126 MODEL AVIATION
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
Also included in this column:
• Grant Carson War Eagle P-30/
Mulvihill
• George White T-6B
• Schmidt’s Flemish Defiance
Bob Passerelli readies his Peanut Scale
Shoestring for winding in a simple tablemounted
Veteran FFers Mike Fedor and Larry Kruse compare notes at the AMA FF Nats. stooge.
Bob Marchese Prairie Bird tissue print
Grant Carson’s dual-purpose P-30/Mulvihill with its Mulvihill
propeller. Carson photo.
Bob Marchese added charisma to his Peck-Polymers Prairie Bird
by printing logos on the tissue before covering the model.
Marchese photo.
MANY MODELERS ARE covering their
airplanes with tissue that they run through
printers. Bob Marchese built a beautiful
Prairie Bird and covered it with tissue
decorated with multiple logos.
To cover an aircraft this way, start by
collecting photos, drawings, and artwork for
your project. Typical artwork includes
squadron details, commercial logos, and
lettering.
Scan or sketch the outlines of the model
parts. You need just enough detail to
determine the sizes and positions of the logos
or markings.
Using your favorite computer drawing
software (this could be the subject of a
separate article), import the model parts,
sketch rough polygons around them, and fill
them with the colors you want the tissue to
be.
Camouflage is no problem; simply try to
get smooth curves representing the color
borders from your photo documentation. If
you can, use your drawing tool to blur the
lines a bit if needed.
Arrange the logos, insignia, and lettering.
Try to match fonts when doing the lettering.
White areas will show up as the natural tissue
color.
Don’t forget your AMA numbers and
contact information, in case your model flies
away. If you are building a Scale model, you
might want to add lines for control surfaces,
access panels, and other details.
03sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 1/25/11 8:13 AM Page 126
March 2011 127
Right: George White’s T-6B will be easy to find in the field
with its bright day-glow finish. White photo.
Above: The Flemish Defiance has a wire wing mount that
is typical of many endurance models of the late 1930s. Bill
Schmidt photo.
Once Bob has laid out all the pieces, he
usually starts a new drawing with several
sheets that represent the print pages of tissue
and then cuts and pastes from the original.
Depending on the project and printer size, you
might need several sheets of paper.
Do some test prints of your artwork,
making sure that panels line up and that
everything is correctly positioned. If your
project calls for bond-paper parts, you can cut
those out and use them.
Bob uses a sheet of bond paper to carry
the tissue through the printer. He attaches it
by fogging a light coat of Krylon Easy-Tack
Repositionable Adhesive to the bond paper.
He lets it dry a moment and then places it
sticky-side-down on a sheet of tissue.
Bob makes sure that it’s smooth and then
cuts around the perimeter with a hobby knife.
If you use this method, make a few extra
sheets in case your first ones don’t turn out.
Flip it over and smooth any wrinkles.
Imported rice-paper tissues usually have a
shiny and a dull side. You can use either one
for your project.
Bob usually uses the shiny side, so he
attaches the carrier sheet to the dull side. You
might want to do it the other way around if
your project is a military subject.
Load the tissue plus carrier sheet in your
printer and push the print button. Bob usually
does this one sheet at a time, because he often
needs to make adjustments on the first few
prints.
The default settings are typically close to
what you will want, but you can go to the
“properties” page and adjust settings if
needed. If your printed tissue gets smudged,
try one of the semigloss paper settings.
Bob normally uses the “Text & Image”
function under print quality. You might
have to experiment here.
Now you can use the tissue to cover
your airplane as you normally would. If
your artwork extends across two or more
panels, lining them up can be
tricky; take it slow around
polyhedral wings and
complex fuselage
shapes.
Bob usually leaves the tissue attached to
the carrier sheet until it’s time to cover, and
then he cuts the area he needs and peels away
the carrier sheet. He has used thinned white
glue, dope, and glue sticks to attach the tissue
to the balsa structure.
