Convert that RC model to FF (on purpose)
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
Also included in this column:
• How to cook ribs
• Vultee V-1A
• Gas model of the year for 2008
• No-Cal sources
• ROGs: blast from the past
• Gee Bee for electric power
• Senator Postal
• Guillow’s 500-series challenge
Bob Schlosberg’s great-flying Buttercup is resplendent in its
Brodak Carribean Turquoise trim. Schlosberg photo.
Claude Powell’s beautiful model of the Vultee V-1A: an airliner
that was third in the 1936 Bendix cross-country race. Powell
photo.
Two of Karl Geis’s favorite ROGs: the Firefly and the Phantom
Flash. Gotta love that checkered tissue! Geis photo.
NUMEROUS RC MODELS can easily be converted to FF, and
many of them can be found in the MA archives. The simplest are
those designed for rudder and elevator control only. They will have
enough dihedral to be stable flying free.
An excellent example is the Buttercup designed by Fred Reese
and published in MA in 1985. Bob Schlosberg based his CO2-
powered model on those plans.
He changed the fin outline and added a tail wheel, which really
dressed up the model. It’s striking in its Brodak dope white-and-
Caribbean Turquoise finish. It also flies great.
Tom Sanders is a great Indoor flier and innovator. He recently wrote
about his technique for molding wing ribs for Indoor models. It
should work equally well for Outdoor models such as No-Cals or
even Scale aircraft using split ribs.
Tom says it sounds complex but is well worth the effort. Because
the grain is parallel along the complete rib, it is stronger than a
conventional sliced rib where part of the grain near the front of the
rib is cross-grained.
Draw your favorite split-rib airfoil curve on a block of basswood.
Band-saw along the mark, creating halves.
Select A- or B-grain balsa for the ribs. Soak it in 20% ammoniato-
water solution (warm) for an hour and then clamp the wood
between the block halves. Be sure to align the grain along the long
axis of the ribs.
Allow the wood to dry for 24 hours at room temperature or for
one hour at 220° in the oven. The blank will hold the airfoil shape
when it is removed from the mold. You can actually press it flat with
a straightedge and slice the ribs. They will immediately bounce back
to the airfoil shape.
If you don’t have a band saw, buy your local high school shop
teacher a cup of coffee. He might saw the block for you.
Several Flying Aces Club (FAC) modelers on the East Coast have
learned about the Vultee V-1A. American Airlines used it in the early
1930s until it was replaced by the DC-2 and DC-3. Since the V-1A
flew in the Bendix cross-country race, it is eligible for that FAC
event and Golden Age Scale.
No doubt inspired by the sole remaining V-1A, which resides in
the Virginia Aviation Museum, Claude Powell built a beautiful
November 2007 125
11sig4.QXD 9/21/07 9:59 AM Page 125
The Ramrod was one of the, if not the, most successful FF Gas models
of the 1950s. Ron St. Jean designed the airplane, which has to rank up
there with the Satellite as one of the most often built Gas FF designs.
When Bill Vanderbeek came up with the “FF Gas One Design
Model of the Year,” the Ramrod was his first choice. The One Design
event was basically limited to the West Coast that first year but was
added to the Nats schedule the following year and has been popular
since.
Because of the One Design event’s limited exposure its first year, it
was decided to select the Ramrod 250 as the design of the year for
2008. The Ramrod is eligible for Nostalgia Gas, so engines are limited
to .049s and .051s that are legal for the Nostalgia event. Some of the
One Design models, such as the Starduster X and the Space Rod, are
ineligible for Nostalgia and were allowed to use Tee Dee .049s and
.051s.
One complaint was that they were good for only one or two contests
since they are not extremely competitive in 1/2A Classic. Because of
that concern the Starduster X event at this year’s Nats was changed to
allow the inclusion of any past 1/2A One Design model.
It is indoor season again, and one of my favorite indoor model types is
the No-Cal. The airplanes are relatively easy
to build, are caricatures of full-scale aircraft,
and give good flight duration.
Al Lidberg sells his 22 No-Cal plans
individually or in a bundle. Contact him at
A.A. Lidberg Model Plan Service. Paul
Bradley’s No-Cal plans site not only has those
for several models, but he has the graphics for
each in case you want to try printing them on
tissue.
Another great No-Cal resource is the Aero
Aces Web site. In addition to plans and
decals, it offers some of the neatest No-Cal
nose bearings you will find.
Karl Gies sent a picture of two of his favorite
rise-off-ground (ROG) models along with a
review of some popular ROG designs of the
past. The larger airplane in the picture is the
Comet Firefly 25. It is available as a Brand X
kit from Lee Campbell at Campbell’s Custom
Kits.
The other model is the Comet Phantom
Flash, which has a 16-inch span. It is kitted
by Lee Campbell and Penn Valley Hobby
Center.
The author’s Hellcat was built from a Guillow’s 500-series kit with
extensive modification to lighten the structure. The author’s grandson, Matthew, test-glides his new Senator.
