Me and the model airplane

[Original] Model aircraft and I

I am about to graduate from college, and it has been almost 5 years since I left model aircraft. Now I often think about the activities of the model aircraft group in middle school and the participation in the Sichuan model aircraft competition. In those days, savoring the ups and downs of those years, I was always filled with emotions.

I knew about model aircraft when I was in elementary school. It was thanks to Uncle Li, my father’s friend who grew up since childhood, that he was the principal of the Chengdu Aviation Model School. His eldest brother, Li Tao, is my eldest brother’s middle school classmate and is also an expert in model aircraft. He got into Northwestern Polytechnical University with extra points for model aircraft during the college entrance examination. So when I was young, Uncle Li often thought that I should also engage in model aircraft as a hobby. Bar. I wanted to go there several times, but it was only after I entered junior high school that my wish came true.

One day during the summer vacation of the first year of junior high school, Uncle Li came to my house again and jokingly asked me to go to aviation school during the summer vacation. My parents saw that I was bored all day long, so they agreed. Let me go. So early the next morning, I arrived at the aviation school, and Uncle Li took me into the summer model aircraft class. There were all primary school students in that class, and only an old kid like me seemed blinkered there. The coach’s surname is Ye, and his name is Ye Naizhou. He is a skinny old man who speaks kindly. He is teaching us how to make a hand-thrown aircraft model. Later we found out that he is Li Tao’s coach. He is a national athlete and has superb flying skills. He can control the model aircraft with both his left and right hands. , and can also be operated while sleeping on the ground. His most obvious feature is that he has misaligned thumbs on his left and right hands, but this does not affect his craftsmanship in the slightest. Because I was brought by the principal, I received some preferential treatment. The tool I used (we call it a bevel knife, which is made with a large saw blade, and is much stronger and easier to use than ordinary utility knives) also belongs to him, and I haven’t paid the tuition yet. .

From this time on, I have fully entered the aircraft modelling industry. Several of my junior high school classmates are also in the school’s aircraft modeling team. The coaches are invited by the aviation school, and their coaches are Coach Ye’s disciples. So they are considered my seniors. At this time, they all went to participate in the Sichuan Provincial Competition during the summer vacation. I studied like this for about half a month. When the school started, all the courses were over. I planned to make 2 hand throws. , 2 ejection aircraft, 3 first-level rubber-band power aircraft, and one paraglider. This can be regarded as my first close contact with an aircraft model. My level is quite high among this group of people. After all, I am a middle school student. Of course, there is also Coach Ye’s Xiaozao. I have gradually become familiar with them, and we all even treated another "sick patient" (who had given birth to several children) together. The illness did not come) gave him the nickname "Fang NaoKe" and mocked him all the time. After the aircraft was completed, it was tested in the aviation school courtyard. The courtyard was very small, and it was common for the aircraft to fly onto the roof. Since the roof was sloping, Coach Ye would hold a long bamboo pole every time. A long line is tied to it to bring the plane down, so it won't damage the plane. Coach Ye is really a master of rejuvenation. No matter how poorly made the aircraft is, it will fly high and for a long time after passing through his hands. Of course, I am also a beneficiary. After school started, I took two more classes. The second time I did not participate in the school's introductory geometry competition, but went to model airplanes. When my mother found out, she got furious and scolded me for a long time.

It was the second year of junior high school and I joined the school model aircraft group. When I first started, I started from the most basic level just like the first-year junior high school students. The coach was Coach Ye’s disciple, the young Huang Xiaoyun, who wore brown glasses and had a Lu Xun-like mustache. At the opening ceremony of the school sports meeting that year, other first-year junior high school students and I participated in a model aircraft show, flying first-class rubber bands. I remember that I was very late debugging the airplane on the first day. I assembled several airplanes into one airplane. It was really funny. Coach Huang didn’t know that I had studied model airplanes at first. As time went by, my skills began to show. Later, after being introduced by a classmate, he learned about my origins and put me together with two other seniors. The two seniors were actually in the same grade, but I was in Class 3 and they were both in Class 2. One of them was named Zhang Jinyu and the other was named Zhou Huamin. Zhang Jinyu later became my "life and death friend". At the same time, Xu Zheng, a first-year junior high school student, was also attracted by the coach.

