It takes more than just a model plane, engine and radio to fly. The
engine needs fuel to run; the electric motor battery has to be recharged.
Engines are started most easily with an electric starter. Electric
motors still need propellers, and they sometimes break. Fuel has to
be somehow gotten into the fuel tank. Finally, we need something to
carry all this.
It
is not with model airplanes alone that we challenge gravity and
fate. We also use a lot of accessory equipment. Full size aircraft,
even jet fighters, always have a compartment to carry accessories
the pilot and passengers will need when they arrive at their destination.
Similarly, model pilots must have the accessories they need when
they arrive at the flying field.
This column
is designed to examine new model aviation accessories, fuels, batteries,
glow plugs, propellers and tools. Maybe this is not very glamorous
“stuff”, but all these items are very important to most
model pilots (even indoor flyers need rubber bands!).
Its time to
rummage through the Baggage Compartment to see what we can find.