Buzz Trabic modified a Dare kit of the Gee Bee for electric power. Trabic photo.
model of the aircraft. His is based on the old Megow plans, but
he did make a few changes.
Claude used a 9% Clark Y wing airfoil rather than the one
shown on the plans, and he converted the fuselage from box and
former to half shell. He also doubled the number of wing ribs
and stringers to allow for smoother contours. The model is a
handy size, spanning 21 inches with 68 square inches of wing
area.
The colors for the racer version were maroon and silver. To
simplify the finishing process Claude covered the entire model
with red Esaki tissue and then sprayed on two exceptionally light
coats of Krylon clear. He masked off the maroon/red areas and
then sprayed the model with silver paint.
Claude used Wal-Mart’s Color Place-brand paint, which costs
approximately $2 per can. The silver looks terrific, and that’s
usually the toughest color.
When the silver was dry Claude added the black tissue
numbers and windows. Then he sprayed on several more light
coats of Krylon clear to seal everything.
Claude reports that the model is close to a wing loading of
0.5 gram/square inch, which should allow it to perform well.
126 MODEL AVIATION
11sig4.QXD 9/21/07 10:22 AM Page 126
The first model that flew for Karl was an
ARF sold by Walker called the Hornet.
Those airplanes flew great! The first model
Karl built that flew at all was the Comet
Phantom Flash. He didn’t know about the
Comet Firefly until roughly 10 years ago.
Karl has a soft spot for ROG models and
currently has both models in the picture and a
Sig Cub. He had success with the Peck-
Polymers Skybunny, losing one in Missoula,
Montana, while flying it for his cousin in a
park. The last time they saw the model it was
heading toward downtown Missoula.
Other spectacular fliers included the
Super Flea, kitted by Len Marlow. It sported
twin rudders and a 24-inch wingspan. Len
had a nice line of kits aimed at kids. Karl
appealed for the plans on forums for years and
lucked out when J.P. Kish saw his post and
dug out a set of plans for me.
Henry Struck designed a huge ROG called
the Rodney Riser. With a 36-inch wingspan
and a hand-carved, 14-inch propeller, it flies
spectacularly and will climb almost out of
sight.
Karl built one of those and lost it; he
neglected to light the DT after winding it to
the max. Send $1 for a catalog to the Penn
Valley Hobby Center.
Buzz Trabic built an electric-powered Gee
Bee R-1 from a highly modified Dare kit. The
motor is an EPU-6 he purchased from Maxx
Products. The battery is a 7.4-volt Li-Poly
pack. Buzz installed an in-line 1.5-amp fuse
as insurance against damaging any
components if the motor stalls.
The heart of the system is the Zombie
timer from Atomic Workshop in the UK. It
has a zero- to 14-second delay mode, a
power/climb mode of zero to two minutes,
and a “cruise” mode of zero to two minutes.
The 26-inch-span Gee Bee weighs 6.5 ounces
and is slightly underpowered with this
combination. Buzz is using a 9 x 7 propeller
but is trying different things to increase
performance.
At the SMALL meet in Little Rock,
Arkansas, the Gee Bee sustained straight-andlevel
flight for a full power run, but only waist
high!
My grandson, Matthew, wanted to build a
model. Rather than suggesting a small stick
airplane with a lot of 1/16 square stock I
decided to let him try something larger. I was
starting a Senator, so it was relatively easy to
make a second “kit.”
I would not have been surprised if
Matthew had lost interest in the middle of the
project, but every time he came to visit he
wanted to work on the model. He finished it
in two or three months.
I am having Matthew use a P-30 motor
and propeller. That combination is a bit small
for a model this size, but it is just the thing for
him to use to learn winding techniques. He
has already had a thermal flight that was
terminated with the DT.
Don’t forget that Jim Mosley’s Senator
Postal contest ends February 29, 2008.
Send your flight times to Jim at jjmoseley
@look.ca.
The Guillow’s Challenge for this year
was to build and fly one of the 500-series
kits using the kit wood. It could be thinned
and the parts could be reduced in width.
The Hellcat and Avenger have been the
most popular selections, although two
beautiful Rufes have been built.
Even with some radical modifications
my 16-inch-span Hellcat came out at 22
Aero Aces
www.aeroaces.com/aeroaceshome.htm
Campbell’s Custom Kits
(765) 683-1749
www.campbellscustomkits.com
Guillow’s Challenge
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/guillows_g_c
hallenge
Paul Bradley’s No-Cal plans
www.parmodels.com/Plans/nocals.htm
Penn Valley Hobby Center
(215) 855-1268
(215) 368-0770
www.pennvalleyhobbycenter.com
Zombie timer
+44(0)1493 369317
www.atomicworkshop.co.uk/catalog/
index.php
grams. That still allowed two flights of
nearly 40 seconds, and the model is not
optimally trimmed yet.
