FOCAL POINT
Two Models
Peter Dowling (email: [email protected]) shared two airplanes with MA: a 1/5-scale Great Planes Fokker Dr.1 and a Hangar 9 Fokker D.VIII.
The 75% scratch-built Fokker Dr.1 took 10 months to build. Its covering is black-and-white Solartex. The aircraft uses all JR equipment, with an O.S. 91FX ringed engine for power. Wheels are 1/5-scale Du-Bro Vintage.
Peter wrote that the aircraft "flies to scale and handles just like the original Fokker Dr.1." The model was in very bad condition when he bought it; it was a labor of love to customize this Great Planes Fokker Dr.1 to be more to scale. He calls it a "bashed ARF" because of the extensive work that went into restoring and customizing it to airworthy condition.
Peter's Fokker D.VIII is a discontinued Hangar 9 ARF of Rudolf Berthold's famous airplane. All equipment is JR, with power provided by an O.S. 61FX. Many of its details are scratch-built as well.
Farman 400
Bob Clemens (95 Shoreway Dr., Rochester NY 14612; email: [email protected]) built a rubber-scale model of the 1932 Farman 400 Touring Monoplane for competition in Flying Aces events, particularly the Golden Age category for models produced between 1920 and 1939.
Bob enlarged 16-inch Dime Scale plans by Mike Nassise to 25 inches and covered it with silver tissue and blue-and-red tissue trim. A Gizmo Geezer freewheeling propeller unit is mounted up front in the 33-gram model, keeping the rubber motor and four strands of 1/8-inch FAI Super Sport under tension.
Bob's nearly identical 21-inch version was lost to a thermal at Geneseo, New York, in 2009. The newer Farman 400 won first place in an FAC meet in 2010.
Easy Sport Mk
Gordon McCready (2016 Tall Meadow St. NE, Grand Rapids MI 49505; email: [email protected]) submitted his Great Planes Easy Sport Mk 40 ARF. This is his third Mk 40 model and his second ARF. It features an O.S. 46 engine and is guided by a Futaba Skysport four-channel radio system with four servos.
"We have a small club here in Grand Rapids [Michigan] and use a field graciously loaned to us by the Amway Corporation," Gordon wrote.
Extra 300S
Vito Spano (130 Jensen Ave., Mamaroneck NY 10543; email: [email protected]) shares his Phoenix Extra 300S ARF.
With a 57-inch wingspan and a length of 50.4 inches, the model is powered by an E-flite Power 46 670 kV motor, a Castle Creations 60-amp speed control, and two 4,400 mAh LiPo three-cell batteries wired in series. Vito uses a Futaba T6EX radio and says the airplane produces 1,100-plus watts at 50 amps with a 13 x 8.5 propeller.
Vito wrote: "The plane is an excellent flier capable of short takeoff when going vertical. Oversized tires compensate for rough field—no wheel pants!"
Cessna 182 Skylane
Eric McGahey (123 Bunker Hill Dr., Rochester NY 14625; email: [email protected]) shares his first scale project: a 40-size Great Planes Cessna ARF.
Spanning 62½ inches, the Cessna swings an 11 x 6 propeller and uses an O.S. 46FX two-stroke for power. It was factory covered in MonoKote. Eric noted that the kit was well built, easy to assemble, and included quality hardware.
To make the cockpit more realistic, Eric added a flight deck, three scale pilots, a luggage rack, and an instrument panel. A miniature golf bag with clubs, guitars, and a cat are part of the luggage. "I'm looking forward to a maiden flight in the spring," Eric added.
Beriev Be-103
Henry Arance (880 Kimberly Ct., Upland CA 91784; email: [email protected]) built this 1/5-scale model of the Russian civil amphibious aircraft Beriev Be-103.
The model is powered by two AXI 5320-28 motors and controlled by Castle HV units connected to independent channels, which allows the throttle to be slaved to the rudder during taxiing and provides strong directional control against crosswinds acting on the large fin. Power is provided by a 10S 5,000 mAh LiPo pack. The finish on the 25-pound model is Brodak butyrate.
Morane Saulnier A-1
Carl Schurenberg (7678 Oceola Dr., West Chester OH 45069; email: [email protected]) built his Morane Saulnier A-1 from a Balsa USA 1/3-scale kit.
The model spans 103 inches and is 62 inches long. It is powered by a Zenoah G-62, covered with Solartex, and controlled by Futaba equipment. Carl added many features, including hand-painted camouflage, kit machine guns, a gun sight, pilot step, strut rigging, axle bungee cord, aileron cable covers, and French servicing plaques.
"Remarkably, for an aircraft with a questionable structural reliability, a celebrated French aerobatic pilot, Alfred Fronval, flew an A-1 through 1,111 consecutive loops in 1928. I'm not going to try that!" Carl noted.
The Headwind
George Lemieux (12172 Deer Creek Circle, Plymouth MI 48170; email: [email protected]) designed his 1/5-scale Headwind using full-scale airplane factory drawings and outlines.
The Headwind model is powered by an O.S. 25 and features Frise-type ailerons with rudder pull-pull and elevator push-push controls. The 57-inch wingspan model sports an open cockpit.
George wrote: "The first two flights were on June 15, 2007. It flew exactly as envisioned with no trim changes made or required to any of the flight surfaces. It showed an easy takeoff, gentle handling in all attitudes, and gentle landings. The full-scale plane is limited in maneuvers—i.e., turns 60° max, lazy eights, chandelles, and spins—one turn. The model has been mostly treated likewise."
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
