TARMAC NOTES  for MARCH 2007

 

We have to start off this month with the news of a couple of bereavements in the aviation world.  Sad news indeed that Bill Wisniewski has passed away.  Bill was one of the greatest engine men in the world.  Most of us in Australia would only know of him from short paragraphs in the modelling magazines, so not everyone would be aware that he produced many inventions and developments to improve engine performance.  He was the first man to use a pen bladder tank in a control line speed model aircraft.  He worked as an engine designer for K&B, experimented with fuel chemistry and used tetra nitromethane until it was banned by the FAI.  He developed the TOP-FLITE speed props.  Then he introduced Schneurle porting to the modelling world and not only perfected the tuned pipe exhaust system that helped to make him world Champion, but explained to everyone how it worked and freely gave away his knowledge. 

 

The other aviation person of note to pass away was Alex Henshaw.  He was perhaps not so well known to your average modeller, but he was a real “seat of the pants” flyer who achieved fame with some pretty good flying.  Just before the second world war he turned his attention to long distance flying.  In 1938 he flew his Percival Mew Gull from Gravesend in England to Capetown in South Africa and back again.  He completed the whole 12,754-mile round trip in 4 days, 10 hours and 16 minutes, including 28 hours spent recuperating in Cape Town.  He  broke the record for each leg and set a solo record for the round trip which still stands today

 

 

Alex Henshaw holds the trophy after winning the 1938 King’s cup air race.

 

During the war he was chief test pilot at Vickers Castle Bromwich shadow factory and flew over 3000 planes while he was there – mostly Spitfires.  .  His autobiographical book covering the Spitfire period `Sigh For a Merlin’ is well worth reading.  Check your local library or second hand bookshops.

 

I’m not sure whether he meant to do it, but Alex Henshaw was the first (and only) pilot to perform a barrel roll in a “Lancaster”!  Probably says something about the strength of the spars!  If you have net access and would like more information on the man and his adventures, you could check out the following URLs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Henshaw

http://www.angelfire.com/sd2/spitfirefactory/man.htm

 

I had a visit from Bernie Rowney, all the way from Bunbury.  In latter years he has been doing a lot of R/C but he left here with plans to build a “STILETTO” Stunter.  The “Stiletto” is a nice vintage job, originally kitted by Montgomery Models in Melbourne:  34” span; .15-19 engine; tapered wing; no flaps; great flyer.  All in all, a baby “Ramrod”, and the plans are available from Peter White.

 

 

 

Here is one example of a Montgomery `Stiletto’.  This one was built by Charlie Stone.

 

I’ve been using some 5 minute epoxy which I bought from Crazy Clarks in Dianella.  The brand name is CARTEL and it comes in 20g syringes for $2.00.  It seems to be a bargain.  And when they say fast drying epoxy, they mean fast drying epoxy!  Don’t dawdle!  It really works and sells very quickly, probably from all C.Cs shops.

 

Another item from Charlie:  This might interest woodworkers and those folks who don’t use electric starters.

 

NEW YORK – Researchers are trying to find ways to regrow fingers – and someday, even limbs – with tricks that sound like magic spells from a Harry Potter novel.  The implications for regrowing fingers go beyond the cosmetic.  People who are missing all or most of their fingers, as from an explosion or a fire, often can’t pick things up, brush their teeth or button a button.  If they could grow even a small stub, it could make a huge difference in their lives.  And the lessons learned from studying regrowth of fingers and limbs could aid the larger field of regenerative medicine, perhaps someday helping people replace damaged parts of their hearts and spinal cords, and heal wounds and burns with new skin instead of scar.

 

But that’s in the future.  For now, consider the situation of Lee Spievack, a hobby-store salesman in Cincinnati, as he regarded his severed right middle finger in August 2005.

 

He had been helping a customer to start a model aircraft engine.  “I pointed to it,” Spievack said, “and I put my finger through the prop”.  The spinning plastic prop sliced off his fingertip.  The missing piece was never found and a hand surgeon recommended a skin graft to cover what was left of the finger.

 

If Spievack, now 68, had been a toddler, things might have been different.  Up to about age 2, people can consistently regrow fingertips, says Dr. Stephen Badylak, a regeneration expert at the University of Pittsburgh.  But that’s rare in adults, he said.  Spievack, however, did have a major advantage – a brother, Alan, a former Harvard surgeon who had founded Acell Inc., which makes an extract of pig bladder for promoting healing and tissue regeneration.  The US federal government has cleared it for use in people.

 

The summer before Lee’s accident, Dr. Alan Spievack, had used it on a neighbour who had cut his fingertip off on a tablesaw.  The man’s finger tip grew back over four to six weeks, Dr Spievack said.  So Lee started applying the extract every two days.  Within four weeks his finger had regained its original length, he said, and in four months “it looked like my normal finger.”  None of this proves the powder was responsible.  But those outcomes have helped inspire an effort to try the powder this summer at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, on 5-10 soldiers who have far more disabling finger loss because of burns.

 

 

 

From the TARMAC archives is this photo taken around 1950 of Rod Ashton (L) and Don Hall with two `Quest’ B class Team racers.  Both powered by ETA .29s.  This picture was supplied by Don Hall

 

 

 

Another photo from the archives, this one dates from the early 1960s and shows Bob Spackman’s famous giant control line Spad.  At the left hand side is Bob himself with the top of his head trimmed off by the photographer.  Immediately in front of the Spad is a rather youthful Charlie Stone and at the tail Geoff Barnes.  This is the only photo of Bob Spackman available to the archive.  If you possess or know of any others, could you please contact Charlie Stone with the details.  This picture was supplied by Theo Merrifield.

 

We have plenty of other photos that we wished to publish with this month’s notes but the typiste’s mind has gone a blank.

 

My excuse is – it just has to be the computer’s fault.