Join the group and check out the
models! You may want to participate in
the challenge for 2008. MA
Sources:
A.A. Lidberg Model Plan Service
(480) 839-8154 (evenings and weekends)
www.aalmps.com
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/11
Page Numbers: 125,126,129,130
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/11
Page Numbers: 125,126,129,130
Convert that RC model to FF (on purpose)
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
Also included in this column:
• How to cook ribs
• Vultee V-1A
• Gas model of the year for 2008
• No-Cal sources
• ROGs: blast from the past
• Gee Bee for electric power
• Senator Postal
• Guillow’s 500-series challenge
Bob Schlosberg’s great-flying Buttercup is resplendent in its
Brodak Carribean Turquoise trim. Schlosberg photo.
Claude Powell’s beautiful model of the Vultee V-1A: an airliner
that was third in the 1936 Bendix cross-country race. Powell
photo.
Two of Karl Geis’s favorite ROGs: the Firefly and the Phantom
Flash. Gotta love that checkered tissue! Geis photo.
NUMEROUS RC MODELS can easily be converted to FF, and
many of them can be found in the MA archives. The simplest are
those designed for rudder and elevator control only. They will have
enough dihedral to be stable flying free.
An excellent example is the Buttercup designed by Fred Reese
and published in MA in 1985. Bob Schlosberg based his CO2-
powered model on those plans.
He changed the fin outline and added a tail wheel, which really
dressed up the model. It’s striking in its Brodak dope white-and-
Caribbean Turquoise finish. It also flies great.
Tom Sanders is a great Indoor flier and innovator. He recently wrote
about his technique for molding wing ribs for Indoor models. It
should work equally well for Outdoor models such as No-Cals or
even Scale aircraft using split ribs.
Tom says it sounds complex but is well worth the effort. Because
the grain is parallel along the complete rib, it is stronger than a
conventional sliced rib where part of the grain near the front of the
rib is cross-grained.
Draw your favorite split-rib airfoil curve on a block of basswood.
Band-saw along the mark, creating halves.
Select A- or B-grain balsa for the ribs. Soak it in 20% ammoniato-
water solution (warm) for an hour and then clamp the wood
between the block halves. Be sure to align the grain along the long
axis of the ribs.
Allow the wood to dry for 24 hours at room temperature or for
one hour at 220° in the oven. The blank will hold the airfoil shape
when it is removed from the mold. You can actually press it flat with
a straightedge and slice the ribs. They will immediately bounce back
to the airfoil shape.
If you don’t have a band saw, buy your local high school shop
teacher a cup of coffee. He might saw the block for you.
Several Flying Aces Club (FAC) modelers on the East Coast have
learned about the Vultee V-1A. American Airlines used it in the early
1930s until it was replaced by the DC-2 and DC-3. Since the V-1A
flew in the Bendix cross-country race, it is eligible for that FAC
event and Golden Age Scale.
No doubt inspired by the sole remaining V-1A, which resides in
the Virginia Aviation Museum, Claude Powell built a beautiful
November 2007 125
11sig4.QXD 9/21/07 9:59 AM Page 125
The Ramrod was one of the, if not the, most successful FF Gas models
of the 1950s. Ron St. Jean designed the airplane, which has to rank up
there with the Satellite as one of the most often built Gas FF designs.
When Bill Vanderbeek came up with the “FF Gas One Design
Model of the Year,” the Ramrod was his first choice. The One Design
event was basically limited to the West Coast that first year but was
added to the Nats schedule the following year and has been popular
since.
Because of the One Design event’s limited exposure its first year, it
was decided to select the Ramrod 250 as the design of the year for
2008. The Ramrod is eligible for Nostalgia Gas, so engines are limited
to .049s and .051s that are legal for the Nostalgia event. Some of the
One Design models, such as the Starduster X and the Space Rod, are
ineligible for Nostalgia and were allowed to use Tee Dee .049s and
.051s.
One complaint was that they were good for only one or two contests
since they are not extremely competitive in 1/2A Classic. Because of
that concern the Starduster X event at this year’s Nats was changed to
allow the inclusion of any past 1/2A One Design model.
It is indoor season again, and one of my favorite indoor model types is
the No-Cal. The airplanes are relatively easy
to build, are caricatures of full-scale aircraft,
and give good flight duration.
Al Lidberg sells his 22 No-Cal plans
individually or in a bundle. Contact him at
A.A. Lidberg Model Plan Service. Paul
Bradley’s No-Cal plans site not only has those
for several models, but he has the graphics for
each in case you want to try printing them on
tissue.
Another great No-Cal resource is the Aero
Aces Web site. In addition to plans and
decals, it offers some of the neatest No-Cal
nose bearings you will find.
Karl Gies sent a picture of two of his favorite
rise-off-ground (ROG) models along with a
review of some popular ROG designs of the
past. The larger airplane in the picture is the
Comet Firefly 25. It is available as a Brand X
kit from Lee Campbell at Campbell’s Custom
Kits.
The other model is the Comet Phantom
Flash, which has a 16-inch span. It is kitted
by Lee Campbell and Penn Valley Hobby
Center.
The author’s Hellcat was built from a Guillow’s 500-series kit with
extensive modification to lighten the structure. The author’s grandson, Matthew, test-glides his new Senator.
