Also included in this column:
• Bladder pressure for your engines
• Spirit of Sicily Embryo
• Great-flying Wren
• Plugs for Cox engines
• Airline box for Scale models
• Southwest Regional FAC contest
• Jimmie Allen-winning Parasol
• Polyspan Lite source
• Flying Scale plans again available
• Flying Aces 2007 calendar
Mike Isermann’s model box is checked as luggage on the airlines.
It does a great job of protecting his models.
Mike Palrang is proud of his Jimmie Allen Parasol that flew with
the winning Jimmie Allen team last year.
You won’t find a Wren that is prettier than Al Pardue’s, which
weighs slightly less than 4 ounces. It flies great too.
DON’T FORGET to build your Bounty Hunter 245 for the onedesign
event at this year’s Nats. You can use any Nostalgia-eligible
1/2A engine or the Tee Dee .049 or 051. Build your model from
scratch using MA plans or use the BMJR Model Products kit.
Ballast to the CG shown on the plans. Set it up with no
downthrust or side thrust and approximately 1/8-inch washin of the
left wing. All other surfaces should be flat.
The stabilizer should be tilted for left turn in the glide, with the
left side high as seen from the rear. Start with 2.5° decalage. Install
a 2-56 screw under the stabilizer TE for fine-tuning the incidence.
Sometimes a half turn of the screw makes all the difference.
If the model is climbing too hard to the left or is loopy, lower the
rear of the stabilizer. If the model starts up properly but noses down,
raise the rear of the stabilizer.
Use small tabs on the fin to control the direction and amount of
Grant Carson let his creativity loose when he designed the Spirit
of Sicily model for the FAC Embryo event.
L-R: The #12 and #14 pen bladders and two surgical tubing
bladders. The tubing bladders are “broken in” with air.
The author’s Bounty Hunter 245, built from the BMJR Model
Products kit, is ready for flight testing.
Grant Carson let his creativity loose when he designed the Spirit
of Sicily model for the FAC Embryo event.
L-R: The #12 and #14 pen bladders and two surgical tubing
bladders. The tubing bladders are “broken in” with air.
The author’s Bounty Hunter 245, built from the BMJR Model
Products kit, is ready for flight testing.
turn late in the power pattern. When you are happy with the power
pattern and the size of the glide circle, add small amounts of weight
to the tail until you get a stall. Then remove some weight to reestablish
the proper glide.
The more air your engine can ingest, the more power it can
develop. However, as the venturi is enlarged the engine’s ability to
draw fuel diminishes. The cure for this problem is to pressurize the
fuel tank. The two methods commonly used for this are crankcase
pressure or the use of a pressurized bladder.
Years ago I decide to use surgical-tubing bladders. The tubing
is latex with a 1/8-inch inside diameter and a 1/32-inch wall
thickness. An adapter is needed at one end and a method of closure
is needed at the other.
The adapter I use has a 3/32-inch connector on one end and 1/8
inch on the other. The open end of the tube can be closed by
folding it on itself. I prefer to use a .177-caliber air-gun pellet. It
has a “waist” that makes a good place to wire the end shut. I use
24-gauge copper wire.
Before inflating the tank, stretch it several times. This makes it
easier to fill and establishes the area of the tank you want to fill
first. I like the tank to fill from the middle—not the ends.
Once the tank has been assembled, it should be inflated with air
and the tubing clamped. Leave the air in the tank for several hours
or overnight. This checks for leaks and allows the tank to “break
in.” Breaking in allows the tank to be inflated with less pressure,
making it easier to fill and the engine easier to needle.
Find the proper needle setting before beginning flying for the
day. When checking the engine run before
the first flight of the day, use the timer to
cut off the engine. This confirms that the
timer and fuel cutoff are working.
I like to determine the minimum amount
of fuel needed for a contest flight. Put only
enough fuel in the bladder to start the
engine, get the model in launch position,
and run for your engine-run allowance and
maybe five more seconds. Many of us have
seen models with an engine-timer
malfunction climb out of sight because they
had too much fuel onboard.
Latex is damaged by our fuel. When you
are finished with the flying session, inflate
the bladder with air and then draw the air
and any remaining fuel out. That will make
the bladder last longer. If you let any fuel
stay in it, the bladder will deteriorate more
quickly.
Use a fresh bladder at contests. The latex
tubing and nipple fittings are available from
Lee Campbell at www.campbellscustom
kits.com/.
Dean McGinnes has been trying genuine
pen bladders in place of the latex tubing. He
says they are unaffected by highnitromethane
fuels and require less pressure
to inflate than the latex tubing tanks or
pacifiers. Dean has learned that one tank
can last a whole contest season. He uses #12
for 1/2As and #14 for everything else.
I purchased several of the bladders and
found that each is long enough to make two
tanks. I am going to try them in the coming
season. They are available from
Pendemonium, a supply house for fountain
pen collectors and restorers, at www.pende
monium.com/.
Truly in the spirit of the Flying Aces Club
(FAC) is the Embryo Spirit of Sicily
designed and built by Grant Carson. He
mounted the upper and lower wings on
pylons so the wing area would not be
reduced by the “wing across the fuselage”
rule.
When Sal Taibi saw the Spirit of Sicily,
he said, “Hey, that’s where my folks were
from!”
Grant wrote that the model spent a lot
of time in the gentle thermals of Mile
Square Park.
Frank Heeb’s Wren design was the Rubber
model of the year for the 2004 Society of
Antique Modelers (SAM) Champs at
Muncie, Indiana. Al Pardue built his model
for that event and placed sixth—not too
shabby considering the competition. At the
Pensacola contest last fall Al used his Wren
to place second in Commercial Rubber by six
seconds behind Bill Duke.
