120 MODEL AVIATION
BUDDY, CAN YOU Spare a Nickel? There
was a smaller brother to the more popular
16-inch-wingspan Comet Dime Scale series:
a series of 10-inch-wingspan Nickel Scale
kits. Bill Carney is moderator for a Nickel
Scale build on the Small Flying Arts Web
site at www.smallflyingarts.com/cgibin/
yabb/YaBB.pl/. You can find the Nickel
Scale thread in the Indoor builds section.
A number of terrific models have been
completed and posted on the site, including
Bill’s PT-19, otherwise known as the
Fairchild. He made some great flights with
the model at last year’s AMA Indoor Nats.
The propeller on Bill’s model is a 3-
inch-diameter, hand-carved unit. The PT-
19’s empty weight including nose ballast is
Nickel Scale models are not small change these days
Also included in this column:
• Mini Pearl for Bill
Vanderbeek’s one-design
event
• Tom Hallman’s airbrushing
tips
• Junior FFer Albert Johnson
• Texas Timers changes
• Pensacola Free Flight Team
newsletter
• The Thermal Thumbers of
Metro Atlanta
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
The author’s Mini Pearl, designed by Bill Chenault, is the model for Bill Vanderbeek’s
one-design event which will be held at this year’s Nats.
Bill Carney’s Comet Nickel Scale Fairchild PT-19 is nifty in blue and yellow. Its empty
weight, including nose ballast, is 3.18 grams. Carney photo.
The author’s Nickel Scale Cessna Airmaster required a bit more
fin area for stable flight. Plans are available.
Joshua Finn did an expert job of modeling this Nickel Scale
Bellanca that weighs slightly more than 4 grams. Finn photo.
March 2006 121
Dan Berry is intent while packing winds into
his Gollywock “Patches” for the Gollywock
mass launch at Pensacola in the fall.
Albert Johnson was one of the many Juniors who participated in the 2005 Nats. He’s
shown readying his .020-powered 80% T-Bird for flight.
3.18 grams. Bill used 1/16 square stock for
the fuselage framing, as called for on the
plans.
I built the model of the Cessna
Airmaster. I used 1/20 square stock for the
fuselage and 1/32 balsa for the ribs. I gave
the white tissue a light spray coat of a
thinned Floquil/nitrate mix. The propeller is
carved balsa, has a diameter of 4 inches, and
has a pitch of 4.8.
The Airmaster is powered by a loop of
.050 x 8-inch Tan Super Sport. It was
trimmed outdoors but has flown indoors,
making a few nice flights near the 38-foothigh
rafters of our venue in Oklahoma City.
The Cessna runs out of winds before
landing, so it needs a longer motor for indoor
flying.
Initial flight trimming showed a Dutch
roll, so I added clear tape to the fin to
remedy the problem. The plans called for 3/4-
inch dihedral under each tip, but the model
flies well with 3/16 inch under each tip.
Joshua Finn’s neat Bellanca has flight
times of roughly 30 seconds. The tip rudders
are not shown on the plans but were added
to match the full-scale Bellanca. The
propeller is a Peck 4-inch-diameter unit cut
to 31/8 inches. Power is a loop of 8- to 10-
inch-long .06 rubber. The model weighs just
more than 4 grams.
Joshua suggests using .015 wire for the
landing gear. The wire is allowed to move
free of the struts, which are 1/16 square balsa.
The rudder should be enlarged
approximately 10% to prevent Dutch roll.
The plans call for 1/2-inch dihedral, but the
model needs 5/8 to 3/4 inch to be stable.
Joshua says it looks cool in the air and flies
reliable once it’s trimmed.
There are 11 Nickel Scale plans
available online at a neat Web site: www.
ualberta.ca/~khorne/. If you cannot get
online, send me an SASE and I will mail
you two sets of plans for free, for the
Fairchild PT-19 and the Cessna Airmaster.
These plans do not include printwood
patterns, so you will have to come up with
your own airfoils and fuselage formers, but
that is easy to do for these simple models.
As with most of these early plans the
wing and stabilizer are drawn at zero
incidence, so raise the wing LE a bit to get
2.5° decalage. That would be approximately
3/32 inch on a 2-inch chord. Smaller does not
equal easier, particularly in flight trimming;
keep that in mind before starting one of
these Nickel Scale models.
It’s not too late to build that Mini Pearl forBill Vanderbeek’s one-design event at this
year’s FF Nats in Muncie, Indiana. The
Mini Pearl was the immensely popular
1/2A version of the Pearl series. It started a
trend toward smaller models to compete in
the short-motor-run Category II and III
events of the day.
The National Free Flight Society has
plans at www.freeflight.org/index.htm.
Lee Campbell has short kits and plans
available, and Linwood Cochran will have
some full kits available. Contact Lee for
information about his and Linwood’s kits
at (753) 683-1749 or thermalpiglet@
yahoo.com.
A short kit is also available from Bob
Holman Plans, which advertises in this
magazine. Plans are $7, and parts are $20
plus $5 shipping and handling.
Tom Hallman is one of today’s best
Scale-model builders and fliers. You can
see his X-13 in the September 2005 FF
sport column. He recently shared some of
his airbrushing basics with me.
Tom says the key to good airbrushing
is preparing your paint. He uses acrylic
enamels such as Model Master Acryl and
Polly Scale—not acrylic polymers, which
are the materials artists use from the tube.
