Focal Point
Model Aviation, 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302
Jake’s Flite Streak Jr.
Jake Moon (9930 Edgecliff Cir., Dallas TX 75238) holds his just-completed Flite Streak Jr., built from a Brodak kit. Jake assisted his father, Steve, in every phase of the construction and finishing process.
- Engine: O.S. Max III .15
- Weight: 14 ounces
- Covering/finish: Polyspan; Sig modeling dope
- Notes: At the time the photo was taken, Jake had made approximately 60 solo CL flights with a Sig Buster and was looking forward to learning loops and wingovers — and he succeeded.
Tigrotto
Walter Gremlitz (808 El Rancho Dr., Sun City Center FL 33573) built a Tigrotto from an Italian Mantua Models kit that allows three different designs.
- Wingspan: 46.8 inches
- Weight: Roughly 4 pounds
- Engine: O.S. .10
- Construction: Most of the fuselage is square dural aluminum tubing, predrilled for assembly with nuts and bolts
- Modifications: Originally a tail-dragger; Walt modified it to tricycle gear. The wing was intended as sheeted-foam, but Walt used balsa instead.
Cessna 195
Gale Sherman (14417 Shirley Cir., Omaha NE 68144) built his Cessna 195 from plans by Rich Uravitch and covered it with MonoKote.
- Engine: O.S. .52 four-stroke
- Finish: Cowl finished with red and white LustreKote paint; rocker-arm blisters on the cowling are handmade
- Details: Fully detailed instrument panel and a Hangar 9 pilot
- Quote: "The airplane ground handles and flies great!"
North Star
Jim Archer (146 Lakeview Dr., Buchanan Dam TX 78609; E-mail: [email protected]) wanted something unusual that could be flown off water if desired. He built his North Star from a Balsa USA kit.
- Engine: O.S. .46 FX
- Radio: Futaba gear
- Covering: MonoKote
- Notes: Test-flown at the club field by Mel Whitley, former Top Gun winner; "It is quite fast, looks good, and flies great."
Blohm und Voss Bv 141B
Ronald D. Kuhn (N4521 County Hwy. TT, Columbus WI 53925; E-mail: [email protected]) built a rarely modeled Blohm und Voss from Nick Ziroli plans, enlarged to 150% of the original.
- Wingspan: 82.375 inches (plans blown up to 150%)
- Engine: RCV90
- Propeller: 15¾ x 13
- Details: Hand-cut each of the 57 windows in the "greenhouse" crew compartment
Cub on Floats
Greg Weaver (8227 Anderson Pl., Harrisburg NC 28075) built a Great Planes 60-size Cub and fitted Great Planes floats.
- Engine: YS 91AC four-stroke
- Weight: 16 pounds
- Covering/finish: Sig Koverall; Nelson Hobby water-based polyurethane paints
- Floats: Upper portion covered with 3/4-ounce fiberglass, lower with 2-ounce cloth; rivet detailing; painted Boeing silver and topcoated with clear
- Notes: Flew first on stock wheels to trim and break in the engine, then switched to floats.
1912 Headless Pusher
Robert A. Frey (364 W. Hill Rd., Vestal NY 13850) built a 1/8-scale Curtiss 1912 Model D Headless Pusher based on plans for the similar 1911 Model D and photos of the Curtiss Museum replica.
- Construction: Balsa, spruce, birch dowel; building techniques parallel full-scale methods
- Rigging: Control rigging mirrors the full-scale airplane; nylon upholstery thread used for bracing and control wires
- Power: Speed 400 motor with Mini Olympus gear drive; 9 x 6 propeller
- Dimensions/Weight: Span 39 inches; weight 20 ounces
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79
Ty Brown (4777 Camp Cabarrus Dr., Kannapolis NC 28081; E-mail: [email protected]) built this Italian torpedo bomber from plans he developed from a three-view supplied by a correspondent in Malta.
- Wingspan: 110 inches
- Weight: 22 pounds
- Engines: Two Magnum .61 four-strokes and one O.S. .91 four-stroke
- Features: CJM retracts, operating flaps, functional torpedo bay
- Covering: Wing and front fuselage covered with 3/4-ounce fiberglass cloth; rear fuselage covered with Coverite
- Finish: Latex paints with a polyurethane clear topcoat
For more great Focal Point photos, go to: www.modelaircraft.org/mag/focalpt/index.asp
Focal Point
Scratched Tri-Motor
Jake Chichilitti (509 Cambridge St., Belmont CA 94002) designed this tri-motor from a small metal display model and Internet photos.