Al’s beautiful Wren is covered with
orange tissue and trimmed with light-blue
Brodak dope mixed specifically for that
model. The white trim is 1/8-inch auto
pinstriping tape. The model weighs just less
than 4 ounces without rubber.
Taking the advice of Jim Bethea of
Louisiana, Al is currently using 20 strands of
1/8 rubber and a standard 15-inch Superior
propeller.
“Jim’s comment when he watched me
launch it was that he hoped it didn’t burn on
re-entry,” said Al.
Dorhman Crawford mentioned a new
source for glow plugs that will fit the Cox
.049 engines. I ordered a half dozen and they
work fine.
The price is $4.50 each plus a $3 shipping
and handling charge, in US funds for as
many as 10 glowheads. Make your payment
via money order—not the US Postal Service
unless it’s an international money order.
Send your order to Bruce Duncan, #56-
9080-198th St., Langley, BC V1M 3A8,
Canada. He can be reached at a.b.duncan@
shaw.ca.
Mike Isermann built a beautiful box for
his FAC contest models. When Mike flies
to FAC contests, the box is shipped as
checked luggage and can be opened for
TSA (Transportation Security
Administration) inspection.
The basic structure is 1/4 plywood. It
uses a piano hinge to connect the halves. A
central post prevents the box from being
crushed by other luggage. The edges are
protected with aluminum right-angle stock.
Each model is nested in its own custom
foam cradle. Four rubber bands secure each
airplane.
If you live in California and would like to
see what the FAC is all about, check out the
first Southwestern Regional FAC Contest. It
will be held in Perris, California, at the
SCAMPS (Southern California Antique
Model Plane Society) flying site May 5-6.
There will be 10 events. Judging will be
Friday afternoon May 4, beginning at 2 p.m.
at the Days Inn in Perris.
There are 71 FAC Squadrons in
America, and 23 of those are west of the
Mississippi River. Many of these fliers do
not attend the FAC Nationals in Geneseo,
New York. This new event will afford them
an opportunity to fly in a major contest in
California.
Roger Willis is the CD, and the Scale
Staffel, FAC Squadron 41, is the host. Refer
any questions to Roger at (760) 603-8877 or
[email protected], or visit http://groups.
yahoo.com/group/facsouthwestregional/.
Roger has established an E-mail distribution
list to inform participants of the latest plans
for the event. E-mail him to be added to the
list.
Jerry Rocha, Mike Palrang, and Ding
Zarate of SAM 27 put up the winning flights
in last year’s nationwide Jimmie Allen
event. They were only 24 seconds short of a
perfect nine maxes among them. Jerry and
Ding flew B.A. Cabins. Mike flew a J.A.
Parasol, which is rarely seen in this event.
Mike’s Parasol was built from a Bob
Holman short kit. It came out at roughly 40
grams. The model flies on six strands of 3/32
weighing 10 grams.
Mike says the model flies fairly well, but
on the day they flew for times the air was
spectacular. All three of his maxes were
thermal assisted. Mike credits John Pratt
with helping him pick air. Mike uses a popup
stabilizer DT activated by a Badge timer.
The model had to come down from at least
100 feet on all the flights.
This was Mike’s second Parasol. The
first was fully trimmed and ready for the
contest when it got stuck on top of a
deserted building at the flying site. Since
that happened only two months before the
contest, Mike had to hustle to get another
one built and trimmed.
The second model was much easier to
build, thanks to Mike’s experience with the
first one. He appreciated his wife’s help in
printing the lozenge camouflage on the
computer; he thinks it gives the airplane a
nice World War I Fokker look. I agree. Nice
job!
The Parasol uses 5° of downthrust, 3° of
right thrust, and no rudder offset. The right
wing is flat and the left wing has
approximately 3/32 washout.
As is the custom for this event, the
winning team gets to coordinate the contest
the following year. If your SAM group
would like to participate in the Jimmie Allen
event this year, contact Jerry Rocha at 3583
Ruston Ln., Napa CA 94558.
If you are looking for regular Polyspan or
the new Polyspan Lite, check with Larry
Davidson. He also carries the Polyspan dye
and has a video about Polyspan application.
Larry has many more FF items for sale,
including ignition-engine accessories, silk,
and glass syringes. E-mail him at samchamp
@suddenlink.net and he will send you his
catalog as an attachment. For a hard copy
send an SASE to Larry at 66 Casa Mia Cir.,
Moneta VA 24121. You can also call (540)
721-4563.
Many of you will be glad to know that
Flying Scale is up and running again. After a
major setback because of Hurricane Katrina,
the plans service has moved to South
Carolina. The subjects include World War I,
Golden Age, and World War II aircraft.
Most of the plans are scaled 3/4 inch to the
foot, but some are 1 inch to the foot.
Bill Galloway, who is deceased, was a
skilled draftsman who did a beautiful job
with these rubber-powered scale-model
plans. I have the Bf 108 and the Val.
Bill’s son Danny is handling the plans
service. For a free list of more than 50 plans,
contact Danny at [email protected] or
send an SASE to Flying Scale, 2 Kate’s Ct.,
Greer SC 29650.
The Flying Aces calendar for 2007 is
available for $20 postpaid. It is loaded with
pictures of beautiful Scale models: the
perfect inspiration for your workshop wall.