Tom has been using airbrushes for
more than 30 years—usually a doubleaction
type such as a Badger or a Thayer &
Chandler. These are good brushes with the
cup on the side. Regardless of the airbrushyou choose, you must have the paint
thinned to the point where it runs smoothly
through the brush.
However, you must also be sure there is
enough pigment to give the spray some
opacity. If the spray is too thin, it won’t
cover very well. Tom has observed that
when the spray is too thin and you have to
make many passes, it creates a texture on
the tissue that becomes somewhat gritty. If
the paint is too thick and you force it
through the brush, that will always cause
spatter.
Don’t be in too much of a hurry with
airbrushing. Going too fast and using too
heavy a spray creates wrinkles on the
tissue, where the pigment then runs, giving
you crow’s feet.
Tom mixes his paints well with a bristle
brush to break up any pigment that may
have settled in the bottle. He doesn’t strain
the paint, but he does check for globs or,
worse, flakes. Flakes would be the sign of
bad paint or especially old paint.
Globs can also come from not cleaning
your brush enough during a spraying
session. Tom is meticulous about cleaning
the airbrush by removing the nozzle and
needle frequently, and then cleaning them
with water to remove any buildup and
prevent the airbrush from spitting paint.
Tom doesn’t put clear base coats on the
tissue, but he does preshrink it on a frame.
Any markings or other details are put onthe tissue before it is transferred to the
model. After the model has been covered,
Tom sprays two light coats of matte
Krylon Clear on as a sealer. The only time
he uses a gloss sealer is over silver.
Dean McGinnis is justifiably proud of his
grandson Albert Johnson. Dean says 9-
year-old Albert is sharp and usually has to
be shown something only once. In more
than 60 flights under contest conditions he
has only blown a couple launches.
Albert built his 80% T-Bird himself
from the Lee Campbell kit, doing all the
wood-to-wood framing. Covering it was a
joint effort. Dean installed the engine,
timers, and DT system. Albert placed
second in Junior 1/2A Gas.
Hank Nystrom of Texas Timers has
released a new version of the popular Max
III timer. It has deeper grooves in the
scroll and a stronger DT arm wire. These
modifications should prevent the DT arm
from jumping out of the scroll when
setting the timer for quick DT on a model
with a large vibrating engine.
If you would like to retrofit your old
Max III, Max I, Max A, or 3F timer with a
deeper scroll, Hank has a retrofit
available. The retrofit scroll does not have
winding ears and requires a special steel
screw and winding tool for easy winding.
You can reach Hank at Texas Timers
at 3317 Pine Timbers Dr., Johnson City
TN 37604; Tel.: (423) 282-6423, or online
at www.texastimers.com/.
Check out the bimonthly Pensacola Free
Flight Team’s Thermalier newsletter.
Editor George White fills it with useful
tips for the sport and Scale FF modeler. He
also lists contests in the Pensacola area.
To subscribe to the Thermalier send a
$10 check made out to the Pensacola Free
Flight Team to George White, 5928
Hermitage Dr., Pensacola FL 32504.
The Thermal Thumbers of Metro
Atlanta club members are active in several
areas of FF. If you want to hook up with
them contact David Mills at Box 12306,
Atlanta GA 30355.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/03
Page Numbers: 120,121,122,123,126
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/03
Page Numbers: 120,121,122,123,126
120 MODEL AVIATION
BUDDY, CAN YOU Spare a Nickel? There
was a smaller brother to the more popular
16-inch-wingspan Comet Dime Scale series:
a series of 10-inch-wingspan Nickel Scale
kits. Bill Carney is moderator for a Nickel
Scale build on the Small Flying Arts Web
site at www.smallflyingarts.com/cgibin/
yabb/YaBB.pl/. You can find the Nickel
Scale thread in the Indoor builds section.
A number of terrific models have been
completed and posted on the site, including
Bill’s PT-19, otherwise known as the
Fairchild. He made some great flights with
the model at last year’s AMA Indoor Nats.
The propeller on Bill’s model is a 3-
inch-diameter, hand-carved unit. The PT-
19’s empty weight including nose ballast is
Nickel Scale models are not small change these days
Also included in this column:
• Mini Pearl for Bill
Vanderbeek’s one-design
event
• Tom Hallman’s airbrushing
tips
• Junior FFer Albert Johnson
• Texas Timers changes
• Pensacola Free Flight Team
newsletter
• The Thermal Thumbers of
Metro Atlanta
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
The author’s Mini Pearl, designed by Bill Chenault, is the model for Bill Vanderbeek’s
one-design event which will be held at this year’s Nats.
Bill Carney’s Comet Nickel Scale Fairchild PT-19 is nifty in blue and yellow. Its empty
weight, including nose ballast, is 3.18 grams. Carney photo.
The author’s Nickel Scale Cessna Airmaster required a bit more
fin area for stable flight. Plans are available.
Joshua Finn did an expert job of modeling this Nickel Scale
Bellanca that weighs slightly more than 4 grams. Finn photo.
March 2006 121
Dan Berry is intent while packing winds into
his Gollywock “Patches” for the Gollywock
mass launch at Pensacola in the fall.
Albert Johnson was one of the many Juniors who participated in the 2005 Nats. He’s
shown readying his .020-powered 80% T-Bird for flight.
3.18 grams. Bill used 1/16 square stock for
the fuselage framing, as called for on the
plans.