At that time, our Chengdu No. 7 Aviation Model Team was full of talents and was the unrivaled leader in Sichuan Province. We once ranked third among the national teams in the national competition in the 1980s.

At that time, there were three masters in the third grade of junior high school - Dai Yuan, Zhang Jun, and Qin Lang. There was a master named Chen Chu in the first grade of senior high school. My level is considered the worst among these people, but Zhang Jinyu always says that Zhou Huamin is even worse. I don't know if he is trying to comfort me.

Every Friday afternoon is the activity time for our aircraft model group. The aircraft model group belongs to the school’s extracurricular activity group and is headed by an old lady. She is a retired music teacher named Huang Jiayao, who is short. He is short and very good to students, but he is a bit wordy as he gets older. We (including my dad, who is a teacher at No. 7 Middle School) all call her Mrs. Huang behind her back. He also had a good relationship with my dad, but she didn’t recognize me at first. Mrs. Huang looks like an ordinary old person, but she has considerable abilities: Huang Yinkui, then secretary of the Chengdu Municipal Party Committee and former mayor of Chengdu, was her student; she also had extensive social connections, including many off-campus counselors. She went to find it, and sometimes No. 7 Middle School needed funds from above, and she had to step in to get it; later, Dai Yuan and others also strived for extra points in the high school entrance examination (will be introduced in detail later). In the second semester of the second grade of junior high school, I completely separated from the group of first-year junior high school students and started to work as a first-level traction. However, there was no progress after one semester. Apart from getting to know a few other classmates, there was nothing. Academic performance has dropped a lot. (To be continued)

The second grade of junior high school passed quickly. My academic performance has been ups and downs this school year, and overall it has dropped a lot compared to the first year of junior high school. In the first year of junior high school, I was usually ranked 12th in the class, with the highest being 8th. At the end of the school year, I was ranked 18th and had been kicked out of the first learning echelon. I don’t know if this has something to do with the model aircraft, maybe I’m really half-hearted. It's almost summer vacation, and the aircraft model team naturally has to prepare for the annual provincial competition, including registration, training, etc. It happened that this year (1995), both the Sichuan Provincial Competition and the National Competition were held at Sichuan Guanghan Civil Aviation Flight College. As the host, we naturally had to strive for results. Since model aircraft competitions are not like those in the 1980s (when they were publicly funded), all expenses have to be paid by ourselves, so we have participated less in national competitions recently. It usually costs several hundred yuan to participate in a provincial competition, which was still a small amount in the mid-to-early 1990s. Not a small amount. By this time, Mrs. Huang was already very familiar with me, so she went to encourage my dad to pay for the competition. It is said that she walked into my dad's office that day and asked, "×××, do you want your son to become a talented person?" My dad Zhang Er was still confused. Brain: "What's going on? Of course I want my son to become a talented person." "Then take the money." Mrs. Huang used her words, and my dad agreed to my participation in the competition without much hesitation.

The semester is over. Since the competition starts in mid-July, we seize the time to build the aircraft, debug it, and train. This time Zhang Jinyu and I participated in the competition of the PS4A project, specifically the rocket glider. Its principle is similar to that of the space shuttle: a rocket sleeve is installed on the head of the glider. During the competition, the aircraft is placed on the vertical launcher and the propeller is ignited. The thruster (which was a large sky cannon at that time, placed inside the sleeve) sent the aircraft to a high altitude. After the fuel was used up, the booster separated, opened the folding wings, and glide down. Calculating the air time, the total *** The total score is calculated in three rounds. As the Sichuan Provincial Education Commission stipulates that 5 points can be added to the high school entrance examination for any ranking in sports competitions. I am in the second grade of junior high school again. This is the last chance, so I must seize it. Chen Chu participated in P1B-2 (level 2 rubber band power), Xu Zheng participated in P1A-2 (level 2 traction), Dai Yuan, Zhang Jun and Qin Lang participated in wire manipulation, remote control stunts and other projects, and Zhou Huamin participated in the Colombian remote control project. Our team The name was Chengdu No. 1 Team, which was Chengdu No. 7 Squadron at that time. According to the regulations, to participate in the team competition, you must participate in five events: namely, two pulls, two oaks, line control stunts, air combat, and remote control stunts. In early July, Zhang Jinyu and I worked on our airplane in the small room at the aviation school every day. Only then did I realize how fierce Coach Huang is. Because he usually doesn’t get angry at school because of the reputation of the school and the teacher. But it wasn’t until we arrived at the aviation school that we discovered Lushan’s true face. Being scolded is commonplace anyway. My brain was not very bright, and my hands-on ability was not very good at that time, so I was often brainwashed.

