Model Builder plans are still available from Bill Northrop’s Plan Service!
Also included in this column:
• Video assembly instructions for Darcy White’s
Squirrel
• Bob Schlosberg’s L-19
• A JASCO Trooper by Karl Geis
• Gluing tips from Orv Olm
• Tom Hallman’s Do X begins flight tests
• Senator postal contest news
• Texas Timers updated
• Jones-style balsa stripper back in production
• New Web site for Shorty’s Basement
• Winged Shadow Systems’ How High altimeter
• Ted Becker’s Mulvihill plans from Don DeLoach
• A great new Web site
• Free Twiggy plans from the author
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
Don DeLoach’s Becker is a great-flying small Mulvihill design.
DeLoach photo.
Karl Geis built and flew a Jasco Trooper Towline Glider when he
was a kid and decided to make another. Geis photo.
Bob Schlosberg drew up this “skinny scale” L-19 Bird Dog from
No-Cal plans. It spans 20.5 inches. Schlosberg photo.
The author built his fun-scale F-100 from Dick Baxter’s article in
Model Builder. Plans are available from Bill Northrop.
DICK BAXTER has designed many sport FF models. While
looking through some old Model Builder magazines I saw Dick’s
“stand way far off” scale F-100. The jet’s trapezoidal fuselage
structure is not for the rank beginner, but the project is fun and the
model, predictably, is a great flier.
Dick used a white or silver finish. I found a picture of a
Vietnam-based F-100 and loosely based my model’s finish on it.
September 2006 145
09sig5.QXD 7/26/06 8:57 AM Page 145The F-100 plans set is one of more than 300 that were
published full size in Model Builder. To get the complete list of
available plans and ordering instructions, send $3 US to Bill
Northrop’s Plan Service, 2019 Doral Ct., Henderson NV 89074.
Be sure to ask for the full-size plans list; Bill has other plans
and lists he sells. Check out his ad in MA.
Last September’s column had a picture of Darcy White’s
beginner model he named the Squirrel. He has since added
video assembly instructions to his Web site. Watch as Darcy
builds the airplane from precut parts and has it ready to fly in
roughly 10 minutes!
Surf over to www.rubber-power.com/ for plans and a look at
the video. One of the secrets to the quick assembly is the use of
the white craft glue sold as “tacky glue” in craft shops.
Bob Schlosberg built his L-19 Bird Dog from an enlargement
of No-Cal plans. It spans 20.5 inches. Rather than make a fullwidth
fuselage, Bob opted for “skinny scale,” making the
fuselage 1.5 inches in maximum width at the cabin area. The
complete empty weight with ballast is 51.2 grams.
The L-19 has a blue Rees (Peck-style) 7.75-inch-diameter
plastic propeller. Power is provided by two loops of 29-inchlong
1/8 Tan II rubber that is 24 inches long after braiding. Bob
can get approximately 1,800 turns in that motor and has been
rewarded with flights in the 60- to 90-second range.
For many of us, modeling is a way to go back to our childhood.
That was the case for Karl Geis, who built a favorite model
from years past: a 35-inch-span JASCO Trooper Towline
Glider. His version is covered with Japanese tissue over Mylar.
The all-up weight, including ballast, is 1.8 ounces.
The JASCO Trooper kit was released in 1944, and many kids
built the popular model. The Trooper was slightly redesigned
when Frank Zaic sold JASCO and the company became JETCO.
Karl built his first Trooper when he was 12 or 13 years old, in
roughly 1940.
Several years ago Stan Buddenbohm had a contest for
Troopers in Southern California, and there were many entries.
This got Karl thinking about building another one of these
airplanes. When he saw Dick Peterson, a flying buddy of Stan’s,
fly his Trooper last year at the Society of Antique Modelers
Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada, Karl knew he had to do
it.
Karl recalls that his mom gave him some carpet and button
thread to tow up his original. It was a swell flier.
146 MODEL AVIATION
Orv Olm photographed all the tools that are necessary for doing a
slick job of glazing a turret for a Defiant.
