WESTFAC III PRE-REGISTRATION NOW

Now is the time for all you Flyers to get your Pre–egistration in for WESTFAC III. The first 50 guys to do this [gals, too] will get a free gift in their flyers envelope at the scale judging. Just fill it out this Pre–Registration Form and send it to the WESTFAC COMMITTEE at the address on the form. Hope all of you are cutting balsa and sloppin' glue for this one.... especially the new GRUMMAN MASS LAUNCH Event.

GUNNING FOR THE RED BARON....by Leon Bennet

Reading the latest from the Glue Guru in the current FAC News, "Stability Unknown," we were again impressed by his logical, realistic approach to model airplane problems. In the current article, for example: "If your model is acting strangely, and the standard solutions don't work, it is likely that you have entered the domain of the unknown. What then?" He answers his own question with common sense: reduce power, fly only in still wind conditions, and go to a grassier field. The wisdom of Solomon! Finally, "Listen to advice but don't take it too seriously. Nobody has the answers." Bravo to the Glue Guru, and phooey to How to Make Scale Model Airplanes Fly.

Which brings us to the subject of one of one of Mr. Bennet's books that we have had on the back burner for quite a while. In Gunning for the Red Barron, he has presented such a broad and intensive investigation into the tactics and experiences of World War I aerial combat that reviewing the book presented a considerable challenge to this worn-out newsletter editor. The title is interesting but only scratches the surface of all the really good stuff in this book. If you are anywhere near being a WWI buff, you gotta read it. The story is one of woeful lack of training of Allied air crews and the very difficult and hazardous problems they faced in carrying out their duties. The French and British strategy was cold-blooded by American standards; superiority in numbers of poorly-trained air crews would win out over the fewer well-trained ones on the German side. Consequently, Allied fighter pilots lived an average of two and a half months in the summer of 1917, and gunners made it to four months.

Even before WWI, there was skepticism about the effect of gunfire on aircraft. The British ran tests whereby a kite was towed across a field while rifles and machine guns on the ground fired at it. Only one bullet in two hundred hit the target. This was generally confirmed by the actual experience of the war. The lesson was simple for the pilots and gunners of both sides. The only workable strategy was to get close; at 20 yards distance everyone could be a crack shot. (And von Richtofen, who had problems in getting through flight school, proved it. He was a crack shot at hunting animals and as a cavalryman; both skills made up for his shortcomings as a pilot....Editor Joe)

Probably the most important, even shocking, revelation in the book is the failure of tracer bullets to improve accuracy in battle. The logical assumption is that if you can see where your bullets are going, you can place them on the target.. Hitting the target should be a snap, right? Wrong! At least in WWI. (Since tracers were used throughout WWII, we can assume the difficulties described in the book were overcome in later years, possibly because all fighters had more than two machine guns and/or 20 mm. cannons....Editor) Tracer bullets at short range, 100 yards or less, could be useful in the aiming process, but at that short distance, the visible, smokey path of the bullets would not be as useful and had an added disadvantage. The element of surprise was lost to a considerable extent as the target pilot saw the stream whizzing by, possibly giving him time for evasive action. "Whether small gains in aim at point-blank range was offset by lack of surprise was a matter of judgment."

But what about long-range accuracy? Here was a problem caused when the shooter believed that he hit the target when in fact he missed it by a split-second. When the shooter used a bit too much lead in aiming, an illusion occurred when the tracers actually passed ahead of the target by a split second. "Intelligence officers arguing with shooters wrongly claiming enemy destruction were unable to shake their convictions.....gunners attributed enemy survival to hidden armor." This brought about a new order: "Tracer is to be used as a guide only if a bullet is seen coming out of the hostile machine."

There was also the purely mechanical problem posed by an airplane-mounted machine gun. Because there was an inherent flexibility in its mounting, the gun could not fire five bullets into an exactly equal trajectory. Unlike guns on the ground, the "sponginess" of the mounting and turbulence caused the bullets to be widely scattered by the time they reached the target. There is more discussion of the inadequacy of tracer aiming, leading to the official announcement: "At longer ranges its (tracer) indications are so misleading that gunners should, for general purposes, be taught to disregard it altogether in their aim."

