78 MODEL AVIATION
Born to Fly Jim T. Graham | [email protected]
From RC to full-scale aerobatics: a visit with Steve Johnson
Also included in this column:
• Slimline Nitro Powerstation
A hangar full of RC airplanes and a full-scale Pitts is a beautiful thing!
Steve’s Pitts S-2B looks fast just sitting in the hangar!
Steve Johnson gets his full-scale Pitts
down low for the RC 3-D pilots at
NashBro 2006.
YOU CAN USUALLY find me preaching
to anyone who will listen about how 3-D has
changed the RC world. But in this column
I’ll write about how RC is changing fullscale
aerobatics.
That’s right: full-scale aerobatics pilots
are taking lessons from the RC crowd! My
flying buddy Steve Johnson talked to me
about how his little foamie 3-D models are
changing the way he, and others, are flying
full-scale aerobatics.
A Navy pilot’s son, Steve has been in
love with flying since he was a child. If it
has wings or can move through the air, he
has probably tried to fly it.
One of his earliest recollections is tying a
set of old model airplane wings to his
tricycle and riding off a small hill to see
what would happen. The flight wasn’t long,
but fortunately the sand below was soft.
Later Steve began flying model airplanes
and gradually moved up through FF and CL
to large RC models.
Steve flew his first hang glider in high
school and was a professional skydiver
during and after college. He has made more
than 450 jumps as a skydiver from airplanes,
helicopters, and balloons.
Steve earned his private pilot’s license in
1985 and has since logged more than 1,800
hours in a variety of aircraft. He is an
ultralight pilot with more than 180 logged
hours of experience and is an instructor.
Steve put his model-building experience to
good use when he and his wife Alice built
their first airplane from a kit in their garage.
His mother (who hates flying, by the
way) bought him an aerobatic airplane ride
for his birthday in 1987, and he was hooked.
Six years later Steve bought his first
aerobatic airplane and entered his first
competition one month later, taking third
place overall and winning the Best First
Time Sportsman award.
In 1998 Steve ranked ninth in the nation
in the intermediate aerobatics category. He
transitioned to the Pitts aircraft in May 1999,
and in 2003 he finished fifth in the nation in
the advanced level of competition.
07sig3.QXD 5/23/07 10:32 AM Page 78
July 2007 79
The Slimline Nitro Powerstation is just what the doctor ordered
for glow pilots. The author loves his.
Below: Steve keeps a 3-D foamie in his car trunk at all
times. His RC hobby has taught him lessons that help with
full-scale aerobatics.
Left: Given RC foamies’ wild capabilities, Steve can
experiment using the transmitter and then give it a whirl
sitting in the Pitts.
Steve flies in a Pitts S-2B he borrowed while in Europe.
When he’s not in his full-scale airplane,
Steve can usually be found at the field with
his foamie, brushing up on his 3-D skills. I
recently had the chance to interview him,
and he said the following.
“My father was interested in model
airplanes as a kid, and that interest
ultimately led him to becoming a Navy pilot.
He started off with old Heath kit radios and
built his own escapement radios prior to
that.
“He grew with the hobby as it progressed
from Free Flight models to what we
consider RC today. Pattern [Aerobatics] was
his real RC passion, though.
“After joining the Navy my father spent
a lot of time on aircraft carriers, building RC
07sig3.QXD 5/23/07 10:33 AM Page 79
radios and airplanes on long cruises as a
hobby. When he came home, we would get
to see the fruits of his labor and I grew up
flying his hand-me-down RC airplanes. That
led me to try everything I could that had to
do with aviation.
“In college I was able to get my fullscale
pilot’s license. RC flying sparked my
interest in all forms of aviation. I have tried
my hand at Free Flight, Control Line, hang
gliding, ultralights, and skydiving. One year
for my birthday I got a ride in a Pitts S-2B,
and I decided aerobatics was the part of
aviation that was most suited to me.
“RC and full scale have overlapped a lot
in my flying career. I started to really
understand what my full-scale figure
patterns should look like after flying Pattern
RC airplanes.
“A loop in RC or full scale has to be
round, and it is hard to tell if you are making
a round loop while sitting in the cockpit. I
started to understand from flying RC that a
loop that felt nice was not necessarily a
nice-looking loop. If I sit in a cockpit and
fly what feels like a round loop, it actually is
not round.
“RC taught me that just holding the stick
in one place does not create a perfect loop. I
learned what stick movements were required
to get a round loop while watching my
model in the air. I also learned things like
how to hold a line in a crosswind from
flying my RC airplanes and how to crab into
the wind to pull to a vertical line.
“All of these things directly translate from
RC flying to full-scale aerobatic flying. The
size of the RC airplane and being outside of
the cockpit really allows me to see what
different inputs do, and that ultimately makes
me a better full-scale aerobatic pilot.
“I have been flying aerobatics for many
years now, but being on the US national
team and competing at the Advanced World
Aerobatic Championship held in Poland has
been the pinnacle of my flying experience. It
was too expensive to bring my airplane to
Poland so I found a person with an S-2B
Pitts like mine in Slovenia and I flew to
Slovenia to pick it up.
“I practiced two routines in Slovenia, and
the next morning I flew the Pitts one hop to
Austria, to Krakow, Poland, and then to the
contest. In this part of Eastern Europe there
were lots of small villages, towns, little
farms, and beautiful countryside.