Buzz Trabic modified a Dare kit of the Gee Bee for electric power. Trabic photo.
model of the aircraft. His is based on the old Megow plans, but
he did make a few changes.
Claude used a 9% Clark Y wing airfoil rather than the one
shown on the plans, and he converted the fuselage from box and
former to half shell. He also doubled the number of wing ribs
and stringers to allow for smoother contours. The model is a
handy size, spanning 21 inches with 68 square inches of wing
area.
The colors for the racer version were maroon and silver. To
simplify the finishing process Claude covered the entire model
with red Esaki tissue and then sprayed on two exceptionally light
coats of Krylon clear. He masked off the maroon/red areas and
then sprayed the model with silver paint.
Claude used Wal-Mart’s Color Place-brand paint, which costs
approximately $2 per can. The silver looks terrific, and that’s
usually the toughest color.
When the silver was dry Claude added the black tissue
numbers and windows. Then he sprayed on several more light
coats of Krylon clear to seal everything.
Claude reports that the model is close to a wing loading of
0.5 gram/square inch, which should allow it to perform well.
126 MODEL AVIATION
11sig4.QXD 9/21/07 10:22 AM Page 126
The first model that flew for Karl was an
ARF sold by Walker called the Hornet.
Those airplanes flew great! The first model
Karl built that flew at all was the Comet
Phantom Flash. He didn’t know about the
Comet Firefly until roughly 10 years ago.
Karl has a soft spot for ROG models and
currently has both models in the picture and a
Sig Cub. He had success with the Peck-
Polymers Skybunny, losing one in Missoula,
Montana, while flying it for his cousin in a
park. The last time they saw the model it was
heading toward downtown Missoula.
Other spectacular fliers included the
Super Flea, kitted by Len Marlow. It sported
twin rudders and a 24-inch wingspan. Len
had a nice line of kits aimed at kids. Karl
appealed for the plans on forums for years and
lucked out when J.P. Kish saw his post and
dug out a set of plans for me.
Henry Struck designed a huge ROG called
the Rodney Riser. With a 36-inch wingspan
and a hand-carved, 14-inch propeller, it flies
spectacularly and will climb almost out of
sight.
Karl built one of those and lost it; he
neglected to light the DT after winding it to
the max. Send $1 for a catalog to the Penn
Valley Hobby Center.
Buzz Trabic built an electric-powered Gee
Bee R-1 from a highly modified Dare kit. The
motor is an EPU-6 he purchased from Maxx
Products. The battery is a 7.4-volt Li-Poly
pack. Buzz installed an in-line 1.5-amp fuse
as insurance against damaging any
components if the motor stalls.
The heart of the system is the Zombie
timer from Atomic Workshop in the UK. It
has a zero- to 14-second delay mode, a
power/climb mode of zero to two minutes,
and a “cruise” mode of zero to two minutes.
The 26-inch-span Gee Bee weighs 6.5 ounces
and is slightly underpowered with this
combination. Buzz is using a 9 x 7 propeller
but is trying different things to increase
performance.
At the SMALL meet in Little Rock,
Arkansas, the Gee Bee sustained straight-andlevel
flight for a full power run, but only waist
high!
My grandson, Matthew, wanted to build a
model. Rather than suggesting a small stick
airplane with a lot of 1/16 square stock I
decided to let him try something larger. I was
starting a Senator, so it was relatively easy to
make a second “kit.”
I would not have been surprised if
Matthew had lost interest in the middle of the
project, but every time he came to visit he
wanted to work on the model. He finished it
in two or three months.
I am having Matthew use a P-30 motor
and propeller. That combination is a bit small
for a model this size, but it is just the thing for
him to use to learn winding techniques. He
has already had a thermal flight that was
terminated with the DT.
Don’t forget that Jim Mosley’s Senator
Postal contest ends February 29, 2008.
Send your flight times to Jim at jjmoseley
@look.ca.
The Guillow’s Challenge for this year
was to build and fly one of the 500-series
kits using the kit wood. It could be thinned
and the parts could be reduced in width.
The Hellcat and Avenger have been the
most popular selections, although two
beautiful Rufes have been built.
Even with some radical modifications
my 16-inch-span Hellcat came out at 22
Aero Aces
www.aeroaces.com/aeroaceshome.htm
Campbell’s Custom Kits
(765) 683-1749
www.campbellscustomkits.com
Guillow’s Challenge
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/guillows_g_c
hallenge
Paul Bradley’s No-Cal plans
www.parmodels.com/Plans/nocals.htm
Penn Valley Hobby Center
(215) 855-1268
(215) 368-0770
www.pennvalleyhobbycenter.com
Zombie timer
+44(0)1493 369317
www.atomicworkshop.co.uk/catalog/
index.php
grams. That still allowed two flights of
nearly 40 seconds, and the model is not
optimally trimmed yet.
