Bill Schmidt’s Cessna 140 was enlarged to a 28-inch wingspan. Replicating the fuselage stripe used on the 1946 version of the Cessna 140 was a challenge. Bill decided to end the fuselage stripes at the motor peg.
He put a 3-inch square piece of vellum over the aft section of the fuselage and used a soft pencil to draw where he thought the stripe should go over the top. The pattern was then utilized to cut party store red tissue paper, which was laid over Peck white Japanese tissue.
The model sports a prewar Paulownia propeller. Bill will use four strands of 1/8-inch rubber to begin the trimming. The finished weight without the rubber is 55 grams. The finish is Randolph Aircraft Products E-4964 Non-Tautening Nitrate Dope.
Flying Pancake
Jack Kacian is another talented modeler who likes a challenge. The Vought XF5U Flying Pancake falls into that category. Traditional stick-and-tissue construction mostly uses 1/20 sticks. The LE is sheeted with 1/32-inch balsa and the tips are carved, hollowed, soft balsa block that is thicker where the motor booms attach.
The propeller booms are two layers of 1/32-inch balsa wrapped around a dowel form. The cockpit pod and engine nacelles were fashioned from blue foam. All spinners and clear parts including the radar nose cone, canopy, and navigation light covers were vacuum-formed butyrate sheet. The covering is black Japanese tissue painted with Model Master Sea Blue, which matches the actual government-issued paint numbers.
Power is delivered by two ParkZone Ultra Micro P-51 Mustang motors and gearboxes. The propellers are four 1/2-inch-diameter three-blade counter-rotating units from a ParkZone Ultra Micro de Havilland Mosquito. Two Turnigy nano-tech 160 mAh LiPos are wired in series in the model and run through an Atomic Zombie Flight Profiler and a fast-blow 1-amp fuse.
The model is true scale, utilizing fantastic Paul Matt drawings with no deviations to the outline, airfoil, or areas. The only deviation from scale is the propellers. Vital stats are: flying weight, 93 grams; wing area, 130 square inches; wingspan (disc), 13 inches; and elevon span, 18 inches.
This project went through much iteration and began as a rubber-powered model in 1998! Electric power was tested, but the systems were too heavy. Stew Meyers gave Jack advice about the electric system while at the Flying Aces Club (FAC) Nats in 2008.
It still took three years of trial and error to finish the model. The moment of truth finally arrived and it flew well. Oh, happy day! Jack has had fun flying it.
To see this amazing model in flight, go to the link listed in “Sources.”
MiG-15
I have seen two great-flying MiG-15s built from Dave Livesay’s plans. One belonged to Tom Hallman and the other to Wally Farrell. Wally’s model was second in Modern Military Mass Launch at the 2012 FAC Nats. I watched the beautiful aircraft fly in the final heat.
The model spans 17 inches, weighs 30.6 grams, and uses a 7-inch Peck propeller powered by two loops of 1/8-inch rubber.
I have again pulled out the MiG-15 plans. Hmm …
F7U Cutlass Plans
Howard Littman sent me a prototype of his laser-cut kit for a No-Cal Vought F7U Cutlass. The plans, balsa sheets, and hardware package are excellent. Carefully read the instructions because the assembly sequence is important.
Yes, I read them! I followed Howard’s trimming tips and had the model flying well on its third flight. Howard flies his indoors, but I flew mine outdoors. This unique model looks fantastic in the air. Kits and different tissue packs are available on his website.
Mass Launches
If you want to know what mass launches are all about, read on. Gene Drake forwarded the following account taken from the Southern California Antique Model Plane Society’s (SCAMPS) newsletter.
“The Western Region Flying Aces Club IV event was held on the SCAMPS field April 24-27. This year the turnout may have been small, but the competition was still quite keen and tense. Several SCAMPS members were in the thick of the competition and enjoying the experience.
“An example of this was the Mediterranean Mass Launch event. This event is for models of planes that flew in the Mediterranean Theater during World War II. About 15 fliers and their respective mechanics turned out for the event.
“The first of three flights went off with five fliers eliminated for early touchdown. A second flight went up with only four fliers to go forward to the third flight. The third flight contained Herb Kothe and Don DeLoach from Colorado, with Tom Arnold from Montana, as well our local SCAMPS member, John Donelson. Some people might say these fellows are the ‘Best in the West’ at this type of event. Gene Drake was [a] mechanic for John.
“On the long walk to the launch site for the last flight, I found an old, rusty horseshoe. In folklore, old horseshoes bring good luck. As John started to hook up to wind his rubber motor, I told him to rub the horseshoe for good luck. John looked at me in disbelief. Then he rubbed the shoe once, pulled his hand back, and then reached forward rubbing the shoe again, just to make sure. The launch was called!
“Now things happened as fast as a six-gun draw in the Old West. Herb and Don collided in midair 20 feet up, with paper and sticks falling everywhere. Tom Arnold forgot to turn the GizmoGeezer prop assembly the required five turns to unlock the clutch. Tom’s plane glided to the ground in about 10 feet.
“John’s plane [headed] skyward on an up-elevator ride. All I could think of was, ‘No, not now! We don’t need to lose this plane in a boomer thermal.’ Then, just as quickly, John’s plane found a down-elevator and was on the ground in 47 seconds for the win in Mediterranean Mass Launch with his little Italian Reggiane 2005. All the real action happened in about three seconds, on the long side.
“If you don’t understand why people fly FAC Mass Launch events, try reading this passage again. It’s like a gunfight at the O.K. Corral! It takes a lot longer to tell the story than the real event. Park your ego in the shade, fellows.”
Thanks for that blow-by-blow account, Gene.
