On vacation author found himself thinking about great would fly model placid lake brilliant blue sky Back home put hardware together next vaca tion saw fantasy come life EStephen M Brahm THREE YEARS AGO Mitch Polings arti cle Electric floatplanes sparked idea came fruition during subsequent vacation Big Bear Lake California following passages written time moment Im looking out room azure blue lake fringed green pines topped brilliant blue sky 6700 ft Could Electric floatplane perform over mile above sea level Success fail ure Before tell let lay groundwork During first vacation year ago recognized beach small peninsula stay would perfect floatplane activities gentle sloping shoreline easy launch recov ery clear obstacles left right ahead 30 yards inland minds eye could envision detail An RC floatplane gathering speed early morning calm spray floats sparkling first rays sun model breaking free climbing cobalt blue sky heart yearned bring fantasy life Piston power bad ruled out due noise until read floatplane articles dream fed pictures mind Eureka. could done After reading everything could find subject decided wing loading 12 oz per sq ft would necessary fly August 1988 89 Top With preflight checks complete author pushes model wind waves Big Bear Lake thats left switch motor keep floatplane pointed prevailing breeze Above Residences located right lakeshore filled sleeping vacationers electric power made early morning flying possible out disturbing sunlight shining through MonoKote shows off lightening holes Len Lift-OTT achieved after surprisingly short 20- 30-if takeoff run author says relatively large swells posed no handling prob lems despite light un-braced A-in piano wire pontoon gear Middle motor off modified Goldberg Eaglet 50 makes nice sil houette against velvet blue pontoons add special touch adventure Right Splash go spray flying model settles down between two swells Once its down ease off elevator push stick forward switch motor easily takes off once again well altitude first RC airplane Carl Goldberg Eaglet 50 still fly Modifying plans replaced ply fuselage A-in sheet balsa nose cabin area A-in balsa square stock framing trailing edge wing aft Using same basic wing plan replaced single A-in-sq spar ward aft spars /8 x A-in spruce Wingspan increased 66 consist ing flat 24-in center section two 21in outboard sections 90 dihedral Stress webs strengthened entire ward aft center-section spars first 9 outboard forward spars ribs holed /6-in copper tub ing four holes trailing edge Altogether netted weight sav ings 2 oz transparent blue MonoKote covering holes could appreciated also used formed balsa leading edge stock instead A-in round dowel called plans Despite rather large 67-in span 640-sq-in area 9-oz weight finished wing surprisingly strong elected use geared cobalt Astro 15 powered two six-cell 800 mAh packs 11 x 8 Top Flite prop channel controls motor on/off switch el evator rudder controlled two mm iservos standard size receiver pow ered 250 mAh pack Two 26-in floats patterned after Mitch Polings design us ing method two A-in unbraced piano wire struts completed setup floats covered MonoKote hot par raffin wax applied along seams tal weight floats 6 oz model 53 oz did change incidence wing stabilizer angled floats down 20 relative wing no idea would trim out flying great paper finally ran out excuses flying lake As newcomer Electric felt though forgotten something headed out waters edge plane transmitter hand began checklist radio check nominal flight con trols nominal power on/off control nomi nal Finally thing left checkwould fly lakeshore gentle morning breeze played face early sun warmed back aircraft sat silently under shadow its wings genfly dipping fro Filled excitement appre hension feelings echoed pilot before maiden voyage whether full-size model plane tremor uncer tainty seizes flier sends craft skyward Will perform asks himself like flight imagination will brief flurry spray fol lowed sardonic Well back drawing board Members family cameras poised ready capture moment OK its now never Shes pointed wind full back pressure held stick Hit switch now quiet whir shes moving Looking good ease stick forward shes planing Now feed little back pressure gosh shes airborne Easy now dont stall Pick up some air speed start climbing Look climb brisk climbing turn right shes 150 ft over lake seconds As hit motor off switch trim glide takeoff already hazy memory brake wired on/off control pre vents prop windmilling cuts down drag glide ratio must good because two wide 3600 turns low pass front us completed before time switch motor back No need trim climb almost flies hands-off turns approaches low passes climbs follow until audible drop rpm 10-minute mark signals maiden flight drawing close Maybe enough left climb Nope boydoes power curve drop off fast Cant climb enough power set up base leg final OK motor off second moment truth Glide slope looks good crossing path front useasing down hold off longer full back gentle slap slap pontoons meeting water greets ears alights skates stop about 20 ft front us Power short taxi onto beach done Did breathe during 10 wound-up minutes safely down didall way toes flight attracted another curious spec tator gray squirrel closest pine behind us Dozens other vacationers slept soundly rooms close un aware early morning activity Subsequent flights 10 featured six eight touch-and-goes per flight gether subtracted 30-40 seconds total motor run time Any doubts about survivability lightened structure electrical components quickly dis pelled stall wingover takeoff due excessive up trim during rough wa ter takeoff touch-and-go dug port pontoon submerged en tire fuselage very rapid stop After 24 hours drying time everything good new Special moments often few far bet ween flight resort like Big Bear Lake would impossible category other Electric pull off im mensely gratifying experience surpasses flight imagination memory will sa vored ages 90 Model Aviation
Edition: Model Aviation - 1988/08