Join the group and check out the
models! You may want to participate in
the challenge for 2008. MA
Sources:
A.A. Lidberg Model Plan Service
(480) 839-8154 (evenings and weekends)
www.aalmps.com
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/11
Page Numbers: 125,126,129,130
Convert that RC model to FF (on purpose)
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
Also included in this column:
• How to cook ribs
• Vultee V-1A
• Gas model of the year for 2008
• No-Cal sources
• ROGs: blast from the past
• Gee Bee for electric power
• Senator Postal
• Guillow’s 500-series challenge
Bob Schlosberg’s great-flying Buttercup is resplendent in its
Brodak Carribean Turquoise trim. Schlosberg photo.
Claude Powell’s beautiful model of the Vultee V-1A: an airliner
that was third in the 1936 Bendix cross-country race. Powell
photo.
Two of Karl Geis’s favorite ROGs: the Firefly and the Phantom
Flash. Gotta love that checkered tissue! Geis photo.
NUMEROUS RC MODELS can easily be converted to FF, and
many of them can be found in the MA archives. The simplest are
those designed for rudder and elevator control only. They will have
enough dihedral to be stable flying free.
An excellent example is the Buttercup designed by Fred Reese
and published in MA in 1985. Bob Schlosberg based his CO2-
powered model on those plans.
He changed the fin outline and added a tail wheel, which really
dressed up the model. It’s striking in its Brodak dope white-and-
Caribbean Turquoise finish. It also flies great.
Tom Sanders is a great Indoor flier and innovator. He recently wrote
about his technique for molding wing ribs for Indoor models. It
should work equally well for Outdoor models such as No-Cals or
even Scale aircraft using split ribs.
Tom says it sounds complex but is well worth the effort. Because
the grain is parallel along the complete rib, it is stronger than a
conventional sliced rib where part of the grain near the front of the
rib is cross-grained.
Draw your favorite split-rib airfoil curve on a block of basswood.
Band-saw along the mark, creating halves.
Select A- or B-grain balsa for the ribs. Soak it in 20% ammoniato-
water solution (warm) for an hour and then clamp the wood
between the block halves. Be sure to align the grain along the long
axis of the ribs.
Allow the wood to dry for 24 hours at room temperature or for
one hour at 220° in the oven. The blank will hold the airfoil shape
when it is removed from the mold. You can actually press it flat with
a straightedge and slice the ribs. They will immediately bounce back
to the airfoil shape.
If you don’t have a band saw, buy your local high school shop
teacher a cup of coffee. He might saw the block for you.
Several Flying Aces Club (FAC) modelers on the East Coast have
learned about the Vultee V-1A. American Airlines used it in the early
1930s until it was replaced by the DC-2 and DC-3. Since the V-1A
flew in the Bendix cross-country race, it is eligible for that FAC
event and Golden Age Scale.
No doubt inspired by the sole remaining V-1A, which resides in
the Virginia Aviation Museum, Claude Powell built a beautiful
November 2007 125
11sig4.QXD 9/21/07 9:59 AM Page 125
The Ramrod was one of the, if not the, most successful FF Gas models
of the 1950s. Ron St. Jean designed the airplane, which has to rank up
there with the Satellite as one of the most often built Gas FF designs.
When Bill Vanderbeek came up with the “FF Gas One Design
Model of the Year,” the Ramrod was his first choice. The One Design
event was basically limited to the West Coast that first year but was
added to the Nats schedule the following year and has been popular
since.
Because of the One Design event’s limited exposure its first year, it
was decided to select the Ramrod 250 as the design of the year for
2008. The Ramrod is eligible for Nostalgia Gas, so engines are limited
to .049s and .051s that are legal for the Nostalgia event. Some of the
One Design models, such as the Starduster X and the Space Rod, are
ineligible for Nostalgia and were allowed to use Tee Dee .049s and
.051s.
One complaint was that they were good for only one or two contests
since they are not extremely competitive in 1/2A Classic. Because of
that concern the Starduster X event at this year’s Nats was changed to
allow the inclusion of any past 1/2A One Design model.
It is indoor season again, and one of my favorite indoor model types is
the No-Cal. The airplanes are relatively easy
to build, are caricatures of full-scale aircraft,
and give good flight duration.
Al Lidberg sells his 22 No-Cal plans
individually or in a bundle. Contact him at
A.A. Lidberg Model Plan Service. Paul
Bradley’s No-Cal plans site not only has those
for several models, but he has the graphics for
each in case you want to try printing them on
tissue.
Another great No-Cal resource is the Aero
Aces Web site. In addition to plans and
decals, it offers some of the neatest No-Cal
nose bearings you will find.
Karl Gies sent a picture of two of his favorite
rise-off-ground (ROG) models along with a
review of some popular ROG designs of the
past. The larger airplane in the picture is the
Comet Firefly 25. It is available as a Brand X
kit from Lee Campbell at Campbell’s Custom
Kits.
The other model is the Comet Phantom
Flash, which has a 16-inch span. It is kitted
by Lee Campbell and Penn Valley Hobby
Center.
The author’s Hellcat was built from a Guillow’s 500-series kit with
extensive modification to lighten the structure. The author’s grandson, Matthew, test-glides his new Senator.