Send your check to FAC GHQ, 3301 Cindy
Ln., Erie PA 16506. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/03
Page Numbers: 132,134,135,136
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/03
Page Numbers: 132,134,135,136
Also included in this column:
• Bladder pressure for your engines
• Spirit of Sicily Embryo
• Great-flying Wren
• Plugs for Cox engines
• Airline box for Scale models
• Southwest Regional FAC contest
• Jimmie Allen-winning Parasol
• Polyspan Lite source
• Flying Scale plans again available
• Flying Aces 2007 calendar
Mike Isermann’s model box is checked as luggage on the airlines.
It does a great job of protecting his models.
Mike Palrang is proud of his Jimmie Allen Parasol that flew with
the winning Jimmie Allen team last year.
You won’t find a Wren that is prettier than Al Pardue’s, which
weighs slightly less than 4 ounces. It flies great too.
DON’T FORGET to build your Bounty Hunter 245 for the onedesign
event at this year’s Nats. You can use any Nostalgia-eligible
1/2A engine or the Tee Dee .049 or 051. Build your model from
scratch using MA plans or use the BMJR Model Products kit.
Ballast to the CG shown on the plans. Set it up with no
downthrust or side thrust and approximately 1/8-inch washin of the
left wing. All other surfaces should be flat.
The stabilizer should be tilted for left turn in the glide, with the
left side high as seen from the rear. Start with 2.5° decalage. Install
a 2-56 screw under the stabilizer TE for fine-tuning the incidence.
Sometimes a half turn of the screw makes all the difference.
If the model is climbing too hard to the left or is loopy, lower the
rear of the stabilizer. If the model starts up properly but noses down,
raise the rear of the stabilizer.
Use small tabs on the fin to control the direction and amount of
Grant Carson let his creativity loose when he designed the Spirit
of Sicily model for the FAC Embryo event.
L-R: The #12 and #14 pen bladders and two surgical tubing
bladders. The tubing bladders are “broken in” with air.
The author’s Bounty Hunter 245, built from the BMJR Model
Products kit, is ready for flight testing.
Grant Carson let his creativity loose when he designed the Spirit
of Sicily model for the FAC Embryo event.
L-R: The #12 and #14 pen bladders and two surgical tubing
bladders. The tubing bladders are “broken in” with air.
The author’s Bounty Hunter 245, built from the BMJR Model
Products kit, is ready for flight testing.
turn late in the power pattern. When you are happy with the power
pattern and the size of the glide circle, add small amounts of weight
to the tail until you get a stall. Then remove some weight to reestablish
the proper glide.
The more air your engine can ingest, the more power it can
develop. However, as the venturi is enlarged the engine’s ability to
draw fuel diminishes. The cure for this problem is to pressurize the
fuel tank. The two methods commonly used for this are crankcase
pressure or the use of a pressurized bladder.
Years ago I decide to use surgical-tubing bladders. The tubing
is latex with a 1/8-inch inside diameter and a 1/32-inch wall
thickness. An adapter is needed at one end and a method of closure
is needed at the other.
The adapter I use has a 3/32-inch connector on one end and 1/8
inch on the other. The open end of the tube can be closed by
folding it on itself. I prefer to use a .177-caliber air-gun pellet. It
has a “waist” that makes a good place to wire the end shut. I use
24-gauge copper wire.
Before inflating the tank, stretch it several times. This makes it
easier to fill and establishes the area of the tank you want to fill
first. I like the tank to fill from the middle—not the ends.
Once the tank has been assembled, it should be inflated with air
and the tubing clamped. Leave the air in the tank for several hours
or overnight. This checks for leaks and allows the tank to “break
in.” Breaking in allows the tank to be inflated with less pressure,
making it easier to fill and the engine easier to needle.
Find the proper needle setting before beginning flying for the
day. When checking the engine run before
the first flight of the day, use the timer to
cut off the engine. This confirms that the
timer and fuel cutoff are working.
I like to determine the minimum amount
of fuel needed for a contest flight. Put only
enough fuel in the bladder to start the
engine, get the model in launch position,
and run for your engine-run allowance and
maybe five more seconds. Many of us have
seen models with an engine-timer
malfunction climb out of sight because they
had too much fuel onboard.
Latex is damaged by our fuel. When you
are finished with the flying session, inflate
the bladder with air and then draw the air
and any remaining fuel out. That will make
the bladder last longer. If you let any fuel
stay in it, the bladder will deteriorate more
quickly.
Use a fresh bladder at contests. The latex
tubing and nipple fittings are available from
Lee Campbell at www.campbellscustom
kits.com/.
Dean McGinnes has been trying genuine
pen bladders in place of the latex tubing. He
says they are unaffected by highnitromethane
fuels and require less pressure
to inflate than the latex tubing tanks or
pacifiers. Dean has learned that one tank
can last a whole contest season. He uses #12
for 1/2As and #14 for everything else.
I purchased several of the bladders and
found that each is long enough to make two
tanks. I am going to try them in the coming
season. They are available from
Pendemonium, a supply house for fountain
pen collectors and restorers, at www.pende
monium.com/.
Truly in the spirit of the Flying Aces Club
(FAC) is the Embryo Spirit of Sicily
designed and built by Grant Carson. He
mounted the upper and lower wings on
pylons so the wing area would not be
reduced by the “wing across the fuselage”
rule.
When Sal Taibi saw the Spirit of Sicily,
he said, “Hey, that’s where my folks were
from!”
Grant wrote that the model spent a lot
of time in the gentle thermals of Mile
Square Park.