DURABrite inks for Epson printers are
water-resistant, so any water-based covering
techniques should work fine. This applies to
shrinking as well. Water (even a fairly
aggressive spray) doesn’t make the ink run.
Bob uses an atomizer to spray a fog in the
air and then lets the mist fall as he waves the
covered part through the damp air a few
times. In any case, test your favorite covering
and finishing technique on a small piece, to
make sure that water doesn’t ruin your work.
Grant Carson’s attachment to Auburn
University is reflected in his War Eagle
design for P-30 and Mulvihill. War Eagle is
the battle cry of Auburn University, and its
colors are orange and blue.
The model is basically a large P-30. The
wing is 5 x 30 inches, and the stabilizer is 4 x
14 inches. With a 16-inch Coupe propeller
and twice the rubber of a P-30, 12 strands
instead of six 1/8 inch, it’s a small, light
Mulvihill. In Mulvihill mode there is a long
motor run and the airplane gets very high.
Except for the fact that the aircraft is large
for a P-30, there is little remarkable about
War Eagle. The design is square, except for
the wingtips. The fuselage and rudders are
made from 3/32 sticks, and the wing and
stabilizer ribs are 1/32 sheet.
The covering of the original was Japanese
tissue. It weighed 45 grams in the P-30 mode.
When switching from P-30 to Mulvihill
mode, Grant has to add 1/8 inch of incidence
in the front of the wing. He doesn’t know
exactly why, but it works!
The original version won Mulvihill at the
2009 Nats. Grant lost it later that year at the
Rocky Mountain Championships. The
replacement is identical, except that he used
Litefilm for the blue
covering because
he had run out of
dark-blue tissue.
The typical Mulvihill aircraft is huge.
Grant asked himself, “Why not use a
smaller, much lighter model?”
He believes that the only advantage of
the traditional, bigger Mulvihill is that it
can be seen at a longer distance. However,
a keen-eyed timer with good binoculars
levels the playing field.
There have been a number of small
Mulvihill designs through the years, but
Grant’s War Eagle is the only one I have
seen that is used both as a P-30 and a
Mulvihill. However, it certainly wasn’t the
first dual-purpose design to win Mulvihill.
Mike Fedor, who is famous or
infamous for unique approaches to events,
depending on your point of view, once
won Dawn Mulvihill flying a Pennyplane!
Built for Indoor FF, it did great in the lowlift
calm conditions of that morning. Now
that’s thinking outside the box!
At the AMA FF Nats a couple years
ago I got a picture of Mike Fedor and
Larry Kruse visiting on the flightline.
Mike is holding his 1/2A Senator that he
flew in 1/4A Nostalgia using a TD .020
engine.
He had a max and two drops—
testimony to the difficulty of that event.
Unless there is unusually good air, maxes
are tough to execute in 1/4A Nostalgia.
Larry has had good luck with his
Campbell’s Custom Kits Majestyk P-30. It
features the popular GizmoGeezer front
bearing.
George White has unveiled another
beautifully crafted model from his
workshop. It’s a T-6B that he built from
Bob Isaacks plans that were featured in the
February 2010 MA.
The markings are those of one of the
first T-6Bs that the Navy accepted in late
2009 as a replacement for the T-34C. The
first student to complete his flight training
in this model received his wings in
November 2010.
The full-scale T-6B is extremely fast
and has a glass cockpit, ejection seats, and
air-conditioning. It’s a remarkable upgrade
from the T-34C.
The 25-inch-wingspan model weighs
71 grams, giving it a wing loading of .57
gram per square inch. It should fly great.
George was disappointed in the dayglow
Krylon spray paint. It had so much
03sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 1/25/11 8:13 AM Page 127
drying agent that some of the paint was dry
before it hit the model, resulting in a sort of
stucco effect. Despite that, the T-6B looks
great to me.
George had CallieGraphics make the
markings on 3mil vinyl. The material is so
thin that it feels like a decal.
Bob Isaacks can supply canopies,
spinners, and decals for the model. Plans
are available from the AMA Plans
Service, via the AMA Web site.
