Author: Joe Malinchak
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/03
Page Numbers: 91,92,93,94
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Fierce competition at the JR Indoor Festival

Joe Malinchak [email protected]

An indoor water runway and separate areas for micro, helicopter, and 3-D flying make the JR Indoor Electric Festival one of the world's best RC fun-fly events to attend. Terry Nitsch and his hardworking crew do a wonderful job of organizing and running the event. Every year I attend I am amazed by all of the fascinating new models that are flown, and the 2011 show was no exception.

One of this year's highlights was Peter Sripol's (aka FoamandTape) flying aircraft carrier. Peter's flying aircraft carrier is a truly innovative design. The model uses four brushless motors and ESCs that Lazertoyz donated to help Peter with his project. The carrier flew surprisingly well, and airplanes and helicopters were constantly attempting and making in-flight takeoffs and landings throughout the weekend. One memorable moment was an inverted landing on the bottom of the carrier by a pilot flying his Blade mCP X helicopter; Peter painted a big "H" on the bottom of the carrier to tempt pilots to land.

Another standout was Matt Andren's 20-inch wingspan Hawker Tempest Mk V. The beautiful six-channel scale model featured split flaps, retracts, and a full-depth cockpit. The model uses the E-flite BL180 motor and the Spektrum AR6400L BL receiver with Spektrum AS2000L servos. Matt's Tempest won the Best Scale Model award.

Micro Pylon Race

The Micro Pylon Race at the JR festival is always a fun event to enter. This year, the new ParkZone Ultra Micro Pole Cat was the model chosen for the race. Ten airplanes were labeled with different numbers and contestants were randomly given a model to bind with their transmitter before each heat. If a model crashed, a repair team stood by to make it flyable for the next heat.

The race begins with the model taking off from the ground. Several exciting heat races are run with the top two contestants moving on to the next race. More than 30 contestants competed for the top spots. One of the reasons to enter this race is that you do not have to place to win: the 10 Pole Cats were raffled off to the contestants after the finals. Congratulations to the event winners:

  • Chris Hass, first place
  • Ross Robert, second place
  • Steven Petrotto, third place

Cindy's Butterflight

My wife, Cindy, had an idea for a new airplane design that she wanted to build for the JR event. She loves butterflies and decided to try to build one that would fly. Cindy used the outline from a photo of a real monarch butterfly and Durobatics foam for construction. The two-channel model has a 7-inch wingspan and uses a small rudder for control. Cindy also tested David Theunissen's DT 51-M 2.4 GHz Spektrum-compatible receiver in this model and had great results.

The micro RC model weighs only 2.7 grams ready-to-fly with a 10 mAh LiPo cell. The Butterflight uses the Plantraco GB05 gearbox and the NanoAct actuator for rudder control. The model will fly for roughly five minutes and looks realistic in flight. People were impressed by Cindy's efforts and she won the Best Micro Aircraft award at the event.

Video Coverage

Higher Plane Productions was on hand to videotape the action at the JR event. The company specializes in filming high-definition video of major RC modeling events and competitions that are available for immediate online viewing and download.

Higher Plane Productions' JR event coverage includes 31 videos of general flying and sights. Individual galleries include six videos of Horizon Hobby demos and interviews, featuring the new Ultra Micro eXtreme (UMX) Beast, UMX Hyper Taxi, and the UMX Gee Bee R2. There are also videos of Peter and his fascinating flying aircraft carrier, plus films of Combat and other demonstrations.

I want to thank Higher Plane Productions for including a special video gallery with seven videos of several of my micro RC models and Cindy's new Butterflight. For more information and to find out how to view all of the HD videos, please see their website listed in "Sources."

Tiny Jet

I wanted to attempt to build a smaller version of my 1/72-scale MiG 15 that I flew at last year's JR event. I thought that with the right wind, a single-phase brushless motor could fly a smaller airplane. Dan Baird sent me a motor to try, so I constructed a 15 mm fan unit from contest balsa to test. The fan unit weighs only 450 mg and runs well on the 10 mAh LiPo cell. The model is constructed from Durobatics foam.

For guidance, I used a 115 mg Hip Hop 2 receiver from Micro Flier Radio and a 30 mg actuator on the rudder for control. The completed, ready-to-fly model weighs 1.8 grams. The model will fly for only 30 to 45 seconds but proved that the single-phase brushless motor will work. I also built a new three-channel 1/48-scale version of my MiG that performed well. You can see them both fly in the Higher Plane Productions JR event coverage.

Thank You

I want to thank Terry Nitsch, his crew, and the event sponsors for making this JR Indoor Electric Festival one of the best. Zap Glue sponsored the beautiful awards.

  • Best Original Design: Quad Tilt Rotor by Peter Sripol
  • Best Multiengine: B-17 by Steve Lawrie
  • Best Micro: Butterflight by Cindy Malinchak
  • Best Scale: Hawker Tempest Mk V by Matt Andren
  • Best Sport Performance: 3-D foamie by Devin McGrath
  • Best Jet: MiG 15 by Joe Malinchak
  • Best New Product: Horizon Hobby UMX Gee Bee R2
  • Pilots' Choice: Quad Tilt Rotor by Peter Sripol
  • Special Recognition: Bernie and Marie Oldenburgh
  • Special Recognition: Frank Noll

Congratulations to all of the award winners!

SOURCES:

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.