Focal Point
Model Aviation, 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302
Q.A.C. Quickie
Avis J. Bourg Sr. (103 Gilmore Cir., Covington LA 70433) built his 1/4-scale aircraft from Radio Control Modeler plans. The Quickie is powered by an O.S. .40 Max engine. According to Avis, this model has good flying characteristics, glides well, and stands out on the tarmac. Guidance is provided by a Futaba PCM six-channel radio.
B-25 Bomber
Mark St. George (6526 Collamer Rd., East Syracuse NY 13057) built his 19-pound North American B-25 from a Wing Manufacturing kit. The model has an 80-inch wingspan, two TSI .61 engines, a six-channel Futaba radio with nine servos, and Robart retracts. It was finished with flat MonoKote then painted with MonoKote paint.
"This B-25 takes off with authority," wrote Mark. "It flies very well. This is my first twin-engine aircraft."
Bearhawk
M.H. Pickard (7089 Goodview Rd., Goodview VA 24095) built a 1/5-scale model of Experimental Aircraft Association builder and designer Bob Barrous's full-scale Bearhawk. "He lives about 30 miles from me so I could see his airplanes (he has built two of them) and I got a three view from him, which I used to draw my plans and built mine," wrote M.H.
The model was scratch-built except for the cowl that M.H. got from Fiberglass Specialties. The Bearhawk weighs 12 pounds and has an O.S. 1.08 engine for power. The 82-inch-span wings were sheeted then covered with silk and doped, and the fuselage is covered with Super Coverite and painted with Krylon.
Douglas Dauntless
Fran Schneider (990 Wilson Ct., Warrington PA 18976) built a Nick Ziroli Plans SBD Dauntless that spans 100 inches and weighs 38 pounds. It has Robart retracts; the dive brakes and flaps are operational. The cockpit is a Dynamic Balsa design. The model is painted with automotive paints mixed from Federal Standard color chips. It is powered by a Zenoah G-62 engine and uses a JR radio. Fran custom-made the muffler to allow for scale exhaust.
"This has been a three step challenge: the first to complete my first Giant Scale warbird, the second to show it at a few Scale meets, and the third and most challenging to get the nerve to fly it!" wrote Fran.
Steve Oliver’s Chipmunk
Bart Asher (2051 Dohack Dr., Arnold MO 63010) scaled and finished his Ohio R/C model to be a replica of Steve Oliver’s Super Chipmunk. Steve is a full-scale aerobatics pilot and flies with the Pepsi Aerial Entertainers. “I met Steve Oliver at the St. Louis County Fair and Airshow in 2000,” wrote Bart.
The model is powered by a Zenoah G-38 engine and spans 81 inches. Bart competed with it at the 2000 Nationals and finished seventh in Advanced Fun Scale.
The Boomerang
Tony Newsom (4815 Shetland Ave., Oakland CA 94605; E-mail: [email protected]) designed this swept-wing canard he calls “The Boomerang.” It spans 51 inches, weighs 5 1/2 pounds, has a Thunder Tiger .36 engine, uses a JR 388 radio, a total of seven servos, and an APC 9 x 6 propeller, and is covered with UltraCote.
The outer leading edge of the wing is “drooped,” which makes the model stable at slow speeds. It has been clocked on radar at 109 mph. “One of my club members took a photo of me, which I then altered on my PC to make a vinyl decal, which is applied to the fin,” wrote Tony.
Smith Miniplane
Russ Heslin (43 Fritz Pl., Wallingford CT 06492; E-mail: [email protected]) built this model from a Sig Manufacturing kit for Tim Loncar of Conway, Massachusetts. It is powered by a SuperTigre .46 engine with a J’Tec inside-cowl muffler. The Miniplane was covered with white and red Coverite 21st Century Fabric. The cabanes, struts, wheel pants, and cowl were painted to match using 21st Century paint.
“The airplane had more detail in it than necessary but I really wanted Tim to love this airplane as much as I did,” wrote Russ. “It was tough handing it over to him but from his reaction on the day he picked it up I knew it was going to a good home.”
"Pete"
Sam Donnell (5829 S.E. 48th Ave., Portland OR 97206) scratch-built this model of a 1935 Pietenpol home-built aircraft. It has an 80-inch wingspan and a Futaba radio with five servos.
“With the Magnum 91 four-stroke engine, the model flies just like the real ‘Pete’ with its Model A Ford engine,” wrote Sam.