- Wingspan: 80 inches
- Wing area: 720 square inches
- Weight: 7 pounds, 14 ounces
- Engines: Three Magnum XL .28s
- Covering/finish: Sig silkspan; Brodak modeling dopes
- Details: Operational passenger door on right side held closed by rare-earth magnets from RadioShack
Aluminized Ryan STA-M
Lora Knowlton (7196 S. Nelson St., Littleton CO 80127; E-mail: [email protected]) modified a Great Planes Ryan STA-M ARF to better represent the full-scale aluminum fuselage.
- Modifications: Stripped gray MonoKote and re-covered with Aluminum MonoKote; added panel lines and rivets; airbrushed exhaust and dirt detail
- Engine: YS 91
- Quote: "It flies great and looks awesome in the Colorado sky."
Clipped-Wing Cub
Dan Wolfe (8079 Wilson Rd., Bannister MI 48807) and friend Ted McMurray (Montrose MI) built a 1/4-scale clipped-wing Cub from a Sig kit.
- Engine: Magnum .160 twin
- Radio: Hitec Flash 5
- Covering/finish: Nelson LiteFAB; Nelson Hobby Paint
- Note: Dan and his wife Donna handled covering and finishing. "For 25 years I thought it would be neat to see some of my handiwork in a magazine," wrote Dan.
Cassutt Racer
Stan Zdon (902-88th Ln. NW, Coon Rapids MN 55433; E-mail: [email protected]) scratch-built a 28%-scale Cassutt Racer using dimensions and photos from the Internet.
- Wingspan: 58 inches
- Fuselage length: 54 inches
- Wing area: 864 square inches
- Weight: 12 pounds
- Engine: O.S. .91 Surpass; APC 14 x 8 propeller
- Construction/finish: Forward section (wing forward) fiberglass painted with 21st Century paint; fuselage above wing and landing gear painted with 21st Century paint; remainder covered with white 21st Century Fabric
- Quote: "The entire project was very enjoyable and I had to learn many new procedures."
Focal Point-2004/12
1934 Monocoupe Model A
Bill Cohen (67-945 Foothill Rd., Cathedral City CA 92234; E-mail: [email protected]) enlarged plans from a 28-inch Cleveland Rubber model to produce an 8-foot span Monocoupe.
- Wingspan: 8 feet
- Weight: 11 pounds
- Power: Geared Cobalt 40 AstroFlight motor on 18 cells
- Covering: Orange Micafilm; black areas 21st Century Fabric
- Radio/controls: Six-channel Futaba; Ace speed control
- Notes: Flew well with fully charged batteries but lost performance as voltage dropped; Bill plans to repower with an O.S. 91 Surpass engine.
Golden Eagle Cessna
David Teer (1076 Forest Rd. #3, New Haven CT 06515; E-mail: [email protected]) built a Cessna 421 Golden Eagle from plans.
- Wingspan: 121 inches
- Length: 100 inches
- Weight: 54 pounds
- Power/propulsion: Two Zenoah G-62 engines; two three-blade 20 x 10 propellers
- Systems: Two receivers; two air tanks for retracts; 11 FMA Direct high-torque servos; navigation light system; two B&B mufflers; operating split flaps
Pitts ARF
Roger Russell (330 East College, Jacksonville IL 62650; E-mail: [email protected]) submitted a Great Planes Pitts ARF that he has updated and modified.
- Engine: Zenoah G-62; 22 x 10 propeller
- Radio/servos: JR 783 PCM receiver; Hitec servos
- Aileron setup: Two JR Matchboxes control four aileron servos; powered by a separate 4.8-volt/1900 mAh battery pack and switch
- Weight: 20 pounds
- Additional: Removable TME smoke tray
- Note: This was an early version of the Great Planes Pitts; with over 75 flights, everything "seems to be holding up."
Hogwalker?
Ronald Casteel (5 Norris Dr., Russell PA 18345; E-mail: [email protected]) created a unique Spacewalker variant from a modified Sig Astro-Hog kit, resulting in what he calls a "Hogwalker."
- Modifications: Converted to tail-dragger, removed rear turtledeck, reshaped and relocated the cockpit, changed cowl and wing/tail-surface tips, and added a scalelike paint scheme
- Covering: MonoKote
- Engine: O.S. .40 FS
- Quote: "And best of all, it still handles like an Astro-Hog."
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