Bill Schmidt built an immaculate
“Tribute to Brave Nations” Flemish
Defiance: a lovely small rubber stick of
1940 by Joe Elgin. The power train
consists of a 12-inch propeller and six
braided strands of 3/16-inch rubber.
The Flemish Defiance was originally
marketed as a Cleveland kit. Plans are
available from Aerodyne.
I have loved the Shoestring Formula One
racer since I was a kid, so I was pleased to
see Bob Passarelli’s Peanut Scale version at
the 2010 Flying Aces Club Nats.
Bob built the model from scratch. It came
out at a respectable 13 grams and was a good,
stable flier. MA
Sources:
Campbell’s Custom Kits
(765) 393-3776
www.campbellscustomkits.com
GizmoGeezer Products
(306) 955-1620
www.gizmogeezer.com
CallieGraphics
(505) 281-9310
www.callie-graphics.com
Bob Isaacks
[email protected]
AMA
(765) 287-1256
www.modelaircraft.org
Aerodyne
www.freeflightmodels.com
128 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Academy of Model
Aeronautics
ARF Almost Ready to
Fly
BEC Battery Eliminator
Circuit
CA cyanoacrylate glue
CAD computer-aided
design
cc cubic centimeter
CD contest director
or compact disc
CG center of gravity
CL Control Line
cm centimeter
cu. in. cubic inch
dBA DeciBels Adjusted
(noise power
calculated in dB
[decibel])
DT dethermalizer
EAA Experimental
Aircraft Association
EPP (foam) expanded
polypropylene
ESC Electronic Speed
Control
EPS expanded
polystyrene foam
FAI Fédération
Aéronautique
Internationale
FAA Federal Aviation
Administration
FCC Federal
Communications
Commission
FF Free Flight
GHz gigahertz
ID inside diameter
Kv rpm/volt
kV kilovolt (1,000
volts)
LCD Liquid Crystal
Display
LE leading edge
LED light-emitting diode
Li-Poly Lithium Polymer
mA milliamperes
MA Model Aviation
mAh milliampere-hours
MHz megahertz
mm millimeter
Nats AMA Nationals
nitro nitromethane
Ni-Cd Nickel Cadmium
NiMH Nickel Metal
Hydride
OD outside diameter
RC Radio Control
rpm revolutions per
minute
RTF Ready to Fly
SASE self-addressed,
stamped envelope
SIG Special Interest
Group
TE trailing edge
Model Aviation’s
Frequently Used Abbreviations/Acronyms
Tell them you saw it in
“Modeler’s Mall”
03sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 1/25/11 8:13 AM Page 128
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/03
Page Numbers: 126,127,128
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/03
Page Numbers: 126,127,128
126 MODEL AVIATION
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
Also included in this column:
• Grant Carson War Eagle P-30/
Mulvihill
• George White T-6B
• Schmidt’s Flemish Defiance
Bob Passerelli readies his Peanut Scale
Shoestring for winding in a simple tablemounted
Veteran FFers Mike Fedor and Larry Kruse compare notes at the AMA FF Nats. stooge.
Bob Marchese Prairie Bird tissue print
Grant Carson’s dual-purpose P-30/Mulvihill with its Mulvihill
propeller. Carson photo.
Bob Marchese added charisma to his Peck-Polymers Prairie Bird
by printing logos on the tissue before covering the model.
Marchese photo.
MANY MODELERS ARE covering their
airplanes with tissue that they run through
printers. Bob Marchese built a beautiful
Prairie Bird and covered it with tissue
decorated with multiple logos.
To cover an aircraft this way, start by
collecting photos, drawings, and artwork for
your project. Typical artwork includes
squadron details, commercial logos, and
lettering.
Scan or sketch the outlines of the model
parts. You need just enough detail to
determine the sizes and positions of the logos
or markings.
Using your favorite computer drawing
software (this could be the subject of a
separate article), import the model parts,
sketch rough polygons around them, and fill
them with the colors you want the tissue to
be.
