Free Flight Scale - 2010/06

CFFS annual March Party highlights
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Scale Dennis Norman
Also included in this column:
• The 2010 FAC Nats in
Geneseo is coming up
• E-mail, letters, etc. from the
gang
One of the hits of the 2010 CFFS March Party was Jim Hyka’s 1927
Ideal kit. Notice the wealth of components included.
Tom Hallman built this exquisite Fokker D.VII from Peerless plans. It has been modified
for a DT and will be flown at the 2010 FAC Nats in Old Time Kit, Plan Scale, and WWI
Combat. Tom Hallman photo.
A new offering from Shorty’s Basement is
this gorgeous 24-inch-span RockyTop
Models Howard DGA-15P, which Dan
Kane masterfully built and finished. Kane
photo.
Dan and Carole Kane of Shorty’s Basement attended the CFFS
party with their Peanut Scale Ole Tiger Goodyear racer. Its
generous proportions promise spectacular flights. Carole Kane
photo.
ONE OF THE first signs of spring in Cleveland, Ohio, is the
Annual CFFS (Cleveland Free Flight Society) March Party (MP),
hosted by my lovely wife, Linda, and me. This sociable group meets
for supper on the third Friday of most months at Dimitri’s
Restaurant in Parma, Ohio, which is a Cleveland suburb.
The CFFS also holds an Annual Holiday Party in December,
where guest speakers put on delightful programs for club members
and their spouses or guests. The MP at the Norman home marks the
climactic end of the building season, as CFFS members turn to await
the joys of the flying season which starts in May.
This year’s MP was attended by 31 club members, spouses, and
guests (including five who were older than 80). First to arrive were
the three Daves: Dave Miller, and his sweet wife, Christina; Dave
Bertsch Sr; and his son, Dave Bertsch Jr., who are neighbors and
friends of the Millers.
Dave Miller, who is 51, began flying models with me at age 8.
He particularly enjoyed the exciting flights of Catapult Scale F4F-J
Phantom slingshot gliders that I designed and built for him and his
younger brother, Bruce. We also enjoyed trips to the Cleveland
National Air Show, the US Air Force Museum, etc.
The Bertsches were new to the CFFS, and they shared an
enthusiasm for aviation and model building. Dave Sr., age 87,
served 20 years of active duty with the US Navy, flying divebombers
such as the Douglas SBD Dauntless and fighters such as
the Grumman F6F Hellcat and Chance Vought F4U Corsair from
Jeep Carriers during World War II.
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126 MODEL AVIATION
visit to my large, clean, well-lit workshop. Upon seeing the shop,
Jim Keppler, CFFS member, exclaimed that his wife would kill him
if she knew that such an area could be so tidy.
I quickly assured Jim that the workshop was
cleaned like that only once a year (because of the
MP). He felt better after hearing that.
One of the joys of the MP and of other similar
CFFS meetings held throughout the year is the
opportunity to see some members’ latest projects.
Dan Kane revealed two new models at the MP: a
Peanut Scale version of the Ole Tiger Goodyear racer
and a striking 24-inch-span Howard DGA-15P, which was
newly kitted by RockyTop Models.
The Goodyear racer and the DGA-15 were masterfully built,
and Dan will feature them at this year’s Flying Aces Club (FAC)
Nationals at Geneseo, New York. Dan and his vivacious wife,
Carole, will be at Geneseo also with their growing selection
of new kits and materials that are sold under the name
“Shorty’s Basement.”
Alvin Brown, CFFS member,
presented his new P-51D racer at the
MP, and it was finished in his creative
and colorful decorating style. The 18-inchspan
Mustang promises to fly as great as it
looks.
Del Balunek showed his latest WACO at the MP.
It promises to be an excellent flier, as are most of his
models.
CFFS President Rich Weber delighted those present with his new
Yak twin, finished in a handsome red-and-white scheme. The model
depicts an early prototype that was the first of a line of impressive
Yak twins.
