A CLASSIC RETURNS

Necessary Equipment Books is pleased to reintroduce Ron Williams' book, Building & Flying Indoor Model Airplanes. Now available from AerocraftRC, it has been reprinted for the third time. First published in 1981 and reprinted in 1984, this book has inspired future champions and model builders around the world. Over 200 drawings including plans and numerous photographs showing the hobby as it is practiced lure the reader into this fascinating and surprising pursuit.

The book was written based on notes and sketches the author made as he worked his way up to the ultimate indoor models known as F1D. Though more than two feet in wing span and thirty inches long, these aircraft weigh about the same as a dollar bill: one gram. Learning to build these planes starts with simple beginner's models. As the modeler learns the techniques for handling specially cut balsa wood and ultralight coverings, the challenges mount and the performance of the models increases.

Williams went through this process with friends and fellow modelers guiding the way. While teaching at Columbia University, he arranged demonstrations, flying sessions and exhibits in Columbia's Low Library. The meets attracted the interest of the news media which in turn resulted in a request by a publisher to write the book. The sketches and copious notes he was keeping became the basis for the book; it took more than four years to complete with its exhaustive treatment of the hobby.

The high tech F1D planes are one facet of this type of model aviation. The book also covers indoor scale models and other classes as well as indoor handlaunched gliders. The techniques explained can be applied to many other types of model building.

One reviewer said, "This is a fantastic book. . . . it's probably the best book ever written about building indoor duration models. It may also be the best book ever written about model aircraft."

He was not alone in his opinion; another said, "Ron Williams' book is a pleasure that I've gone back to many times, both to enjoy his prose and his clear drawings and to answer questions and come up with ideas . . . you might be tempted to copy some of the drawings to hang in your workshop . . . I recommend this book without hesitation . . ."

The 8 1/2" x 11" paperback book contians 272 pages with more than 200 drawings, over 60 photos and many plans.




Regardless of your primary interest in model aviation, it is impossible to resist the wonder of an indoor duration model as it gracefully spirals upward on gossamer wings. Captivating in their frail beauty, these models epitomize the purity of flight - just as surely as they challenge the skill of their builders against an unforgiving stopwatch. Ron Williams' Building & Flying Indoor Model Airplanes is the finest reference ever available for exploring this realm, and both earlier editions have been most valued volumes in my library for nearly 20 years. While strictly about Free Flight modeling, I have taken many lessons from these pages and applied them to projects of all persuasions. This volume deserves a prominent place on the bookshelf of anyone who calls himself a true modeler, or aspires to be one.

- Thayer Syme, Managing Editor - Fly RC Magazine





"Ron Williams' Building and Flying Indoor Model Airplanes was one of my first exposures to this hobby. It contained absolutely everything I needed to know to get up in the air. The chapters on EZB and Pennyplane are great primers, but the section on Microfilm models is something else altogether. I was mesmerized! Ron captures the mystique and complexity of F1D models with an infectious passion. I literally dreamt of flying these gossamer ships, the photographs and hand-drawn images burned in my mind. 15 years later I have my own fleet of Indoor models and I credit in large part the seed that this book planted. To say it's a "must read" for any modeler is an understatement."

- John Kagan 2000 F1D
World Champion
5-Time USA F1D Team Member
Absolute Duration Record Holder