Buy-n-fly is great, it allows people that are crappy builders to join the hobby. The more people the better (with a few notable exceptions).
I design and build all the stuff I fly and I still feel like a hack flier just trying to get by. It's great if a person can afford to buy a nice plane and then spend the time flying, instead of spending 60-80 hours (that could be used flying) building a plane. I do get a kick out of seeing something I designed and build actually fly and hopefully fly well, but I have not spoken ill of a person just because they choose to buy a plane instead of scratch build one. Shame on you for talking down on others because they buy and not build. They are missing out a great part of the hobby, but they are no less a part of this hobby than you are. Ken Russell --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Joe & Jan Wurts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm a bit late on the response to this one (as usual...). > > Andy Frank has made some comments on the building capabilities > (or lack thereof) of the high end fliers, basically placing them in > the "buy-n-fly" category. This definitely puts Andy in the ostrich > category (that is, head in sand). That is, he does not know what > he is talking about on the subject. I'd be more circumspect on this, > but on a previous thread, I posted an extensive private reply to > Andy and did not receive any response, so I conclude that he > is not amenable to discussion. That said, I'm going to publicly > dispel some of his statements regarding the higher level pilot > building capabilities. > > Virtually all of the pilots that have made the US Soaring teams > have had a large background in the manufacture of soaring > aircraft. Daryl Perkins worked with Mark Allen for a couple of > years making airplanes, Gordon Jennings made numerous > planes from molds, Gavin Botha made molds, then made his > own aircraft for F3B. Skip Miller is the originator of the famous > "Miller mod" to the built-up Aquila design of the 70's that he > used to become the first ever world champion in 1977. > Even I have made lots of aircraft from scratch, from built-up > aircraft in the 70s and 80s, to the more recent composite aircraft. > > I currently find that it is a better proposition to work on new > designs with manufacturers than to build my own aircraft > from scratch. This allows me more time to fly, and as a side > benefit, allows others to get the benefits of the efforts involved > in advancing the state of the art in aircraft. Yes, there are > satisfactions in putting together the results of your design > ideas by yourself, but it doesn't really benefit others if all > people in the hobby do it this way. I'd say that there is > room for all types in this hobby; designers, builders, fliers. > One should not denegrate another just because another > does not share exactly the same passions. As a group, > we all share the passion for soaring flight, at least I hope > this is true. > > The amount of effort that is involved in making molds, then > parts, for molded aircraft should not be understated. It is a > far more daunting task than making a new built-up design > from scratch. I'd place it at at least an order of magnitude > more effort. Doing a built-up design from scratch is trivial > by comparison. The advantage in the molded variety is that > after all of the NRE has been incurred with the molds and > required jigging fixtures, parts can be made that are accurate > and repeatable (read: replaceable). Also, the molded airframe > will have more total performance due to the increased > accuracy of the aero surfaces. > > Denigrating others that do not share your specific interests > (building) is elitist and reeks of exclusivity. Andy, I hope that > you find some room for allowing other opinions in your > worldview. If not, may you find pleasures in building your > creations in solitude. The "Buy-n-fly" approach is quite > appropriate for the folk that wish to expend their scarce free > time in flying rather than building. This decision is to be > made by each individual based on their desires, and should > not be second-guessed by others that have different values. > Of course, it has been demonstrated time and again that > one cannot purchase skill, only acquire it via work, so the > worry of the pilots with the most resources always winning > has been shown to be unfounded. With sufficient skill, a > pilot can still win with a scratch built airframe. At present, > most pilots choose to trade dollars to purchase flying time. > That is, spend money for largely pre-built airframes, and > use the resulting increased free time to fly. > > Joe > > PS I have not had a working TV hooked up to anything other > than a VCR since MASH was "live", so I would have to say that > I agree with the comments on the negative effects of TV on > available time. > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