Also impressive was Jim Hyka’s carefully preserved 1927 Ideal
kit of the “New York-Paris Monoplane,” better known as the “Spirit
of St. Louis.” The kit featured balsa, bamboo, and hardwood parts,
with an exquisite pair of wheels, white rubber tires, and a beautifully
carved propeller. It also included a can of “Bamboo Varnish.”
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the Spirit of St. Louis is
the fact that the Ideal kit was ready for the 1927 Christmas season,
which was only a few months after Charles Lindbergh’s historic
flight from New York to Paris.
The 2010 FAC Nats will be held in Geneseo, New York, July 14-
17. If you are familiar with this biennial event, you might notice
that a fourth day has been added, to ease the positive stress of
what is arguably one of the great contests in the FF/FF Scale
world. I am also happy to report that MA will have complete
coverage of the event and will publish a feature article about it
later this year.
If you have not registered for the FAC Nats, it is important that
Bob Haley built this handsome Fleet biplane from plans in Model
Airplane News. He says that it is “an excellent flier.” From the
looks of Bob’s craftsmanship, that is no surprise. Bob Haley photo.
The masterful Chris Starleaf completed this Moskalev SAM-7
Sigma: an obscure Soviet WW II flying-wing prototype. It spans 30
inches and is intended for FAC Scale. It will be a challenge to flighttrim
but should do well in Chris’s hands. Chris Starleaf photo.
Alvin Brown’s modified P-51D racer shows his creative and
colorful decorating style. This 18-inch-span beauty flies as
wonderful as it looks.
Dave Sr.’s service continued after WW II. It included time in the
Douglas A-1 Skyraider and early single-engine Navy jet fighters
including the McDonnell F2H Banshee, Grumman F9F-2 Panther,
Chance Vought F7U Cutlass (memorable for its long nose gear and
even longer climb to the cockpit), Grumman F9F-6 Cougar, and
others.
Dave Sr.’s eyes lit up when he realized that the CFFS members
knew all the aircraft he had flown and that he could enthusiastically
reminisce with them about those airplanes.
Shortly after the first three Daves arrived, another three Daves of
the CFFS membership joined us: Dave Diels (of Diels Engineering,
Inc.), Dave Pishnery (longtime club member), and Dave Rice (new
club member). With their arrival, a club record was set for people
having the same name at a CFFS party.
In addition to spirited conversation, the MP featured a delicious
buffet, a showing of the 2009 FF events at the AMA Nats, and a
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you do so without delay; local hotels
are already booked or filling rapidly
because of the event.
If you have problems with
accommodations, you should be able to
get lodging at the excellent dorm
facilities of the State University of New
York (SUNY), located in the center of
Geneseo. (See “Sources” for contact
information.)
The entry fee for all FAC Nats
events is $25 (with contestants who are
17 or younger flying free!) There will
be an excellent banquet at the Quality
Inn (see the source list) in Geneseo.
Tickets for the banquet are $33 per
person. A limited number of seats are
available, so act fast if you want to
participate.
It is great to hear from those who read
my column. The most recent
correspondence includes a nice letter
from William “Mild Bill” Dahlgren,
who saw my mention of the Phantom
Flash covering kits in the March 2010
column and asked for more
information.
I answered Bill’s letter and told him
that I am in the process of preparing a
model. I listed the 19 Phantom Flash
coverings that are currently available
and informed him that samples are
shown in the March 2010 column.
A photo depicts the three coverings
for the Phantom Flash II Chameleon
kits. The center photo of the Phantom
Flash II coverings on the bottom of
page 111 shows the single covering
used in a Phantom Flash kit. Each
Phantom Flash covering kit costs $5
plus $2.50 in postage.
Bob Haley of Marlborough,
Connecticut, is 87 years old and still
loves to build models. He sent several
delightful snapshots of his work, one of
which I have included in this column.
Bob is a WW II Army/Air Force
veteran and a licensed private pilot, and
he spent 31 years with Pratt &
Whitney’s engine shop. He is
particularly interested in the Gordon
Roberts’ articles about carving
propellers.