Camouflage is no problem; simply try to
get smooth curves representing the color
borders from your photo documentation. If
you can, use your drawing tool to blur the
lines a bit if needed.
Arrange the logos, insignia, and lettering.
Try to match fonts when doing the lettering.
White areas will show up as the natural tissue
color.
Don’t forget your AMA numbers and
contact information, in case your model flies
away. If you are building a Scale model, you
might want to add lines for control surfaces,
access panels, and other details.
03sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 1/25/11 8:13 AM Page 126
March 2011 127
Right: George White’s T-6B will be easy to find in the field
with its bright day-glow finish. White photo.
Above: The Flemish Defiance has a wire wing mount that
is typical of many endurance models of the late 1930s. Bill
Schmidt photo.
Once Bob has laid out all the pieces, he
usually starts a new drawing with several
sheets that represent the print pages of tissue
and then cuts and pastes from the original.
Depending on the project and printer size, you
might need several sheets of paper.
Do some test prints of your artwork,
making sure that panels line up and that
everything is correctly positioned. If your
project calls for bond-paper parts, you can cut
those out and use them.
Bob uses a sheet of bond paper to carry
the tissue through the printer. He attaches it
by fogging a light coat of Krylon Easy-Tack
Repositionable Adhesive to the bond paper.
He lets it dry a moment and then places it
sticky-side-down on a sheet of tissue.
Bob makes sure that it’s smooth and then
cuts around the perimeter with a hobby knife.
If you use this method, make a few extra
sheets in case your first ones don’t turn out.
Flip it over and smooth any wrinkles.
Imported rice-paper tissues usually have a
shiny and a dull side. You can use either one
for your project.
Bob usually uses the shiny side, so he
attaches the carrier sheet to the dull side. You
might want to do it the other way around if
your project is a military subject.
Load the tissue plus carrier sheet in your
printer and push the print button. Bob usually
does this one sheet at a time, because he often
needs to make adjustments on the first few
prints.
The default settings are typically close to
what you will want, but you can go to the
“properties” page and adjust settings if
needed. If your printed tissue gets smudged,
try one of the semigloss paper settings.
Bob normally uses the “Text & Image”
function under print quality. You might
have to experiment here.
Now you can use the tissue to cover
your airplane as you normally would. If
your artwork extends across two or more
panels, lining them up can be
tricky; take it slow around
polyhedral wings and
complex fuselage
shapes.
Bob usually leaves the tissue attached to
the carrier sheet until it’s time to cover, and
then he cuts the area he needs and peels away
the carrier sheet. He has used thinned white
glue, dope, and glue sticks to attach the tissue
to the balsa structure.
DURABrite inks for Epson printers are
water-resistant, so any water-based covering
techniques should work fine. This applies to
shrinking as well. Water (even a fairly
aggressive spray) doesn’t make the ink run.
Bob uses an atomizer to spray a fog in the
air and then lets the mist fall as he waves the
covered part through the damp air a few
times. In any case, test your favorite covering
and finishing technique on a small piece, to
make sure that water doesn’t ruin your work.
Grant Carson’s attachment to Auburn
University is reflected in his War Eagle
design for P-30 and Mulvihill. War Eagle is
the battle cry of Auburn University, and its
colors are orange and blue.
The model is basically a large P-30. The
wing is 5 x 30 inches, and the stabilizer is 4 x
14 inches. With a 16-inch Coupe propeller
and twice the rubber of a P-30, 12 strands
instead of six 1/8 inch, it’s a small, light
Mulvihill. In Mulvihill mode there is a long
motor run and the airplane gets very high.
Except for the fact that the aircraft is large
for a P-30, there is little remarkable about
War Eagle. The design is square, except for
the wingtips. The fuselage and rudders are
made from 3/32 sticks, and the wing and
stabilizer ribs are 1/32 sheet.
The covering of the original was Japanese
tissue. It weighed 45 grams in the P-30 mode.
When switching from P-30 to Mulvihill
mode, Grant has to add 1/8 inch of incidence
in the front of the wing. He doesn’t know
exactly why, but it works!