The finished turret looks neat and has no adhesive smudges. Olm
photo.
Orv Olm, who owns Gizmo Geezer Products (www.gizmogeezer.
com/index.htm), is a talented model builder. In a recent Internet
discussion of adhesives for model windshields, he offered an idea that
was new to me.
According to Orv, one of the problems we see is that almost all
clear plastic film is now Mylar, which resists most glues. The old
cellophane (acetate) film was etched by model cement. This made it
easier to attach the windshield material.
After a considerable amount of experimenting, Orv developed a
method that has worked well on several models. Using a small brush
he paints a fairly thick layer of contact cement around the window and
windshield frame. He uses small tubes of the smelly toluene-based
contact cements and prefers Elmer’s brand because of its light honey
color.
After the contact cement has dried, he uses a small trim iron to dotweld
the film in strategic spots to check the fit of the windshield. If the
fit isn’t right, touching the sealing-iron tip to the dot will pop it free,
and adjustments can be made until the fit is perfect. Once satisfied with
the fit, the remainder of the adhesive can be activated.
Another glue tip from Orv involves the use of a contact cement
sold by UHU. It comes packaged in a no-mess stick that is like a
deodorant dispenser. This adhesive can be used for several
applications, such as bonding Mylar film covering and polyester tissue
covering to balsa structures.
Rub the cement on the frame, wait for it to dry, and then use a
sealing iron to permanently bond the covering to the frame. The UHU
contact cement doesn’t work too well for attaching windows because it
is hard to apply a thick enough layer to the narrow frame around the
windows.
During the windshield discussion, Howard Littman mentioned that
a good source of acetate sheet for windshields is art-supply stores. He
found a 20 x 40-inch sheet of .003 acetate for approximately $2.
For the last nine months Tom Hallman has been laboring over a
rubber-powered scale Dornier Do X. The model’s craftsmanship and
detailing are truly remarkable. Flight-testing was just beginning at the
time of this writing.
The Do X spans 27 inches and weighs 55 grams without rubber. It
is powered by a single 9.5-inch Peck-Polymers propeller. The small
propellers on the engine nacelles are dummies, but they do spin! The
model should be majestic in the air.
09sig5.QXD 7/26/06 8:58 AM Page 146(Editor’s note: Tom’s Do X is featured
on the cover of the August 2006 MA.)
Donations to buy awards for this year’s
Senator postal contest now total more
than $500. The 2006-2007 event is
running and closes January 31, 2007.
That time frame enables summer
participation from fliers in both
hemispheres. Support is expected to be
greater still this year; a Team Challenge
has been included, and donations and
pledges already equal those received for
2005.
The Senator is a simple, sturdy, 32-
inch-span rubber-powered design from
1950. It has straightforward flight
characteristics and outstanding
performance. (There is a picture of the
Senator in the July 2006 “Free Flight
Sport” column.)
The design is vintage-legal in many
countries and can do well in US Category
III events such as Nostalgia Rubber,
Moffett, and even Mulvihill. You can
obtain details of the 2006-2007 event and
the results of the 2005 contest from
[email protected].
Hank Nystrom has updated his threefunction
Texas Timers. The updated
model will add the pinch mechanism as
used on the Max A timers. The second
function wire has been moved to a
position that is exactly in line with the
DT post, so the quick DT line distance is
the same as that of the regular DT. The
new, stiffer DT wire and deep thread
scroll is now standard.
Check it out at www.texastimers.com
or write to Texas Timers at 3317 Pine
Timbers Dr., Johnson City TN 37604.
The Jones-style balsa stripper is back in
production. Tim Goldstein is producing
the stripper based on the Jim Jones
design.
The new stripper’s main frame is
manufactured from aircraft-grade 6061
T6 aluminum, which is hard-anodized for
protection. All parts are produced on
state-of-the-art CNC equipment. This new
stripper is a work of art.
The Jones-style stripper is $59.50 plus
shipping. You can order it from our
model-supply Web site at www.F1D.biz/
order. Send mail orders to A2Z CNC,
1530 W. Tufts Ave. Unit B, Englewood
CO 80110. The telephone number is
(720) 833-9300.
