SEN 2082

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Table of Contents – SEN 2082

  1. Qcomments
  2. John Morrill
  3. Wood is better ?

Qomments in SEN 2081
From: Ross Jahnke

In the events we are familiar with/grew up with, when there was an engine
on the airplane we timed its run in seconds. If it had a rubber band inside
we weighed the rubber band separately from the model, if there was no
evidence of a propeller on the model, we looked for a towline and measured
how long it was. One simple measurement, one simple measuring device, no


Electric models including F1Q look and behave like gas models (but not
quite). As stated by David and Per, the motor in an F1Q is measured much
like rubber motor, (but not quite). And to measure the energy/run of an F1Q
requires two measuring devices followed by calculation. Everyone is flying
with a different rubber band and a different motor run, yet all are
measurably equal.

Is it *really* hard to figure out the motor run for a particular F1Q
motor/battery combination? No. (Most of us will just ask the modeler how
long the motor run will be.)

Is it more difficult than every other free flight event? Yes.

Is it different than every other free flight event? Yes.

Has the perception of the complexity and clarity of F1Q parameters been
damaged by the many rule changes during its formative years? Yes.

Should we change the rules again? NO!

Will it take our community time to get used to measuring energy/run time
for F1Q? Yes.

Maybe a long time.

We don’t like change.

Read the SEN archives for historical evidence of that last point

John Morrill
Good friend, John Morrill, lost his battle with cancer last night. He
was known in the modeling community for his Simplex line of products,
the Sidewinder and Simple Stooge and replica ignition engines, Hornet 19
to name a few.

I met John around 1990, he was working on a Wakefield front end for Ed
Dolby (then FAI Model Supply). They needed someone to try them out and I
lived in the area. John would come over to the house and he noticed I
had an old Logan lathe in my shop. I had just inherited it and I told
John I was going to learn how to use it to make Wake parts. John
proceeded to tune-up the lathe, got me going, and a great friendship began.

John’s profession was cinematography. You can see some of his credits on
IMBD. Some of his favorites are not there but as flyers you may remember
seeing them. Boy Who Flew With Condors, a Disney feature about a kid
learning to fly a sailplane. John cut the canopy of a 232 in half to
make a camera mount. Flying in the nose of the Tall-Mantz B-25 to shoot
Craig Breedlove’s land speed record attempts, lots of great stories.
When I met John, he was teaching at USC Film School.

Simplex model products was out of his home/shop. It was not for making a
living, but a way to fund his next project or to buy more equipment. He
enjoyed the research and development of a new project. A good example
was the Zephyr air motor. He was determined to make a better air motor.
Did the R&D, built prototypes, taught a friend how use his equipment,
and let him manufacture them as his own.

John lived alone. His home/shop is a storefront in old El Segundo and he
literally had an open door policy. People would walk in, wondering what
the shop was about. Various animals came to visit, some stayed. John
drew the line on the recent family of skunks, they had to go. John tells
of F1A fliers, Jim Parker and Tom Coussens walking in on a lunch break,
wondering why a guy was still drawing on a drafting board with pencil
and paper.

I’ll miss John, I enjoyed hanging out at his place. Always good
conversation, could be on books, music, movies, food or the latest project.

Seeya, John


Wood is the way – SEN 2081

From: Douglas Galbreath

I like DeLoach’s idea plus all balsa construction. If carbon structures are involved there will be few beginners.
Take care

Douglas Galbreath

editor’s comment

….. what does that mean no carbon … read a complicated wrangle on the NFFS site about what’s permitted for the golden days of 1/2 A gas event . Also people want to use old f1B wings for Q ….

Roger Morrell