CL Scale-2012/04

138 Model Aviation April 2012 www.ModelAviation.com
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flown across the country in a program
promoting the sale of World War II war
bonds.
Jack’s P-38 was successful on the
contest circuit, and won many first-place
awards. The model has been retired, and
now resides in his trophy room.
The P-38 Lightning was one of the
most effective World War II American
fighter aircraft, used in the Pacific and
the China Burmese India Theaters of
Operation. The airplane was used in
several operational modes, including dive
bombing, ground strafing, and photo
reconnaissance missions. The P-38 was
also used as a long-range escort fighter
when equipped with drop-tanks beneath
the wings.
It is interesting to note that two of the
American top aces—Richard Bong with
40 victories and Thomas McGuire with
38 victories—flew P-38s in the Southwest
Pacific Theater of Operations.
The P-38 was manufactured by
Lockheed and designed by Kelly
Johnson. It had its first flight in January
1939, was introduced to service in 1941,
and retired from US service in 1949.
The aircraft was primarily flown by the
I n 1986, Scale modelers were treated to an extraordinary
model of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, which took first
place in the Sport Scale event. The model was built by
retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jack Stolly, from Dallas. What
made Stolly’s model so different from most of the CL Scale
models of that time was the manner in which the model’s
flaps were made to operate.
Jack copied the operation of the fowler flaps as they were
deployed on the full-scale aircraft. The series of links and
tracking used for extending and retracting the flaps were
completely concealed within the wing assembly, and the
flaps were operated with a “Jackscrew” that Jack designed.
The February 1988 issue of MA had a large article and plans featuring the building
of this model. Jack’s 1986 Nats model was painted in the colors of the P-38 that
resides in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. In
later years, Jack painted the model in the colors of the 5,000th Lockheed P-38J—
the famous vermillion red with YIPPEE in white on the nose and underside of the
airplane’s wing.
The airplane also had the signatures of hundreds of the factory
workers involved in building the aircraft. The P-38 YIPPEE was
Something Old
and Something New
by Bill Boss
[email protected]
PLUS:
> Jack Stolly’s
P-38 YIPPEE
> Frank Beatty’s
Curtiss Jeep
AT-9
> Oshkosh report
by Doug Dahlke
Above: Jack Stolly’s P-38 YIPPEE
won the 1986 Nats CL Sport Scale
event. See the text for some great
details. Stolly photo.
Right: Frank Beatty’s AT-9
Jeep, created using Paul Matt
three-views, placed first in the
1/2A Twin Engine Profile Scale
event at the 2011 Broken Arrow
Contest. Beatty photo.
This Fokker-Wulf Fw 190 is nine-tenths the size of the
prototype. It was built from a German kit and has US-built
components. Photo by Doug Dahlke.
United States Army Air Forces, the
Royal Air Force, and the Free French
Air Forces. More than 10,000 were
produced between 1941 and 1945,
costing roughly $98,000 per unit.
Frank Beatty’s Latest Creation
We had something old from Jack
Stolly with his P-38 YIPPEE; now we are
treated to something new from Frank
Beatty of Granite City, Illinois. Frank
submitted his latest 1/2A twin-engine
creation in the form of the Curtiss-
Wright AT-9 Jeep, derived from Paul
Matt three-view plans.
Frank’s Curtiss-Wright Jeep has a
25-inch wingspan, weighs 18.4 ounces,
and is powered by two Brodak Mark II
.049 engines. The model is finished with
Brodak dopes. Panel lines were done
with a Top Flite Black Panel Line pen.
Brodak Crystal Clear dope was
used for the final finish because of its
extra-high gloss, which gives the model
a metallic (silver) finish. The model
performs well in the air and on the
ground. Takeoffs are smooth and the
model is fast and stable in the air.