According to Bob, in the late 1930s
his dad gave him a carton of balsa
blocks from an ice cream truck, in
which the wood was used as insulation.
Bob got the cutoffs and had an endless
supply of balsa with which to carve
propellers.
Mike Nassise, editor and publisher
of Tailspin, the New England Flying
Aces news and journal of the FAC Bay
State Squadron, sends me his
outstanding bimonthly effort.
Subscriptions are $12 per year, payable
to Mike (whose contact information is
in the “Sources” list).
In the March/April 2010 Tailspin,
Mike featured a 19-inch-span Rubber
Scale Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat based
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on the old Guillow’s Series 500 kit. The
plans were accompanied by two sets of
three-view drawings: one from VF-83
onboard the USS Essex in 1945 and the
other showing a British Pacific Fleet
Hellcat II (F6F-5) onboard HMS Ruler,
also in 1945.
That issue of Tailspin featured
structural photos of the bare bones of
Mike’s F6F-5, with a piece titled
“Solving the Mid-Wing Attachment
Problem” by George White. It also
included an interesting and relevant
discussion of building midwing aircraft
types such as the Hellcat, the Brewster
SB2A Buccaneer, and others.
I told Mike that the Hellcat is one of
my favorites. As a kid I drooled over the
Monogram Speedee Bilt kit. It was
delicious, but it didn’t fly well.
By the time I was 11 or 12, I was
building the Comet Hellcat. It flew well
enough to help hook me into a lifetime
of Rubber Scale.
A View From Here is a delightful book
of scale three-view drawings and
comments by Jim Newman, published by
Carstens Book Store. (See sources for
contact information.) Jim is an
accomplished author, illustrator, and
cartoonist, with an encyclopedic
knowledge of aviation. He is a seasoned
glider pilot and instructor, and he has a
delightful artistic style and a hilarious
sense of droll British humor.
The book is a compilation of articles
written for Flying Models magazine
(information is included in the “Sources”
list), and it gives unique insight into the
subjects depicted. At a cost of $14.95
plus shipping, A View From Here is a
must for your library.
One of my favorite attractions is the
American Air Museum in Britain, located at
Duxford in Cambridge. It was built in the
late 1990s as a tribute to the service of US
aviators who helped the British in their hour
of need in World War II.
The museum displays not only
beautifully restored WW II American
aircraft, but it also features postwar- and
Cold War-era airplanes. Recent
economic events have made it vital that
membership be sustained and increased.
The “Sources” list contains contact
information you can use to obtain
membership and other details.
This year marks the 70th anniversary
of the Battle of Britain, and that will
draw large numbers of visitors to the
American Air Museum. Along with this
monumental event, the facility also
celebrates its 13th anniversary.
Aircraft have been suspended from
the museum’s ceiling since 1997 and
must be lowered for major maintenance,
to keep them in good shape. It will be an
expensive undertaking, but it is
necessary to keep the facility and its
priceless collection in top condition.
In addition, the building itself needs
updates and repairs. It is important that
this treasure be maintained to educate
younger generations about the sacrifices
of American airmen in the service of our
two countries.
See you at Geneseo! MA
Sources:
Cleveland Free Flight Society
4909 N. Sedgewick
Lyndhurst OH 44124
RockyTop Models
(615) 268-5161
www.rockytopmodels.com
Diels Engineering, Inc.
Box 263
Amherst OH 44001
www.dielsengineeringinc.com
Flying Aces Club
(814) 833-0314
Shorty’s Basement
(740) 225-8671
www.shortysbasement.com
Geneseo Quality Inn
(585) 243-0500
www.qualityinn.com
Tailspin
22 Greenfield St.
South Easton MA 02375
Carstens Book Store
(888) 526-5365
www.carstensbookstore.com
Flying Models magazine
(888) 526-5365
www.flying-models.com
American Air Museum Britain
(866) 357-7226
http://aam.iwm.org.uk
Air Ace Models, Dennis O. Norman
(216) 631-7774
www.airacemodels.com