I built the model of the Cessna
Airmaster. I used 1/20 square stock for the
fuselage and 1/32 balsa for the ribs. I gave
the white tissue a light spray coat of a
thinned Floquil/nitrate mix. The propeller is
carved balsa, has a diameter of 4 inches, and
has a pitch of 4.8.
The Airmaster is powered by a loop of
.050 x 8-inch Tan Super Sport. It was
trimmed outdoors but has flown indoors,
making a few nice flights near the 38-foothigh
rafters of our venue in Oklahoma City.
The Cessna runs out of winds before
landing, so it needs a longer motor for indoor
flying.
Initial flight trimming showed a Dutch
roll, so I added clear tape to the fin to
remedy the problem. The plans called for 3/4-
inch dihedral under each tip, but the model
flies well with 3/16 inch under each tip.
Joshua Finn’s neat Bellanca has flight
times of roughly 30 seconds. The tip rudders
are not shown on the plans but were added
to match the full-scale Bellanca. The
propeller is a Peck 4-inch-diameter unit cut
to 31/8 inches. Power is a loop of 8- to 10-
inch-long .06 rubber. The model weighs just
more than 4 grams.
Joshua suggests using .015 wire for the
landing gear. The wire is allowed to move
free of the struts, which are 1/16 square balsa.
The rudder should be enlarged
approximately 10% to prevent Dutch roll.
The plans call for 1/2-inch dihedral, but the
model needs 5/8 to 3/4 inch to be stable.
Joshua says it looks cool in the air and flies
reliable once it’s trimmed.
There are 11 Nickel Scale plans
available online at a neat Web site: www.
ualberta.ca/~khorne/. If you cannot get
online, send me an SASE and I will mail
you two sets of plans for free, for the
Fairchild PT-19 and the Cessna Airmaster.
These plans do not include printwood
patterns, so you will have to come up with
your own airfoils and fuselage formers, but
that is easy to do for these simple models.
As with most of these early plans the
wing and stabilizer are drawn at zero
incidence, so raise the wing LE a bit to get
2.5° decalage. That would be approximately
3/32 inch on a 2-inch chord. Smaller does not
equal easier, particularly in flight trimming;
keep that in mind before starting one of
these Nickel Scale models.
It’s not too late to build that Mini Pearl forBill Vanderbeek’s one-design event at this
year’s FF Nats in Muncie, Indiana. The
Mini Pearl was the immensely popular
1/2A version of the Pearl series. It started a
trend toward smaller models to compete in
the short-motor-run Category II and III
events of the day.
The National Free Flight Society has
plans at www.freeflight.org/index.htm.
Lee Campbell has short kits and plans
available, and Linwood Cochran will have
some full kits available. Contact Lee for
information about his and Linwood’s kits
at (753) 683-1749 or thermalpiglet@
yahoo.com.
A short kit is also available from Bob
Holman Plans, which advertises in this
magazine. Plans are $7, and parts are $20
plus $5 shipping and handling.
Tom Hallman is one of today’s best
Scale-model builders and fliers. You can
see his X-13 in the September 2005 FF
sport column. He recently shared some of
his airbrushing basics with me.
Tom says the key to good airbrushing
is preparing your paint. He uses acrylic
enamels such as Model Master Acryl and
Polly Scale—not acrylic polymers, which
are the materials artists use from the tube.
Tom has been using airbrushes for
more than 30 years—usually a doubleaction
type such as a Badger or a Thayer &
Chandler. These are good brushes with the
cup on the side. Regardless of the airbrushyou choose, you must have the paint
thinned to the point where it runs smoothly
through the brush.
However, you must also be sure there is
enough pigment to give the spray some
opacity. If the spray is too thin, it won’t
cover very well. Tom has observed that
when the spray is too thin and you have to
make many passes, it creates a texture on
the tissue that becomes somewhat gritty. If
the paint is too thick and you force it
through the brush, that will always cause
spatter.
Don’t be in too much of a hurry with
airbrushing. Going too fast and using too
heavy a spray creates wrinkles on the
tissue, where the pigment then runs, giving
you crow’s feet.
Tom mixes his paints well with a bristle
brush to break up any pigment that may
have settled in the bottle. He doesn’t strain
the paint, but he does check for globs or,
worse, flakes. Flakes would be the sign of
bad paint or especially old paint.
Globs can also come from not cleaning
your brush enough during a spraying
session. Tom is meticulous about cleaning
the airbrush by removing the nozzle and
needle frequently, and then cleaning them
with water to remove any buildup and
prevent the airbrush from spitting paint.
Tom doesn’t put clear base coats on the
tissue, but he does preshrink it on a frame.
Any markings or other details are put onthe tissue before it is transferred to the
model. After the model has been covered,
Tom sprays two light coats of matte
Krylon Clear on as a sealer. The only time
he uses a gloss sealer is over silver.
Dean McGinnis is justifiably proud of his
grandson Albert Johnson. Dean says 9-
year-old Albert is sharp and usually has to
be shown something only once. In more
than 60 flights under contest conditions he
has only blown a couple launches.
Albert built his 80% T-Bird himself
from the Lee Campbell kit, doing all the
wood-to-wood framing. Covering it was a
joint effort. Dean installed the engine,
timers, and DT system. Albert placed
second in Junior 1/2A Gas.
