Focal Point - 2009/08
Sport 60 (91)
Carl ([email protected]) built his Golden Era 60 Biplane from plans for Fred Randall's design that was featured in the February 2009 MA and from the short kit available from Creative Hobbies (as cited in the article).
The biplane uses a Saito .91 engine and a Spektrum transmitter. Carl modified the fuselage construction to all stick and formers.
"I like a slightly rounded fuselage," he wrote. "I also wanted to keep the weight down since my landing gear is much thicker than the one specified and is carbon fiber reinforced."
Carl opted not to use the design's composite leading edges; he wrote that he would rather have them break instead of possibly tearing the lower wings off.
Covering is Sig Koverall, and the finish is acrylic-latex paints. Carl uses FAI fuel, so the acrylic paint is basically fuelproof.
The "Sport 60" (as he calls it) will fly when the fields dry out. It is also set up for floats.
Astro Hog
Ben Lanterman ([email protected]) built his Astro Hog, piloted by Darth Vader, from a Sig kit. It's stock except for a lower dihedral angle, and covering is MonoKote.
The airborne gear is all Spektrum, with the AR7000 DSM2 seven-channel receiver and DS821 servos. Ben has dual aileron servos and dual elevator servos for redundancy.
The motor is an AXI 4130/16 with a Jeti Advance 77 Opto Plus brushless ESC. An Ultimate BEC provides receiver and servo power. The model weighs 9 pounds with battery. Ben is using a JR 12X 2.4 transmitter, which he says is nice and easy to program.
"A friend mentioned that invasion stripes were used by the Allies in WWII and seemed a bit out of place with Darth Vader doing the piloting," he wrote. "I responded by saying that it depended on which side you were on in the Star Wars movies."
DC-3 Turbo
Laddie Mikulasko ([email protected]) built this turboprop version of the Douglas DC-3 from foam sheets purchased at a dollar store.
The model has a 78-inch wingspan and a flying weight of 7 pounds. It is powered by two AXI 2820/16 clones and two three-cell, 3000 mAh Li-Poly packs connected in parallel. Each motor draws 24 amps, driving the propellers and producing about 2.5 pounds of static thrust each.
"The color scheme is of the full-size airplane that Basler Aviation in Oshkosh modified for the Alfred Wegener Institute of Germany, to be used in the Polar Regions in the Arctic and Antarctic for research," wrote Laddie.
According to him, the model flies great.
Blue Stick
Joe Mariencheck (1737 Ghost Creek Dr., Collierville, TN 38017; e-mail: [email protected]) built his Blue Stick from Ugly Stick plans ordered from R/C Modeler magazine; they were originally featured in its May and June 1985 issues.
After being out of modeling for roughly 15 years, Joe decided to reenter the hobby. "... the ARFs didn't interest me; I was doing it old school," he wrote.
The Blue Stick spans 60 inches and weighs just over 6 pounds. Covering is MonoKote, and control is via a Futaba 6EXP radio system with S3004 servos. Joe modified the plans for a bolt-on wing and added a servo to each aileron. Otherwise, it's just as Phil Kraft drew it.
Joe cleaned up his tried-and-true K&B .61 that he has had for more than 20 years. It worked perfectly.
"I decided to cover the airplane blue instead of the traditional red so everyone would know it was not an ARF," wrote Joe. "It has worked so far! It flies great."
Eindecker
Jeff Shutic ([email protected]) built his 1/4-scale Eindecker from an SR Batteries kit.
He moved the cockpit forward 3.5 inches and built a scale horizontal stabilizer.
"It replaces a previous version that I lost in a crash at last year's Hoosier Dawn Patrol," wrote Jeff.
Power is a Zenoah G-38 engine. Stits Lite fabric and Poly-Fiber paint cover the Eindecker, and all markings are painted.
"The only parts reused after the crash of the Eindecker '1.0' were the wheels and tailskid," Jeff wrote. "We all lose a model from time to time."
TH-57 Sea Ranger
Chris Myhre ([email protected]) built this Navy version of the Bell Jet Ranger: the Sea Ranger. Its ready-to-fly weight is 12.5 pounds. He constructed it using a 60-size Century/FunKey Jet Ranger fuselage. The mechanics are electric and flybarless, based on T-Rex 600 architecture, with frames from Rotorworkz. The mechanics are stretched to 60 size, with modified T-Rex 700 parts.
The TH-57 features a Kontronik Tango 45-08 motor, Castle Creations Phoenix-85HV ESC, and two four-cell, 5000 mAh Li-Poly packs in series. The receiver is powered by a two-cell Li-Poly pack and a Duralite regulator. The tail is tamed with a Futaba GY401 gyro, and a Skookum Robotics SK-360 Digital Flybar provides stability in the absence of a flybar.
"Construction took nine months and the scale detailing would not have been possible without many helpful photos from Bryan Weatherup's TH-57 gouge site," wrote Chris.
My Miss Two
Al Schmidt (7422 Avery Rd., Dublin, OH 43017; e-mail: [email protected]) is having a ball flying his modified Hobby Lobby Miss 2 ARF.
He made a larger vertical fin with a bigger rudder, modified the elevator to clear the rudder, and added lightening holes to the stabilizer tips. He made a cowling with a removable hatch held on with magnets for access to the motor and battery, and hand-formed a clear-plastic windshield. He re-covered the wing and tail and trimmed them with Top Flite MonoKote.
The Miss Two has an AXI 2212/34 motor, APC 9 x 6E propeller, and a 3S-2250 Li-Poly battery coupled to a Castle Creations Thunderbird-18 ESC. Control is via a Polk Tracker II transmitter using a Seeker 6 receiver and two Hitec HS-81 servos.
"With the large battery, added for balance, the average flight is about 1 hour and the best flight, so far, is just under 2 hours with the help from some thermals," wrote Al.
Cessna and Mustang
John M. Anderson (319 E. 17th St., Grand Island, NE 68801; Tel.: [308] 382-7536) built both of his latest models from scratch during the first three months of 2009. It took him five weeks to build each one.
Each aircraft weighs approximately 8 pounds. He scaled up a P-51B Mustang three-view from the North American web site to create a 70-inch wingspan. It is covered with MonoKote and powered by an O.S. .91 four-stroke engine.
John's Cessna 170B originated from plans and several parts patterns enlarged by 111% from an old Sig Manufacturing kit. The model spans 80 inches, is covered with MonoKote, and is powered by a Magnum .70 four-stroke engine.
John made fiberglass cowls for both models using the lost-foam method. He writes that he has modeled airplanes since age 4, when he constructed a solid-wood miniature of the Spirit of St. Louis. He has been without sight in one of his eyes since birth.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