Frank Heeb’s Wren design was the Rubber
model of the year for the 2004 Society of
Antique Modelers (SAM) Champs at
Muncie, Indiana. Al Pardue built his model
for that event and placed sixth—not too
shabby considering the competition. At the
Pensacola contest last fall Al used his Wren
to place second in Commercial Rubber by six
seconds behind Bill Duke.
Al’s beautiful Wren is covered with
orange tissue and trimmed with light-blue
Brodak dope mixed specifically for that
model. The white trim is 1/8-inch auto
pinstriping tape. The model weighs just less
than 4 ounces without rubber.
Taking the advice of Jim Bethea of
Louisiana, Al is currently using 20 strands of
1/8 rubber and a standard 15-inch Superior
propeller.
“Jim’s comment when he watched me
launch it was that he hoped it didn’t burn on
re-entry,” said Al.
Dorhman Crawford mentioned a new
source for glow plugs that will fit the Cox
.049 engines. I ordered a half dozen and they
work fine.
The price is $4.50 each plus a $3 shipping
and handling charge, in US funds for as
many as 10 glowheads. Make your payment
via money order—not the US Postal Service
unless it’s an international money order.
Send your order to Bruce Duncan, #56-
9080-198th St., Langley, BC V1M 3A8,
Canada. He can be reached at a.b.duncan@
shaw.ca.
Mike Isermann built a beautiful box for
his FAC contest models. When Mike flies
to FAC contests, the box is shipped as
checked luggage and can be opened for
TSA (Transportation Security
Administration) inspection.
The basic structure is 1/4 plywood. It
uses a piano hinge to connect the halves. A
central post prevents the box from being
crushed by other luggage. The edges are
protected with aluminum right-angle stock.
Each model is nested in its own custom
foam cradle. Four rubber bands secure each
airplane.
If you live in California and would like to
see what the FAC is all about, check out the
first Southwestern Regional FAC Contest. It
will be held in Perris, California, at the
SCAMPS (Southern California Antique
Model Plane Society) flying site May 5-6.
There will be 10 events. Judging will be
Friday afternoon May 4, beginning at 2 p.m.
at the Days Inn in Perris.
There are 71 FAC Squadrons in
America, and 23 of those are west of the
Mississippi River. Many of these fliers do
not attend the FAC Nationals in Geneseo,
New York. This new event will afford them
an opportunity to fly in a major contest in
California.
Roger Willis is the CD, and the Scale
Staffel, FAC Squadron 41, is the host. Refer
any questions to Roger at (760) 603-8877 or
[email protected], or visit http://groups.
yahoo.com/group/facsouthwestregional/.
Roger has established an E-mail distribution
list to inform participants of the latest plans
for the event. E-mail him to be added to the
list.
Jerry Rocha, Mike Palrang, and Ding
Zarate of SAM 27 put up the winning flights
in last year’s nationwide Jimmie Allen
event. They were only 24 seconds short of a
perfect nine maxes among them. Jerry and
Ding flew B.A. Cabins. Mike flew a J.A.
Parasol, which is rarely seen in this event.
Mike’s Parasol was built from a Bob
Holman short kit. It came out at roughly 40
grams. The model flies on six strands of 3/32
weighing 10 grams.
Mike says the model flies fairly well, but
on the day they flew for times the air was
spectacular. All three of his maxes were
thermal assisted. Mike credits John Pratt
with helping him pick air. Mike uses a popup
stabilizer DT activated by a Badge timer.
The model had to come down from at least
100 feet on all the flights.
This was Mike’s second Parasol. The
first was fully trimmed and ready for the
contest when it got stuck on top of a
deserted building at the flying site. Since
that happened only two months before the
contest, Mike had to hustle to get another
one built and trimmed.
The second model was much easier to
build, thanks to Mike’s experience with the
first one. He appreciated his wife’s help in
printing the lozenge camouflage on the
computer; he thinks it gives the airplane a
nice World War I Fokker look. I agree. Nice
job!
The Parasol uses 5° of downthrust, 3° of
right thrust, and no rudder offset. The right
wing is flat and the left wing has
approximately 3/32 washout.
As is the custom for this event, the
winning team gets to coordinate the contest
the following year. If your SAM group
would like to participate in the Jimmie Allen
event this year, contact Jerry Rocha at 3583
Ruston Ln., Napa CA 94558.
If you are looking for regular Polyspan or
the new Polyspan Lite, check with Larry
Davidson. He also carries the Polyspan dye
and has a video about Polyspan application.
Larry has many more FF items for sale,
including ignition-engine accessories, silk,
and glass syringes. E-mail him at samchamp
@suddenlink.net and he will send you his
catalog as an attachment. For a hard copy
send an SASE to Larry at 66 Casa Mia Cir.,
Moneta VA 24121. You can also call (540)
721-4563.
Many of you will be glad to know that
Flying Scale is up and running again. After a
major setback because of Hurricane Katrina,
the plans service has moved to South
Carolina. The subjects include World War I,
Golden Age, and World War II aircraft.
Most of the plans are scaled 3/4 inch to the
foot, but some are 1 inch to the foot.
Bill Galloway, who is deceased, was a
skilled draftsman who did a beautiful job
with these rubber-powered scale-model
plans. I have the Bf 108 and the Val.
Bill’s son Danny is handling the plans
service. For a free list of more than 50 plans,
contact Danny at [email protected] or
send an SASE to Flying Scale, 2 Kate’s Ct.,
Greer SC 29650.
The Flying Aces calendar for 2007 is
available for $20 postpaid. It is loaded with
pictures of beautiful Scale models: the
perfect inspiration for your workshop wall.
