HangarRash

Looks like a Midwest "Attacker".

TooLow

My Feedback: (5)

I had blown up to a poster for my shop wall. Still have the "other" covers in file!!

iron eagel

Looks like my bench...

That's a great one!!!

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

That's a Strikemaster...kitted by Midwest, in the mid-late 70's.

N1EDM

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Hey Iron Eagel,

That was a really cute posting.....

Bob

Riddle4U

Well, now I am sad. They did have great technical articles! Now it it is like..how many volts in a twelve volt battery. Or; how to make a scale masters winner out of a Hangar 9 Mustang. MA is pretty darn good, maybe we can coax some more couragious tech articles out of them (no..not how to carve a wing tip...not what I was thinking). We need the next Clarence Lee, or some such expert(s).

That is a neat imaginary-scale aircraft on the cover; maybe it is the midwest attacker. Midwest made the original ugly-stik for awhile (very poor kit quality unfortunately from my recollection). It would be nice to see some interesting sport planes out there.

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

Midwest kitted the Strikemaster, which is what's shown in the previous post. Also, they never kitted the original Ugly Stik. That model was kitted by Jensen. They did make several Ugly-Stik clones of various sizes: Little Stik, Middle Stik, Sweet 'N Low Stik, and so on.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Riddle4U,

You've said exactly what I've been trying to say all along, thanks for including that. My hope is that someone will pick up on this and resurrect the magazine with technical articles that had some real meat on the bones. MA has come a long way up in my estimation, and I think that RCR could be a forum for more build-it articles. They're doing a nice job on Scale and everyday flying, and picking up on electrics and engines. They had a bit of a technical article in their last issue on unique methods for design, and that was a refreshing piece to read as well. I think that a lot of us miss the 'old' RCM format that educated a lot of us and improved the sport/hobby.

Bax, thanks for that history. I remember when the original Stik was a construction article, but didn't know who first kitted it. Thanks for adding that in,

Bob

Riddle4U

I appreciate the concurrence of opinion Bob! Thanks for clearing up the other questions Bax. You are right, I made the "Sweet Stik" from Midwest not an Ugly Stik (is my memory already going). I didn't mean to dog Midwest, I guess we're just spoiled by the quality in some modern kits. One company, Airtronics, made or marketed the older Lee Renauld sailplanes, i.e. the Olympic and Aquila kits. These were machined/sanded and bagged parts, perfectly sized, ..and all before laser cutting and CAD design. The quality of wood (aircraft spruce ply, balsa, e.t.c.) was wonderfull. - Eric

TooLow

My Feedback: (5)

More from my "archives"

Capt. Bill

Right, Jensen made the first Das Ugly Stik kit, 60 size and a very high quality kit. I had one in the early 70s. Midwest also had the Twin Stik and Das Bipe Stik.

hpiguy

If you want a prime example of how the big name magazines have gone to total garbage, read this month's issue of MAN and RCR and compare the reviews of the Hangar 9 Fokker ARF they both did.

RCR highlighted quite a few issues with the build and the bad instructions. Naming specific details and problems they had throughout the build. The reviewer really likes the model though and let us all know that aside from the issues, he still enjoyed it. Reading those pages I feel I have a great grasp of what I can expect if I buy this ARF.

MAN on the other hand was nothing but a short standard cookie cutter fluff piece on how awesome they thought the plane was. No real mentioning on the bad manual and construction issues. You'd have no idea of the work it would take with this article. Itreads like an extended catalog description. I'd be surprised if Hangar 9 didn't write it themselves.

Now you tell me, did they get two different versions for review the same month (highly unlikely) or is one magazine telling us how it really is good and/or bad and is one just there to be a monthly catalog for their advertisers? I think you know the answers.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

My recommendation is that we all support the magazine that gives us the honest news, or we're going to lose it.

RCR does not have a large staff, and their magazine is pretty inexpensive compared to other rags. You definitely cannot dispute the value in this magazine.

I recommend that you get your LHS to lay in a stock of them and sell them. Or at least get a subsctiption... I've had one since 2002.

Do yourself a favor....

Bob

Riddle4U

I am not happy with the way MAN is going either, I think they are catering more to the new park flyer crowd or something. They just have given up on the real modeling crowd to a notable extent. I will still plunk down for it in hopes that it will improve. It is good to keep mainstream magazines going as that is where a lot of new modelers come from, and the health of the hobby as a whole is paramount. I hope the balance will be struck on real engine powered models and articles. There is so much emphasis on electric that one wonders if there will be any nitro/gas engines made in five or ten years? Electric seems appealing to me for some AMA powered glider type events though (free flight). I just think the messy engines are OK by me for the popular scale/sport aircraft, power is still unbelievable, and a little sound never killed anyone (run a good muffler of course). Time for us to start writing to these remaining mags I guess (politely).

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

I think that you have some good points, Riddle. As for electrics, this is their time. I would say that their evolution at this period in time is probably what the spark-to-glow revolution was like in the late 40's. I'm flying both types of aircraft. One of my electrics is a Twist 40 that is as good as its glow brother. I'm currently electrifying a Rascal 40 (that is to say, I'm using 'standard' airplanes, not foamies).

I still like my glow but if/when the price drops more, the electrics are going to take over because of the convenience.

I got my hands on some MAN issues from 20 years ago - someone had dropped them off as give-aways at my LHS... I could see parts of the magazine starting to shift already to what we are reading today.

They are going to give the people what the people want, so let's tell them...

