JUST “PLANE” CRAZY
When Tim
and I were in the 7th grade, we got interested in fooling around
with flying model airplanes. This was due to the influence of one of our
classmates, Dan J., and our 7th grade teacher, Mr. Cranston. I still
keep in touch from time to time with Mr. Cranston, who now lives in Florida, VIA of e-mail.
He also sparked my interest in amateur (ham) radio, and I have held a license
for about the last 30 years (WD8NEJ), and hold an Amateur Extra Class, which is
the highest one. Tim and I would “hang around” Dan J. as he flew his
kit-built-paper-covered-balsa wood models. Some were “free flight” and others
were “U-controlled.” Mr. Cranston also started an after school club called, “The
Model Airplane Club.” Neither Tim nor I had our own planes at first, so we just
observed and wished we had one too. That Christmas, Tim got a swell Mustang
P-51 “U-control” model plane with an 0.49 engine on it! On the first snow-free
day, we eagerly went out to the pasture to fly it for the first time! We spent
a lot of time watching other kids fly their “U-controlled” planes at the “Model
Airplane Club”, so we figured it would be a “cinch”! Young pre-teens have the
attitude that they can do ANYTHING right before they become
teen-agers and then KNOW EVERYTHING too! (I sure wish I had all that “knowledge” now!) Of course,
Tim got to “run the controls” since it was his plane. I was the “crew chief”
and the “ground crew.” I fueled it up and got to start it. This plane was neat because
it had a PULL RECOIL CORD to start the engine instead of getting a sore finger
by starting the engine with your finger pushing the propeller. When the engine
backfired, it would give you a very sore finger! I finally got the little
engine started and adjusted the little knurled knob so that the engine was
screaming with a high whine that sounded like a swarm of a million angry mosquitoes
flying inside a 500 watt amplifier! Tim was all set at the controls and so I “let
her go” from the “runway”. The plane immediately went straight up in the air to
the end of the control strings, then went straight down with a whooooommmmmp, and crashed straight
into the ground at full throttle! The whole “flight” lasted about 3-4 seconds.
The “crash” resulted in one of the 4 plastic propeller blades breaking off. We
figured it would fly just as well with 3 blades, so after getting it cleaned off;
we fired up the engine again. At age 12, one doesn’t think about a little
detail like balance as it relates to a very rapidly rotating object. The little
0.049 was screaming at full throttle and was violently shaking and vibrating.
As a result, a few seconds later, the whole front of the plane suddenly disintegrated
causing the engine to fly off at a weird angle before it hit the ground and
moved like a chicken with its head cut off! So much for “U-control”! Then it
was my turn at aviation. I got a “Viking” free-flight kit (thinking this was a “no
brainer” compared to “U-control”, hey what could go wrong?). To make a long
story short, since I’m running out of posting space, Dan J. built the kit for
me, and after checking the wind direction, Tim and I went to the edge of the woods in the back of our longest
field and I “let her go”. It actually flew! And flew and flew… I guess I
shouldn’t have filled the fuel tank totally full! It FINALLY landed over 3,400
feet away (0.6 mile) in the top of a tree! I just left it up there and both of
us said, “The H-E double hockey stick” with model flying”! Actually, the word
was a little stronger then! That was over 41 years ago when we abandoned
our aeronautical pursuits and went back to doing what we did best – making mischief!