Hank Nystrom of Texas Timers has
released a new version of the popular Max
III timer. It has deeper grooves in the
scroll and a stronger DT arm wire. These
modifications should prevent the DT arm
from jumping out of the scroll when
setting the timer for quick DT on a model
with a large vibrating engine.
If you would like to retrofit your old
Max III, Max I, Max A, or 3F timer with a
deeper scroll, Hank has a retrofit
available. The retrofit scroll does not have
winding ears and requires a special steel
screw and winding tool for easy winding.
You can reach Hank at Texas Timers
at 3317 Pine Timbers Dr., Johnson City
TN 37604; Tel.: (423) 282-6423, or online
at www.texastimers.com/.
Check out the bimonthly Pensacola Free
Flight Team’s Thermalier newsletter.
Editor George White fills it with useful
tips for the sport and Scale FF modeler. He
also lists contests in the Pensacola area.
To subscribe to the Thermalier send a
$10 check made out to the Pensacola Free
Flight Team to George White, 5928
Hermitage Dr., Pensacola FL 32504.
The Thermal Thumbers of Metro
Atlanta club members are active in several
areas of FF. If you want to hook up with
them contact David Mills at Box 12306,
Atlanta GA 30355.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/03
Page Numbers: 120,121,122,123,126
120 MODEL AVIATION
BUDDY, CAN YOU Spare a Nickel? There
was a smaller brother to the more popular
16-inch-wingspan Comet Dime Scale series:
a series of 10-inch-wingspan Nickel Scale
kits. Bill Carney is moderator for a Nickel
Scale build on the Small Flying Arts Web
site at www.smallflyingarts.com/cgibin/
yabb/YaBB.pl/. You can find the Nickel
Scale thread in the Indoor builds section.
A number of terrific models have been
completed and posted on the site, including
Bill’s PT-19, otherwise known as the
Fairchild. He made some great flights with
the model at last year’s AMA Indoor Nats.
The propeller on Bill’s model is a 3-
inch-diameter, hand-carved unit. The PT-
19’s empty weight including nose ballast is
Nickel Scale models are not small change these days
Also included in this column:
• Mini Pearl for Bill
Vanderbeek’s one-design
event
• Tom Hallman’s airbrushing
tips
• Junior FFer Albert Johnson
• Texas Timers changes
• Pensacola Free Flight Team
newsletter
• The Thermal Thumbers of
Metro Atlanta
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
The author’s Mini Pearl, designed by Bill Chenault, is the model for Bill Vanderbeek’s
one-design event which will be held at this year’s Nats.
Bill Carney’s Comet Nickel Scale Fairchild PT-19 is nifty in blue and yellow. Its empty
weight, including nose ballast, is 3.18 grams. Carney photo.
The author’s Nickel Scale Cessna Airmaster required a bit more
fin area for stable flight. Plans are available.
Joshua Finn did an expert job of modeling this Nickel Scale
Bellanca that weighs slightly more than 4 grams. Finn photo.
March 2006 121
Dan Berry is intent while packing winds into
his Gollywock “Patches” for the Gollywock
mass launch at Pensacola in the fall.
Albert Johnson was one of the many Juniors who participated in the 2005 Nats. He’s
shown readying his .020-powered 80% T-Bird for flight.
3.18 grams. Bill used 1/16 square stock for
the fuselage framing, as called for on the
plans.
I built the model of the Cessna
Airmaster. I used 1/20 square stock for the
fuselage and 1/32 balsa for the ribs. I gave
the white tissue a light spray coat of a
thinned Floquil/nitrate mix. The propeller is
carved balsa, has a diameter of 4 inches, and
has a pitch of 4.8.
The Airmaster is powered by a loop of
.050 x 8-inch Tan Super Sport. It was
trimmed outdoors but has flown indoors,
making a few nice flights near the 38-foothigh
rafters of our venue in Oklahoma City.
The Cessna runs out of winds before
landing, so it needs a longer motor for indoor
flying.
Initial flight trimming showed a Dutch
roll, so I added clear tape to the fin to
remedy the problem. The plans called for 3/4-
inch dihedral under each tip, but the model
flies well with 3/16 inch under each tip.
Joshua Finn’s neat Bellanca has flight
times of roughly 30 seconds. The tip rudders
are not shown on the plans but were added
to match the full-scale Bellanca. The
propeller is a Peck 4-inch-diameter unit cut
to 31/8 inches. Power is a loop of 8- to 10-
inch-long .06 rubber. The model weighs just
more than 4 grams.
Joshua suggests using .015 wire for the
landing gear. The wire is allowed to move
free of the struts, which are 1/16 square balsa.
The rudder should be enlarged
approximately 10% to prevent Dutch roll.
The plans call for 1/2-inch dihedral, but the
model needs 5/8 to 3/4 inch to be stable.
Joshua says it looks cool in the air and flies
reliable once it’s trimmed.
There are 11 Nickel Scale plans
available online at a neat Web site: www.
ualberta.ca/~khorne/. If you cannot get
online, send me an SASE and I will mail
you two sets of plans for free, for the
Fairchild PT-19 and the Cessna Airmaster.
These plans do not include printwood
patterns, so you will have to come up with
your own airfoils and fuselage formers, but
that is easy to do for these simple models.
As with most of these early plans the
wing and stabilizer are drawn at zero
incidence, so raise the wing LE a bit to get
2.5° decalage. That would be approximately
3/32 inch on a 2-inch chord. Smaller does not
equal easier, particularly in flight trimming;
keep that in mind before starting one of
these Nickel Scale models.
