Control Line Scale - 2010/02
Bill Boss [[email protected]]
1/2A Twin Profile contest results
Thanks to Frank Beatty of Granite City, Illinois, I can provide 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 and offered $25 to anyone who entered a model that met the requirements outlined in that column.
Frank reports there were six entries in the Broken Arrow 1/2A event: a Lockheed P-38; a Dornier Do 335; a Kawasaki "Nick"; a Pond Racer; Frank Beatty's D.H.89A Dragon Rapide (featured in the December 2009 CL Scale column); and Tim Pansic's Blériot 125 (featured in the August 2009 column).
Static judging was completed on Saturday (the 26th) and attendees were ready for an afternoon of flying when severe thunderstorms halted 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 Kawasaki "Nick" because it had the same nickname as his. Modelers tend to choose subjects with which they have some sort of connection. Nick did not fare well: the lines went slack on his first flight and the model dove in. It was thought that the lack of an outer wingtip weight and the model's tail-heaviness contributed to the instability. 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 did not qualify. However, the model flew well on one engine. Pete Peterson's P-38, also powered with two Cox .049s, had the same fate: 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 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 landing. The combination of high static and flight scores earned Frank the win.
Bob Whitney's Pond Racer also put in a good flight and placed third.
Pete Peterson, Tim Pansic, and Frank Beatty have equilibrium problems when they fly small, fast models on the short lines; therefore, they had their 1/2A airplanes flown by proxy. Aeromodelers—especially older flyers—should consider using proxy fliers if they have trouble with the fast turning of high-speed airplanes.
Scores in the 1/2A class were fairly close. 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 improves 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 nose corrected the flight problems. This situation shows how vital it is to ensure 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 plastic kits. A little-known fact is that manufacturers send many kits 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 two copies of the models: one for 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, designed and built for Charles Lindbergh in 1936 at Woodley, Berkshire, 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, a laboratory instrument maker and excellent metal worker at the University of Virginia. Peter was also an aviation enthusiast and had worked on aircraft-preservation projects. 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.
Peter would like to find someone interested in his plastic-model collection. It consists of roughly 130 subjects from various manufacturers, most in the original sealed boxes. If you are interested in obtaining this set, contact Peter for an inventory listing that includes the airplanes modeled, the manufacturers, and the countries in which the kits were produced. See the Sources listing for Peter's contact information.
So what happened to Lindbergh's Mohawk? At a point in the restoration, Louis had to decide where the restored airplane might go. It was thought 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 one-of-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 located in the rear of the main engine nacelles, giving 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 e-mail address at the top of this column or the postal mail address in the Sources list.
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
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
