PROJECT VIRTUE
INTRODUCTION
"I am a student of History."
On September 9, 1965, Commander James Bond Stockdale was shot down over Vietnam by flak. Over the next seven and a half years, while imprisoned at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton", Commander Stockdale distinguished himself by organizing others to resist their captors despite his enduring near daily beatings and torture. His back, legs, and shoulders were broken and rebroken. Faced with such pain, he never wavered; in fact, his purposeful disfigurement of his own body at one instance convinced his captors that he would rather die than give in. Publicly, Commander Stockdale was ultimately awarded the Medal of Honor after his release in 1973.
After his release, Stockdale published 4 books detailing philosophical beliefs and their contribution to his being able to endure the horror of his years as a POW, including his education at the US Naval Academy and reading a book by the Stoic philosopher Epictetus that he had somehow managed to hide on his person while in captivity. Describing himself as a "student of history", Stockdale later said in a speech that after he ejected from his aircraft he thought "I am leaving the world of technology and entering the world of Epictetus". In essence, a central belief of Epictetus and his Stoic teachings is that we cannot control what happens to us, but we can control our happiness by how we react to what happens to us. This mindset equipped Stockdale to mentally endure the incredible ordeal of his years as POW.
There are 4 cardinal virtues in Stoicism: Wisdom, Courage, Justice, and Temperance. Stockdale exhibited all of these during his captivity, and his Medal of Honor citation notes his "valiant leadership [Wisdom/Justice/Temperance] and extraordinary Courage."
An embodiment of the Virtues he studied, before passing away on July 5, 2005 at age 81, United States Navy Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale, the student who had become the teacher, wrote 4 books about the philosophy espousing 4 virtues that equipped him to survive his captivity after being shot down in his A-4 Skyhawk.
Project Virtue = A-4 Skyhawk.
OVERVIEW
The A-4 Skyhawk commands a beloved place in aviation history. Designed by the prolific Ed Heinemann for Douglas Aircraft in the early 1950s, the A-4 was optimized as a multi-role aircraft that used its low weight, high maneuverability, and straightforward reliability to lethal advantage. Despite absorbing the highest combat loss rate in Vietnam, A-4 crews fearlessly executed their missions with bravery and valor. The Skyhawk's nearly 70 year history of distinguished service and its continued operation by some countries to this day is testament to the timelessness of "Heinemann's Hotrod". To honor this famed aircraft, Freewing and Motion RC proudly offer the Freewing 80mm A-4E/F Skyhawk!
This model has been a long time coming! In the summer of 2013 I maidened the first CNC prototype of a Freewing 70mm A-4J Skyhawk. Originally sized for a 70mm fan and then later for our new-at-the-time 80mm fan, we were unimpressed with the high wing loading and limited battery space of the 70mm sized aircraft. In addition, the wing was too thin to house a rotating main wheel of sufficient size for unpaved surfaces, so it used standard retracts and the main wheel hung down from the wing like an A-10... this was a non-starter for us. While it was a difficult decision, we opted to shelve the project in favor of the other Freewing EDFs we went on to release in 2014 and 2015. In the summer of 2015 we brought the A-4 project back, but now upsized, following the same concept of "80mm cost in a 90mm size" that we began with 2016's 80mm MiG-21. Affordable, powerful, grass capable, customizable. And now, it's finally here!
The first large foam electric PNP mass production A-4 in the world, The Freewing 80mm A-4E/F Skyhawk is powered by a 1850kv brushless outrunner motor and 12 blade EDF ducted fan, achieving a top speed of 95mph/150kph using the recommended 6s 4000mAh-5000mAh battery. Positive control including all digital metal gear servos and brass ball link control hardware and Hobbywing's proven 100A ESC continues to shine in Freewing's EDFs. Pilots familiar with the Freewing MiG-21's handling will be instantly comfortable with the A-4's acceleration, thrust, speed, and docile landing characteristics of this scale class EDF jet. Light and agile, the A-4 loves big verticals and rolls like a drill!
The Freewing 80mm A-4E/F Skyhawk features all new fold-and-twist retracts, with durable aluminum trailing link struts all around for confident operation on rough runways and short grass. A slight nose high AoA further aids short, controlled takeoffs from grass fields, with or without flaps. Removable wings and flexible wing wire harnesses provide for convenient transportation.
Adding to the model's versatility, the later version avionics "hump" is also included! Attach this magnetic "hump" onto fuselage's upper spine to change between the -E and -F variations of the Skyhawk. Two waterslide decal sets are also included, depicting a US Navy A-4 from VA-22 and a US Marines A-4 from VMA-311. Fly these with pride, or personalize with another livery of your choosing! From "Top Gun" to the US Navy Blue Angels, to hard working Vietnam attackers, to dissimilar training aircraft or any from a host of foreign operators, the Freewing A-4 will look good in any livery you can think of and will reward modelers wanting to customize their model even further with scale details.
Beyond the overall scale profile fidelity, other scale details include plastic split flaps, and detachable fuel tanks, AGM-12 missiles, and refueling probe. In keeping with the spirit of Heinemann's original intent for a straightforward and simple aircraft, we omitted the complexity of speed brakes and slats, saving weight and cost while not sacrificing slow speed stability. Optimized root, tip, and stab airfoils allow a correctly proportioned wingspan. One of our prototypes used slats and speed brakes, and they didn't contribute to the actual flying handling of the aircraft, except to add cost, weight, and complexity. For you industrious models, knock yourselves out.
The Pre-Order is starting very soon and the product page will be live this week, as we have been secretly producing the aircraft for over a month. So, surprise, surprises, it turns out Jester's not dead, after all!
For more reading on Vice Admiral Stockdale, please visit the links below, and conduct your own research from other resources above his life. He was much more than a POW or Medal of Honor recipient. Here at Motion RC, a central theme we try to promote with each new model aircraft is the men and women who served and often died alongside these aircraft. We hope we can all be inspired to be students of their history, to keep their memory alive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_..._and_education
http://reasonandmeaning.com/2015/03/...and-epictetus/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/08...KNP2T256P6MLWY
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/08...KNP2T256P6MLWY
Thanks, Evelyn!
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