Send your check to FAC GHQ, 3301 Cindy
Ln., Erie PA 16506. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/03
Page Numbers: 132,134,135,136
Also included in this column:
• Bladder pressure for your engines
• Spirit of Sicily Embryo
• Great-flying Wren
• Plugs for Cox engines
• Airline box for Scale models
• Southwest Regional FAC contest
• Jimmie Allen-winning Parasol
• Polyspan Lite source
• Flying Scale plans again available
• Flying Aces 2007 calendar
Mike Isermann’s model box is checked as luggage on the airlines.
It does a great job of protecting his models.
Mike Palrang is proud of his Jimmie Allen Parasol that flew with
the winning Jimmie Allen team last year.
You won’t find a Wren that is prettier than Al Pardue’s, which
weighs slightly less than 4 ounces. It flies great too.
DON’T FORGET to build your Bounty Hunter 245 for the onedesign
event at this year’s Nats. You can use any Nostalgia-eligible
1/2A engine or the Tee Dee .049 or 051. Build your model from
scratch using MA plans or use the BMJR Model Products kit.
Ballast to the CG shown on the plans. Set it up with no
downthrust or side thrust and approximately 1/8-inch washin of the
left wing. All other surfaces should be flat.
The stabilizer should be tilted for left turn in the glide, with the
left side high as seen from the rear. Start with 2.5° decalage. Install
a 2-56 screw under the stabilizer TE for fine-tuning the incidence.
Sometimes a half turn of the screw makes all the difference.
If the model is climbing too hard to the left or is loopy, lower the
rear of the stabilizer. If the model starts up properly but noses down,
raise the rear of the stabilizer.
Use small tabs on the fin to control the direction and amount of
Grant Carson let his creativity loose when he designed the Spirit
of Sicily model for the FAC Embryo event.
L-R: The #12 and #14 pen bladders and two surgical tubing
bladders. The tubing bladders are “broken in” with air.
The author’s Bounty Hunter 245, built from the BMJR Model
Products kit, is ready for flight testing.
Grant Carson let his creativity loose when he designed the Spirit
of Sicily model for the FAC Embryo event.
L-R: The #12 and #14 pen bladders and two surgical tubing
bladders. The tubing bladders are “broken in” with air.
The author’s Bounty Hunter 245, built from the BMJR Model
Products kit, is ready for flight testing.
turn late in the power pattern. When you are happy with the power
pattern and the size of the glide circle, add small amounts of weight
to the tail until you get a stall. Then remove some weight to reestablish
the proper glide.
The more air your engine can ingest, the more power it can
develop. However, as the venturi is enlarged the engine’s ability to
draw fuel diminishes. The cure for this problem is to pressurize the
fuel tank. The two methods commonly used for this are crankcase
pressure or the use of a pressurized bladder.
Years ago I decide to use surgical-tubing bladders. The tubing
is latex with a 1/8-inch inside diameter and a 1/32-inch wall
thickness. An adapter is needed at one end and a method of closure
is needed at the other.
The adapter I use has a 3/32-inch connector on one end and 1/8
inch on the other. The open end of the tube can be closed by
folding it on itself. I prefer to use a .177-caliber air-gun pellet. It
has a “waist” that makes a good place to wire the end shut. I use
24-gauge copper wire.
Before inflating the tank, stretch it several times. This makes it
easier to fill and establishes the area of the tank you want to fill
first. I like the tank to fill from the middle—not the ends.
Once the tank has been assembled, it should be inflated with air
and the tubing clamped. Leave the air in the tank for several hours
or overnight. This checks for leaks and allows the tank to “break
in.” Breaking in allows the tank to be inflated with less pressure,
making it easier to fill and the engine easier to needle.
Find the proper needle setting before beginning flying for the
day. When checking the engine run before
the first flight of the day, use the timer to
cut off the engine. This confirms that the
timer and fuel cutoff are working.
I like to determine the minimum amount
of fuel needed for a contest flight. Put only
enough fuel in the bladder to start the
engine, get the model in launch position,
and run for your engine-run allowance and
maybe five more seconds. Many of us have
seen models with an engine-timer
malfunction climb out of sight because they
had too much fuel onboard.
Latex is damaged by our fuel. When you
are finished with the flying session, inflate
the bladder with air and then draw the air
and any remaining fuel out. That will make
the bladder last longer. If you let any fuel
stay in it, the bladder will deteriorate more
quickly.
Use a fresh bladder at contests. The latex
tubing and nipple fittings are available from
Lee Campbell at www.campbellscustom
kits.com/.
Dean McGinnes has been trying genuine
pen bladders in place of the latex tubing. He
says they are unaffected by highnitromethane
fuels and require less pressure
to inflate than the latex tubing tanks or
pacifiers. Dean has learned that one tank
can last a whole contest season. He uses #12
for 1/2As and #14 for everything else.
I purchased several of the bladders and
found that each is long enough to make two
tanks. I am going to try them in the coming
season. They are available from
Pendemonium, a supply house for fountain
pen collectors and restorers, at www.pende
monium.com/.
Truly in the spirit of the Flying Aces Club
(FAC) is the Embryo Spirit of Sicily
designed and built by Grant Carson. He
mounted the upper and lower wings on
pylons so the wing area would not be
reduced by the “wing across the fuselage”
rule.
When Sal Taibi saw the Spirit of Sicily,
he said, “Hey, that’s where my folks were
from!”
Grant wrote that the model spent a lot
of time in the gentle thermals of Mile
Square Park.