For a homemade balsa stripper that is
not as handy as the Jones model but is
cheap, check out www.windandwave
models.com/BalsaS.html.
Shorty’s Basement has a new Web site
at www.shortysbasement.com/index.php.
Check it out for Aerographics kits, West
Wings kits, Replikits, short kits for
Rapier-powered scale jets, and the Rapier
power units themselves. The company
carries other products for the FF group
including tissue and paints.
You don’t have access to the Internet?
Get a color catalog for $1 from Carole
Kane, 1036 Bexley Ave., Marion OH
43302, or call (740) 225-8671.
Winged Shadow Systems has introduced a
new product that can answer the inevitable
question: How high did the model climb?
How High is an altimeter for model
aircraft. It reports the peak altitude of a
flight right at the field, without the need for
a computer or any other support equipment.
This unit is smaller than a postage
stamp, lighter than a dime, and (perhaps
best of all) costs less than $40. FF
modelers need only attach a battery and
mount the unit. Details are available at
www.wingedshadow.com.
Mulvihill is an interesting AMA Rubber
duration event. The rules are simple. The
model’s projected wing area must not
exceed 300 square inches. After the first
three max flights, the max is extended by a
minute. Long flights can become the order
of the day.
Large models have an advantage in the
event because they can carry a large
amount of rubber and are easier to keep in
sight. Despite that fact, many elect to fly
smaller models in Mulvihill because rubber
costs are lower and smaller models are
easier to build and transport.
Don DeLoach liked the looks of Ted
Becker’s Mulvihill from the 1954 Zaic
Year Book, so he drew full-size CAD
plans and built his own Becker. Don used
red Japanese tissue over Mylar on the
fuselage and sprayed the sunburst design
on the wing with Design Master Holiday
Red paint.
The Becker Mulvihill is roughly the
size of a Gollywock. It can be flown in
National Free Flight Society Nostalgia
Rubber and Mulvihill categories.
Don is making the plans available for
$7 and a set of laser-cut ribs available for
$14, postpaid. If you are interested, send
a check or money order to Don at 831
Willamette Ave., Colorado Springs CO
80903.
Michael Heinrich and Professor Fate
used Greg West’s talents to set up a new
Web site with some great Scale plans for
us Flying Aces Club and sport FF
modelers. The aircraft are in the 16- to
20-inch-span range. Most are from the
Golden Age era. Take a look at
www.deathtrapsquadron.com.
For those who are interested in free
plans for the Twiggy, which I mentioned
in the July 2006 column, send an SASE
to me at 1401 N. Husband St., Stillwater OK, 74075
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/09
Page Numbers: 145,146,147
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/09
Page Numbers: 145,146,147
Model Builder plans are still available from Bill Northrop’s Plan Service!
Also included in this column:
• Video assembly instructions for Darcy White’s
Squirrel
• Bob Schlosberg’s L-19
• A JASCO Trooper by Karl Geis
• Gluing tips from Orv Olm
• Tom Hallman’s Do X begins flight tests
• Senator postal contest news
• Texas Timers updated
• Jones-style balsa stripper back in production
• New Web site for Shorty’s Basement
• Winged Shadow Systems’ How High altimeter
• Ted Becker’s Mulvihill plans from Don DeLoach
• A great new Web site
• Free Twiggy plans from the author
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
Don DeLoach’s Becker is a great-flying small Mulvihill design.
DeLoach photo.
Karl Geis built and flew a Jasco Trooper Towline Glider when he
was a kid and decided to make another. Geis photo.
Bob Schlosberg drew up this “skinny scale” L-19 Bird Dog from
No-Cal plans. It spans 20.5 inches. Schlosberg photo.
The author built his fun-scale F-100 from Dick Baxter’s article in
Model Builder. Plans are available from Bill Northrop.
DICK BAXTER has designed many sport FF models. While
looking through some old Model Builder magazines I saw Dick’s
“stand way far off” scale F-100. The jet’s trapezoidal fuselage
structure is not for the rank beginner, but the project is fun and the
model, predictably, is a great flier.