“Contests in the USA are five category
contests and we see all levels of piloting
skills. At the world level, the pilots’ skills
are jaw-dropping. These pilots are so good it
is just amazing to me.
“We were worried about our flying in
front of mostly European judges, but the
judging was equally as good as the piloting
skills of those present. This was my first
world level contest so I was really anxious.
“Not everyone spoke English, but we all
spoke aviation and we all really enjoyed
each other’s company. It is absolutely the
highlight of my career.
“The airplane I fly is a Pitts S-2B. The S
stands for Special (all Pitts airplanes are
Pitts Specials). The 2 means it’s a two-seat
variant, and the B indicates it’s a B model.
There are older A models and brand-new C
models.
“Curtis Pitts designed the first Pitts
Special as a single-seat open-cockpit biplane
with an 85-horsepower engine. This S-2B is
a long way from that original Curtis Pitts
design.
“It’s a factory built airplane, which
means it is fully certified by the FAA
[Federal Aviation Administration]. There
are non-factory Pitts Specials available that
are built from kits or plans.
“Pitts designed the first Pitts in the late
1940s, and it is still a highly competitive
airplane. It weighs about 1,200 pounds
empty and has a 260-horsepower engine
with a constant-speed propeller. When I take
off I leave the throttle wide open unless I am
in a spin or ready to land. [Take a video tour
of the Pitts at RCGroups.com. See the
address at the end of the article.]
“When electric RC airplanes became
popular I went down to Hobby Lobby and
bought a 3-D foamie. The Judge is a 6mm
foamie with an AXI 2212/25 outrunner and
a three-cell, 1300. It lives in the trunk of my
car and I fly it anytime, anywhere.
“I also have a pair of electric helicopters
that I play around with. I went back to my
roots with a Carl Goldberg quarter-scale
Cub with an AXI outrunner.
80 MODEL AVIATION
www.modelaircraft.org www.masportaviator.com
Everything You Wanted to Know About Batteries
The most mysterious things in RC are the batteries, but they
are also the most important since in-flight battery failure means
instant disaster. Need-to-know information is what they are, how
to manage them, how to test them, what their limits are, and more.
Part One of the series “Those Things We Call Batteries”
covers all RC batteries in general. Part Two delves into renewing
batteries, how they age, and how to avoid battery disasters. Noted
electric-power expert Bob Aberle demystifies Li-Poly and Li-Ion
batteries in Part Three.
These articles are posted on Sport Aviator’s Flight-Tech
section. Look them up at www.masportaviator.com/fh_flight
tech.asp.
Club
Field
Safety
Benches
This
bench’s
design
promotes
safety, but
its overall
purpose is
to enhance
the
experience at the flying field. It ergonomically relieves
the user from having to work on the ground and risk the
possibility of physical exertion.
This is a great club project and can involve several
members, which fosters teamwork and camaraderie. Why
not make it a priority for your group this year?
The article, drawings, and materials list have been
made available online. Check them out at www.model
aircraft.org/mag/benchplan/bench1.htm. ®
ClickOn!
07sig3.QXD 5/23/07 10:51 AM Page 80
“RC is very relaxing for me. I love
aviation, so if I can’t be flying full scale,
RC is the next best thing. Electric
airplanes are so great for me because I
travel for a living and I can have an
airplane with me anywhere I go. I have
built lots of kits in my time, but I would
rather be out flying!
“The whole hobby is just evolving so
fast in so many different areas. It is
amazing that we have 3-D-capable
helicopters and turbine-power jets that are
available and affordable!”
When I visited Steve in his hangar it
was great to see a full-scale Pitts on one
side and an RC workbench on the other.
The two really do overlap for him in a big
way. To many of us Steve has the dream
setup; he can fly RC when he is on the
road and jump into his full-scale Pitts on
the weekend.
I thank Steve for letting me stop by. He
has always been open and friendly, and he
wows the locals at our yearly RC event
because he likes to get the Pitts out and do
his thing. I asked Steve if there was
anything he wanted to add to sum it all up.
“Fly airplanes; there is something in
aviation for everybody,” he said.
Steve uses the following quote to end
his E-mails.
“Life should not be a journey to the
grave with the intention of arriving safely
in an attractive and well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out and
screaming ‘woo hoo, what a ride!’”
To see a video of this interview, a tour
of Steve’s Pitts, and him performing one of
his routines, go to www.ama.rcgroups.com.
You can visit Steve’s Web site at www.stunt
plane.com.
RC Necessities: I have a new piece of RC
equipment I’m in love with and want to
share with everyone. I have been in pursuit
of the ultimate field box since I started in
RC. When I saw the new Slimline Nitro
Powerstation, I knew I had to try it.
I carry a model and field box in my
truck at all times, and the Powerstation
allows me to have everything I need in a
compact, easy-to-carry unit. It holds all
you need to get your airplane into the air,
and it does so with style.
The molded plastic, balanced field box
has a digital control center, glow-plugigniter
docking station, integrated glowfuel
pump, starter compartment with builtin
jacks, and, to top it all off, it is easy to
clean!
If you’re looking for the ultimate flight
box, be sure to check this one out. You can
read my review of the Slimline Nitro
Powerstation at RCGroups.com. It is
available from Slimline Products, Box 3295,
Scottsdale AZ 85271; Tel.: (480) 967-5053;
E-mail: [email protected];
Web site: www.slimlineproducts.com. MA
