .35s. It tells you model specs, props to use, and line sizes and lengths and fuel capacities. Almost all the planes and engines have been discussed here on the forums, and it's all in one , nice neat article with photos an drawings with descriptions. I remember reading this in my early days. I wonder if Larry remembers writing it !!
The next is a bit more modern. It's the February 1997 Model Aviation, and it's a construction article for a profile model called "The Next Step", and is by another old friend, the late Lucky Pyatt. I have just glanced at this one, but hey, Lucky designed it and wrote it, so it is probably just what some of you need! If you are not familiar with the name, but have read about or used "lucky boxes" on a model, the author is the man that they were named after. It would be a great follow up to what a person may learn in the first article. It's a nice, sleek looking model, and would be a good first scratch built model for some one that wants to venture away from kits for the first time. This one you can check out in the AMA archives if you are an AMA member. I'm no good at all the computer jazz to post pictures and scans and such, but if any one wants a picture of the article pages, I can do that and email those to you. Not quite the same as holding that old mag in your hands while relaxing on the couch, but it will have to do!
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
Topic: I Love 'Dem Old Magazines (Read 1124 times)