Page Numbers: 89, 90
On vacation author found himself thinking about great would fly model placid lake brilliant blue sky Back home put hardware together next vaca tion saw fantasy come life EStephen M Brahm THREE YEARS AGO Mitch Polings arti cle Electric floatplanes sparked idea came fruition during subsequent vacation Big Bear Lake California following passages written time moment Im looking out room azure blue lake fringed green pines topped brilliant blue sky 6700 ft Could Electric floatplane perform over mile above sea level Success fail ure Before tell let lay groundwork During first vacation year ago recognized beach small peninsula stay would perfect floatplane activities gentle sloping shoreline easy launch recov ery clear obstacles left right ahead 30 yards inland minds eye could envision detail An RC floatplane gathering speed early morning calm spray floats sparkling first rays sun model breaking free climbing cobalt blue sky heart yearned bring fantasy life Piston power bad ruled out due noise until read floatplane articles dream fed pictures mind Eureka. could done After reading everything could find subject decided wing loading 12 oz per sq ft would necessary fly August 1988 89 Top With preflight checks complete author pushes model wind waves Big Bear Lake thats left switch motor keep floatplane pointed prevailing breeze Above Residences located right lakeshore filled sleeping vacationers electric power made early morning flying possible out disturbing sunlight shining through MonoKote shows off lightening holes Len Lift-OTT achieved after surprisingly short 20- 30-if takeoff run author says relatively large swells posed no handling prob lems despite light un-braced A-in piano wire pontoon gear Middle motor off modified Goldberg Eaglet 50 makes nice sil houette against velvet blue pontoons add special touch adventure Right Splash go spray flying model settles down between two swells Once its down ease off elevator push stick forward switch motor easily takes off once again well altitude first RC airplane Carl Goldberg Eaglet 50 still fly Modifying plans replaced ply fuselage A-in sheet balsa nose cabin area A-in balsa square stock framing trailing edge wing aft Using same basic wing plan replaced single A-in-sq spar ward aft spars /8 x A-in spruce Wingspan increased 66 consist ing flat 24-in center section two 21in outboard sections 90 dihedral Stress webs strengthened entire ward aft center-section spars first 9 outboard forward spars ribs holed /6-in copper tub ing four holes trailing edge Altogether netted weight sav ings 2 oz transparent blue MonoKote covering holes could appreciated also used formed balsa leading edge stock instead A-in round dowel called plans Despite rather large 67-in span 640-sq-in area 9-oz weight finished wing surprisingly strong elected use geared cobalt Astro 15 powered two six-cell 800 mAh packs 11 x 8 Top Flite prop channel controls motor on/off switch el evator rudder controlled two mm iservos standard size receiver pow ered 250 mAh pack Two 26-in floats patterned after Mitch Polings design us ing method two A-in unbraced piano wire struts completed setup floats covered MonoKote hot par raffin wax applied along seams tal weight floats 6 oz model 53 oz did change incidence wing stabilizer angled floats down 20 relative wing no idea would trim out flying great paper finally ran out excuses flying lake As newcomer Electric felt though forgotten something headed out waters edge plane transmitter hand began checklist radio check nominal flight con trols nominal power on/off control nomi nal Finally thing left checkwould fly lakeshore gentle morning breeze played face early sun warmed back aircraft sat silently under shadow its wings genfly dipping fro Filled excitement appre hension feelings echoed pilot before maiden voyage whether full-size model plane tremor uncer tainty seizes flier sends craft skyward Will perform asks himself like flight imagination will brief flurry spray fol lowed sardonic Well back drawing board Members family cameras poised ready capture moment OK its now never Shes pointed wind full back pressure held stick Hit switch now quiet whir shes moving Looking good ease stick forward shes planing Now feed little back pressure gosh shes airborne Easy now dont stall Pick up some air speed start climbing Look climb brisk climbing turn right shes 150 ft over lake seconds As hit motor off switch trim glide takeoff already hazy memory brake wired on/off control pre vents prop windmilling cuts down drag glide ratio must good because two wide 3600 turns low pass front us completed before time switch motor back No need trim climb almost flies hands-off turns approaches low passes climbs follow until audible drop rpm 10-minute mark signals maiden flight drawing close Maybe enough left climb Nope boydoes power curve drop off fast Cant climb enough power set up base leg final OK motor off second moment truth Glide slope looks good crossing path front useasing down hold off longer full back gentle slap slap pontoons meeting water greets ears alights skates stop about 20 ft front us Power short taxi onto beach done Did breathe during 10 wound-up minutes safely down didall way toes flight attracted another curious spec tator gray squirrel closest pine behind us Dozens other vacationers slept soundly rooms close un aware early morning activity Subsequent flights 10 featured six eight touch-and-goes per flight gether subtracted 30-40 seconds total motor run time Any doubts about survivability lightened structure electrical components quickly dis pelled stall wingover takeoff due excessive up trim during rough wa ter takeoff touch-and-go dug port pontoon submerged en tire fuselage very rapid stop After 24 hours drying time everything good new Special moments often few far bet ween flight resort like Big Bear Lake would impossible category other Electric pull off im mensely gratifying experience surpasses flight imagination memory will sa vored ages 90 Model Aviation