25 Years Ago in MA:
March 1983
 

• On the cover, Crystal Hall shows off this month's RC construction project: Bob Owens' Zephyr 1100. With a 99.9-inch wingspan and weighing only 42 ounces, it is an enlarged version of the HL Zephyr featured in the May 1981 MA.

• Jim Haught's Royal Lancer is one of this month's FF building projects. He found his old O.S. Max .15 engine to be a perfect match for this design, which has 420 square inches of wing area and weighs 13.9 ounces. The other FF offering is John R. Walker's Peanut Scale 1934-1935 Curtiss Goshawk. With a wingspan of only 12 inches, this model goes anywhere and has unbeatable flight duration. Full-size plans are printed in the magazine.

• "Midi-Slow" is the name the designer—Dave Clarkson—gave the feature CL construction project. Sized for a .20 engine, it is compact, economical, builds quickly, and, most importantly, is an excellent sport flier.

• Don Berliner asks the age-old question "Gustave Whitehead: Was He First?" Don's article makes some compelling arguments to show that Gustave beat the Wright brothers in making a controlled, powered flight with an airplane.

• New products this month include aluminum I-beam wing spars by AL-I-Spar. They come in several lengths at $2.15 per foot. Hobby Lobby is offering nylon clevises in 2-56 and 4-40 sizes, meant for giant-size models. O.S. Max has a new powerhouse .65 engine that is intended for use in Byron and Scozzi ducted-fan units. Midwest Model Supply is importing the Irvine .61 rear-exhaust Sport-series glow engine for $119.95. Futaba now has the FP-R4H four-channel microreceiver. Despite its small size of only 1.26 x 2.05 x 0.77 inches and a weight of 1.19 ounces, it has all the features of Futaba's full-size receivers.  MA

—Rich LaGrange
AMA Librarian

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