Dick used a white or silver finish. I found a picture of a
Vietnam-based F-100 and loosely based my model’s finish on it.
September 2006 145
09sig5.QXD 7/26/06 8:57 AM Page 145The F-100 plans set is one of more than 300 that were
published full size in Model Builder. To get the complete list of
available plans and ordering instructions, send $3 US to Bill
Northrop’s Plan Service, 2019 Doral Ct., Henderson NV 89074.
Be sure to ask for the full-size plans list; Bill has other plans
and lists he sells. Check out his ad in MA.
Last September’s column had a picture of Darcy White’s
beginner model he named the Squirrel. He has since added
video assembly instructions to his Web site. Watch as Darcy
builds the airplane from precut parts and has it ready to fly in
roughly 10 minutes!
Surf over to www.rubber-power.com/ for plans and a look at
the video. One of the secrets to the quick assembly is the use of
the white craft glue sold as “tacky glue” in craft shops.
Bob Schlosberg built his L-19 Bird Dog from an enlargement
of No-Cal plans. It spans 20.5 inches. Rather than make a fullwidth
fuselage, Bob opted for “skinny scale,” making the
fuselage 1.5 inches in maximum width at the cabin area. The
complete empty weight with ballast is 51.2 grams.
The L-19 has a blue Rees (Peck-style) 7.75-inch-diameter
plastic propeller. Power is provided by two loops of 29-inchlong
1/8 Tan II rubber that is 24 inches long after braiding. Bob
can get approximately 1,800 turns in that motor and has been
rewarded with flights in the 60- to 90-second range.
For many of us, modeling is a way to go back to our childhood.
That was the case for Karl Geis, who built a favorite model
from years past: a 35-inch-span JASCO Trooper Towline
Glider. His version is covered with Japanese tissue over Mylar.
The all-up weight, including ballast, is 1.8 ounces.
The JASCO Trooper kit was released in 1944, and many kids
built the popular model. The Trooper was slightly redesigned
when Frank Zaic sold JASCO and the company became JETCO.
Karl built his first Trooper when he was 12 or 13 years old, in
roughly 1940.
Several years ago Stan Buddenbohm had a contest for
Troopers in Southern California, and there were many entries.
This got Karl thinking about building another one of these
airplanes. When he saw Dick Peterson, a flying buddy of Stan’s,
fly his Trooper last year at the Society of Antique Modelers
Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada, Karl knew he had to do
it.
Karl recalls that his mom gave him some carpet and button
thread to tow up his original. It was a swell flier.
146 MODEL AVIATION
Orv Olm photographed all the tools that are necessary for doing a
slick job of glazing a turret for a Defiant.
The finished turret looks neat and has no adhesive smudges. Olm
photo.
Orv Olm, who owns Gizmo Geezer Products (www.gizmogeezer.
com/index.htm), is a talented model builder. In a recent Internet
discussion of adhesives for model windshields, he offered an idea that
was new to me.
According to Orv, one of the problems we see is that almost all
clear plastic film is now Mylar, which resists most glues. The old
cellophane (acetate) film was etched by model cement. This made it
easier to attach the windshield material.
After a considerable amount of experimenting, Orv developed a
method that has worked well on several models. Using a small brush
he paints a fairly thick layer of contact cement around the window and
windshield frame. He uses small tubes of the smelly toluene-based
contact cements and prefers Elmer’s brand because of its light honey
color.
After the contact cement has dried, he uses a small trim iron to dotweld
the film in strategic spots to check the fit of the windshield. If the
fit isn’t right, touching the sealing-iron tip to the dot will pop it free,
and adjustments can be made until the fit is perfect. Once satisfied with
the fit, the remainder of the adhesive can be activated.
Another glue tip from Orv involves the use of a contact cement
sold by UHU. It comes packaged in a no-mess stick that is like a
deodorant dispenser. This adhesive can be used for several
applications, such as bonding Mylar film covering and polyester tissue
covering to balsa structures.
