Focal Point-2011/07

68 MODEL AVIATION
Focal Point
SUBMISSION INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES
Proud of your latest building/flying effort? Share it with MA’s readers! Send us a glossy color print or digital photo on CD-ROM (minimum 300 ppi) with an appropriate description of
the model, and we will publish or post the best submissions.
No emailed photos, laser copies, or photocopies will be accepted. Restrict content to the model with or without the owner/builder. Inappropriate photos will not be published.
Supply your full address (and email address if available) so that interested parties may contact you directly. Send all submissions to MA Editor Jay Smith at 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.
Vertigo II
Robert Fish (1892 Moreno Drive, Simi Valley CA 93063;
email: [email protected]) built his Vertigo II from a 35-yearold
Skyglas kit.
The Vertigo II has a 64-inch wingspan and weighs 8¼ pounds
without fuel. The wings and stabilizer are balsa sheeted with foamcore
construction and the fuselage is fiberglass. Robert uses a
Magnum .61 with guidance provided by a Futaba 7C FASST
System. Wing covering is EconoKote and Robert painted the
fuselage and tail with Klass Kote epoxy paint.
Robert wrote:
“The airplane was meticulously crafted over a two-year period.
The Vertigo II is an awesome flying design, tracking straight and
true like only an old-school pattern bird can. It is very fast and the
Magnum engine pulls it through the air with authority.”
Three Miss Americas
Lew Emerson (824 Anchorage Dr., North Palm Beach FL
33408; email: [email protected]) presents his Miss America.
“Future Miss Americas, Hanna and Erin Emerson, pose with
an RC update of the 1936 model Miss America,” Lew wrote.
He started with the kit by Old Timer Model Aircraft Co. The
84-inch wingspan airplane is powered with an RCV 58-CD fourstroke
engine. Lew modified the design for easy assembly and
disassembly and stress-free maintenance. The removable “power
pack” includes the engine, glow switch, throttle servo, fuel tank,
glow battery, and glow lite.
A Futaba T6EX 2.4 GHz transmitter controls the rudder,
elevon, and throttle with an onboard glow lite. Lew covered his
model with lightweight suit liner that was heat shrunk and
painted with water-base acrylic and AeroGloss fuel proofing.
Empty weight of the Miss America is 7.6 pounds.
Lew wrote:
“Eighty-one years and I still enjoy and find this hobby
valuable … Someday I will learn to fly. Meanwhile I’ll ask help
from fellow members of RC Bush Pilots West Palm Beach,
Florida.”
War Weary P-40
Paul Bass (253 Robin Woods Dr., Lexington SC 29073; email:
[email protected]) built this long-discontinued Top Flite
RC-17 kit purchased from a friend.
The wing spans 60 inches and the model is powered by an O.S.
.16 turning a 12 x 8 propeller. The airplane is fiberglassed and
airbrushed. The onboard glow igniter makes for easy starting and
low ideal speeds.
Paul wrote:
“Several changes were made to accommodate the new style
engine, but the time spent was well worth it. The plane flies great
even at reduced throttle and looks really good in the air over
LARKS field in Leesville, South Carolina.”
Bird Dog
Ralph W. Campbell (1295 S. Cawston Ave., No. 122,
Hemet CA 92545) built this ¼-scale Cessna L-19 Bird Dog
from plans by Roy Vaillancourt.
The Bird Dog spans 108 inches and is 73 inches long. A
Saito 150 powers this L-19.
“This model is an exact copy of an L-19 that is owned by a
member of our Hemet Model Masters Club,” wrote Ralph.
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Focal Point
Super Sport Cub
Gary Owen (4002 26th Ave. W., Seattle WA 89199; email:
[email protected]) wrote this about his Super Sport
Cub:
“I was able to tour the ‘Cubcrafters’ manufacturing facility in
Yakima, Washington, and was able to photograph a production of
their Super Sport Cub. This is basically a Super Cub that has
been modified by trimming the weight and parts to allow it to be
included in the ‘sport light’ category of private planes.
“I decided to try to build a model of the plane and started with
an older Dynaflite standoff scale kit that I highly modified. I
made a plug and model for the cowl, which is probably the most
distinctive feature of the plane, and used a color scheme of a
recently finished production plane.
“It is powered by a Saito 150 four-stroke, which is more than
enough power for the plane. I only have a few flights on the
plane, but hoping for the same ‘Cub-like’ flying features of my
last Super Cub.”
18 Years Ago
Steve Aldridge (7630 Colt Dr., Boise, ID
83709; email: [email protected]), new to
RC modeling, bought an O.S. .15FP engine and plans
for a motor glider. It was four years ago that he actually
started the much-delayed project. Today he has an airplane that
flies great and he wants to learn how to chase thermals.
The plans were for a motor glider named Fujavak. It has an
80-inch wingspan, is constructed from conventional balsa and
plywood, and provides rudder, throttle, and flying stabilizer
controls. Steve redesigned the nose section to replace the
plywood engine mount with a firewall and nylon mount. Control
is with an Airtronics RDS8000 2.4 GHz eight-channel system.
Steve’s goal was to hold the ready-to-fly weight to 39
ounces. He met that target, but his scale was off by one ounce,
so it’s actually 40 ounces. He knew the choice of wood was
critical. He ordered most of the construction wood from Lone
Star Balsa in Texas. The wing has 561/16-inch soft balsa ribs.
Steve wrote that he was glad to get it covered with MonoKote so
he would stop breaking ribs every time he touched it.
Tiger Moth 400
David Rodriguez (4426 E. Desert Trumpet Rd., Phoenix AZ
85044; email: [email protected]) presents his Tiger Moth
based on a paint scheme he found through research on
www.airpics.com.
David performed several modifications on the stock kit. The
Tiger Moth spans 37.5 inches from nose to the rudder’s TE. It
weighs 17 ounces without battery and 20.5 ounces with battery.
David built his electric-powered model from Styrofoam. The
airframe is from a Grand Wing Servo kit.
An E-flite Park 400 turns a 10 x 4.7 propeller controlled with a
Spektrum DX7 transmitter. David’s pilot is Snoopy dressed to
battle the Red Baron that he found on eBay. It is a vintage figurine
that now flies the skies of Arizona.
David wrote:
“[This model is] beautiful for me. I can roll although a bit
slowly and do some loops and half-Cuban 8s. All of these are new
to me so the moves are far from perfect, but that’s my fault and
not the plane’s!”
Unusual Rotorplane
Richard Lucas (Box 448, Fort Bragg CA 95437) scratch-built
this rotorplane based on a design by Roy L. Clough Jr., which was
published in Model Airplane News, July 1993.
The rotorplane is 150% larger than Clough’s design with a
built-up fuselage covered with MonoKote. The rotor has a fulllength
fiberglass tube axle with two ball bearings mounted on a
central pylon.
Richard uses a Futaba transmitter and receiver with three
channels—throttle, rudder, all-flying elevator—for control. The
fuselage length is 54 inches and it weighs 8 pounds. An O.S. .60
powers the model’s 65-inch-span rotor.
“Pilots and spectators alike are amazed to see this experimental
model lumber down the runway and actually liftoff and fly!”
wrote Richard.
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