Test-flying for fun - RC planes and helicoptersWritten by Rod Shoveller
Contrary to popular belief, people who work in model shops don’t spend all day every day playing with their own models!!!However, on Friday afternoon Dale and myself decided we were actually going flying. We closed shop dead on 6 o'clock (usually we don’t leave till gone 7). We were cashed up, loaded up and were off to our own secret flying site in Kent by 6.30. We arrived at flying field around 6.45, all models still intact after a mad dash along A2 in Kent and some rather bendy country lanes. First out of cars were a pair of Weston Cougars, one of my favourite planks (sorry for term plank but I class myself as a heli flyer). Once started and both airborne there was a really noticeable difference in performance between two. Dale’s is fitted with a OS46LA, whilst mine has a West Eurotech 36 fitted. We both decided to go for height, (when I say height I mean clouds were getting in way) Dale’s climb rate was respectable but mine climbed like a homesick angel. After a few attempts at getting it to flatspin & some low inverted circuits I was out of fuel, so was forced to land and get next model out. The next candidate was a Century Predator Gasser which has had one previous flight. The beauty of petrol powered models is that they are cheap to run & there is no starting equipment required. The previous flight was used to set model and engine up correctly. After a few tweaks to engine I was happy with way she was running I thought we would do a few gentle circuits with a couple of stall turns thrown in for good measure. I must say this is probably most stable model in hover I have ever flown. I landed, then passed controls to Dale for a quick play. He also loved how stably it flew.
| | Profile of the Online Bingo PlayerWritten by Jonathan Bentz
“There was a farmer had a dog…" You know rest. For most of us, our first encounter with Bingo is as a farmer’s dog. Bingo’s legacy as a children’s campfire song is undeniable. As we grew up, so did that dog. Bingo mutated from a song to a game. Five column cards filled with random numbers became essential game of chance. That dog’s name became a shout of victory, filled with joy and satisfaction of beating odds. For several decades, bingo was played in large halls, where hundreds of people played on game cards of cheap cardboard, hoping for big score. Over past decade, game that owns name of a farmer’s dog has made jump from VFW to WWW. Bingo as a song is still tailor-made for young kids at campfire, but game has changed with times and moved online. Bingo has always been one of America’s hidden pastimes. According to IGWB (http://www.igwb.com), an estimated 1.6 billion people attended bingo halls across country in 2003. To put things in perspective, that staggering attendance number is almost more than amount of people who attended movie theaters and bowling alleys, combined. Over past four years, number of bingo sites on internet has increased twenty-one fold, from five in 1999 to 105 in 2003. Free bingo sites definitely seem to be most popular place to get a game going. According to WhichBingo.com (http://www.whichbingo.com), over 45% of bingo sites are free play only. Around 70% of all online bingo sites are either totally free to play, or mostly free with a few premium, pay-to-play games. Online bingo shows overwhelming popularity here in States. According to Bingo.com (http://www.bingo.com), 90% of online bingo players who use free play sites are North American. Eighty percent of those who played free, online bingo last year were female, according to Bingo.com. Surprisingly, average age of an online bingo player (male or female) was 41, with over 80 percent of those players being between ages of 25 and 55. Somewhat more surprising is low percentage of players over 65. Traditionally, bingo is associated with senior citizens who spend their twilight years hoping for jackpot. However, Bingo.com found that only two percent of free, online bingo gamers are over age of 65.
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