It’s not too late to build that Mini Pearl forBill Vanderbeek’s one-design event at this
year’s FF Nats in Muncie, Indiana. The
Mini Pearl was the immensely popular
1/2A version of the Pearl series. It started a
trend toward smaller models to compete in
the short-motor-run Category II and III
events of the day.
The National Free Flight Society has
plans at www.freeflight.org/index.htm.
Lee Campbell has short kits and plans
available, and Linwood Cochran will have
some full kits available. Contact Lee for
information about his and Linwood’s kits
at (753) 683-1749 or thermalpiglet@
yahoo.com.
A short kit is also available from Bob
Holman Plans, which advertises in this
magazine. Plans are $7, and parts are $20
plus $5 shipping and handling.
Tom Hallman is one of today’s best
Scale-model builders and fliers. You can
see his X-13 in the September 2005 FF
sport column. He recently shared some of
his airbrushing basics with me.
Tom says the key to good airbrushing
is preparing your paint. He uses acrylic
enamels such as Model Master Acryl and
Polly Scale—not acrylic polymers, which
are the materials artists use from the tube.
Tom has been using airbrushes for
more than 30 years—usually a doubleaction
type such as a Badger or a Thayer &
Chandler. These are good brushes with the
cup on the side. Regardless of the airbrushyou choose, you must have the paint
thinned to the point where it runs smoothly
through the brush.
However, you must also be sure there is
enough pigment to give the spray some
opacity. If the spray is too thin, it won’t
cover very well. Tom has observed that
when the spray is too thin and you have to
make many passes, it creates a texture on
the tissue that becomes somewhat gritty. If
the paint is too thick and you force it
through the brush, that will always cause
spatter.
Don’t be in too much of a hurry with
airbrushing. Going too fast and using too
heavy a spray creates wrinkles on the
tissue, where the pigment then runs, giving
you crow’s feet.
Tom mixes his paints well with a bristle
brush to break up any pigment that may
have settled in the bottle. He doesn’t strain
the paint, but he does check for globs or,
worse, flakes. Flakes would be the sign of
bad paint or especially old paint.
Globs can also come from not cleaning
your brush enough during a spraying
session. Tom is meticulous about cleaning
the airbrush by removing the nozzle and
needle frequently, and then cleaning them
with water to remove any buildup and
prevent the airbrush from spitting paint.
Tom doesn’t put clear base coats on the
tissue, but he does preshrink it on a frame.
Any markings or other details are put onthe tissue before it is transferred to the
model. After the model has been covered,
Tom sprays two light coats of matte
Krylon Clear on as a sealer. The only time
he uses a gloss sealer is over silver.
Dean McGinnis is justifiably proud of his
grandson Albert Johnson. Dean says 9-
year-old Albert is sharp and usually has to
be shown something only once. In more
than 60 flights under contest conditions he
has only blown a couple launches.
Albert built his 80% T-Bird himself
from the Lee Campbell kit, doing all the
wood-to-wood framing. Covering it was a
joint effort. Dean installed the engine,
timers, and DT system. Albert placed
second in Junior 1/2A Gas.
Hank Nystrom of Texas Timers has
released a new version of the popular Max
III timer. It has deeper grooves in the
scroll and a stronger DT arm wire. These
modifications should prevent the DT arm
from jumping out of the scroll when
setting the timer for quick DT on a model
with a large vibrating engine.
If you would like to retrofit your old
Max III, Max I, Max A, or 3F timer with a
deeper scroll, Hank has a retrofit
available. The retrofit scroll does not have
winding ears and requires a special steel
screw and winding tool for easy winding.
You can reach Hank at Texas Timers
at 3317 Pine Timbers Dr., Johnson City
TN 37604; Tel.: (423) 282-6423, or online
at www.texastimers.com/.
Check out the bimonthly Pensacola Free
Flight Team’s Thermalier newsletter.
Editor George White fills it with useful
tips for the sport and Scale FF modeler. He
also lists contests in the Pensacola area.
To subscribe to the Thermalier send a
$10 check made out to the Pensacola Free
Flight Team to George White, 5928
Hermitage Dr., Pensacola FL 32504.
The Thermal Thumbers of Metro
Atlanta club members are active in several
areas of FF. If you want to hook up with
them contact David Mills at Box 12306,
Atlanta GA 30355.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/03
Page Numbers: 120,121,122,123,126
120 MODEL AVIATION
BUDDY, CAN YOU Spare a Nickel? There
was a smaller brother to the more popular
16-inch-wingspan Comet Dime Scale series:
a series of 10-inch-wingspan Nickel Scale
kits. Bill Carney is moderator for a Nickel
Scale build on the Small Flying Arts Web
site at www.smallflyingarts.com/cgibin/
yabb/YaBB.pl/. You can find the Nickel
Scale thread in the Indoor builds section.
A number of terrific models have been
completed and posted on the site, including
Bill’s PT-19, otherwise known as the
Fairchild. He made some great flights with
the model at last year’s AMA Indoor Nats.
The propeller on Bill’s model is a 3-
inch-diameter, hand-carved unit. The PT-
19’s empty weight including nose ballast is
Nickel Scale models are not small change these days
Also included in this column:
• Mini Pearl for Bill
Vanderbeek’s one-design
event
• Tom Hallman’s airbrushing
tips
• Junior FFer Albert Johnson
• Texas Timers changes
• Pensacola Free Flight Team
newsletter
• The Thermal Thumbers of
Metro Atlanta
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
The author’s Mini Pearl, designed by Bill Chenault, is the model for Bill Vanderbeek’s
one-design event which will be held at this year’s Nats.