Frank Heeb’s Wren design was the Rubber
model of the year for the 2004 Society of
Antique Modelers (SAM) Champs at
Muncie, Indiana. Al Pardue built his model
for that event and placed sixth—not too
shabby considering the competition. At the
Pensacola contest last fall Al used his Wren
to place second in Commercial Rubber by six
seconds behind Bill Duke.
Al’s beautiful Wren is covered with
orange tissue and trimmed with light-blue
Brodak dope mixed specifically for that
model. The white trim is 1/8-inch auto
pinstriping tape. The model weighs just less
than 4 ounces without rubber.
Taking the advice of Jim Bethea of
Louisiana, Al is currently using 20 strands of
1/8 rubber and a standard 15-inch Superior
propeller.
“Jim’s comment when he watched me
launch it was that he hoped it didn’t burn on
re-entry,” said Al.
Dorhman Crawford mentioned a new
source for glow plugs that will fit the Cox
.049 engines. I ordered a half dozen and they
work fine.
The price is $4.50 each plus a $3 shipping
and handling charge, in US funds for as
many as 10 glowheads. Make your payment
via money order—not the US Postal Service
unless it’s an international money order.
Send your order to Bruce Duncan, #56-
9080-198th St., Langley, BC V1M 3A8,
Canada. He can be reached at a.b.duncan@
shaw.ca.
Mike Isermann built a beautiful box for
his FAC contest models. When Mike flies
to FAC contests, the box is shipped as
checked luggage and can be opened for
TSA (Transportation Security
Administration) inspection.
The basic structure is 1/4 plywood. It
uses a piano hinge to connect the halves. A
central post prevents the box from being
crushed by other luggage. The edges are
protected with aluminum right-angle stock.
Each model is nested in its own custom
foam cradle. Four rubber bands secure each
airplane.
If you live in California and would like to
see what the FAC is all about, check out the
first Southwestern Regional FAC Contest. It
will be held in Perris, California, at the
SCAMPS (Southern California Antique
Model Plane Society) flying site May 5-6.
There will be 10 events. Judging will be
Friday afternoon May 4, beginning at 2 p.m.
at the Days Inn in Perris.
There are 71 FAC Squadrons in
America, and 23 of those are west of the
Mississippi River. Many of these fliers do
not attend the FAC Nationals in Geneseo,
New York. This new event will afford them
an opportunity to fly in a major contest in
California.
Roger Willis is the CD, and the Scale
Staffel, FAC Squadron 41, is the host. Refer
any questions to Roger at (760) 603-8877 or
[email protected], or visit http://groups.
yahoo.com/group/facsouthwestregional/.
Roger has established an E-mail distribution
list to inform participants of the latest plans
for the event. E-mail him to be added to the
list.
Jerry Rocha, Mike Palrang, and Ding
Zarate of SAM 27 put up the winning flights
in last year’s nationwide Jimmie Allen
event. They were only 24 seconds short of a
perfect nine maxes among them. Jerry and
Ding flew B.A. Cabins. Mike flew a J.A.
Parasol, which is rarely seen in this event.
Mike’s Parasol was built from a Bob
Holman short kit. It came out at roughly 40
grams. The model flies on six strands of 3/32
weighing 10 grams.
Mike says the model flies fairly well, but
on the day they flew for times the air was
spectacular. All three of his maxes were
thermal assisted. Mike credits John Pratt
with helping him pick air. Mike uses a popup
stabilizer DT activated by a Badge timer.
The model had to come down from at least
100 feet on all the flights.
This was Mike’s second Parasol. The
first was fully trimmed and ready for the
contest when it got stuck on top of a
deserted building at the flying site. Since
that happened only two months before the
contest, Mike had to hustle to get another
one built and trimmed.
The second model was much easier to
build, thanks to Mike’s experience with the
first one. He appreciated his wife’s help in
printing the lozenge camouflage on the
computer; he thinks it gives the airplane a
nice World War I Fokker look. I agree. Nice
job!
The Parasol uses 5° of downthrust, 3° of
right thrust, and no rudder offset. The right
wing is flat and the left wing has
approximately 3/32 washout.
As is the custom for this event, the
winning team gets to coordinate the contest
the following year. If your SAM group
would like to participate in the Jimmie Allen
event this year, contact Jerry Rocha at 3583
Ruston Ln., Napa CA 94558.
If you are looking for regular Polyspan or
the new Polyspan Lite, check with Larry
Davidson. He also carries the Polyspan dye
and has a video about Polyspan application.
Larry has many more FF items for sale,
including ignition-engine accessories, silk,
and glass syringes. E-mail him at samchamp
@suddenlink.net and he will send you his
catalog as an attachment. For a hard copy
send an SASE to Larry at 66 Casa Mia Cir.,
Moneta VA 24121. You can also call (540)
721-4563.
Many of you will be glad to know that
Flying Scale is up and running again. After a
major setback because of Hurricane Katrina,
the plans service has moved to South
Carolina. The subjects include World War I,
Golden Age, and World War II aircraft.
Most of the plans are scaled 3/4 inch to the
foot, but some are 1 inch to the foot.
Bill Galloway, who is deceased, was a
skilled draftsman who did a beautiful job
with these rubber-powered scale-model
plans. I have the Bf 108 and the Val.
Bill’s son Danny is handling the plans
service. For a free list of more than 50 plans,
contact Danny at [email protected] or
send an SASE to Flying Scale, 2 Kate’s Ct.,
Greer SC 29650.
The Flying Aces calendar for 2007 is
available for $20 postpaid. It is loaded with
pictures of beautiful Scale models: the
perfect inspiration for your workshop wall.
