Control Line Scale - 2010/02

THANKS TO Frank Beatty of Granite City, Illinois, I can provide
you with results of the special 1/2A Twin Profile Scale competition
held at the Broken Arrow 22 Stunt and Scale Contest. The Broken
Arrow was held September 26-27, 2009, in Missouri.
As you might recall from my August 2009 column, Tim Pansic
of Wood River, Illinois, designed the 1/2A event, He offered $25 to
anyone who entered a model that met the requirements outlined in
the previous column.
Frank reports that there were six entries in the Broken Arrow
1/2A event. They were a Lockheed P-38, a Dornier Do 335, a
Kawasaki “Nick,” a Pond Racer, Frank Beatty’s D.H.89A Dragon
Rapide, which I featured in the December 2009 CL Scale column,
and Tim Pansic’s Blériot 125, which I featured in the August 2009
column.
Static judging was completed on Saturday (the 26th) and event
attendees were ready for an afternoon of flying, when severe
thunderstorms
brought a halt to the
day’s activities. It
was agreed that
flying would take
place at 9:30 the
next morning.
It is said that Nick
Angeli picked the
Also included in this column:
• Plastic-model collection
• Martin Mercator correction
1/2A Twin Profile contest results
[[email protected]]
Control Line Scale Bill Boss
Col. Charles Lindbergh in the late 1930s at Reading Airport,
Berkshire, England, with factory experts inspecting his then-new,
one-of-a-kind M.12.
Frank Beatty’s D.H.89A Rapide won the special 1/2A Twin Profile
Scale event at the Broken Arrow Stunt and Scale contest.
Bob Whitney’s Pond Racer with required picture documentation
for the 1/2A event. It placed third. Frank Beatty photo.
Pete Peterson’s P-38 was powered with two Cox .049s, but he
could not keep both running for the two qualifying laps. Beatty
photo.
Kawasaki “Nick” bomber, because it had the same code name as his
name. We modelers tend to choose subjects with which we have
some sort of connection.
Nick did not fare so well; the lines went slack on his first flight,
February 2010 133
02sig5.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 12/21/09 10:33 AM Page 133
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and the model dove in. It was thought that
the lack of an outer wingtip weight and the
model’s tail-heaviness might have
contributed to the unstable attempt. While
repairs were being made, Nick decided not to
continue in the event until he could properly
add a tip weight and do some testing.
John Rist’s Dornier Do 335, powered
with two Cox .049s, had difficulty keeping
the engines running for the required two laps,
and he did not qualify. However, the model
flew great on one engine.
Pete Peterson’s P-38, also powered with
Cox .049s, had the same fate as the Dornier
335. It flew wonderfully on one engine but
could not keep both running for the two
qualifying laps.
Tim Pansic’s unusual Blériot 125 airliner
had a successful flight. Both engines ran
well, providing for a nice takeoff, smooth
flight, and a beautiful landing. He placed
second to Frank Beatty’s Rapide.
The D.H.89A put in a fine flight. It taxied
out for a while before gathering sufficient
speed to become airborne. Frank’s model
made the qualifying laps, performed a
smooth glide, and had a nice rollout on the
landing. The combination of high static and
flight scores earned Frank a win.
Bob Whitney’s Pond Racer also put in a
good flight. It placed third.
Pete Peterson, Tim Pansic, and Frank
Beatty have equilibrium problems when they
fly small, fast models on such short lines;
therefore, they had their 1/2A airplanes flown
by proxy. Aeromodelers (especially us older
fellows) should consider using proxy fliers if
they have trouble with the fast turning of the
high-speed airplanes.
Models in the 1/2A class had fairly close
scores. Five points separated the three
qualifying models in both static and flight
scores. Thanks again to Frank Beatty for the
report and to Tim Pansic for a well-run
event.
Although six entries isn’t a lot, it is a
start. I hope participation increases will be
better in 1/2A Twin Profile Scale if it is run at
the Broken Arrow next year.
Since the event, Nick Angeli’s Kawasaki
bomber has been repaired. Wingtip weight
and extra weight in the model’s nose
corrected the flight problems.