The original version won Mulvihill at the
2009 Nats. Grant lost it later that year at the
Rocky Mountain Championships. The
replacement is identical, except that he used
Litefilm for the blue
covering because
he had run out of
dark-blue tissue.
The typical Mulvihill aircraft is huge.
Grant asked himself, “Why not use a
smaller, much lighter model?”
He believes that the only advantage of
the traditional, bigger Mulvihill is that it
can be seen at a longer distance. However,
a keen-eyed timer with good binoculars
levels the playing field.
There have been a number of small
Mulvihill designs through the years, but
Grant’s War Eagle is the only one I have
seen that is used both as a P-30 and a
Mulvihill. However, it certainly wasn’t the
first dual-purpose design to win Mulvihill.
Mike Fedor, who is famous or
infamous for unique approaches to events,
depending on your point of view, once
won Dawn Mulvihill flying a Pennyplane!
Built for Indoor FF, it did great in the lowlift
calm conditions of that morning. Now
that’s thinking outside the box!
At the AMA FF Nats a couple years
ago I got a picture of Mike Fedor and
Larry Kruse visiting on the flightline.
Mike is holding his 1/2A Senator that he
flew in 1/4A Nostalgia using a TD .020
engine.
He had a max and two drops—
testimony to the difficulty of that event.
Unless there is unusually good air, maxes
are tough to execute in 1/4A Nostalgia.
Larry has had good luck with his
Campbell’s Custom Kits Majestyk P-30. It
features the popular GizmoGeezer front
bearing.
George White has unveiled another
beautifully crafted model from his
workshop. It’s a T-6B that he built from
Bob Isaacks plans that were featured in the
February 2010 MA.
The markings are those of one of the
first T-6Bs that the Navy accepted in late
2009 as a replacement for the T-34C. The
first student to complete his flight training
in this model received his wings in
November 2010.
The full-scale T-6B is extremely fast
and has a glass cockpit, ejection seats, and
air-conditioning. It’s a remarkable upgrade
from the T-34C.
The 25-inch-wingspan model weighs
71 grams, giving it a wing loading of .57
gram per square inch. It should fly great.
George was disappointed in the dayglow
Krylon spray paint. It had so much
03sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 1/25/11 8:13 AM Page 127
drying agent that some of the paint was dry
before it hit the model, resulting in a sort of
stucco effect. Despite that, the T-6B looks
great to me.
George had CallieGraphics make the
markings on 3mil vinyl. The material is so
thin that it feels like a decal.
Bob Isaacks can supply canopies,
spinners, and decals for the model. Plans
are available from the AMA Plans
Service, via the AMA Web site.
Bill Schmidt built an immaculate
“Tribute to Brave Nations” Flemish
Defiance: a lovely small rubber stick of
1940 by Joe Elgin. The power train
consists of a 12-inch propeller and six
braided strands of 3/16-inch rubber.
The Flemish Defiance was originally
marketed as a Cleveland kit. Plans are
available from Aerodyne.
I have loved the Shoestring Formula One
racer since I was a kid, so I was pleased to
see Bob Passarelli’s Peanut Scale version at
the 2010 Flying Aces Club Nats.