CAP 232
Aaron Jeffery Morford (1114 Cook Ave., Apt. 21, Lakewood OH 44107) built a Great Planes 40-size CAP 232 powered by an O.S. .46 FX engine and controlled by Tower Hobbies electronics. The model sports Aaron’s original MonoKote scheme and has a pull-pull rudder system.
“I fly with a great group of guys at the Cleveland RC Club, but some of the vets were pushing my trainer and I around all the time, so I decided to gain a little muscle in my corner with this CAP,” wrote Aaron. “I might have bitten off more than I can chew since this is only my second airplane, but we will see what happens.”
Seamaster
Ray Smith (30131 Pointe Dr., Gibraltar MI 48173; E-mail: [email protected]) fell in love with float-flying and built this twin-fuselage Seamaster from plans. It is covered with MonoKote, powered by twin SuperTigre .40 engines, has a wingspan of 93 inches, and weighs approximately 15 pounds.
“It is extremely stable on the water and flies well except it is touchy at slower speeds so I hope to add flaps,” wrote Ray.
Air Foiler
David Mitchell (129 Leslie Ave., Balto MD 21236) submitted this photo of an Old-Timer he built from Hal deBolt plans. David’s grandson David, who is 6, is sitting behind the model. The Air Foiler spans 60 inches, has a wing area of 505 square inches, is 35 inches long, and weighs 3 1/4 pounds. David uses a three-channel radio, and the engine is an O.S. .26 four-stroke. The model is covered with Solartex and trimmed with 21st Century Fabric.
Sun Ray
After returning to the hobby after having been out of it for more than 20 years, Gary D. Seira (1404 10th St. N.W., Austin MN 55912; E-mail: [email protected]) built this model designed by Jack Scarbrough from March 1975 Radio Control Modeler plans. Gary uses a JR 652 radio, and the Sun Ray weighs approximately 8 pounds and is powered by an O.S. .61 FX engine. The upper wingspan is 51 inches, and the lower wingspan is 38 inches. The covering is MonoKote.
"The Only Way to Fly!"
Jack Wilder (50 Barque Ln., Port Ludlow WA 98365) scratch-built his Western Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-3. It is powered by a Magnum .46 engine and uses Hitec radio equipment. Covering is White and Chrome UltraCote. The vinyl work is by Vinylrite of Santa Rosa, California.
Amelia's Aircraft
Wesley R. Davis (8639 E. 24th Cir., Tucson AZ 85910) constructed this replica of Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra. Everything in this model is aluminum—the bulkheads, longerons, ribs, etc. It is 88 inches long, has a 58-inch wingspan, and weighs 14 pounds.
According to Wesley, he used "lots of patterns, triangulations, and 'triangulation.'"
F4U Corsair
Carmen S. Luciano (409 Booth Hill Rd., Huntington CT 06484; E-mail: [email protected]) built his scale warbird from a Gold Edition TopFlite 60-size kit. The model features a detailed cockpit, a dummy radial engine, scale panel lines and rivets, scale .50-caliber machine guns, a Pitts muffler, and Robart retracts. The engine is a SuperTigre G-75, covering is MonoKote, and radio equipment is by JR.
Carmen won a Connecticut Model Airplane Club winter building contest with this model.
Share Your Model
Proud of your latest building/flying effort? Share it with MA's readers!
- Send a glossy color print (no digital photos under 300 dpi, E-mailed submissions, or photocopies, please) with an appropriate description (no handwritten submissions, please).
- Please include your full address (including E-mail, if available) so that interested parties may contact you directly.
Send to: Model Aviation, 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302; Attn: Focal Point.
Because of this section's popularity, it may be several months before your model is featured.
Imperial Knight Twister
William C. Nichols (5892 Heritage Lakes Dr., Hilliard OH 43026) built this model of a full-scale aircraft that Vernon Payne designed in the 1930s. Don Fairbanks of Cincinnati, Ohio, built this version and flew it in the Reno Air Races in 1971.
William scratch-built this particular model from a three-view drawing by Russ A. Brown. It is powered by a Norvel .074 engine, weighs 23 ounces, and has a 300-square-inch wing area.
"The construction and flying of this model has been very rewarding to me personally," wrote William. "As a boy in 1965 living in New Philadelphia, Ohio I was privileged to know Toni Sabler who built and flew a Knight Twister. He was almost mystical to all the kids that loved aviation back then in my area."
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