This situation shows how vital it is to
make sure that an aircraft’s balance and CG
are correct, and the extreme importance of
test-flying before entering a model in
competition.
Plastic Model Collection: According to
AMA Competition Regulations,
documentation for our models can come in
several forms. One of those is a plastic
model of the subject, which can be used
instead of the usual three-view drawings.
At times, there have been questions about
the accuracy of plastics kits. However, a
little-known fact about those models is that
manufacturers send many of them to Louis
Casey—who was curator of the Smithsonian
National Air and Space Museum for many
years—for him to check against his records,
for accuracy. He requested that two copies
of the models be sent to him: one for him to
review and one for his personal collection.
Louis Casey is also known for his part in
the survival and restoration of a rather
famous English airplane: the Miles M.12
Mohawk. It was designed and built for
Charles Lindbergh in 1936 at Woodley,
Berkshire in England. The aircraft was
powered with a six-cylinder, supercharged,
200-horsepower American Menasco engine.
The aircraft served in the Royal Air
Force (RAF) during World War II and later
passed through several private owners. In
1949 it hit an obstacle on takeoff, and the
wreckage ended up in the junkyard of a
Spanish air base. It remained there until
1975, when Louis retrieved it and started a
15-year restoration project.
During that process he engaged Peter
Schare, who was a laboratory instrument
maker and an excellent metal worker at the
University of Virginia. Peter was also an
aviation enthusiast and had worked on
aircraft-preservation projects. He was
thrilled to work on the Mohawk.
After many years of work, Louis
presented his collection of plastic models to
Peter as a gift, for all the assistance he had
provided. Before he lived in Virginia, Peter
was well acquainted with modeling and the
members of the Staten Island Sky Devils
Model Airplane Club in New York.
He is now at a point where he would like
to find someone who is interested in his
plastic-model collection. It consists of
roughly 130 subjects from various
manufacturers, most of which are in the
original sealed boxes.
If you are interested in obtaining this
great set of plastic aircraft, contact Peter
for an inventory listing. It includes the
airplanes modeled, the manufacturers, and
the countries in which the kits were
produced. See the “Sources” listing for
134 MODEL AVIATION
Peter’s contact information.
So what happened to Lindbergh’s
Mohawk? At a point in the restoration,
Louis had to decide were the restored
airplane might go. It was thought that it
could be sent to the Air Force museum in
Dayton, Ohio, because Lindbergh was a
brigadier general in the Air Force
Reserve. However, regulations prohibit a
civilian aircraft from being displayed
there.
Louis subsequently made arrangements
for the M.12 to be shipped to England,
where the restoration was completed. In
2008, the aircraft was put on display in the
RAF museum in Hendon, England. All the
years of work that Louis and Peter put into
restoring the Mohawk were given as a
donation for the preservation of this oneof-
a-kind airplane.
Correction: In the October column, I
featured a model of the Martin Mercator
by Gerald Boyd of Richmond, British
Columbia, Canada, and noted that it was a
two-engine aircraft. An e-mail from Hal
Schwan pointed out that the Mercator had
four engines.
In addition to the two Pratt & Whitney
R-4360-20A Wasp Major radials, the
aircraft was equipped with two 17 kN
Allison J33 turbojets that were located in
the rear of the main engine nacelles. That
gave the Mercator the appearance of
having twin engines.
Hal also pointed out that, according to
the book United States Naval Aviation
1910-1970, 21 Mercators were delivered
to the Navy, while more than 300 of the
later Lockheed Neptunes were delivered.
I thank Hal for providing the proper
statistics about the Mercator’s engine
makeup.
Please send ideas, notice of upcoming CL
Scale events, contest reports, and especially
photos of CL Scale activity to me at the email
address at the top of this column or the
postal mail address in the source list. MA
Sources:
Tim Pansic
904 E. Penning
Wood River IL 62095
Peter Schare
(434) 978-2107
[email protected]
Bill Boss
77-06 269th St.
New Hyde Park NY 11040
Visit the AMA Education
Committee Web site at
www.modelaircraft.org/
education.aspx
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