Later, it turned out that the airplane we made was not very good, so he asked one of his old students, Xu Xin, who had just passed the major professional training program, to make it for us, and we just had to fly. Xu Xin made about 6 airplanes in one day, plus what we made ourselves, plus what Coach Huang made himself, the total number is about 10. The aircraft we made were made from materials and propellers purchased from Xi'an Sikai Company. There were instructions, but there were very few wires (our aircraft needed wires to fold the wings. After the thrusters were used up, we burned the wires and then opened them. Anti-wing gliding), so we bought a thin fishing line. The glue was 502 produced by Beijing Chemical Factory and our own quick-drying glue (made of organic glass dissolved in banana water). Occasionally we used AB glue, epoxy Resin and more. When making an airplane, cut the paulownia wood pieces into the required shape with a bevel knife, then polish them with sandpaper. After the first polishing, apply clear glue, which is quick-drying glue diluted with banana water. After it dries, sand it with water sandpaper. , repeated several times to ensure that the wings are smooth and not deformed and reduce air resistance.

I will never forget the first time I went out to the field (we went to the airport for training called outing). It rained heavily that morning. I went to the aviation school early in the morning under an umbrella, and then moved the boxes. Everyone took a West China minibus to Chengdu Taipingsi Airport, which is also the location of the Sichuan Aviation Sports School. It was only when I got there that I truly understood the meaning of the word "swamp": it's such a big airport, except for the concrete landings, the rest of the area is just a piece of grass. Plus, it was just after heavy rain in midsummer... if you were a little further away, you'd have to start talking. You have to shout to hear it. My first flight was so bad. The plane went straight up and down, and fell to the ground in two pieces. It turned out that the instructor applied a layer of quick-drying glue to the joint of the wings yesterday. The instructor was supposed to peel it off today, but unfortunately I forgot. (I was careless at that time), the coach stared at me: "How are you doing?..." I said it was almost done, and he showed me the quick-drying glue on the wing. I was speechless, and then he scolded me to avoid it. No more. But because we are still middle school students, the coach won’t hit us. Then I took out another plane of my own and flew it. Although it wasn't good, it wasn't bad either.

Picking up planes is the most annoying thing. The plane flew down and fell in the grass, so we had to pick it up. Without a second step, we stepped into the swamp and got covered in water. A pair of rubber shoes became water shoes, and the socks were stained with some plant seeds. The sun came out. It feels like I'm in a steamer. Due to my inexperience, I put the key in my trouser pocket and lost it within a few seconds. The plane is small and the grass is high, so it often takes a long time to find it. The instructor told us his experience: when the plane lands, you should face the plane, look forward and backward, and find a sign on each side. The plane is on the straight line formed by the two signs, and then walk along the straight line, turning back to correct the direction from time to time, because in the It's easy to deviate from a straight line when walking in a swamp. However, it still took us half a day to walk. Once we even walked to the big airport runway opposite and still couldn't find it. To add: Taipingsi Airport has two runways. The one on the east side is for the aviation school, 800 meters long; the one on the west side is for the air force's runway and agencies, 2,800 meters long. Central leaders board and disembark planes there, and China United Airlines also uses it. As a take-off and landing airport, you can see Tu154, IL-76, and several H-5s that have been scrapped for an unknown number of years. The distance between the two runways is at least 600m.