Bob built the model from scratch. It came
out at a respectable 13 grams and was a good,
stable flier. MA
Sources:
Campbell’s Custom Kits
(765) 393-3776
www.campbellscustomkits.com
GizmoGeezer Products
(306) 955-1620
www.gizmogeezer.com
CallieGraphics
(505) 281-9310
www.callie-graphics.com
Bob Isaacks
[email protected]
AMA
(765) 287-1256
www.modelaircraft.org
Aerodyne
www.freeflightmodels.com
128 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Academy of Model
Aeronautics
ARF Almost Ready to
Fly
BEC Battery Eliminator
Circuit
CA cyanoacrylate glue
CAD computer-aided
design
cc cubic centimeter
CD contest director
or compact disc
CG center of gravity
CL Control Line
cm centimeter
cu. in. cubic inch
dBA DeciBels Adjusted
(noise power
calculated in dB
[decibel])
DT dethermalizer
EAA Experimental
Aircraft Association
EPP (foam) expanded
polypropylene
ESC Electronic Speed
Control
EPS expanded
polystyrene foam
FAI Fédération
Aéronautique
Internationale
FAA Federal Aviation
Administration
FCC Federal
Communications
Commission
FF Free Flight
GHz gigahertz
ID inside diameter
Kv rpm/volt
kV kilovolt (1,000
volts)
LCD Liquid Crystal
Display
LE leading edge
LED light-emitting diode
Li-Poly Lithium Polymer
mA milliamperes
MA Model Aviation
mAh milliampere-hours
MHz megahertz
mm millimeter
Nats AMA Nationals
nitro nitromethane
Ni-Cd Nickel Cadmium
NiMH Nickel Metal
Hydride
OD outside diameter
RC Radio Control
rpm revolutions per
minute
RTF Ready to Fly
SASE self-addressed,
stamped envelope
SIG Special Interest
Group
TE trailing edge
Model Aviation’s
Frequently Used Abbreviations/Acronyms
Tell them you saw it in
“Modeler’s Mall”
03sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 1/25/11 8:13 AM Page 128
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/03
Page Numbers: 126,127,128
126 MODEL AVIATION
[[email protected]]
Free Flight Sport Gene Smith
Also included in this column:
• Grant Carson War Eagle P-30/
Mulvihill
• George White T-6B
• Schmidt’s Flemish Defiance
Bob Passerelli readies his Peanut Scale
Shoestring for winding in a simple tablemounted
Veteran FFers Mike Fedor and Larry Kruse compare notes at the AMA FF Nats. stooge.
Bob Marchese Prairie Bird tissue print
Grant Carson’s dual-purpose P-30/Mulvihill with its Mulvihill
propeller. Carson photo.
Bob Marchese added charisma to his Peck-Polymers Prairie Bird
by printing logos on the tissue before covering the model.
Marchese photo.
MANY MODELERS ARE covering their
airplanes with tissue that they run through
printers. Bob Marchese built a beautiful
Prairie Bird and covered it with tissue
decorated with multiple logos.
To cover an aircraft this way, start by
collecting photos, drawings, and artwork for
your project. Typical artwork includes
squadron details, commercial logos, and
lettering.
Scan or sketch the outlines of the model
parts. You need just enough detail to
determine the sizes and positions of the logos
or markings.
Using your favorite computer drawing
software (this could be the subject of a
separate article), import the model parts,
sketch rough polygons around them, and fill
them with the colors you want the tissue to
be.
Camouflage is no problem; simply try to
get smooth curves representing the color
borders from your photo documentation. If
you can, use your drawing tool to blur the
lines a bit if needed.
Arrange the logos, insignia, and lettering.
Try to match fonts when doing the lettering.
White areas will show up as the natural tissue
color.
Don’t forget your AMA numbers and
contact information, in case your model flies
away. If you are building a Scale model, you
might want to add lines for control surfaces,
access panels, and other details.
03sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 1/25/11 8:13 AM Page 126
March 2011 127
Right: George White’s T-6B will be easy to find in the field
with its bright day-glow finish. White photo.
Above: The Flemish Defiance has a wire wing mount that
is typical of many endurance models of the late 1930s. Bill
Schmidt photo.
Once Bob has laid out all the pieces, he
usually starts a new drawing with several
sheets that represent the print pages of tissue
and then cuts and pastes from the original.
Depending on the project and printer size, you
might need several sheets of paper.
Do some test prints of your artwork,
making sure that panels line up and that
everything is correctly positioned. If your
project calls for bond-paper parts, you can cut
those out and use them.
Bob uses a sheet of bond paper to carry
the tissue through the printer. He attaches it
by fogging a light coat of Krylon Easy-Tack
Repositionable Adhesive to the bond paper.
