Miss Cecelia Ceiling Tile and Mr. Marvin Modelling Pin are delighted to announce to all our Readers of Casey’s (KC’s) Free Flight BLOG and visitors to our HAFFA Airplane Model Club’s website, KCFreeFlight.org, that the NUMBER ONE VISITED WEBPAGE WAS:
Along with announcing a long overdue update of the page—we’d also like to point out that the number of visits to this webpage for last year, 2021, was 1.459 overtaking the website’s HOME page’s 1366visits by 93. This surprised all our staff at KCFreeFlight.org. For the most part it would normally be extremely unlikely to have what is considered an inconsequential page overtake the website’s main “HOME” page which is the portal where most visitors enter the site.
The Portable Building Boards & Modeling Pins webpage had humble origins when it was created back in 2017.My hunch about using white or carpenters glue to “laminate” two layers of ceiling tiles back to back paid off handsomely as it has become the preferred way to make Portable Building Boards for those who know about this method. Prior to this the advice was mostly simply to use drywall or “Sheetrock” ( Sheetrock is a specific brand of drywall sheet.) Also ceiling tiles of course, and Balsa wood sheets. But now-a-days who wants to use precious balsa wood for this purpose?
Another interesting bit of information concerning the Statistics of last year is the number of visits garnered by another popular page of our website called Dave’s Drawings which was 1,173 visits.
Click the LINK Above or the Image to go to this Webpage.
Also impressive were the actual number of pdf downloads of Dave’s Sweepette-Ette-14 Mk. II CLG (Catapult Launched Glider) at 336. Now these were downloads of the drawing Dave made but if only 10% of these actually made it to the flying field, there are 36 of Dave’s “Progeny” if you want to think of it that way. The Flip DT (Dethermalizer) System (with Instruction sheet) for gliders is another coming in at 131 downloads. So the staff here believe that our site is starting to be a Go-To place for glider drawings and other useful AEROMODELLING Resources. 😀
Before I close out this post I thought it might be helpful to discuss what white glue or carpenters glue is because IMO it’s probably the most important ingredient in making Portable Building Boards. The Definition of what white glue and it’s uses are:
“Polyvinyl acetate (PVA, PVAc, poly(ethenyl ethanoate)), commonly known as wood glue, white glue, carpenter’s glue, school glue, or Elmer’s glue in the US, is a widely available adhesive used for porous materials like wood, paper, and cloth.”
“I like to use a woodworkers glue under the name of Original Titebond found at Lowe’s which I think is your best bet. Bottom line is that my research shows that a Lowe’s 16 oz bottle at $4.38 is as competitive price per ounce as you are going to find anywhere.” — JB Nisley — (price quoted as of 4/11/2022)
A breakdown of my research is as follows: (Yes—I’m a true AEROMODELLING Geek.) Surprisingly the available options for Elmer’s glue at Walmart are more expensive per oz. than a Lowe’s 16 oz. bottle of Original Titebond Carpenters glue currently at $4.38 which works out to .27 per ounce. Mostly it’s the fact that Walmart does not carry the product in the 8 or 16 ounce range. Plus I think that Carpenters glue should be your first pick over plain white glue because of possible added strength and the cost difference is not that much. Most likely the remaining glue you have left over could be put to good use in the future. Plain white glue will work, however if that is all you have. 😉
There is one other option that I have come across, that being an 8 oz. bottle of “white glue” at the Dollar Tree stores at $1.25 which comes out to about .16 per oz. (Yes, haven’t you heard? they upped the $1 price to $1.25 😦 ). Its a great option for other modeling tasks but IMO doesn’t have the quality that Elmer’s or Titebond has. It’s nevertheless great for many applications where quality is not an issue. (Note: All prices above were quoted as of 4/11/2022. Your prices may vary.)
Thanks for reading through this post and as always — “If you’ve become a fan, tell your friends where to reach us.”— Jeffrey B. (JB) Nisley —
This month’s Op-Ed delves into the subject of STOOGES—You know, your trusty alley when it comes to winding your Rubber Powered Model Airplane. No one now-a-days pays much attention to them—they are just a part of the landscape if you want to fly outdoors.