Bill Carney’s Comet Nickel Scale Fairchild PT-19 is nifty in blue and yellow. Its empty
weight, including nose ballast, is 3.18 grams. Carney photo.
The author’s Nickel Scale Cessna Airmaster required a bit more
fin area for stable flight. Plans are available.
Joshua Finn did an expert job of modeling this Nickel Scale
Bellanca that weighs slightly more than 4 grams. Finn photo.
March 2006 121
Dan Berry is intent while packing winds into
his Gollywock “Patches” for the Gollywock
mass launch at Pensacola in the fall.
Albert Johnson was one of the many Juniors who participated in the 2005 Nats. He’s
shown readying his .020-powered 80% T-Bird for flight.
3.18 grams. Bill used 1/16 square stock for
the fuselage framing, as called for on the
plans.
I built the model of the Cessna
Airmaster. I used 1/20 square stock for the
fuselage and 1/32 balsa for the ribs. I gave
the white tissue a light spray coat of a
thinned Floquil/nitrate mix. The propeller is
carved balsa, has a diameter of 4 inches, and
has a pitch of 4.8.
The Airmaster is powered by a loop of
.050 x 8-inch Tan Super Sport. It was
trimmed outdoors but has flown indoors,
making a few nice flights near the 38-foothigh
rafters of our venue in Oklahoma City.
The Cessna runs out of winds before
landing, so it needs a longer motor for indoor
flying.
Initial flight trimming showed a Dutch
roll, so I added clear tape to the fin to
remedy the problem. The plans called for 3/4-
inch dihedral under each tip, but the model
flies well with 3/16 inch under each tip.
Joshua Finn’s neat Bellanca has flight
times of roughly 30 seconds. The tip rudders
are not shown on the plans but were added
to match the full-scale Bellanca. The
propeller is a Peck 4-inch-diameter unit cut
to 31/8 inches. Power is a loop of 8- to 10-
inch-long .06 rubber. The model weighs just
more than 4 grams.
Joshua suggests using .015 wire for the
landing gear. The wire is allowed to move
free of the struts, which are 1/16 square balsa.
The rudder should be enlarged
approximately 10% to prevent Dutch roll.
The plans call for 1/2-inch dihedral, but the
model needs 5/8 to 3/4 inch to be stable.
Joshua says it looks cool in the air and flies
reliable once it’s trimmed.
There are 11 Nickel Scale plans
available online at a neat Web site: www.
ualberta.ca/~khorne/. If you cannot get
online, send me an SASE and I will mail
you two sets of plans for free, for the
Fairchild PT-19 and the Cessna Airmaster.
These plans do not include printwood
patterns, so you will have to come up with
your own airfoils and fuselage formers, but
that is easy to do for these simple models.
As with most of these early plans the
wing and stabilizer are drawn at zero
incidence, so raise the wing LE a bit to get
2.5° decalage. That would be approximately
3/32 inch on a 2-inch chord. Smaller does not
equal easier, particularly in flight trimming;
keep that in mind before starting one of
these Nickel Scale models.
It’s not too late to build that Mini Pearl forBill Vanderbeek’s one-design event at this
year’s FF Nats in Muncie, Indiana. The
Mini Pearl was the immensely popular
1/2A version of the Pearl series. It started a
trend toward smaller models to compete in
the short-motor-run Category II and III
events of the day.
The National Free Flight Society has
plans at www.freeflight.org/index.htm.
Lee Campbell has short kits and plans
available, and Linwood Cochran will have
some full kits available. Contact Lee for
information about his and Linwood’s kits
at (753) 683-1749 or thermalpiglet@
yahoo.com.
A short kit is also available from Bob
Holman Plans, which advertises in this
magazine. Plans are $7, and parts are $20
plus $5 shipping and handling.
Tom Hallman is one of today’s best
Scale-model builders and fliers. You can
see his X-13 in the September 2005 FF
sport column. He recently shared some of
his airbrushing basics with me.
Tom says the key to good airbrushing
is preparing your paint. He uses acrylic
enamels such as Model Master Acryl and
Polly Scale—not acrylic polymers, which
are the materials artists use from the tube.
Tom has been using airbrushes for
more than 30 years—usually a doubleaction
type such as a Badger or a Thayer &
Chandler. These are good brushes with the
cup on the side. Regardless of the airbrushyou choose, you must have the paint
thinned to the point where it runs smoothly
through the brush.
However, you must also be sure there is
enough pigment to give the spray some
opacity. If the spray is too thin, it won’t
cover very well. Tom has observed that
when the spray is too thin and you have to
make many passes, it creates a texture on
the tissue that becomes somewhat gritty. If
the paint is too thick and you force it
through the brush, that will always cause
spatter.
Don’t be in too much of a hurry with
airbrushing. Going too fast and using too
heavy a spray creates wrinkles on the
tissue, where the pigment then runs, giving
you crow’s feet.
Tom mixes his paints well with a bristle
brush to break up any pigment that may
have settled in the bottle. He doesn’t strain
the paint, but he does check for globs or,
worse, flakes. Flakes would be the sign of
bad paint or especially old paint.