He lets it dry a moment and then places it
sticky-side-down on a sheet of tissue.
Bob makes sure that it’s smooth and then
cuts around the perimeter with a hobby knife.
If you use this method, make a few extra
sheets in case your first ones don’t turn out.
Flip it over and smooth any wrinkles.
Imported rice-paper tissues usually have a
shiny and a dull side. You can use either one
for your project.
Bob usually uses the shiny side, so he
attaches the carrier sheet to the dull side. You
might want to do it the other way around if
your project is a military subject.
Load the tissue plus carrier sheet in your
printer and push the print button. Bob usually
does this one sheet at a time, because he often
needs to make adjustments on the first few
prints.
The default settings are typically close to
what you will want, but you can go to the
“properties” page and adjust settings if
needed. If your printed tissue gets smudged,
try one of the semigloss paper settings.
Bob normally uses the “Text & Image”
function under print quality. You might
have to experiment here.
Now you can use the tissue to cover
your airplane as you normally would. If
your artwork extends across two or more
panels, lining them up can be
tricky; take it slow around
polyhedral wings and
complex fuselage
shapes.
Bob usually leaves the tissue attached to
the carrier sheet until it’s time to cover, and
then he cuts the area he needs and peels away
the carrier sheet. He has used thinned white
glue, dope, and glue sticks to attach the tissue
to the balsa structure.
DURABrite inks for Epson printers are
water-resistant, so any water-based covering
techniques should work fine. This applies to
shrinking as well. Water (even a fairly
aggressive spray) doesn’t make the ink run.
Bob uses an atomizer to spray a fog in the
air and then lets the mist fall as he waves the
covered part through the damp air a few
times. In any case, test your favorite covering
and finishing technique on a small piece, to
make sure that water doesn’t ruin your work.
Grant Carson’s attachment to Auburn
University is reflected in his War Eagle
design for P-30 and Mulvihill. War Eagle is
the battle cry of Auburn University, and its
colors are orange and blue.
The model is basically a large P-30. The
wing is 5 x 30 inches, and the stabilizer is 4 x
14 inches. With a 16-inch Coupe propeller
and twice the rubber of a P-30, 12 strands
instead of six 1/8 inch, it’s a small, light
Mulvihill. In Mulvihill mode there is a long
motor run and the airplane gets very high.
Except for the fact that the aircraft is large
for a P-30, there is little remarkable about
War Eagle. The design is square, except for
the wingtips. The fuselage and rudders are
made from 3/32 sticks, and the wing and
stabilizer ribs are 1/32 sheet.
The covering of the original was Japanese
tissue. It weighed 45 grams in the P-30 mode.
When switching from P-30 to Mulvihill
mode, Grant has to add 1/8 inch of incidence
in the front of the wing. He doesn’t know
exactly why, but it works!
The original version won Mulvihill at the
2009 Nats. Grant lost it later that year at the
Rocky Mountain Championships. The
replacement is identical, except that he used
Litefilm for the blue
covering because
he had run out of
dark-blue tissue.
The typical Mulvihill aircraft is huge.
Grant asked himself, “Why not use a
smaller, much lighter model?”
He believes that the only advantage of
the traditional, bigger Mulvihill is that it
can be seen at a longer distance. However,
a keen-eyed timer with good binoculars
levels the playing field.
There have been a number of small
Mulvihill designs through the years, but
Grant’s War Eagle is the only one I have
seen that is used both as a P-30 and a
Mulvihill. However, it certainly wasn’t the
first dual-purpose design to win Mulvihill.
Mike Fedor, who is famous or
infamous for unique approaches to events,
depending on your point of view, once
won Dawn Mulvihill flying a Pennyplane!
Built for Indoor FF, it did great in the lowlift
calm conditions of that morning. Now
that’s thinking outside the box!
At the AMA FF Nats a couple years
ago I got a picture of Mike Fedor and
Larry Kruse visiting on the flightline.
Mike is holding his 1/2A Senator that he
flew in 1/4A Nostalgia using a TD .020
engine.