Rub the cement on the frame, wait for it to dry, and then use a
sealing iron to permanently bond the covering to the frame. The UHU
contact cement doesn’t work too well for attaching windows because it
is hard to apply a thick enough layer to the narrow frame around the
windows.
During the windshield discussion, Howard Littman mentioned that
a good source of acetate sheet for windshields is art-supply stores. He
found a 20 x 40-inch sheet of .003 acetate for approximately $2.
For the last nine months Tom Hallman has been laboring over a
rubber-powered scale Dornier Do X. The model’s craftsmanship and
detailing are truly remarkable. Flight-testing was just beginning at the
time of this writing.
The Do X spans 27 inches and weighs 55 grams without rubber. It
is powered by a single 9.5-inch Peck-Polymers propeller. The small
propellers on the engine nacelles are dummies, but they do spin! The
model should be majestic in the air.
09sig5.QXD 7/26/06 8:58 AM Page 146(Editor’s note: Tom’s Do X is featured
on the cover of the August 2006 MA.)
Donations to buy awards for this year’s
Senator postal contest now total more
than $500. The 2006-2007 event is
running and closes January 31, 2007.
That time frame enables summer
participation from fliers in both
hemispheres. Support is expected to be
greater still this year; a Team Challenge
has been included, and donations and
pledges already equal those received for
2005.
The Senator is a simple, sturdy, 32-
inch-span rubber-powered design from
1950. It has straightforward flight
characteristics and outstanding
performance. (There is a picture of the
Senator in the July 2006 “Free Flight
Sport” column.)
The design is vintage-legal in many
countries and can do well in US Category
III events such as Nostalgia Rubber,
Moffett, and even Mulvihill. You can
obtain details of the 2006-2007 event and
the results of the 2005 contest from
[email protected].
Hank Nystrom has updated his threefunction
Texas Timers. The updated
model will add the pinch mechanism as
used on the Max A timers. The second
function wire has been moved to a
position that is exactly in line with the
DT post, so the quick DT line distance is
the same as that of the regular DT. The
new, stiffer DT wire and deep thread
scroll is now standard.
Check it out at www.texastimers.com
or write to Texas Timers at 3317 Pine
Timbers Dr., Johnson City TN 37604.
The Jones-style balsa stripper is back in
production. Tim Goldstein is producing
the stripper based on the Jim Jones
design.
The new stripper’s main frame is
manufactured from aircraft-grade 6061
T6 aluminum, which is hard-anodized for
protection. All parts are produced on
state-of-the-art CNC equipment. This new
stripper is a work of art.
The Jones-style stripper is $59.50 plus
shipping. You can order it from our
model-supply Web site at www.F1D.biz/
order. Send mail orders to A2Z CNC,
1530 W. Tufts Ave. Unit B, Englewood
CO 80110. The telephone number is
(720) 833-9300.
For a homemade balsa stripper that is
not as handy as the Jones model but is
cheap, check out www.windandwave
models.com/BalsaS.html.
Shorty’s Basement has a new Web site
at www.shortysbasement.com/index.php.
Check it out for Aerographics kits, West
Wings kits, Replikits, short kits for
Rapier-powered scale jets, and the Rapier
power units themselves. The company
carries other products for the FF group
including tissue and paints.
You don’t have access to the Internet?
Get a color catalog for $1 from Carole
Kane, 1036 Bexley Ave., Marion OH
43302, or call (740) 225-8671.
Winged Shadow Systems has introduced a
new product that can answer the inevitable
question: How high did the model climb?
How High is an altimeter for model
aircraft. It reports the peak altitude of a
flight right at the field, without the need for
a computer or any other support equipment.
This unit is smaller than a postage
stamp, lighter than a dime, and (perhaps
best of all) costs less than $40. FF
modelers need only attach a battery and
mount the unit. Details are available at
www.wingedshadow.com.
Mulvihill is an interesting AMA Rubber
duration event. The rules are simple. The
model’s projected wing area must not
exceed 300 square inches. After the first
three max flights, the max is extended by a
minute. Long flights can become the order
of the day.