Buzz Trabic modified a Dare kit of the Gee Bee for electric power. Trabic photo.
model of the aircraft. His is based on the old Megow plans, but
he did make a few changes.
Claude used a 9% Clark Y wing airfoil rather than the one
shown on the plans, and he converted the fuselage from box and
former to half shell. He also doubled the number of wing ribs
and stringers to allow for smoother contours. The model is a
handy size, spanning 21 inches with 68 square inches of wing
area.
The colors for the racer version were maroon and silver. To
simplify the finishing process Claude covered the entire model
with red Esaki tissue and then sprayed on two exceptionally light
coats of Krylon clear. He masked off the maroon/red areas and
then sprayed the model with silver paint.
Claude used Wal-Mart’s Color Place-brand paint, which costs
approximately $2 per can. The silver looks terrific, and that’s
usually the toughest color.
When the silver was dry Claude added the black tissue
numbers and windows. Then he sprayed on several more light
coats of Krylon clear to seal everything.
Claude reports that the model is close to a wing loading of
0.5 gram/square inch, which should allow it to perform well.
126 MODEL AVIATION
11sig4.QXD 9/21/07 10:22 AM Page 126
The first model that flew for Karl was an
ARF sold by Walker called the Hornet.
Those airplanes flew great! The first model
Karl built that flew at all was the Comet
Phantom Flash. He didn’t know about the
Comet Firefly until roughly 10 years ago.
Karl has a soft spot for ROG models and
currently has both models in the picture and a
Sig Cub. He had success with the Peck-
Polymers Skybunny, losing one in Missoula,
Montana, while flying it for his cousin in a
park. The last time they saw the model it was
heading toward downtown Missoula.
Other spectacular fliers included the
Super Flea, kitted by Len Marlow. It sported
twin rudders and a 24-inch wingspan. Len
had a nice line of kits aimed at kids. Karl
appealed for the plans on forums for years and
lucked out when J.P. Kish saw his post and
dug out a set of plans for me.
Henry Struck designed a huge ROG called
the Rodney Riser. With a 36-inch wingspan
and a hand-carved, 14-inch propeller, it flies
spectacularly and will climb almost out of
sight.
Karl built one of those and lost it; he
neglected to light the DT after winding it to
the max. Send $1 for a catalog to the Penn
Valley Hobby Center.
Buzz Trabic built an electric-powered Gee
Bee R-1 from a highly modified Dare kit. The
motor is an EPU-6 he purchased from Maxx
Products. The battery is a 7.4-volt Li-Poly
pack. Buzz installed an in-line 1.5-amp fuse
as insurance against damaging any
components if the motor stalls.
The heart of the system is the Zombie
timer from Atomic Workshop in the UK. It
has a zero- to 14-second delay mode, a
power/climb mode of zero to two minutes,
and a “cruise” mode of zero to two minutes.
The 26-inch-span Gee Bee weighs 6.5 ounces
and is slightly underpowered with this
combination. Buzz is using a 9 x 7 propeller
but is trying different things to increase
performance.
At the SMALL meet in Little Rock,
Arkansas, the Gee Bee sustained straight-andlevel
flight for a full power run, but only waist
high!
My grandson, Matthew, wanted to build a
model. Rather than suggesting a small stick
airplane with a lot of 1/16 square stock I
decided to let him try something larger. I was
starting a Senator, so it was relatively easy to
make a second “kit.”
I would not have been surprised if
Matthew had lost interest in the middle of the
project, but every time he came to visit he
wanted to work on the model. He finished it
in two or three months.
I am having Matthew use a P-30 motor
and propeller. That combination is a bit small
for a model this size, but it is just the thing for
him to use to learn winding techniques. He
has already had a thermal flight that was
terminated with the DT.
Don’t forget that Jim Mosley’s Senator
Postal contest ends February 29, 2008.
Send your flight times to Jim at jjmoseley
@look.ca.
The Guillow’s Challenge for this year
was to build and fly one of the 500-series
kits using the kit wood. It could be thinned
and the parts could be reduced in width.
The Hellcat and Avenger have been the
most popular selections, although two
beautiful Rufes have been built.
Even with some radical modifications
my 16-inch-span Hellcat came out at 22
Aero Aces
www.aeroaces.com/aeroaceshome.htm
Campbell’s Custom Kits
(765) 683-1749
www.campbellscustomkits.com
Guillow’s Challenge
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/guillows_g_c
hallenge
Paul Bradley’s No-Cal plans
www.parmodels.com/Plans/nocals.htm
Penn Valley Hobby Center
(215) 855-1268
(215) 368-0770
www.pennvalleyhobbycenter.com
Zombie timer
+44(0)1493 369317
www.atomicworkshop.co.uk/catalog/
index.php
grams. That still allowed two flights of
nearly 40 seconds, and the model is not
optimally trimmed yet.