Send your check to FAC GHQ, 3301 Cindy
Ln., Erie PA 16506. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/03
Page Numbers: 132,134,135,136
Also included in this column:
• Bladder pressure for your engines
• Spirit of Sicily Embryo
• Great-flying Wren
• Plugs for Cox engines
• Airline box for Scale models
• Southwest Regional FAC contest
• Jimmie Allen-winning Parasol
• Polyspan Lite source
• Flying Scale plans again available
• Flying Aces 2007 calendar
Mike Isermann’s model box is checked as luggage on the airlines.
It does a great job of protecting his models.
Mike Palrang is proud of his Jimmie Allen Parasol that flew with
the winning Jimmie Allen team last year.
You won’t find a Wren that is prettier than Al Pardue’s, which
weighs slightly less than 4 ounces. It flies great too.
DON’T FORGET to build your Bounty Hunter 245 for the onedesign
event at this year’s Nats. You can use any Nostalgia-eligible
1/2A engine or the Tee Dee .049 or 051. Build your model from
scratch using MA plans or use the BMJR Model Products kit.
Ballast to the CG shown on the plans. Set it up with no
downthrust or side thrust and approximately 1/8-inch washin of the
left wing. All other surfaces should be flat.
The stabilizer should be tilted for left turn in the glide, with the
left side high as seen from the rear. Start with 2.5° decalage. Install
a 2-56 screw under the stabilizer TE for fine-tuning the incidence.
Sometimes a half turn of the screw makes all the difference.
If the model is climbing too hard to the left or is loopy, lower the
rear of the stabilizer. If the model starts up properly but noses down,
raise the rear of the stabilizer.
Use small tabs on the fin to control the direction and amount of
Grant Carson let his creativity loose when he designed the Spirit
of Sicily model for the FAC Embryo event.
L-R: The #12 and #14 pen bladders and two surgical tubing
bladders. The tubing bladders are “broken in” with air.
The author’s Bounty Hunter 245, built from the BMJR Model
Products kit, is ready for flight testing.
Grant Carson let his creativity loose when he designed the Spirit
of Sicily model for the FAC Embryo event.
L-R: The #12 and #14 pen bladders and two surgical tubing
bladders. The tubing bladders are “broken in” with air.
The author’s Bounty Hunter 245, built from the BMJR Model
Products kit, is ready for flight testing.
turn late in the power pattern. When you are happy with the power
pattern and the size of the glide circle, add small amounts of weight
to the tail until you get a stall. Then remove some weight to reestablish
the proper glide.
The more air your engine can ingest, the more power it can
develop. However, as the venturi is enlarged the engine’s ability to
draw fuel diminishes. The cure for this problem is to pressurize the
fuel tank. The two methods commonly used for this are crankcase
pressure or the use of a pressurized bladder.
Years ago I decide to use surgical-tubing bladders. The tubing
is latex with a 1/8-inch inside diameter and a 1/32-inch wall
thickness. An adapter is needed at one end and a method of closure
is needed at the other.
The adapter I use has a 3/32-inch connector on one end and 1/8
inch on the other. The open end of the tube can be closed by
folding it on itself. I prefer to use a .177-caliber air-gun pellet. It
has a “waist” that makes a good place to wire the end shut. I use
24-gauge copper wire.
Before inflating the tank, stretch it several times. This makes it
easier to fill and establishes the area of the tank you want to fill
first. I like the tank to fill from the middle—not the ends.
Once the tank has been assembled, it should be inflated with air
and the tubing clamped. Leave the air in the tank for several hours
or overnight. This checks for leaks and allows the tank to “break
in.” Breaking in allows the tank to be inflated with less pressure,
making it easier to fill and the engine easier to needle.
Find the proper needle setting before beginning flying for the
day. When checking the engine run before
the first flight of the day, use the timer to
cut off the engine. This confirms that the
timer and fuel cutoff are working.
I like to determine the minimum amount
of fuel needed for a contest flight. Put only
enough fuel in the bladder to start the
engine, get the model in launch position,
and run for your engine-run allowance and
maybe five more seconds. Many of us have
seen models with an engine-timer
malfunction climb out of sight because they
had too much fuel onboard.
Latex is damaged by our fuel. When you
are finished with the flying session, inflate
the bladder with air and then draw the air
and any remaining fuel out. That will make
the bladder last longer. If you let any fuel
stay in it, the bladder will deteriorate more
quickly.
Use a fresh bladder at contests. The latex
tubing and nipple fittings are available from
Lee Campbell at www.campbellscustom
kits.com/.
Dean McGinnes has been trying genuine
pen bladders in place of the latex tubing. He
says they are unaffected by highnitromethane
fuels and require less pressure
to inflate than the latex tubing tanks or
pacifiers. Dean has learned that one tank
can last a whole contest season. He uses #12
for 1/2As and #14 for everything else.
I purchased several of the bladders and
found that each is long enough to make two
tanks. I am going to try them in the coming
season. They are available from
Pendemonium, a supply house for fountain
pen collectors and restorers, at www.pende
monium.com/.
Truly in the spirit of the Flying Aces Club
(FAC) is the Embryo Spirit of Sicily
designed and built by Grant Carson. He
mounted the upper and lower wings on
pylons so the wing area would not be
reduced by the “wing across the fuselage”
rule.
When Sal Taibi saw the Spirit of Sicily,
he said, “Hey, that’s where my folks were
from!”
Grant wrote that the model spent a lot
of time in the gentle thermals of Mile
Square Park.