Globs can also come from not cleaning
your brush enough during a spraying
session. Tom is meticulous about cleaning
the airbrush by removing the nozzle and
needle frequently, and then cleaning them
with water to remove any buildup and
prevent the airbrush from spitting paint.
Tom doesn’t put clear base coats on the
tissue, but he does preshrink it on a frame.
Any markings or other details are put onthe tissue before it is transferred to the
model. After the model has been covered,
Tom sprays two light coats of matte
Krylon Clear on as a sealer. The only time
he uses a gloss sealer is over silver.
Dean McGinnis is justifiably proud of his
grandson Albert Johnson. Dean says 9-
year-old Albert is sharp and usually has to
be shown something only once. In more
than 60 flights under contest conditions he
has only blown a couple launches.
Albert built his 80% T-Bird himself
from the Lee Campbell kit, doing all the
wood-to-wood framing. Covering it was a
joint effort. Dean installed the engine,
timers, and DT system. Albert placed
second in Junior 1/2A Gas.
Hank Nystrom of Texas Timers has
released a new version of the popular Max
III timer. It has deeper grooves in the
scroll and a stronger DT arm wire. These
modifications should prevent the DT arm
from jumping out of the scroll when
setting the timer for quick DT on a model
with a large vibrating engine.
If you would like to retrofit your old
Max III, Max I, Max A, or 3F timer with a
deeper scroll, Hank has a retrofit
available. The retrofit scroll does not have
winding ears and requires a special steel
screw and winding tool for easy winding.
You can reach Hank at Texas Timers
at 3317 Pine Timbers Dr., Johnson City
TN 37604; Tel.: (423) 282-6423, or online
at www.texastimers.com/.
Check out the bimonthly Pensacola Free
Flight Team’s Thermalier newsletter.
Editor George White fills it with useful
tips for the sport and Scale FF modeler. He
also lists contests in the Pensacola area.
To subscribe to the Thermalier send a
$10 check made out to the Pensacola Free
Flight Team to George White, 5928
Hermitage Dr., Pensacola FL 32504.
The Thermal Thumbers of Metro
Atlanta club members are active in several
areas of FF. If you want to hook up with
them contact David Mills at Box 12306,
Atlanta GA 30355.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/03
Page Numbers: 120,121,122,123,126
120 MODEL AVIATION
BUDDY, CAN YOU Spare a Nickel? There
was a smaller brother to the more popular
16-inch-wingspan Comet Dime Scale series:
a series of 10-inch-wingspan Nickel Scale
kits. Bill Carney is moderator for a Nickel
Scale build on the Small Flying Arts Web
site at www.smallflyingarts.com/cgibin/
yabb/YaBB.pl/. You can find the Nickel
Scale thread in the Indoor builds section.
A number of terrific models have been
completed and posted on the site, including
Bill’s PT-19, otherwise known as the
Fairchild. He made some great flights with
the model at last year’s AMA Indoor Nats.
The propeller on Bill’s model is a 3-
inch-diameter, hand-carved unit. The PT-
19’s empty weight including nose ballast is
Nickel Scale models are not small change these days
Also included in this column:
• Mini Pearl for Bill
Vanderbeek’s one-design
event
• Tom Hallman’s airbrushing
tips
• Junior FFer Albert Johnson
• Texas Timers changes
• Pensacola Free Flight Team
newsletter
• The Thermal Thumbers of
Metro Atlanta
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
The author’s Mini Pearl, designed by Bill Chenault, is the model for Bill Vanderbeek’s
one-design event which will be held at this year’s Nats.
Bill Carney’s Comet Nickel Scale Fairchild PT-19 is nifty in blue and yellow. Its empty
weight, including nose ballast, is 3.18 grams. Carney photo.
The author’s Nickel Scale Cessna Airmaster required a bit more
fin area for stable flight. Plans are available.
Joshua Finn did an expert job of modeling this Nickel Scale
Bellanca that weighs slightly more than 4 grams. Finn photo.
March 2006 121
Dan Berry is intent while packing winds into
his Gollywock “Patches” for the Gollywock
mass launch at Pensacola in the fall.
Albert Johnson was one of the many Juniors who participated in the 2005 Nats. He’s
shown readying his .020-powered 80% T-Bird for flight.
3.18 grams. Bill used 1/16 square stock for
the fuselage framing, as called for on the
plans.
I built the model of the Cessna
Airmaster. I used 1/20 square stock for the
fuselage and 1/32 balsa for the ribs. I gave
the white tissue a light spray coat of a
thinned Floquil/nitrate mix. The propeller is
carved balsa, has a diameter of 4 inches, and
has a pitch of 4.8.
The Airmaster is powered by a loop of
.050 x 8-inch Tan Super Sport. It was
trimmed outdoors but has flown indoors,
making a few nice flights near the 38-foothigh
rafters of our venue in Oklahoma City.
The Cessna runs out of winds before
landing, so it needs a longer motor for indoor
flying.
Initial flight trimming showed a Dutch
roll, so I added clear tape to the fin to
remedy the problem. The plans called for 3/4-
inch dihedral under each tip, but the model
flies well with 3/16 inch under each tip.
Joshua Finn’s neat Bellanca has flight
times of roughly 30 seconds. The tip rudders
are not shown on the plans but were added
to match the full-scale Bellanca. The
propeller is a Peck 4-inch-diameter unit cut
to 31/8 inches. Power is a loop of 8- to 10-
inch-long .06 rubber. The model weighs just
more than 4 grams.