Join the group and check out the
models! You may want to participate in
the challenge for 2008. MA
Sources:
A.A. Lidberg Model Plan Service
(480) 839-8154 (evenings and weekends)
www.aalmps.com
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/11
Page Numbers: 125,126,129,130
Convert that RC model to FF (on purpose)
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
Also included in this column:
• How to cook ribs
• Vultee V-1A
• Gas model of the year for 2008
• No-Cal sources
• ROGs: blast from the past
• Gee Bee for electric power
• Senator Postal
• Guillow’s 500-series challenge
Bob Schlosberg’s great-flying Buttercup is resplendent in its
Brodak Carribean Turquoise trim. Schlosberg photo.
Claude Powell’s beautiful model of the Vultee V-1A: an airliner
that was third in the 1936 Bendix cross-country race. Powell
photo.
Two of Karl Geis’s favorite ROGs: the Firefly and the Phantom
Flash. Gotta love that checkered tissue! Geis photo.
NUMEROUS RC MODELS can easily be converted to FF, and
many of them can be found in the MA archives. The simplest are
those designed for rudder and elevator control only. They will have
enough dihedral to be stable flying free.
An excellent example is the Buttercup designed by Fred Reese
and published in MA in 1985. Bob Schlosberg based his CO2-
powered model on those plans.
He changed the fin outline and added a tail wheel, which really
dressed up the model. It’s striking in its Brodak dope white-and-
Caribbean Turquoise finish. It also flies great.
Tom Sanders is a great Indoor flier and innovator. He recently wrote
about his technique for molding wing ribs for Indoor models. It
should work equally well for Outdoor models such as No-Cals or
even Scale aircraft using split ribs.
Tom says it sounds complex but is well worth the effort. Because
the grain is parallel along the complete rib, it is stronger than a
conventional sliced rib where part of the grain near the front of the
rib is cross-grained.
Draw your favorite split-rib airfoil curve on a block of basswood.
Band-saw along the mark, creating halves.
Select A- or B-grain balsa for the ribs. Soak it in 20% ammoniato-
water solution (warm) for an hour and then clamp the wood
between the block halves. Be sure to align the grain along the long
axis of the ribs.
Allow the wood to dry for 24 hours at room temperature or for
one hour at 220° in the oven. The blank will hold the airfoil shape
when it is removed from the mold. You can actually press it flat with
a straightedge and slice the ribs. They will immediately bounce back
to the airfoil shape.
If you don’t have a band saw, buy your local high school shop
teacher a cup of coffee. He might saw the block for you.
Several Flying Aces Club (FAC) modelers on the East Coast have
learned about the Vultee V-1A. American Airlines used it in the early
1930s until it was replaced by the DC-2 and DC-3. Since the V-1A
flew in the Bendix cross-country race, it is eligible for that FAC
event and Golden Age Scale.
No doubt inspired by the sole remaining V-1A, which resides in
the Virginia Aviation Museum, Claude Powell built a beautiful
November 2007 125
11sig4.QXD 9/21/07 9:59 AM Page 125
The Ramrod was one of the, if not the, most successful FF Gas models
of the 1950s. Ron St. Jean designed the airplane, which has to rank up
there with the Satellite as one of the most often built Gas FF designs.
When Bill Vanderbeek came up with the “FF Gas One Design
Model of the Year,” the Ramrod was his first choice. The One Design
event was basically limited to the West Coast that first year but was
added to the Nats schedule the following year and has been popular
since.
Because of the One Design event’s limited exposure its first year, it
was decided to select the Ramrod 250 as the design of the year for
2008. The Ramrod is eligible for Nostalgia Gas, so engines are limited
to .049s and .051s that are legal for the Nostalgia event. Some of the
One Design models, such as the Starduster X and the Space Rod, are
ineligible for Nostalgia and were allowed to use Tee Dee .049s and
.051s.
One complaint was that they were good for only one or two contests
since they are not extremely competitive in 1/2A Classic. Because of
that concern the Starduster X event at this year’s Nats was changed to
allow the inclusion of any past 1/2A One Design model.
It is indoor season again, and one of my favorite indoor model types is
the No-Cal. The airplanes are relatively easy
to build, are caricatures of full-scale aircraft,
and give good flight duration.
Al Lidberg sells his 22 No-Cal plans
individually or in a bundle. Contact him at
A.A. Lidberg Model Plan Service. Paul
Bradley’s No-Cal plans site not only has those
for several models, but he has the graphics for
each in case you want to try printing them on
tissue.
Another great No-Cal resource is the Aero
Aces Web site. In addition to plans and
decals, it offers some of the neatest No-Cal
nose bearings you will find.
Karl Gies sent a picture of two of his favorite
rise-off-ground (ROG) models along with a
review of some popular ROG designs of the
past. The larger airplane in the picture is the
Comet Firefly 25. It is available as a Brand X
kit from Lee Campbell at Campbell’s Custom
Kits.
The other model is the Comet Phantom
Flash, which has a 16-inch span. It is kitted
by Lee Campbell and Penn Valley Hobby
Center.
The author’s Hellcat was built from a Guillow’s 500-series kit with
extensive modification to lighten the structure. The author’s grandson, Matthew, test-glides his new Senator.