But before the tracer problem arose. There was "the time of the carbines," late 1914, before machine guns were mounted on planes. It seems that Lt. Brichambaut, a Frenchman, decided to fly an observation mission without an observer, giving his Farman "chicken coop" pusher-type airplane better performance. But in flying solo, he would have to act as gunner himself if he encountered the enemy. Because he had to handle his only armament, possibly a Winchester Model 351 carbine, as well as control the plane, he had to devise an "automatic pilot." He did this by arranging a set of heavy rubber bands, cut from inner tubes, so that they would steady the controls while he took aim and fired. On his next mission he spotted a Taube about 6,000 feet above. Staying well behind, he watched the plane as it descended from its observation mission, heading back to Germany. The innovative lieutenant placed the Winchester on his lap, attached the rubber bands to the control stick, and waited for the Taube to pass a few meters overhead. He took aim and fired first at the engine, then paced the remaining five rounds along the fuselage. The Taube first pitched up into a stall, then recovered and dove down to a forced landing on the German side of the lines. Since confirmation of a victory was not possible, Lt. Brichambaut was probably given a pat on the back while his report was filed away and forgotten.

The book has a very detailed description of gun sights, how they were used - and the woefully inadequate training of personnel in their use. For example, a plan was proposed to allow instructors, not students, a quota of four hours and forty minutes of target practice. It was rejected because three additional two-place aircraft would be needed.

There is much very interesting discussion in the book that tells the full story behind the glory of the victories scored by aces on both sides. Who killed the Red Baron? The author argues effectively but, in your editor's opinion, it will not changed many minds. Read the book and see!

PIT MASTER

How about this? Our Bruce Finley has been acclaimed as one of the best at Geneseo (Walt Mooney award for Best Peanut), and now his renown is in BBQ Gourmet. How about that? Stop by the B&B Smokehouse at 2627Pleasanton Road (210-921-2745) here in San Antonio for some of the best BBQ cuisine in the area. Hey, Bruce, can you sign up your buddy there for membership in Alamo Escadrille? We need that youngster!

 

SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS...

..a la Scotland. Here's the latest from Joe Fergusson after a prolonged period of silence. He's had a series of health problems, none terminal, that have cramped his life style and don't always get the full attention of the medics. He has managed to pass the big Nine-O, though, and is fully capable of taking them on. Hang in there, Joe!

Here he is in the photo with one of his buddies and his latest creation, the Spirit of St. Louis, one of the three models he has built in the past two weeks. (How's that for a production line?) Joe says about the Guillows kit that produced the Spirit, "At long last a chap has opened a model shop in Ayr, and I went in to introduce myself and get to know him. As a gesture I bought a Guillows kit of the Spirit of St. Louis at the cost of 43 pounds (that's about $75 US....Editor) but was disappointed with that kit. Biggest fault for which, to me, was no excuse was the fact that the kit only supplied white tissue when it should have been silver tissue in a kit so costly. But that was not all. Some of the printed parts on the sheets of balsa were a shambles....Guillows will be getting a real stinker of a complaint from me. The following week I had the Spirit of St. Louis built, and I went back to the model shop and bought a model of the Fokker triplane, also a Guillows kit. It was much better in contents but still had a couple of stupid mistakes on the plan....so again I have the intention of taking Guillows to task.....And the balsa strip supplied for the smaller bottom wing was total Pith and no way should it ever been included in the kit...." Joe goes on to describe a problem with the landing gear and wheels.

Actually, Windy Sock has never heard of a kit that comes supplied with silver Japanese tissue. If it's silver tissue at all, it will be a domestic version.. As mentioned before, the color silver is defined as "luminous light grey," so a compromise might be to use light grey tissue and give it a coating of matte/glossy clear dope.

Joe's buddy in the photo attracted our attention. Joe introduces him as John McArthur, a local club member and dear friend: "....a meticulously neat builder of scale models. His models are superb....one of those nice guys that it is a pleasure to know." Joe goes on to say that it takes John three times as long to build a model, compared to his own production line output; that surely indicates a modeler aiming at perfection. Editor Joe will hide his own fleet if he ever sees John McArthur coming!

THRUST ADJUSTABLE NOSE BLOCK

Or, for plug-and-go simplicity, get a GizmoGeezer Nose Button - now in almost 1,000 installations.

YE OLDE AERONCA C-3

Jack Fike of Penn Valley Hobby Center has introduced an updated line of kits called "The Old Dog Series" of "Solo Model Aircraft." This Aeronca C-3 is one of the stick-and-tissue greats from the old Megow and Comet era. (From July 2010 Skyways)

BRING ON THE BATTLESHIPS

Billy Mitchell was court-martialed for saying so (in rather insubordinate terms) in the 1920s, but it was proven that an airplane could indeed sink a battleship. Here a ground crew at Langley Field, Virginia loads up a Martin MB-2 with 1100-pound bombs for the experiment that proved it: the sinking of the German battleship Ostfriesland, which was turned over to the Allies as part of the surrender terms of World War I. Distortion of the top wing was caused by a wide angle lens. (From July 2010 Skyways)

 

 

BRING ON THE BATTLESHIPS

SOLO WINDING by T.R. Carroll