Large models have an advantage in the
event because they can carry a large
amount of rubber and are easier to keep in
sight. Despite that fact, many elect to fly
smaller models in Mulvihill because rubber
costs are lower and smaller models are
easier to build and transport.
Don DeLoach liked the looks of Ted
Becker’s Mulvihill from the 1954 Zaic
Year Book, so he drew full-size CAD
plans and built his own Becker. Don used
red Japanese tissue over Mylar on the
fuselage and sprayed the sunburst design
on the wing with Design Master Holiday
Red paint.
The Becker Mulvihill is roughly the
size of a Gollywock. It can be flown in
National Free Flight Society Nostalgia
Rubber and Mulvihill categories.
Don is making the plans available for
$7 and a set of laser-cut ribs available for
$14, postpaid. If you are interested, send
a check or money order to Don at 831
Willamette Ave., Colorado Springs CO
80903.
Michael Heinrich and Professor Fate
used Greg West’s talents to set up a new
Web site with some great Scale plans for
us Flying Aces Club and sport FF
modelers. The aircraft are in the 16- to
20-inch-span range. Most are from the
Golden Age era. Take a look at
www.deathtrapsquadron.com.
For those who are interested in free
plans for the Twiggy, which I mentioned
in the July 2006 column, send an SASE
to me at 1401 N. Husband St., Stillwater OK, 74075
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/09
Page Numbers: 145,146,147
Model Builder plans are still available from Bill Northrop’s Plan Service!
Also included in this column:
• Video assembly instructions for Darcy White’s
Squirrel
• Bob Schlosberg’s L-19
• A JASCO Trooper by Karl Geis
• Gluing tips from Orv Olm
• Tom Hallman’s Do X begins flight tests
• Senator postal contest news
• Texas Timers updated
• Jones-style balsa stripper back in production
• New Web site for Shorty’s Basement
• Winged Shadow Systems’ How High altimeter
• Ted Becker’s Mulvihill plans from Don DeLoach
• A great new Web site
• Free Twiggy plans from the author
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
Don DeLoach’s Becker is a great-flying small Mulvihill design.
DeLoach photo.
Karl Geis built and flew a Jasco Trooper Towline Glider when he
was a kid and decided to make another. Geis photo.
Bob Schlosberg drew up this “skinny scale” L-19 Bird Dog from
No-Cal plans. It spans 20.5 inches. Schlosberg photo.
The author built his fun-scale F-100 from Dick Baxter’s article in
Model Builder. Plans are available from Bill Northrop.
DICK BAXTER has designed many sport FF models. While
looking through some old Model Builder magazines I saw Dick’s
“stand way far off” scale F-100. The jet’s trapezoidal fuselage
structure is not for the rank beginner, but the project is fun and the
model, predictably, is a great flier.
Dick used a white or silver finish. I found a picture of a
Vietnam-based F-100 and loosely based my model’s finish on it.
September 2006 145
09sig5.QXD 7/26/06 8:57 AM Page 145The F-100 plans set is one of more than 300 that were
published full size in Model Builder. To get the complete list of
available plans and ordering instructions, send $3 US to Bill
Northrop’s Plan Service, 2019 Doral Ct., Henderson NV 89074.
Be sure to ask for the full-size plans list; Bill has other plans
and lists he sells. Check out his ad in MA.
Last September’s column had a picture of Darcy White’s
beginner model he named the Squirrel. He has since added
video assembly instructions to his Web site. Watch as Darcy
builds the airplane from precut parts and has it ready to fly in
roughly 10 minutes!
Surf over to www.rubber-power.com/ for plans and a look at
the video. One of the secrets to the quick assembly is the use of
the white craft glue sold as “tacky glue” in craft shops.
Bob Schlosberg built his L-19 Bird Dog from an enlargement
of No-Cal plans. It spans 20.5 inches. Rather than make a fullwidth
fuselage, Bob opted for “skinny scale,” making the
fuselage 1.5 inches in maximum width at the cabin area. The
complete empty weight with ballast is 51.2 grams.