Jeff Renz — Blogger/Editor in chief &Blogger/Webmaster —JB Nisley
“I Mr. Pin, and together with Miss Tile, don’t mind braggingthat our webpagehad a lot to do with the website’s success.” For the year prior to this one, 2021—believe it or not—you, the visitors of this website, by voting with your visits to our web page placed it at the NUMBER ONE SPOT on the list of viewed pages for KCFreeFlight.org. The total worldwide views for our Portable Building Boards and Modeling Pins web page was a staggering 1,459 for the year. !!! 😀(Our site’s HOME page came in second at 1366.) This web page made its debut in February of 2017 and because of the overwhelming popularity by you, JB decided to a long overdue overhaul.We hope you like the changes. Keep viewing and tell your friends if you like what we are doing. 😉
This month’s Op-Ed delves into the subject of STOOGES—You know, your trusty alley when it comes to winding your Rubber Powered Model Airplane. No one now-a-days pays much attention to them—they are just a part of the landscape if you want to fly outdoors. Many of us it seems have had the same stooge our whole adult lives and haven’t given it a second thought. Case in point—Our President—Michael Basta:
Vintage 1990s photo of Mike Basta and Roger Schroeder circa late 1990s
Mike Basta and Roger Schroeder hanging out at the trunk of Mike’s 1990 Chevy Caprice. Please take note in 2022 that the stooge that is depicted in the picture above is still in use as we speak and there are no plans that I know of that it will be replaced anytime soon. However “It’s gotten some really good updates” Mike confided to me a couple of years back. (Mike even manages to wind his Twin Pusher with it with one of its unique “MacGyver” adaptations. 😀
So bear with me this month while I take a closer look at something that most people don’t think about much let alone write a 4 page article about. There’s a “Method to my Madness”* to this as I am announcing this month that I will present 4 designs for “Winding Platforms.”Winding Platforms? It’s all explained in the Op-Ed. 😀
*The phrase “Method to my Madness”is derived from the play Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, performed in 1602
This month’s LATEST AEROMODELLING TIP was supplied by JB Nisley. Clear mailing address label to attach to your OOS fly-away Model Aircraft to secure its safe return !!! 😀
For less than $10 including shipping you can obtain a sheet of 250 Clear Return Address Labels.
You get LOTS of Address Labels for the $ $ $ $ $ $ 😀
“One thing that is impressive is that they allow 4 lines of copy so as you can see from the photo I am able to have my AMA #, Name and Telephone # on the second line and Address on the third and fourth line and still have room to write the word REWARD at the end.”— Perfect !!! —
LABEL OPTIONS ADVICE: Product: ⦿ Sheets of 250 for $5.45. Label Size:⦿ Small 1-3/4” x 5/8” Font Style:⦿ Block (It’s easier to read) Label Color Color:⦿ Clear (This will add $2 to your order.) Image or Monogram:⦿ Do not do. There is no room for this. Looks bad IMO anyway.
CURRENT PRICING AS OF 48/8/2022 WILL MAKE THE TOTAL $9.44
with the addition of $2 to the $5.45 cost of the 250 labels makes the sub total 7.45. First class mail of 1.99 makes the grand total come to $9.44 which is just under $10. 🙂
– — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – How to Submit a LATEST AEROMODELLER’S TIP Use our CONTACT FORM at the bottom of our CONTACT US web page to provide us with your email address so we can set up an email exchange that allows us to obtain the article and the photos you may have that describe your tip. The photos can be simply attached to your email. If you would like—show us a photo of you with your friends showing or using this tip. You don’t have to to live in the United States or be a HAFFA Member to participate. If approved by our staff we will publish your TIP in a future Casey’s BLOG POST. Thanks. Your TIP will be much appreciated !!! 😀 – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — –
FREDRIC WALKER (CASEY) BALDWIN. A FREE FLIGHTLEGACY CONTINUES. — APRIL 2022 4
Click above to go to our Sister Website PHOENIX / AEA
VISIT PHOENIX / AEA Where we Convert Stick & Tissue Models to AS ELECTRIC ASSISTED
This month I want to draw your attention to our Sister Website to KCFreeFlight, thePHOENIX / AEA website. Here we showcase the “Rebirth of Old-timer Model Airplanes into PHOENIX / As Electric-Assisted”
In the coming months this summer, Paul Morgenroth III and myself, JB Nisley, are going ahead with the conversions of these Wakefield style 1940’s style Stick and Tissue Rubber Powered Model Airplanes to Electric Assist. By Electric Assist we mean battery powered remote control assisted flight. What’s nice is that the original flight dynamics, that of relatively slow flight is still there in spite of the addition of electronics.
