CONTROL LINE NAVY CARRIER
Author
Dick Perry, 427 Live Oak Ln. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87122; E-mail: [email protected]
This month’s column includes some interesting reference materials for Navy Carrier and new models from Eric Conley and Mike Potter.
Reference CDs and three-view material
Ted Kraver introduced me to a new source of information relevant to our event and to modeling in general. With a principal focus on articles and other information from older reference materials—old model magazines in particular—Thomas Wilk (301 W. Redwing St., Duluth, MN 55803; E-mail: [email protected]) has CDs available for a variety of event categories. Tom’s Navy Carrier offering contains:
- 160 three-view drawings of full-scale aircraft appropriate for Navy Carrier.
- Magazine articles for 32 Class I and Class II models.
- 24 Profile Carrier models.
- Eight models for .15 Carrier.
The images are good quality and cover the entire page so that information near the margins of the originals is included.
Books and printed references
Reference books make interesting reading and provide information to use in developing new models or researching potential candidates for our events. Useful titles and series include:
- Putnam Aviation Series — provides summary information about a wide variety of aircraft types with good three-view drawings. British Naval Aircraft Since 1912 (Owen Thetford) and United States Naval Aircraft Since 1911 (Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers) are particularly useful. Many Putnam books, including the latter, are still in print.
- Manufacturer-specific books — offer outstanding detail if you have selected a subject and want to learn more about its history beyond country- and service-oriented volumes.
- Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft (Enzo Angelucci, Crescent Books) — huge volume including 831 different types of airplanes, most with small three-view drawings.
- U.S. Naval Fighters (Lloyd Jones, Aero Publishers) — large three-view drawings and descriptions of 91 different aircraft.
- The Encyclopedia of the World’s Combat Aircraft (Bill Gunston, Chartwell Books) — describes aircraft with illustrations and some three-views.
- Naval Aircraft (Chartwell Books) — a well-illustrated summary of the history and development of many aspects of naval aviation in addition to aircraft; it offers no three-views.
- American Combat Planes (Ray Wagner, Hanover House) — features descriptions and photos of a large number of well-known and obscure U.S. military aircraft; great for looking up modeling candidates but lacks three-views.
Although not all of these references offer the three-view drawings needed for designing or documenting a new Carrier model, they are useful in providing facts that help locate the needed data in what many consider the ultimate source for aircraft information: Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft. Jane’s volumes are quite expensive and list only one year at a time, so most people rely on their libraries for that particular reference.
Eric Conley — new MO-1 models
Eric Conley (Clovis, CA) has been developing new MO-1 models designed around Nelson engines equipped with mufflers to comply with the new rules that allow avoiding exhaust extensions by burning 10% nitromethane fuel.
The engines are mounted with the cylinders inclined below horizontal to allow the muffler to lie along the model's centerline. With that configuration the muffler is between the landing gear and can be recessed slightly into the fuselage, preserving at least some of the MO-1's aesthetics. Eric has been experimenting with a muffler on his Me 109 Profile. He provided the following information about his models and his philosophy for competing in Carrier:
"The engine I use for Class II is the Nelson .45 which is the outboard engine. It already has a left-hand crank and, as a matter of fact, it's the left-hand crank that he uses in the heavy-case .36 and .40.
"I use the same old APC 9x6 pusher that I use with the .36/.40 engines. With that prop and 15% nitro, I'm getting about 19,800 rpm on the ground and would expect to turn in the high 17,000s without a muffler and somewhere in the 18,000s with a Power Thrust muffler and 10% fuel.
"I use these engines because they all run hard out of the box, never seem to get tired (I've used the same .36 since 1992), and Nelson has a lot of extras that fit all the engines. They all can use the APC 9x6 props, and run great on 15% fuel.
"Some may think that they are a little pricey, but in the end I have never done anything to my Nelson engines and have been able to concentrate on building good airplanes and getting lots of practice flying.
"My time is spent in the following way:
- 5% on engines,
- 40% on building improved airplanes,
- 55% on practice, practice, practice, as Bill Bischoff so aptly says. The practice is more important than anything else you can do.
"I think many of my fellow Carrier pilots spend 50% of their time on engines that almost will never give them what they will need to be competitive and in the end will have spent way too much money over a longer period of time (which takes away time they could be building and, above all, practicing).
"Money is not the number-one limiter of how you do it. It's how much time you have to do it. I can't stress enough that time is your most precious commodity."
Mike Potter — Nostalgia Profile Mauler
Mike Potter (Auburn, WA) has come up with a little-known model for Nostalgia Profile Carrier. When Bob Smurthwaite was introducing his Profile models (which Brodak Manufacturing now produces), he described the Martin Mauler that was his inspiration. He designed the Mauler as a companion to his scale version of the aircraft.
Bob had plans to produce a newer Mauler as a companion to his Bearcat, Corsair, and Skyraider kits, but he was unable to do so before his death. Sturdi-Built kitted a Mauler and a Corsair for Navy Carrier before there were separate classes and before the origination of the Profile Carrier event. Bob’s Cobra and Swift Profile models started out as J. Roberts Model Manufacturing Company kits.
Bob designed the original Profile Mauler using the same design concepts as the Swift and Cobra models, and Sturdi-Built produced a few experimental kits. They came in a Swift box with the scale Mauler picture cut to fit and pasted over the Swift photo and stamped "Profile Version" in red.
Mike found one of the original kits and traced the parts to make plans. The model has just more than 325 square inches of wing area and a 38-inch wingspan. Mike has flown the Mauler with a K&B 5.8 engine, but the new one for 2004 will use a SuperTigre or a Fox engine for the bonus points.
Rules and voting
Be sure to check the results of final voting on the 2005 rules in the "Focus on Competition" section of Model Aviation or on the AMA Web site at www.modelaircraft.org/Comp/Competition.htm.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