He had a max and two drops—
testimony to the difficulty of that event.
Unless there is unusually good air, maxes
are tough to execute in 1/4A Nostalgia.
Larry has had good luck with his
Campbell’s Custom Kits Majestyk P-30. It
features the popular GizmoGeezer front
bearing.
George White has unveiled another
beautifully crafted model from his
workshop. It’s a T-6B that he built from
Bob Isaacks plans that were featured in the
February 2010 MA.
The markings are those of one of the
first T-6Bs that the Navy accepted in late
2009 as a replacement for the T-34C. The
first student to complete his flight training
in this model received his wings in
November 2010.
The full-scale T-6B is extremely fast
and has a glass cockpit, ejection seats, and
air-conditioning. It’s a remarkable upgrade
from the T-34C.
The 25-inch-wingspan model weighs
71 grams, giving it a wing loading of .57
gram per square inch. It should fly great.
George was disappointed in the dayglow
Krylon spray paint. It had so much
03sig4.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 1/25/11 8:13 AM Page 127
drying agent that some of the paint was dry
before it hit the model, resulting in a sort of
stucco effect. Despite that, the T-6B looks
great to me.
George had CallieGraphics make the
markings on 3mil vinyl. The material is so
thin that it feels like a decal.
Bob Isaacks can supply canopies,
spinners, and decals for the model. Plans
are available from the AMA Plans
Service, via the AMA Web site.
Bill Schmidt built an immaculate
“Tribute to Brave Nations” Flemish
Defiance: a lovely small rubber stick of
1940 by Joe Elgin. The power train
consists of a 12-inch propeller and six
braided strands of 3/16-inch rubber.
The Flemish Defiance was originally
marketed as a Cleveland kit. Plans are
available from Aerodyne.
I have loved the Shoestring Formula One
racer since I was a kid, so I was pleased to
see Bob Passarelli’s Peanut Scale version at
the 2010 Flying Aces Club Nats.
Bob built the model from scratch. It came
out at a respectable 13 grams and was a good,
stable flier. MA
Sources:
Campbell’s Custom Kits
(765) 393-3776
www.campbellscustomkits.com
GizmoGeezer Products
(306) 955-1620
www.gizmogeezer.com
CallieGraphics
(505) 281-9310
www.callie-graphics.com
Bob Isaacks
[email protected]
AMA
(765) 287-1256
www.modelaircraft.org
Aerodyne
www.freeflightmodels.com
128 MODEL AVIATION
AMA Academy of Model
Aeronautics
ARF Almost Ready to
Fly
BEC Battery Eliminator
Circuit
CA cyanoacrylate glue
CAD computer-aided
design
cc cubic centimeter
CD contest director
or compact disc
CG center of gravity
CL Control Line
cm centimeter
cu. in. cubic inch
dBA DeciBels Adjusted
(noise power
calculated in dB
[decibel])
DT dethermalizer
EAA Experimental
Aircraft Association
EPP (foam) expanded
polypropylene
ESC Electronic Speed
Control
EPS expanded
polystyrene foam
FAI Fédération
Aéronautique
Internationale
FAA Federal Aviation
Administration
FCC Federal
Communications
Commission
FF Free Flight
GHz gigahertz
ID inside diameter
Kv rpm/volt
kV kilovolt (1,000
volts)
LCD Liquid Crystal
Display
LE leading edge
LED light-emitting diode
Li-Poly Lithium Polymer
mA milliamperes
MA Model Aviation
mAh milliampere-hours
MHz megahertz
mm millimeter
Nats AMA Nationals
nitro nitromethane
Ni-Cd Nickel Cadmium
NiMH Nickel Metal
Hydride
OD outside diameter
RC Radio Control
rpm revolutions per
minute
RTF Ready to Fly
SASE self-addressed,
stamped envelope
SIG Special Interest
Group
TE trailing edge
Model Aviation’s
Frequently Used Abbreviations/Acronyms
Tell them you saw it in
“Modeler’s Mall”
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