FOCAL POINT
Swift
Frank Novak (12 Strong St., Newburyport MA 01950; email: [email protected]) recently completed this Globe Swift.
"I have always thought it interesting that a plane as beautiful as the Swift was so rarely modeled and, that being the case, this was an interesting challenge," wrote Frank.
The model was built from scaled-up Cleveland plans. Construction is built-up balsa and plywood with MonoKote-covered wings, while the rest of the model has a dope finish. The cowling is built-up balsa, which was then carved to shape and fiberglassed. Power is a K&B Torpedo .40 rear rotor. Frank's Swift spans 47 inches with a length of 32 inches and total weight of 3.9 pounds.
Glider
W. Stewart Tittle (1640 Ridgecrest Dr., Klamath Falls OR 97601; email: [email protected]) built this 36-inch wingspan sailplane with help from his 5½-year-old grandson, Adrian.
Stewart wrote: "We used a fiberglass arrow shaft for the fuselage, 1/16-inch music wire for wing mounting, shot for ballast, 1/16-inch balsa for the wings, 1/8-inch balsa for the tail feathers, 3/8-inch balsa for the cockpit area, and 1/32-inch plywood to reinforce everything that needed sandwiching, which included wheel mounts, forward and rear arrow shaft attachments, stabilizer mount, nose ballast chamber, and wing mounting areas.
"The design changed as we progressed through the building. The most notable was that we moved the wings aft five inches so that we could balance it.
"The project was done in time for the arrival of mom and dad. Adrian's dad, Brad, did the test flying on the slope across the street. It flew off the drawing board very nicely!"
Randy's 120-inch Quaker
Randy Kuntz (1624 Glenfield Dr., Lawrenceville GA 30043; email: [email protected]) wrote: "Wanting to experiment with electric power, and after building and flying RC for 40 years, I decided that the Quaker would make an excellent, stable choice for a first scratch-built electric.
"Knowing that bigger flies better, I obtained a set of 105-inch wingspan plans and blew them to 120 inches in span. The scratch build only took about 2½ weeks to complete (and several rolls of MonoKote).
"A Turnigy 5065-400 outrunner powered by a Hobby World 70-amp ESC and a Turnigy 5000 mAh LiPo turning a 16 x 8 wood propeller give this 6-pound 'oldie' almost vertical climb performance. A six-channel Futaba 2.4 GHz radio makes sure no glitches are felt.
"Takeoff rolls are seldom longer than 6 feet on a calm day. Once at altitude, shut down the motor and thermal like a big sailplane. Landings are as slow and predictable as the original Quaker. The best of both worlds! It's a joy to fly and always draws a crowd."
Simla
Eugene Job (6026 Whispering Hills Dr., Marsing ID 83639) shares his Simla with MA readers.
Eugene wrote: "Thanks to Ed Kazmirski for this great plane and thanks to Duane Wilson for bringing it back. I made a few changes. I enlarged plans to an 80-inch wingspan and put a 3W 48 twin on the model making the final weight 25 pounds. The model also uses a JR 10x and graphics from Cal-Grafx decals."
Highlander
Scott Swanson (245 Hunters Tr., Walhalla SC 29691; email: [email protected]) designed and built this 1/7-scale Just Aircraft Highlander.
Powered by a Himax HC2812 outrunner with a Castle Thunderbird 18 speed control, the model has a 54-inch wingspan and 26-ounce flying weight. Control is a Futaba T8FG transmitter with an Orange RX eight-channel FASST-compatible receiver and six Futaba S3114 servos. The wings fold on the model as they do on the full-scale Highlander.
Scott wrote: "I had wanted a model of the Highlander since Just Aircraft moved its factory to within sight of our flying field. No plans were available, so I designed my own. The model flies great, and I was pleased with how closely the model's flying characteristics emulate the real Highlander."
The full-size plans and a construction article are available for free download from Scott's club (the Oconee Eagles Model Aviation Club) website at www.oconeeeagles.org/plans.htm.
Wild Hare
Dick Haven (18982 Jean Rd., Mokena IL 60448) and his grandson, Austin Haven, pose with his Wild Hare Extra 260.
It is powered with a DLE 55 gas engine and a 23 x 8 propeller. Wingspan is 87 inches. Dick wrote: "This is a high-quality kit. It was easy to assemble and fun to fly."
Glass Sally
David Lorentzen (3710 Rolling Hill Dr., Middleton WI 53562; [email protected]) wrote: "This slope plane, a Glass Sally, is my first attempt at a from-scratch composite model. The concept is from Steven Sharpe's Carbon Sally, with a build thread by Johann Lochner on RC Groups.
"I stuck with the basic model—32-inch wingspan, hot-wire cut foam cores cut to a PW-1211 profile. For my first vacuum-bagged wing, I used two layers of 3/4-ounce fiberglass cloth on each side, each 45° to the other on each side with epoxy as the bonding agent.
"The nose pod consists of two layers of 50/50 FG/CF sleeve, shaped around a foam core, which was subsequently melted out with acetone after the epoxy cured. A wooden 'keel' was shaped and mounted inside the pod to hold the electronics and provide internal structural support. The tail is 6 mm Depron covered with 5-mil plastic laminate.
"All-up weight is 9.5 ounces, although two later builds have been about an ounce lighter. The Sally flies great in winds as light as 10 mph and really shines in winds of 15-plus. The thin wing profile allows amazing penetration in winds that would ground even heavier slope planes."
Little Fast
Stuart Seely (106 E. 10th St., Spencer IA 51301; email: [email protected]) built this Little Fast from AMA Plans #1043 last winter. Stuart used Bob Hunt wing cores and UltraCote covering to complete his build. A Hitec Aurora nine-channel radio controls five servos. The engine is a Magnum XL four-stroke 70RFS engine. Both the radio and engine were purchased at the Weak Signals Toledo Expo and, as of time of submission, the model had yet to be flown.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