The L-19 has a blue Rees (Peck-style) 7.75-inch-diameter
plastic propeller. Power is provided by two loops of 29-inchlong
1/8 Tan II rubber that is 24 inches long after braiding. Bob
can get approximately 1,800 turns in that motor and has been
rewarded with flights in the 60- to 90-second range.
For many of us, modeling is a way to go back to our childhood.
That was the case for Karl Geis, who built a favorite model
from years past: a 35-inch-span JASCO Trooper Towline
Glider. His version is covered with Japanese tissue over Mylar.
The all-up weight, including ballast, is 1.8 ounces.
The JASCO Trooper kit was released in 1944, and many kids
built the popular model. The Trooper was slightly redesigned
when Frank Zaic sold JASCO and the company became JETCO.
Karl built his first Trooper when he was 12 or 13 years old, in
roughly 1940.
Several years ago Stan Buddenbohm had a contest for
Troopers in Southern California, and there were many entries.
This got Karl thinking about building another one of these
airplanes. When he saw Dick Peterson, a flying buddy of Stan’s,
fly his Trooper last year at the Society of Antique Modelers
Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada, Karl knew he had to do
it.
Karl recalls that his mom gave him some carpet and button
thread to tow up his original. It was a swell flier.
146 MODEL AVIATION
Orv Olm photographed all the tools that are necessary for doing a
slick job of glazing a turret for a Defiant.
The finished turret looks neat and has no adhesive smudges. Olm
photo.
Orv Olm, who owns Gizmo Geezer Products (www.gizmogeezer.
com/index.htm), is a talented model builder. In a recent Internet
discussion of adhesives for model windshields, he offered an idea that
was new to me.
According to Orv, one of the problems we see is that almost all
clear plastic film is now Mylar, which resists most glues. The old
cellophane (acetate) film was etched by model cement. This made it
easier to attach the windshield material.
After a considerable amount of experimenting, Orv developed a
method that has worked well on several models. Using a small brush
he paints a fairly thick layer of contact cement around the window and
windshield frame. He uses small tubes of the smelly toluene-based
contact cements and prefers Elmer’s brand because of its light honey
color.
After the contact cement has dried, he uses a small trim iron to dotweld
the film in strategic spots to check the fit of the windshield. If the
fit isn’t right, touching the sealing-iron tip to the dot will pop it free,
and adjustments can be made until the fit is perfect. Once satisfied with
the fit, the remainder of the adhesive can be activated.
Another glue tip from Orv involves the use of a contact cement
sold by UHU. It comes packaged in a no-mess stick that is like a
deodorant dispenser. This adhesive can be used for several
applications, such as bonding Mylar film covering and polyester tissue
covering to balsa structures.
Rub the cement on the frame, wait for it to dry, and then use a
sealing iron to permanently bond the covering to the frame. The UHU
contact cement doesn’t work too well for attaching windows because it
is hard to apply a thick enough layer to the narrow frame around the
windows.
During the windshield discussion, Howard Littman mentioned that
a good source of acetate sheet for windshields is art-supply stores. He
found a 20 x 40-inch sheet of .003 acetate for approximately $2.
For the last nine months Tom Hallman has been laboring over a
rubber-powered scale Dornier Do X. The model’s craftsmanship and
detailing are truly remarkable. Flight-testing was just beginning at the
time of this writing.
The Do X spans 27 inches and weighs 55 grams without rubber. It
is powered by a single 9.5-inch Peck-Polymers propeller. The small
propellers on the engine nacelles are dummies, but they do spin! The
model should be majestic in the air.
09sig5.QXD 7/26/06 8:58 AM Page 146(Editor’s note: Tom’s Do X is featured
on the cover of the August 2006 MA.)
Donations to buy awards for this year’s
Senator postal contest now total more
than $500. The 2006-2007 event is
running and closes January 31, 2007.
That time frame enables summer
participation from fliers in both
hemispheres. Support is expected to be
greater still this year; a Team Challenge
has been included, and donations and
pledges already equal those received for
2005.
