Have your Ramrod ready for the 2008 AMA Nats!
Gene Smith
DON'T FORGET the Ramrod One Design event at the AMA Nats in August. Enter your Ramrod 250 with a Nostalgia-eligible .049 engine.
Mike Midkiff — Ramrod Mitsubishi Zero (short kit)
The latest model out of Mike Midkiff's hangar is a Mitsubishi Zero. The 10-inch-diameter, 12-inch-pitch propeller uses Mike's tried-and-true blades made from 1/32" plywood that are boiled and then baked over a form. A dowel is glued into a slot in each blade, and the dowel is inserted into a hole in the spinner.
Finish and details:
- Airbrushed Tamiya paint with a final coat of matte Krylon clear.
- Plug-in landing gear that can be removed for flight.
- Meatballs made from white ink-jet decal paper.
Short kit contents and specs:
- Full laser-cut parts, canopy, building instructions, three-view, plain-paper color decals, plans, and a materials list.
- Model spans 27" and weighs 60 g (without rubber and landing gear).
- Power: one loop of 3/16" and one loop of 1/4" rubber.
- Short kit price: $30 plus $6 shipping.
- Short kits typically do not include sticks (LEs, TEs, stringers).
Mike will make several designs available as short kits, including the Sea Hornet. See his offerings on the Ozark Model Aviation website.
Kate Byrd — Pacific Ace
Kate Byrd recently rejoined the Pensacola Free Flight Team (PFFT) and is shown readying the first rubber model she has built since childhood. Kate, who’s "on the other side of 80," is the wife of the only remaining original PFFT member, the sister of a longtime member, and the mother of a "younger" member. With a little tweaking, her Pacific Ace flew well; she attributes the success to the pink wheels.
Bill Schmidt — 1947 Bellanca Cruisair
Bill drew the plans for and built a beautiful rendition of a 1947 Bellanca Cruisair.
- Span: 27"
- Propeller: 8" Peck-Polymers prop
- Power: two 22" loops of 1/8" rubber braided to approximately 19"
- Covering: Japanese tissue
Plans for this model and many other Rubber Scale, Texaco Scale, and CL models are available from Bill (send an SASE for the plans list).
Bob Schlosberg — Aeronca Champ
Bob built an immaculate Aeronca Champ from old MaxFax plans (the D.C. Maxecuters’ club newsletter).
- Span: 18"
- Power: Brown A-23 CO2 motor
Windshield and window attachment techniques Bob uses:
- Cyanoacrylate applied very carefully: he uses the smallest applicator tubing he can find and wicks the adhesive under the edge of the canopy.
- Attaches the canopy and windows after painting is complete.
- Side windows: attached with acetone applied with a tiny brush; the acetone melts the underlying finish and bonds the window material.
Trim and finishing tips:
- Uses striping tape between the cowling and the window. He sands the tape to improve paint adhesion, paints it to match the model, then applies it.
- Uses a hair dryer to slightly heat the striping tape to accomplish wraparound on the wing root (avoid too much heat or the tape will curl).
- Uses Sig dope to paint his models.
- Tip: use a hair dryer to help loosen masking tape when removing it.
Grant Carson — Peck-Polymers Pietenpol
Grant says the most challenging part of building his Pietenpol was reproducing the Model A engine at extremely small scale; the spark plugs are pins wrapped with paper strips. With the big radiator perpendicular to the airstream, Grant didn't expect the Peck-Polymers Pietenpol to be competitive, but he built it for its charisma. Best flight to date: 40 seconds on a loop of 3/16" rubber. The model tends to skid rather than bank in turns because of minimal dihedral and the parasol configuration, but it flies reliably.
Peck-Polymers / Tim Goldstein
Tim Goldstein now produces the Peck-Polymers series of Peanut Scale kits. The kits are laser cut and the wood quality is excellent. Check them out on the Peck-Polymers website.
Richard Adams — Fokker D.VII (RockyTop Models kit)
Richard built his Fokker D.VII from a RockyTop Models kit and completed it in two weeks. He chose the color scheme of Carl Degelow’s Jasta 40 airplane.
Covering and finishing:
- Fuselage: white and black Esaki tissue, with one thin coat of acrylic white and black thinned to 50% and applied with a paintbrush.
- Fuselage stag graphic: created in Photoshop, printed on white decal paper. Richard painted a white background on the model for contrast and added a black border around the decal to simplify cutting and placement.
- Wings: white Esaki tissue with a five-color lozenge pattern printed on it using an HP ink-jet printer. Applied with standard nitrate dope techniques, shrunk with alcohol to prevent ink run, then received one coat of 50% nitrate dope.
- Rib strips: made by brushing a piece of white tissue (stretched in a wood frame) with light blue and pink acrylic paint, then stripping the tissue. Blue strips go on top, pink on the bottom, applied with thin white glue.
- Crosses: white tissue with white paint on the undersurface and black colored tissue applied with thinned white glue.
- Final finish: overall light spray of glossy clear Krylon to give a gentle shine. Guns, wheels, and cockpit coaming were added last.
Model specs:
- Weight (without motor): 60 g
- Propeller: standard 9" red plastic P-30 style with outer 1/4" cut off and tips rounded
- Motor: 24" made from two loops of 3/16" Tan Super Sport
This D.VII has two second-place trophies: one from Muncie last year and one from the Western Flying Aces Club (FAC) Nationals at Perris, CA.
Plans and vintage resources
- DB Design Bureau (Derek Buckmaster): free plans for some neat Australian airplanes available for download. The Wackett Trainer "neo Dime" could be used as a Dime Scale or scaled up for FAC low-wing trainer events.
- Charles F. Schultz: a great selection of plans from the 1930s and 1940s (mostly Scale, plus endurance and sport models) including designs from Berkeley, Burd, Comet, Megow, Hi-Flier, Whitman, Scientific, and other manufacturers. These plans are well reproduced. For a buck you can get a complete list from Charles.
Contests and events
- Magnificent Mountain Men (MMM), Denver, CO: Last year the club expanded its annual Labor Day contest to include FAC events. Despite facing loss of its flying site, the MMM negotiated continued use of the site for at least this year. Check the club website for details.
- FAC Nats (Geneseo, NY): July 17–19. The event will run Thursday through Saturday instead of the previous Friday–Sunday schedule. Scale judging will be Wednesday afternoon.
- Rubber rise-off-water (ROW) at the AMA Nats, Muncie, IN: Bob Langelius and Abram Van Dover will sponsor a low-key ROW event on Tuesday, August 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the ROW tank. Any rubber-powered model with floats that floats unassisted for 30 seconds is allowed. This is a fun event, so "maxes" may be limited. The tank is in the center of the field—come have some fun. Contact Bob Langelius with questions.
See you there!
Sources / Contacts
- Bill Schmidt
4647 Krueger Wichita KS 67220
- Bob Langelius
- Charles F. Schultz
910 Broadfields Dr. Louisville KY 40207
- DB Design Bureau
http://dbdesignbureau.buckmasterfamily.id.au/
- MMM (Magnificent Mountain Men)
- Ozark Model Aviation
(817) 845-4189 www.ozarkmodelaviation.com
- Peck-Polymers
(720) 833-9300 www.peck-polymers.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