Frank entered the Jeep in the
2011 Broken Arrow contest, held at
Buder Park in Valley Park, Missouri,
in September 2011. Although the
attendance was down slightly, the
weather was great for the contest. It was
not too hot, and the air was dead calm
for the entire day.
All of the models performed well
and looked great in the air without
having any wind problems. Frank’s Jeep
was entered in the 1/2A twin-engine
event and placed first. Tim Pansic’s Bell
Airacuda and Pete Peterson’s Lockheed
P-38 were also winners in the event.
In the Military Scale event, Frank’s
Berliner Joyce placed second to a welldone
B-29 by Ed Mason from Florida.
(Frank notes that it is hard to beat a
well-performing four-engine model.) In
the Civilian Scale event, Frank’s welldone
Staaken Flitzer placed second to
a super museum-quality Skywalker by
Grant Heistand from Wheaton, Illinois.
The 2012 Broken Arrow contest
will again be at Buder Park, September
22-23. The Scale events for the
two-day contest will be Military and
Non-Military Sport Scale, Military and
Non-Military Civilian Scale, and the 1/2A
Profile Scale Twin-Engine event. Put this
contest on your calendar; it is one good
time you don’t want to miss.
The Curtiss AT-9 Jeep was a twinengine
advanced trainer used by the
United States during World War II to fill
the gap between single- and twin-engine
combat aircraft. The AT-9 had retractable
landing gear and was powered with
Lycoming R-680-9 radial engines.
The AT-9 was built with stressed metal
skin construction and was purposely
designed to be less stable, proving it
to be difficult to fly and land. These
characteristics were suitable for training
pilots for the newer high-performance
multiengine aircraft.
The AT-9 Jeep’s first flight took place
in 1941. The aircraft was produced
between 1941 and 1943. Used primarily
by the U.S. Air Force, 792 were built,
including the prototype and the AT-9A
variant.
Two AT-9s still exist; one is on display
at the National Museum of the United
States Air Force. The other (wreckage
recovered from a crash in 2003) is at the
Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson,
Arizona, for restoration. It will take a
long time before restoration is complete
and it can be put on display.
EAA AirVenture 2011
Douglas Dahlke, Oshkosh, Wisconsin,
provides us with a brief report about
his trip to the 2011 EAA Convention
(AirVenture). Doug says if you’re serious
about Scale, the convention is the place
to be.
One of the great things he saw on the
flightline was an actual flying Curtiss
SB2C Helldiver. Doug asked the owner,
“with some amazement,” where he found
something this rare. The owner answered
that a museum in the San Diego area
went bankrupt and sold it. The owner
also noted that no restoration was
needed—just inspections, tests, and fuel.
Parked next to the Helldiver was
what appeared to be a Focke-Wulf Fw
190 in all its gothic glory with loads of
great details. The only problem with the
craft was that it was only nine-tenths
the size of the full-scale Fw 190. The
aircraft was made from a German kit.
The engine, electrics, and other parts
are commercially available in the US.
Doug closes his report with this
question, “If you wanted to build a Scale
model of this ‘kit’ Fw 190, just what
rules would apply, and could the model
of the kit be ‘too scale?’” Doug also notes
that visitors are invited to the Hartzell
Propeller booth to watch preteens carve
pine propellers.
The EAA Convention is a great place
to see the best-of-the-best of aviation,
past and present. Don’t miss it in 2012.
Please send ideas, notices of upcoming
CL Scale events, contest reports, and
especially photos of CL Scale activity to
me at the email address at the beginning
of my column.
Sources:
Bill Boss
77-06 269th St.
New Hyde Park NY 11040
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_Lightning
Curtiss-Wright AT-9 Jeep
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_AT-9_Jeep
Jack Stolly
[email protected]
Frank Beatty
2608 Pontoon Rd.
Granite City IL 62040
Douglas Dahlke
1393 Black Wolf Rd.
Oshkosh WI 54902
EAA AirVenture
www.airventure.org
National Association of Scale Modelers
www.nasascale.org