The Senator is a simple, sturdy, 32-
inch-span rubber-powered design from
1950. It has straightforward flight
characteristics and outstanding
performance. (There is a picture of the
Senator in the July 2006 “Free Flight
Sport” column.)
The design is vintage-legal in many
countries and can do well in US Category
III events such as Nostalgia Rubber,
Moffett, and even Mulvihill. You can
obtain details of the 2006-2007 event and
the results of the 2005 contest from
[email protected].
Hank Nystrom has updated his threefunction
Texas Timers. The updated
model will add the pinch mechanism as
used on the Max A timers. The second
function wire has been moved to a
position that is exactly in line with the
DT post, so the quick DT line distance is
the same as that of the regular DT. The
new, stiffer DT wire and deep thread
scroll is now standard.
Check it out at www.texastimers.com
or write to Texas Timers at 3317 Pine
Timbers Dr., Johnson City TN 37604.
The Jones-style balsa stripper is back in
production. Tim Goldstein is producing
the stripper based on the Jim Jones
design.
The new stripper’s main frame is
manufactured from aircraft-grade 6061
T6 aluminum, which is hard-anodized for
protection. All parts are produced on
state-of-the-art CNC equipment. This new
stripper is a work of art.
The Jones-style stripper is $59.50 plus
shipping. You can order it from our
model-supply Web site at www.F1D.biz/
order. Send mail orders to A2Z CNC,
1530 W. Tufts Ave. Unit B, Englewood
CO 80110. The telephone number is
(720) 833-9300.
For a homemade balsa stripper that is
not as handy as the Jones model but is
cheap, check out www.windandwave
models.com/BalsaS.html.
Shorty’s Basement has a new Web site
at www.shortysbasement.com/index.php.
Check it out for Aerographics kits, West
Wings kits, Replikits, short kits for
Rapier-powered scale jets, and the Rapier
power units themselves. The company
carries other products for the FF group
including tissue and paints.
You don’t have access to the Internet?
Get a color catalog for $1 from Carole
Kane, 1036 Bexley Ave., Marion OH
43302, or call (740) 225-8671.
Winged Shadow Systems has introduced a
new product that can answer the inevitable
question: How high did the model climb?
How High is an altimeter for model
aircraft. It reports the peak altitude of a
flight right at the field, without the need for
a computer or any other support equipment.
This unit is smaller than a postage
stamp, lighter than a dime, and (perhaps
best of all) costs less than $40. FF
modelers need only attach a battery and
mount the unit. Details are available at
www.wingedshadow.com.
Mulvihill is an interesting AMA Rubber
duration event. The rules are simple. The
model’s projected wing area must not
exceed 300 square inches. After the first
three max flights, the max is extended by a
minute. Long flights can become the order
of the day.
Large models have an advantage in the
event because they can carry a large
amount of rubber and are easier to keep in
sight. Despite that fact, many elect to fly
smaller models in Mulvihill because rubber
costs are lower and smaller models are
easier to build and transport.
Don DeLoach liked the looks of Ted
Becker’s Mulvihill from the 1954 Zaic
Year Book, so he drew full-size CAD
plans and built his own Becker. Don used
red Japanese tissue over Mylar on the
fuselage and sprayed the sunburst design
on the wing with Design Master Holiday
Red paint.
The Becker Mulvihill is roughly the
size of a Gollywock. It can be flown in
National Free Flight Society Nostalgia
Rubber and Mulvihill categories.
Don is making the plans available for
$7 and a set of laser-cut ribs available for
$14, postpaid. If you are interested, send
a check or money order to Don at 831
Willamette Ave., Colorado Springs CO
80903.
Michael Heinrich and Professor Fate
used Greg West’s talents to set up a new
Web site with some great Scale plans for
us Flying Aces Club and sport FF
modelers. The aircraft are in the 16- to
20-inch-span range. Most are from the
Golden Age era. Take a look at
www.deathtrapsquadron.com.
For those who are interested in free
plans for the Twiggy, which I mentioned
in the July 2006 column, send an SASE
to me at 1401 N. Husband St., Stillwater OK, 74075