The Biggest Flying Wing I Ever Saw
by James "Bo" Lovell
One of America's fighting men completes a modeling dream before serving his country
There are so many first-time events in human history that one could hardly name them all while giving due credit to even a few. Whether you feel that your relationship with model airplanes is a hobby or a sport, chances are that you remember many inaugural events associated with your modeling or flying history.
I remember the first time I flew and successfully landed my first scratchbuilt aileron airplane. While it was in the air, gracefully rolling and looping over the landscape in front of me, part of me was up in the air with it. When it landed without incident, the smile that spread across my face couldn't be chipped away with a hammer and chisel.
I'm interested in efforts to attempt new and unusual feats in the model-airplane world. I recently had the privilege of being present for an occasion of huge proportions.
A three-hour drive north on the interstate took me to Brentwood, Tennessee, so I could document what everyone hoped would be one model's successful flight. The story of a man's idea, dream, and hard work is one for the file labeled "strength of an RC modeler's will."
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Laine Stahr (pronounced stay-er) is an Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot and an avid model-airplane pilot. Laine took an off-the-wall idea from thought to paper to flying model in 115 days. That may seem like a lot of time to build and test-fly a new model, but this situation was different.
Laine's favorite airplanes are flying wings. He has many airplane and traditional helicopter models he loves to fly, but the wings really get him pumped up.
In late July 2007, while sitting in his garage, an idea came to his mind: "I wonder how big..." Immediately after getting the idea, Laine called his friend Jeremy Knight at Ohio Combat and said, "I want us to do a big wing." Jeremy guessed Laine was talking about a 72-inch wingspan, but was even more enthusiastic when Laine said, "Yes — maybe 72 for each side; I'm talking about 13 or 14 feet." So the quest began.
Laine, a career Army helicopter pilot trained to be confident, strong, and effective, wanted to do something big before he was called to do a tour of duty in Afghanistan toward the end of 2007. I don't know many modelers who design and build wings who don't get excited about projects like this.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