The first time he went out to the outfield, Xu Zhengfei lost a second-hand aircraft during the first takeoff and landing: Because it was the sun coming out after rain, the airflow on his upper body was strong, and the plane did not have an emergency landing line. Flying into the clouds" - Xu Zhengyu.

The lunch that day was very delicious. I drank wine, ate vegetables, and had 5 or 6 bowls of rice. The thing that impressed me most was the stir-fried jelly with black bean paste. The taste was gone. Many years later, when I passed by there again, I still thought about the stir-fried jelly with black bean paste.

That day, I lost my automatic umbrella. It was brought back by my relatives in Taiwan. It was very useful and I was naturally scolded when I got home. Then we went out to the outfield again and it was time for the game. (To be continued)

After two days of training in Guanghan, the competition officially began, first the Sichuan provincial competition, and then the national competition.

The provincial competition lasted for three days, and my project was on the afternoon of the third day, so I mainly watched the competition for the first two days, and then I helped pick up the plane. The sun was shining brightly those days, and we would go out around 1 o'clock every day and not come back until the sun set. In order to prevent heat stroke, the coach told us to drink a lot of water every day, as long as you can go to the toilet one after another before departure. , indicating that the body is adequately hydrated. Since I brought a porcelain bowl with me, my task every morning was to drink water from one bowl after another. During the competition, everyone only has a bottle of water to moisten their throats - it's not that there is no water, but that you can't drink a lot of water during the competition. In fact, after being exposed to the sun, I got used to it after a while, and there was nothing uncomfortable when I came back - except for peeling.

An ironic thing happened during our training in Guanghan: there were a lot of cattle there, which belonged to the surrounding farmers - the airport was a large pasture, and the cattle were natural lawnmowers. , so that the grass on the ground will not be too high, making it more comfortable for people to walk on. But one afternoon when Xu Zheng was training, the plane glided down and bumped into a cow and stopped behind the cow. The cow stepped backwards and trampled the plane into several pieces. Later, after repairs, the plane was able to fly into the sky again, but there were scars all over the body - of course, this was all after the game.

Let’s talk about Zhang Wei and me. At first, Zhang Wei and I were very close, but as time went on, I felt something was wrong. I thought he was a big talker, and gradually we became estranged. At this time, he became more familiar with Zhang Jinyu, and they talked about everything. Talking about it, one moment they said they were sworn brothers, and the next moment they said they were good friends from kindergarten... But Zhang Wei was also unlucky enough. He crashed on two planes in succession. Others put them on the bed, and he just sat on it. It was broken into several pieces and could not be repaired at all. The coach scolded him for this incident, saying that if it weren't for Nie Xuejie's face, he would have been sent home long ago; he was also included in the pornographic books that time. In fact, I also made a mistake and broke the insulation bucket containing the rubber bands (in order to prevent the rubber bands from aging due to high temperature, the elastic bands must be stored in the insulation barrel), but I still learned Zhang Wei’s lesson and went to Coach Huang. He took the initiative to admit his mistake and the coach didn't say anything. It seems that Washington's Law is very effective.

One morning, I was alone in the room. Zhang Jinyu ran in and closed the door and said, do you know there are only three people in our competition? I can't tell clearly. After his explanation, I found out that out of the 7 people who originally signed up, only 3 people were left to participate in the competition, namely me, Zhang Jinyu and Zhang Wei. At this time, Zhang Jinyu came over and whispered to me: Let’s divide the top two positions between the two of us, and tell Zhang Wei to get out of here! I was a little confused, and he went on to say that Zhang Wei came to him that day and wanted to squeeze me out with him. Here is an explanation of the ranking principle of the competition: Generally speaking, the top six will be selected for the competition, but if the number of participants is less than 6, the last place will not be selected (the top 5 for the 6-person competition, the top four for the 5-person competition, etc.) By analogy), during the competition in 1994, there were only two people in Daiyuan's event (it seemed to be aerial combat), and they won the first place. Later, the high school entrance examination extra points and the education committee were unwilling to add them, saying that it was meaningless for two people to compete, and it was Mrs. Huang. I went to the Education Committee and made a fuss for a long time, leaving the Education Committee members speechless (as mentioned before, Mrs. Huang is not an ordinary old teacher), so I had to add points. Since there are only three of us left in this competition, we will only take the top two. At this time, Zhang Jinyu told me exactly what Zhang Wei wanted to do with me, and he also said that Zhang Wei would take action soon. He also told me that the closeness between him and Zhang Wei was actually an act, and that I was his real die-hard brother, especially since we were both from No. 7 Middle School... He took out a ball of clay and stuffed it into the hole of Zhang Wei's plane. In the front (we had already divided the planes before, I chose the one I made as a backup, and the one made by the instructor as the main engine). In this way, the center of gravity of the aircraft is changed, and the aircraft becomes a missile.