The beauty here is that speed is not the aim here but endurance. Paul and I think we should get at least 45 minutes of “Fly” time before the battery runs low. So look for continuing Developments from both Paul’s Copland Wakefield and Nisley’s “Roy Nelders Moffet In the coming months. 😀
— If you haven’t already checked out our sister Site here is the info we introduced last month. — Casey was a member of Alexander Graham Bell’s AEA—a group of early Aviation Pioneers. — To lean more about Casey and the AEA, visit our Sister Site PHOENIX / AEA andspecifically the “Into the Air” web page on that site to find out about the AEA and Casey’s significant roll in this Group of Aviation Pioneers. — Note: Both of the above links will open a new tab in your browser because you are going to a different website. TIP: Remember that you can zoom in on the photo above if you choose to view this page in your mobile device a.k.a. cell phone.
JB Nisley’s “MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE” Closing Statement APRIL 2022 5
April 16th is my birthday so I think of it as the date of my “New Year” looking ahead to what this year will bring. It’s also smack dab in the midst of the awakening of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere here so I”m anxious to get out and do some flying. You people in the Southern Hemisphere can dust off your indoor models. I say “Dust off” as an expression because they are probably nicely boxed in their container so as to not get damaged. So wherever you are have a positive outlook at what comes next !!! 😀
My “MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE” for April is to MAKE A DATA SHEET FOR YOUR NEWLY CONSTRUCTED AIRPLANE that I talk about in this month’s LATEST AEROMODELLING TIP above !!! 😉 —JB—
DISCLAIMER: Photographs used in this BLOG, the KCFreeFlight.org, and PhoenixAEA.WordPress.com websites are for educational purposes only. There is much we don’t know about the amazing life of Fredrick Walker (Casey) Baldwin. There is a portion of the content on this blog currently and will be in the future that will be purely speculation & guess work on the part of our staff as to the details of his life and things he might have contributed that there is no historical record to ascertain if they could be true or false. In no way are we wanting to rewrite history. A good example of this is that he might possibly have been a great Aeromodeller and built model airplanes. 😀 It will be the sole intent of any speculation or guess work concerning Casey in this BLOG, the KCFreeFlight.org, and PhoenixAEA.WordPress.com websites to be positive and not to harm his legacy in any way but instead inform & educate the public of his contributions to Aviation in general and to the Aeromodelling world in particular. — Signed JB Nisley and Jeff Renz
Thank you for reading our APRIL 2022 BLOG POST. If you’ve become a fan—then tell all your Aeromodelling Friends. Thanks, Jeff RenzBlogger/Editor in Chief— & —Blogger/Webmaster JB Nisley
Be sure to check out the many AEROMODELLING Resources this website has to offer by CLICKING on all the menu items found on our KCFreeFlight.org website’s Navigation Menu at the top of every page of this website. 😉 Thanks.
HAFFA Member John Clark knows how to pick ’em when it comes to choosing a REAL NAIL BITER !!! 😀 Who doesn’t like a Jimmy Stewart’s Classic film—and especially The Spirit of St. Lewis? This movie clip is only 3 minutes and 14 seconds long—so take a break from whatever you are going and sit back and ENJOY!
WEBMASTER JB’s OBSERVATION: It’s a small but dramatic detail that I noticed the director chose to include in this film to actually add drama to an already rather intense initial scene.If you are paying close attention when the plane clears the telephone lines—it appears that the telephone poles actually “sway” from the wind turbulence caused by the aircraft as it passes. REALLY? It certainly makes for good cinema but I think it kinda stretches what us AEROMODELLERS know about the physics of wind forces in my opinion—however IRATHER LIKE THIS NICE DEPARTURE FROM REALITY . . . . IN FACT I LIKE THE WAY THEY “SWAY” !!! 😀
This movie by the way is available to borrow from our Johnson County Library in videodisc DVD format here in Kansas, USA. You may have a source similar to this where you live. The run time for this movie is 135 min. Both John and JB are going to check out the DVD and enjoy a second viewing of it . . . . and yes—we’ll get a bowl of Popcorn and our favorite beverage & watch those crazy poles swing on the BIG SCREEN !!! 😉