Joshua suggests using .015 wire for the
landing gear. The wire is allowed to move
free of the struts, which are 1/16 square balsa.
The rudder should be enlarged
approximately 10% to prevent Dutch roll.
The plans call for 1/2-inch dihedral, but the
model needs 5/8 to 3/4 inch to be stable.
Joshua says it looks cool in the air and flies
reliable once it’s trimmed.
There are 11 Nickel Scale plans
available online at a neat Web site: www.
ualberta.ca/~khorne/. If you cannot get
online, send me an SASE and I will mail
you two sets of plans for free, for the
Fairchild PT-19 and the Cessna Airmaster.
These plans do not include printwood
patterns, so you will have to come up with
your own airfoils and fuselage formers, but
that is easy to do for these simple models.
As with most of these early plans the
wing and stabilizer are drawn at zero
incidence, so raise the wing LE a bit to get
2.5° decalage. That would be approximately
3/32 inch on a 2-inch chord. Smaller does not
equal easier, particularly in flight trimming;
keep that in mind before starting one of
these Nickel Scale models.
It’s not too late to build that Mini Pearl forBill Vanderbeek’s one-design event at this
year’s FF Nats in Muncie, Indiana. The
Mini Pearl was the immensely popular
1/2A version of the Pearl series. It started a
trend toward smaller models to compete in
the short-motor-run Category II and III
events of the day.
The National Free Flight Society has
plans at www.freeflight.org/index.htm.
Lee Campbell has short kits and plans
available, and Linwood Cochran will have
some full kits available. Contact Lee for
information about his and Linwood’s kits
at (753) 683-1749 or thermalpiglet@
yahoo.com.
A short kit is also available from Bob
Holman Plans, which advertises in this
magazine. Plans are $7, and parts are $20
plus $5 shipping and handling.
Tom Hallman is one of today’s best
Scale-model builders and fliers. You can
see his X-13 in the September 2005 FF
sport column. He recently shared some of
his airbrushing basics with me.
Tom says the key to good airbrushing
is preparing your paint. He uses acrylic
enamels such as Model Master Acryl and
Polly Scale—not acrylic polymers, which
are the materials artists use from the tube.
Tom has been using airbrushes for
more than 30 years—usually a doubleaction
type such as a Badger or a Thayer &
Chandler. These are good brushes with the
cup on the side. Regardless of the airbrushyou choose, you must have the paint
thinned to the point where it runs smoothly
through the brush.
However, you must also be sure there is
enough pigment to give the spray some
opacity. If the spray is too thin, it won’t
cover very well. Tom has observed that
when the spray is too thin and you have to
make many passes, it creates a texture on
the tissue that becomes somewhat gritty. If
the paint is too thick and you force it
through the brush, that will always cause
spatter.
Don’t be in too much of a hurry with
airbrushing. Going too fast and using too
heavy a spray creates wrinkles on the
tissue, where the pigment then runs, giving
you crow’s feet.
Tom mixes his paints well with a bristle
brush to break up any pigment that may
have settled in the bottle. He doesn’t strain
the paint, but he does check for globs or,
worse, flakes. Flakes would be the sign of
bad paint or especially old paint.
Globs can also come from not cleaning
your brush enough during a spraying
session. Tom is meticulous about cleaning
the airbrush by removing the nozzle and
needle frequently, and then cleaning them
with water to remove any buildup and
prevent the airbrush from spitting paint.
Tom doesn’t put clear base coats on the
tissue, but he does preshrink it on a frame.
Any markings or other details are put onthe tissue before it is transferred to the
model. After the model has been covered,
Tom sprays two light coats of matte
Krylon Clear on as a sealer. The only time
he uses a gloss sealer is over silver.
Dean McGinnis is justifiably proud of his
grandson Albert Johnson. Dean says 9-
year-old Albert is sharp and usually has to
be shown something only once. In more
than 60 flights under contest conditions he
has only blown a couple launches.
Albert built his 80% T-Bird himself
from the Lee Campbell kit, doing all the
wood-to-wood framing. Covering it was a
joint effort. Dean installed the engine,
timers, and DT system. Albert placed
second in Junior 1/2A Gas.
Hank Nystrom of Texas Timers has
released a new version of the popular Max
III timer. It has deeper grooves in the
scroll and a stronger DT arm wire. These
modifications should prevent the DT arm
from jumping out of the scroll when
setting the timer for quick DT on a model
with a large vibrating engine.
If you would like to retrofit your old
Max III, Max I, Max A, or 3F timer with a
deeper scroll, Hank has a retrofit
available. The retrofit scroll does not have
winding ears and requires a special steel
screw and winding tool for easy winding.
You can reach Hank at Texas Timers
at 3317 Pine Timbers Dr., Johnson City
TN 37604; Tel.: (423) 282-6423, or online
at www.texastimers.com/.
Check out the bimonthly Pensacola Free
Flight Team’s Thermalier newsletter.
Editor George White fills it with useful
tips for the sport and Scale FF modeler. He
also lists contests in the Pensacola area.
To subscribe to the Thermalier send a
$10 check made out to the Pensacola Free
Flight Team to George White, 5928
Hermitage Dr., Pensacola FL 32504.
The Thermal Thumbers of Metro
Atlanta club members are active in several
areas of FF. If you want to hook up with
them contact David Mills at Box 12306,
Atlanta GA 30355.