Buzz Trabic modified a Dare kit of the Gee Bee for electric power. Trabic photo.
model of the aircraft. His is based on the old Megow plans, but
he did make a few changes.
Claude used a 9% Clark Y wing airfoil rather than the one
shown on the plans, and he converted the fuselage from box and
former to half shell. He also doubled the number of wing ribs
and stringers to allow for smoother contours. The model is a
handy size, spanning 21 inches with 68 square inches of wing
area.
The colors for the racer version were maroon and silver. To
simplify the finishing process Claude covered the entire model
with red Esaki tissue and then sprayed on two exceptionally light
coats of Krylon clear. He masked off the maroon/red areas and
then sprayed the model with silver paint.
Claude used Wal-Mart’s Color Place-brand paint, which costs
approximately $2 per can. The silver looks terrific, and that’s
usually the toughest color.
When the silver was dry Claude added the black tissue
numbers and windows. Then he sprayed on several more light
coats of Krylon clear to seal everything.
Claude reports that the model is close to a wing loading of
0.5 gram/square inch, which should allow it to perform well.
126 MODEL AVIATION
11sig4.QXD 9/21/07 10:22 AM Page 126
The first model that flew for Karl was an
ARF sold by Walker called the Hornet.
Those airplanes flew great! The first model
Karl built that flew at all was the Comet
Phantom Flash. He didn’t know about the
Comet Firefly until roughly 10 years ago.
Karl has a soft spot for ROG models and
currently has both models in the picture and a
Sig Cub. He had success with the Peck-
Polymers Skybunny, losing one in Missoula,
Montana, while flying it for his cousin in a
park. The last time they saw the model it was
heading toward downtown Missoula.
Other spectacular fliers included the
Super Flea, kitted by Len Marlow. It sported
twin rudders and a 24-inch wingspan. Len
had a nice line of kits aimed at kids. Karl
appealed for the plans on forums for years and
lucked out when J.P. Kish saw his post and
dug out a set of plans for me.
Henry Struck designed a huge ROG called
the Rodney Riser. With a 36-inch wingspan
and a hand-carved, 14-inch propeller, it flies
spectacularly and will climb almost out of
sight.
Karl built one of those and lost it; he
neglected to light the DT after winding it to
the max. Send $1 for a catalog to the Penn
Valley Hobby Center.
Buzz Trabic built an electric-powered Gee
Bee R-1 from a highly modified Dare kit. The
motor is an EPU-6 he purchased from Maxx
Products. The battery is a 7.4-volt Li-Poly
pack. Buzz installed an in-line 1.5-amp fuse
as insurance against damaging any
components if the motor stalls.
The heart of the system is the Zombie
timer from Atomic Workshop in the UK. It
has a zero- to 14-second delay mode, a
power/climb mode of zero to two minutes,
and a “cruise” mode of zero to two minutes.
The 26-inch-span Gee Bee weighs 6.5 ounces
and is slightly underpowered with this
combination. Buzz is using a 9 x 7 propeller
but is trying different things to increase
performance.
At the SMALL meet in Little Rock,
Arkansas, the Gee Bee sustained straight-andlevel
flight for a full power run, but only waist
high!
My grandson, Matthew, wanted to build a
model. Rather than suggesting a small stick
airplane with a lot of 1/16 square stock I
decided to let him try something larger. I was
starting a Senator, so it was relatively easy to
make a second “kit.”
I would not have been surprised if
Matthew had lost interest in the middle of the
project, but every time he came to visit he
wanted to work on the model. He finished it
in two or three months.
I am having Matthew use a P-30 motor
and propeller. That combination is a bit small
for a model this size, but it is just the thing for
him to use to learn winding techniques. He
has already had a thermal flight that was
terminated with the DT.
Don’t forget that Jim Mosley’s Senator
Postal contest ends February 29, 2008.
Send your flight times to Jim at jjmoseley
@look.ca.
The Guillow’s Challenge for this year
was to build and fly one of the 500-series
kits using the kit wood. It could be thinned
and the parts could be reduced in width.
The Hellcat and Avenger have been the
most popular selections, although two
beautiful Rufes have been built.
Even with some radical modifications
my 16-inch-span Hellcat came out at 22
Aero Aces
www.aeroaces.com/aeroaceshome.htm
Campbell’s Custom Kits
(765) 683-1749
www.campbellscustomkits.com
Guillow’s Challenge
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/guillows_g_c
hallenge
Paul Bradley’s No-Cal plans
www.parmodels.com/Plans/nocals.htm
Penn Valley Hobby Center
(215) 855-1268
(215) 368-0770
www.pennvalleyhobbycenter.com
Zombie timer
+44(0)1493 369317
www.atomicworkshop.co.uk/catalog/
index.php
grams. That still allowed two flights of
nearly 40 seconds, and the model is not
optimally trimmed yet.
Join the group and check out the
models! You may want to participate in
the challenge for 2008. MA
Sources:
A.A. Lidberg Model Plan Service
(480) 839-8154 (evenings and weekends)
www.aalmps.com