Some of my favorite moments from the clip

- Notice all the people standing around while planes take off. How nice of them to duck out of the way.

- At 6:41, look for the fellow who catches the plane WITH THE MOTOR RUNNING! Nice! and we thought 3-D pilots were cutting edge.

- Look at those early RC radios. Never again will I complain about only having ONLY 7 channels on my DX.

- At about 8:48, that electric starter is something. It is so big that it is easier to bring the airplane to the starter then move the starter.

Enjoy.

I had almost forgotten about my posts on the K-F Wing when several weeks ago I received an e-mail from Dick Kline, inventor of the K-F Airfoil. Dick introduced himself and asked me what I thought of the airfoil.

I was not sure what to answer. We have all been around the Internet long enough to know that not everyone can be who they seem. I took it on faith that this was really Dick Kline and I responded in kind. Several e-mails later I decided I needed to know more about Mr. Kline and what motivated him to invent such an airfoil.

Dick agreed to speak with me and we scheduled a call for the following week. I was still not sure what to expect. I guess I did have some expectations; I expected Dick Kline to be an engineer, probably with a long career at Boeing or something. Boy, was I wrong.

After a cordial greeting, Dick Kline’s first words to me were “do you consider yourself a creative person?”

I knew right then that this conversation was going to be interesting and any pre-conceived notions were out the window. We went on to speak for another two-an-a-half hours. By the end of our conversation I was energized and excited.
Why was I so excited? First, I felt I had made a new friend. Dick is a great guy and fun to talk to.
Secondly, our conversation went to a deeper level. We went beyond how Dick invented an airfoil. We discussed how how all of us, you, me, everyone has the ability to be creative; pose questions; answer those questions and make something happen.

After my conversation with Dick I thought about writing up the interview and posting it here. However, the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was it would be better for all of you to hear from Dick Kline himself. Dick agreed and he has written up a nice piece on the origins of the K-F Airfoil.  Over the next couple of days I will post it along with some pictures of the K-F’s first flights.

The greatest part of any hobby is the people you meet. I am very glad to have met Dick Kline. I never would have expected such a great journey from a simple decision to build a wing, but it happened. Enjoy your week, and I will post Dick’s article up for all of you to enjoy.

We pulled off the road, and turns out the gentleman’s names is AL, and he is flying a Parkzone F-27B Stryker. Al said this was the first time he flew without having to fix or replace some parts. Al is new to R/C and he practices before heading into work.

Way to go Al! Keep it up and enjoy the hobby! Now, which way to the closet hobby shop?

Can you find the Hobby Guy in the picture below? This was from my camera at the same time the pictures were being taken for the article. A similar picture appears in the article on page 29 of Model Aviation.

In the article Dick talks about how he was aiming for a design that was easy to build, fun to fly, and easy to repair, and the NJ One definitely achieves all of that and more. Of course, I would be the first to test the easy to repair quality.

About two hours after the above picture was taken, I was on the last flight of the day and I probably should have stopped one flight earlier. Inverted at about twenty feet above the deck I had a stupid moment, and pulled “up” right into the ground at almost full throttle. OUCH!

The left wing came off, the elevator came off, the landing gear mangled, and the prop broke. However, it all went back together rather nicely. The repair was easy and nothing that some epoxy could not make right. So my NJ One is back in order, and its all credit to a design that accounted for pilot error, ummm… I mean radio glitches.
Thank you Dick Sarpolus for another great design!!

I will be posting a build report, and a flight report. My flying club buddies have had good success using a Align brushless motor, and I plan to build using the same.

For now, enjoy these video of Unicorn Wings.

Funny:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Combat:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video Cam on The Wing:

Click here to view the embedded video.

SpadToTheBone.com is considered the originator of SPAD design and is still the best place for free SPAD plans.
SPAD design focuses on using inexpensive and free materials for building durable radio control airplanes. Many of the designs originated out of combat flying interests and I have seen many SPADS hit the ground at full speed, bounce, and still be ready to fly again.

Building your own SPAD is simple.

• Find a plan, preferably one that is in your flying skill range. If you are looking for a trainer, the Debonair is an excellent choice. Read through all the documentation and check the forums for hints and tips.

• Second, gather your materials. Go harvesting for CoroPlast around your neighborhood. A word of advice, please do not take signs that are still useful and important, signs that read “emergency town meeting this week” probably should be left alone. Look for signs from past campaigns or expired signs about the school play. Some towns require political campaigns pick up the signs within a few days. If this has happened already, ask the local Public Works or the campaign themselves for the signs. They will be glad to assist and it will be less signs they have to haul to the dump.

• Take a visit to your local home improvement or hardware store for the remainder of the items on your build plan.

• Follow the plans and build your SPAD. Most of the SPAD designs are easily built in a few hours. My CoroWing SPAD was built in under 2 hours, and my sons trainer was built and ready to fly in under 4 hours.

If you can not find signs to recycle, you can buy 4mm CoroPlast sheets from sign shops, such as on Canal street in New York, or online from Harbor Sales. A 4×8 4mm sheet can cost as low as $7.00 USD.
Once you build your first SPAD, you will be impressed. Once you crash your first SPAD, you will be hooked. If you are planning to build a SPAD, or have already built a SPAD, leave some comments and tell us about it.

I have lost count of how many hobby shops I have been in. Growing up near Bruckner Hobbies started the fascination and since then I have been in hobby shops in In at least 20 different US states as well as Japan, The Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, UK, Colombia, Mexico, and Canada. I am sure there are some others that I am not recalling right now.

I am in London right now on business and of course I planned to find a new hobby shop to explore. However, this time a hobby shop found me.

While checking into my hotel, the Sheraton Skyline near Heathrow Airport, I noticed a sign at the end of the corridor that said “SALE, Model Aircraft”.

HMM! I thought to myself, is this the gift shop or something more!?

Turns out the hotel is also home to Collectors Model Aircraft, a hobby shop specializing in collectible scale model aircraft.
They bill themselves as the Worlds Number One Supplier of Aircraft Models, and I believe it. Just from looking in the window, the amount of models they have on display and in box is incredible. Floor to ceiling! wow!

The store was closed when I checked in, but before I leave London, I will be in there and finding out more about this incredible store and the people who enjoy it.