Frank Heeb’s Wren design was the Rubber
model of the year for the 2004 Society of
Antique Modelers (SAM) Champs at
Muncie, Indiana. Al Pardue built his model
for that event and placed sixth—not too
shabby considering the competition. At the
Pensacola contest last fall Al used his Wren
to place second in Commercial Rubber by six
seconds behind Bill Duke.
Al’s beautiful Wren is covered with
orange tissue and trimmed with light-blue
Brodak dope mixed specifically for that
model. The white trim is 1/8-inch auto
pinstriping tape. The model weighs just less
than 4 ounces without rubber.
Taking the advice of Jim Bethea of
Louisiana, Al is currently using 20 strands of
1/8 rubber and a standard 15-inch Superior
propeller.
“Jim’s comment when he watched me
launch it was that he hoped it didn’t burn on
re-entry,” said Al.
Dorhman Crawford mentioned a new
source for glow plugs that will fit the Cox
.049 engines. I ordered a half dozen and they
work fine.
The price is $4.50 each plus a $3 shipping
and handling charge, in US funds for as
many as 10 glowheads. Make your payment
via money order—not the US Postal Service
unless it’s an international money order.
Send your order to Bruce Duncan, #56-
9080-198th St., Langley, BC V1M 3A8,
Canada. He can be reached at a.b.duncan@
shaw.ca.
Mike Isermann built a beautiful box for
his FAC contest models. When Mike flies
to FAC contests, the box is shipped as
checked luggage and can be opened for
TSA (Transportation Security
Administration) inspection.
The basic structure is 1/4 plywood. It
uses a piano hinge to connect the halves. A
central post prevents the box from being
crushed by other luggage. The edges are
protected with aluminum right-angle stock.
Each model is nested in its own custom
foam cradle. Four rubber bands secure each
airplane.
If you live in California and would like to
see what the FAC is all about, check out the
first Southwestern Regional FAC Contest. It
will be held in Perris, California, at the
SCAMPS (Southern California Antique
Model Plane Society) flying site May 5-6.
There will be 10 events. Judging will be
Friday afternoon May 4, beginning at 2 p.m.
at the Days Inn in Perris.
There are 71 FAC Squadrons in
America, and 23 of those are west of the
Mississippi River. Many of these fliers do
not attend the FAC Nationals in Geneseo,
New York. This new event will afford them
an opportunity to fly in a major contest in
California.
Roger Willis is the CD, and the Scale
Staffel, FAC Squadron 41, is the host. Refer
any questions to Roger at (760) 603-8877 or
[email protected], or visit http://groups.
yahoo.com/group/facsouthwestregional/.
Roger has established an E-mail distribution
list to inform participants of the latest plans
for the event. E-mail him to be added to the
list.
Jerry Rocha, Mike Palrang, and Ding
Zarate of SAM 27 put up the winning flights
in last year’s nationwide Jimmie Allen
event. They were only 24 seconds short of a
perfect nine maxes among them. Jerry and
Ding flew B.A. Cabins. Mike flew a J.A.
Parasol, which is rarely seen in this event.
Mike’s Parasol was built from a Bob
Holman short kit. It came out at roughly 40
grams. The model flies on six strands of 3/32
weighing 10 grams.
Mike says the model flies fairly well, but
on the day they flew for times the air was
spectacular. All three of his maxes were
thermal assisted. Mike credits John Pratt
with helping him pick air. Mike uses a popup
stabilizer DT activated by a Badge timer.
The model had to come down from at least
100 feet on all the flights.
This was Mike’s second Parasol. The
first was fully trimmed and ready for the
contest when it got stuck on top of a
deserted building at the flying site. Since
that happened only two months before the
contest, Mike had to hustle to get another
one built and trimmed.
The second model was much easier to
build, thanks to Mike’s experience with the
first one. He appreciated his wife’s help in
printing the lozenge camouflage on the
computer; he thinks it gives the airplane a
nice World War I Fokker look. I agree. Nice
job!
The Parasol uses 5° of downthrust, 3° of
right thrust, and no rudder offset. The right
wing is flat and the left wing has
approximately 3/32 washout.
As is the custom for this event, the
winning team gets to coordinate the contest
the following year. If your SAM group
would like to participate in the Jimmie Allen
event this year, contact Jerry Rocha at 3583
Ruston Ln., Napa CA 94558.
If you are looking for regular Polyspan or
the new Polyspan Lite, check with Larry
Davidson. He also carries the Polyspan dye
and has a video about Polyspan application.
Larry has many more FF items for sale,
including ignition-engine accessories, silk,
and glass syringes. E-mail him at samchamp
@suddenlink.net and he will send you his
catalog as an attachment. For a hard copy
send an SASE to Larry at 66 Casa Mia Cir.,
Moneta VA 24121. You can also call (540)
721-4563.
Many of you will be glad to know that
Flying Scale is up and running again. After a
major setback because of Hurricane Katrina,
the plans service has moved to South
Carolina. The subjects include World War I,
Golden Age, and World War II aircraft.
Most of the plans are scaled 3/4 inch to the
foot, but some are 1 inch to the foot.
Bill Galloway, who is deceased, was a
skilled draftsman who did a beautiful job
with these rubber-powered scale-model
plans. I have the Bf 108 and the Val.
Bill’s son Danny is handling the plans
service. For a free list of more than 50 plans,
contact Danny at [email protected] or
send an SASE to Flying Scale, 2 Kate’s Ct.,
Greer SC 29650.
The Flying Aces calendar for 2007 is
available for $20 postpaid. It is loaded with
pictures of beautiful Scale models: the
perfect inspiration for your workshop wall.
Send your check to FAC GHQ, 3301 Cindy
Ln., Erie PA 16506. MA