Our team went very well two days before the competition. Xu Zheng won the third place in the second lead, Chen Chu won the first place in the second oak, and Dai Yuan, Zhang Jun, and Qin Lang all won the second place. On the third day, Zhou Huamin won the third place in the Colombian remote control competition. It's our turn to compete. The competition is divided into three rounds. From each round, each player has three minutes to prepare.

Zhang Wei was the first one, and saw the plane falling straight up and down into two pieces; I was the second one, and suddenly found that the main engine tail suddenly broke. I know this is Zhang Wei's fault. He broke it while I was away. ; I can only use the backup to fly first. This plane is not good. It takes only 4 seconds to load the plane. Zhang Jinyu flew steadily for dozens of seconds. Zhang Wei's failure in the second round was also expected. I got the host ready and flew up for more than 20 seconds. I felt much more relaxed. In the third round, Zhang Wei also failed and I flew. After more than 40 seconds, I finally got the second place and shattered Zhang Wei's conspiracy, although it was not so fair.

After the game, I felt that the sky was lighter and I felt a sense of relief. Where is Zhang Wei? Walking downcast. We naturally won the first place in the team (two first places in individual events, four second places, and two third places are not enough?). I originally signed up to participate in the national competition, but the coach persuaded me not to participate because my level was not good and participating would be in vain. I am also well aware of my own strength. Besides, my goal has been achieved and I am guaranteed to get extra points in the high school entrance examination, so I can't wait to go home soon. That night the coach found me a car back to Chengdu, and I returned home to Chengdu. But I left my bowl and slippers there, but I got the guest house key back and lost the deposit, but I didn't care anymore. This was my first competition experience.

(To be continued)

When I was studying in a model aircraft class, the teacher said: "Today is the registration for the model aircraft competition." After saying that, the teacher wrote on the blackboard. When I saw it, ah, there are so many! There are ornithopters, paragliders, origami planes, line-controlled aircraft and electric remote-controlled helicopters. I fell in love with electric helicopters at first sight, so I signed up.

When I got the plane and took a look, wow, what a beautiful plane! The tail is off-white, the head is colored, and the propeller is black. The teacher told me that I must first learn to adjust the tail, because I can't control the plane, so the teacher taught me step by step. The teacher told me: "First, throttle, and then adjust the direction of the tail." I did what the teacher told me, It turned out to be the right thing to do. After a while, I learned it, and the teacher asked me to try flying by myself. I held the launcher in my hand, first used my right hand to throttle, and then my left hand to adjust the tail. When it tilted to the left, I turned the joystick to the right. ; It tilted to the right, so I turned the joystick to the left. After practicing this for several days, I finally became able to control it freely, but sometimes I would make mistakes.

Once, when I was practicing rope training, I increased the throttle first, but the throttle was too high, and the plane suddenly flew to the ceiling. I quickly reduced the throttle, and the plane fell. After landing, I saw that the plane was about to crash. My heart was in my throat, so I increased the throttle two more steps. The plane rushed up like a rocket. I reduced the throttle to "0" again. The plane fell heavily to the ground. Fortunately, only one wing was damaged. What a risk!

It is not easy to operate an airplane. It requires patience and skills. I will definitely try my best.