Bob

Riddle4U

Thanks for the views Bob. The opinions on powering are a bit like politics I suppose. The magazines just shouldn't create an artificial, and arbitrary decision for us. That current push from the mags seems to be pro electric in the articles and definitely in the adds. I have enough battery management with the radio as it is (cycling, e.t.c.). I think fuel and go is a "back to the future" way to go. The battery cost adds up quick without all the other ancilliary equipment (and that improves every year, luring all to spend). For aerobatics/pattern, I like that the power is the same throughout the entire flight, and you land light after burning fuel (I've not heard one person mention that the batteries don't lose weight during the flight, just power)! Buying new batteries amounts to buying a new powerplant every year in a way, I have engines that I have run for twenty years and they are as strong as ever (one is an Enya .40 by the way). That is real, satisfying, economy..LOL.

Not to get us too much on that topic, I just think that the coverage doesn't seem to match what I see at five clubs in Colorado (and we're supposed to be a "greeny state"..ha ha). MA is still the best thing I read though, very well balanced in all aeromodeling (meaning non R/C stuff is in there too). Cheers to all - Eric

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

In the heyday of RCM there would be at least one construction article per issue. For the amount of work that went in one of those, a professional would probably ask about $10K. RCM used to pay $100 and get away with it. That was because the author enjoyed doing it. Not many people do that anymore.
RCR does not publish construction articles, only reviews. They do the best job but it still is only a review. As I said I miss RCM. But the hobby has changed. Since the models all come made for you about all you need is a catalog.
You might as well get it from Tower hobbies - its free from them.

Riddle4U

Well, I see lots of construction articles in MA. I think people are still proud to have a design or other project published in a magazine. MAN is just {insert your own comment}...I'll say beholden, to too limited a constituency. If you don't stay diverse, than various interest groups stop buying the mag as they see their nitch ignored. Eventually the remaining one or two predominant constituencies are all that is left, so the magazine pours even more into satisfying the remaining readership, guaranteeing that the lost sheep will not come back to the now narrowed product. They think wrongly (editors), that everyone belongs to these remaining groups as a bonafide majority in the hobby. The fact, of course, is that they are now only hearing feedback from a continually narrowing readership profile. That is what happened to RCM in part, and what I hope MAN will avoid by learning (if only from MA as a positive, and RCM as a negative). The hobby will die if young kids don't see a magazine on the grocery stores, and beg their parents to buy it for them (an economic mistake for the parents for years after that, btw), or a young adult picks up an issue. Hopefully that issue will contain something of the hobby that is more than buying a prebuilt toy, crashing it, selling the rest on Ebay! The building side allows for continued interest, once you don't see what you want in the Tower catalog. The publisher needs to have a passion for the hobby, and a duty. You can throw up your arms and say "that's the way it is now", or have faith in a vision, hopefully very diverse, that shows the way to an even better unimagined future.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

The Hobby has to get back out into the Public eye. It needs attention. I hadn't thought of it in terms as deeply as you describe, but I can see how your scenario could happen. Yes, we do need the youth, but we also have to demonstrate to them that this can be an exotic hobby, right up their alley... if not filled with foamies and ARF's.

That's not to say that foamies and ARF's are bad - I have both. But, I consider them a diversion, not the main focus of the hobby. As long as they can see that some of these planes can be unique and attainable (that they can do their own experimentation) then we have a good chance of hooking a new member. But, if they have a cookie cutter airplane that everyone else has and then just fly in big ovals around the field, well, that won't last too very long..

Good points... There's something good to chew on there, Riddle.

Bob

Riddle4U

This site completely lost my last post. It was pretty good....the best really! What in heck happens to this site at certain hours. Moderator where are you, I click my heels three times.

hpiguy

What do you mean by construction articles?

They do build kit planes in the magazine and discuss the assembly for many pages. And that construction takes custom work as most kits do.

They also have extremely intensive radio, electric and engine columns in each issue. More intensive than any other current magazine.

Do you mean they never cover any scratchbuilding? I've just started reading it again so I can't verify that they never run scratchbuilding articles but they do run construction articles from plans and kits. I'm reading one out of this latest issue as a matter of fact.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Well, Gentlemen,

In the Spirit of the Seaon, I post this RCM Magazine Cover for you. I strongly suggest that for the next 3 days, we concentrate on making Merry for the Holidays before getting back to serious discussions regarding what we would like to see in a Serious R/C magazine.

And, by the way, you should know that our tax dollars are hard at work. If you have, or know of, any munchkins who are "True Believers" of the Big Man in the Red Suit, NORAD has been tracking Santa for over 50 years. I strongly recommend that you draw the attention of your True Believers to www.noradsanta.org to verify that Santa is making is Appointed Rounds throughout the world. You can start monitoring him on Dec 24 as he makes his way through Europe.

In the mean time, here is a little Christmas Present to all of you,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,

Bob

Riddle4U

Bob, on a light note, thanks for bringing up the Norad deal. Most of us know that stands for Norh American Air Defense (I hope I'm right). As a Coloradan we get that nudge every year in the local TV news, but I think it is a fun thing they do for the kids (if the 'dults play along, pun intended). One more Merry Christmas/holidays for all. I didn't mention that I got a nice 5" table disc sander from Micro Mark by way of Santa (Dad). It is cool; 5 pounds of cast iron base and a strong looking motor. Nice platen and "T-square" parts. I think I am going to recommend the tool.

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Riddle,

Thanks. Glad that you liked that plug.. Merry Christmas

I was surprised how few people knew about NoradSanta out here in MA until this year. Then, this year it is all over the news. I think that the USAF had a great idea with that site..

Glad that you got the sander too. I have a 5" sander and it's indespensible in the shop. It's not a Microtool, but the same idea.

Merry Christmas to All......

and, I have one more magazine cover to put up on New Year if someone reminds me....

Bob

PaulD

My Feedback: (39)

Unfortunately, I think the "honest" review is why RCR is going out of business as well.