Cross Files

摘要

One of the really nice things about writing this column is that I get to talk about some of my own favorite models. One of the very top ones is a little canard pusher called The Back Porch Pusher, designed by Bill Tyler back in the early days of modeling. I must have built the Pusher some time in the 1970s and flew it at Columbia University dozens of times. I used all indoor balsa and condenser paper for covering. Building takes less than an hour and, at a finished weight of about 7 grams and around an 11-inch span, it is virtually indestructible flying a tight circling pattern in a small space. The model gave lots of satisfaction and regularly turned in flights of well over a minute. People would ask about the canard pusher configuration and I would tell them that the Wright Brothers airplane was built the same way. I would add that "canard" means "duck" in French and the appearance in flight of this model resembles that of aquatic fowl.