Control Line Scale - 2011/02
Frank Beatty’s Hawker Fury Mk I
Bill Boss [[email protected]]
Frank Beatty of Granite City, Illinois, presents another CL Scale masterpiece. He built his Hawker Fury Mk I to a scale of 1½ inches = 1 foot, producing a biplane with a 45-inch wingspan.
The model weighs approximately 5¾ pounds and was originally powered with an O.S. .46 FX engine. The Fury carries the markings of No. 43 Squadron, RAF.
Tangmere, United Kingdom, early 1932 — the checkerboard tail signified that the commanding officer of No. 43 Squadron flew the aircraft.
Full-size Fury — quick specs
- Engine: 525 hp, 12-cylinder Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIS V-type
- Wingspan: 30 ft
- Length: 26 ft 8 in
- Height: 10 ft 2 in
- Takeoff weight: 3,490 lb
- Maximum speed: 207 mph at 14,000 ft
- Service ceiling: 28,000 ft
- Range: 305 miles
- Armament: two 0.303 in Vickers machine guns in the upper front fuselage; provisions for light bomb racks beneath each lower wing
The Fury was designed by Sidney Camm. His experience with the radial-engine Hawker Hornet led to the Fury; the incorporation of the Rolls-Royce engine gave the Fury its streamlined appearance and improved performance. Roughly 160 Furies were manufactured, and they served from about 1927 until 1937. The Fury Mk I and Mk II also served with the air forces of Norway, Persia (Iran), Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Yugoslavia.
Frank said finishing the model and detailing were challenging. He sprayed the fabric areas with Brodak Silver and oversprayed those with Brodak Clear. Metal areas were sprayed with Brodak B-25 Silver and oversprayed with Brodak Crystal Clear. Although the metal areas aren’t highly polished like the full-scale fighter, there is a definite contrast between the fabric and metal sections.
Frank built the model using Peter Westerling’s three-view drawings for construction and detailing. One of the major problems he faced was how to detail the painted checkerboard areas; he dreaded having to make and align many squares using masking tape. His friend Tim Pansic helped by providing a paperback titled Radio Control Airplane Finishing & Detailing, which includes an article by Curtiss Mattikow outlining an easy eight-step procedure for the checkerboard finish. I can’t detail the process here, but I urge anyone interested in this type of detailing to get a copy of the book from Amazon.com or Tower Hobbies (see Sources).
Frank provided a report on his experience at the 2010 AMA Nats. He had engine problems with the new Fury and with his Stearman 4EM, but both airplanes received good static scores: the Fury earned an 84.7 and the Stearman a 90.3 — the highest static score of any CL entry at the Nats. Engine trouble prevented Frank from making complete flights with either airplane; however, he still won Designer Scale with the Hawker Fury. Combined with the Stearman’s high static finish and its flight score, Frank finished ninth in Sport Scale.
Since the Nats, Frank found a loose clevis in the throttle linkage caused the Fury’s engine issues. He corrected that and installed a Magnum .52 four-stroke to provide better engine runs for flight, improved low-speed landing, and enhanced taxi control. The accompanying photo shows the new engine installed, and a couple of small modifications retain the model’s great detailing.
You can learn more about the Hawker Fury in The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914–1980 (ISBN 0-517-41902-1). It is available from Amazon.com.
More Nats Results
- Designer Scale:
- 1st: Frank Beatty — Hawker Fury (Designer Scale winner)
- 2nd: Charles Bauer — J-3 Cub
- 3rd: Charles Bauer — Profile Scale third place with Super-G Constellation (see Profile results)
- Profile Scale:
- 1st: Chris Brownhill — Hampden
- 3rd: John Wright — Corsair FG-1
- Junior/Senior Profile:
- 1st: Aaron Bauer — Ta 154
- 2nd: Melinda Alberty — P-40
- 3rd: Jason Bauer — A-26
- Sport Scale:
- 1st: Allen Goff — WACO (flight score 95.8)
- 2nd: John Brodak — Shoestring (flight score 94.0; static score ~10 points lower than Allen’s)
- 3rd: Peter Bauer — Skyraider (total 165.5, 3 points fewer than John)
- Junior/Senior Sport Scale (three participants):
- 1st: Melinda Alberty — PT-21 (score 139.4)
- 2nd: Aaron Bauer — Buster
- 3rd: Jason Bauer — A-26
- Fun Scale:
- 1st: Allen Goff — PT-17
- 2nd: Pete Klepsic — B-25
- 3rd: Chris Brownhill — Fairchild PT-19 Cornell
Congratulations to all the winners at last year’s Nats.
Handle Modification
Have you ever needed more control over your engine throttle setting or accidentally pushed the throttle lever too far and caused the engine to quit? A simple modification to the standard three-line control handle can provide better throttle control and help prevent accidental engine cutoff during low-speed approaches, taxi, and landing.
The modification I used for years involves drilling a series of holes through the handle and inserting a pin to act as a stop for the handle’s throttle control arm. Key details:
- Drill the holes with a #52 drill.
- Use a pin made from piano wire slightly smaller than the holes.
- The pin lets you choose a throttle stop that keeps the engine running during low-speed approaches and taxi.
- When you need to shut down completely, remove the pin to allow full throttle cutoff.
- A piece of light string ties the pin to the handle so it drops out of the way once pulled.
- Some ground experimentation will identify which hole to use for each aircraft; the series of holes also lets you use the handle for different models (just remember which hole you use for each airplane).
Wanted
Orin Humphries of Lynwood, Washington, is building a Super Corsair. Several months ago he asked for help locating an exhaust collection ring; a response prompted him to restart the project so that the engine and exhaust ring could be completely enclosed in the cowl. Now that the model has grown in size, Orin needs 5-inch wheels with a diamond tread pattern. He reports that Du-Bro used to make such wheels but has stopped producing them.
If you have a pair of 5-inch wheels with the diamond tread pattern for sale or trade, please contact Orin Humphries by e-mail (see Sources).
Please send ideas, notices of upcoming CL Scale events, contest reports, and especially photos of CL Scale activity to me via e-mail or postal mail.
MB
Sources
- Frank Beatty
2608 Pontoon Rd. Granite City, IL 62040
- Amazon.com
- Tower Hobbies
(800) 637-6050 www.towerhobbies.com
- Orin Humphries
- Bill Boss
77-06 269th St. New Hyde Park, NY 11040
- National Association of Scale Aeromodelers
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
