Radio Control Giants - 2007/11

90 MODEL AVIATION
The first flight of Dave Wigley’s incredible Westland Wyvern
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Giants Sal Calvagna
Also included in this column:
• First flight of the
Boomerang XL
• 1/3-scale Fokker D.VI by
Gunther Uthgenannt
• 1/2-scale Fly Baby by Walt
Moucha
Gunther Uthgenannt of Syosset NY displays his newly completed
1/3-scale Fokker D.VI. A Zenoah GT-80 twin-cylinder gas engine
powers the model.
Dave Wigley’s 1/5-scale Westland Wyvern performs a dirty pass
with gear down, flaps down, and tailhook extended.
The BME 100-powered Wyvern screams in for a photo pass,
showing its contrarotating propellers.
Seen on final approach, the Fokker is a gentle flier that is unusual
to see on the World War I scale aircraft circuit.
WHEN I WRITE a column about RC Giant aircraft I make every
attempt to include the maximum number of photos allowed. I am
allotted six photos per monthly column, although occasionally I can
submit one or two extra upon request. I’m happy to note that the
magazine staff has been supportive in this regard.
I think the readers enjoy seeing color photos of model aircraft
slightly more than reading my prose; I’ll be the first to admit that I’m
no Pulitzer Prize-winning author! I feel that the modeler is as important
as the model, so I try to submit at least two pictures on any given
subject: one with the proud owner/builder with his or her model and a
second one with the aircraft in flight.
It doesn’t matter to me if the aircraft is taking off, landing, or
performing a slow pass as long as it is airborne. This is proof that what
started out as a “model” is now an “aircraft.” Until the model takes that
first flight, it remains only a model! Any comments?
In 2005 I submitted a couple photos and a write-up about Dave
Wigley’s Westland Wyvern. It was an unusual subject that Dave
scratch-built in 1/5 scale from three-views and other documentation.
The photos I submitted showed the framed model sitting on scale
landing gear that Dave designed.
Fast forward to the May 2007 column, in which I included another
photo of the nearly completed Wyvern. After five years of construction
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Dave finally finished the model, and I can share a couple of great flight
shots of this magnificent aircraft. This beautifully constructed airplane
has plenty of scale detail.
Enjoy the photos; they tell it all! Following is an excerpt from my
June 2005 column about Dave and his Wyvern project.
“Dave Wigley of Smithtown, New York, has been scratch building
a 1/5-scale Westland Wyvern for the past three years. Scratch building
is an understatement because Dave designed the model, made the
molds for the cowling and canopy, designed and built the
contrarotating (free spinning) propeller assembly, and even made the
landing-gear struts using a milling machine and lathe. Talk about an
underachiever!
“According to Dave, the Wyvern spans 100 inches, will be powered
by a BME-100 gas engine, and will weigh roughly 50 pounds. The
model is quite large and has removable
outer wing panels and a removable
vertical stabilizer.
“The attraction to build such a model
according to Dave is that the Wyvern is an
unusual and rarely modeled subject. Its
rarity on the modeling circuit may have to
do with the fighter’s history.
“The Westland Wyvern ended up as a
single-seat strike fighter but started life as
a daylight fighter and torpedo bomber.
The aircraft was large because of the size
of its 24-cylinder piston engine and the
later-intended turboprop installation.
“The first flight of the Wyvern was on
December 12, 1946, and it quickly
established a bad reputation because of
engine and propeller problems. Only 15
piston-powered Wyverns were built
before the turboprop installations
November 2007 91
Above: Tom Wenzel of Greenlawn NY with his new ARF
Boomerang XL turbine-powered jet. The manufacturer claims
that assembly can be completed in six to eight hours.
Left: During the Boomerang XL’s first flight it slows nicely for a
wheels-down pass.
Walt Moucha of Fort Pierce FL built this 1/2-scale Fly Baby
powered by a 3W-140 engine turning a 30 x 10 propeller.
The Fly Baby on floats—very large floats—has a 14-foot wingspan
and is nearly 10 feet in length.
commenced. The new engines had problems of their own that were
never fully resolved. This only increased the aircraft’s unpopularity
with the pilots who had to fly them.
“The Wyvern was in service with the Fleet Air Arm from 1954 to
1958 and saw action during the Suez Crisis of 1956. Only 127
Wyverns were made after seven long years of development. What
seemed to be a good idea in 1945 proved too difficult for success in the
early 1950s when turbo jets ruled the skies.
“Wyvern means a mythical winged dragon; however, the Westland
Wyvern is remembered for its excessive losses and some horrific decklanding
accidents.”
Look Ma, No Prop! Tom Wenzel of Greenlawn, New York, has
completed his new JetCat P80 turbine-powered Boomerang Jets ARF:
the Boomerang XL. The model spans 94 inches, is 92 inches long, and
11sig3.QXD 9/21/07 10:54 AM Page 91
weighs 25-30 pounds. The kit calls for an 18-
to 30-pound-thrust turbine. The manufacturer
claims that assembly can take as few as six to
eight hours.
Miniature turbines have come a long way
in the past few years. Unlike older versions,
the newer turbines are self-starting from the
transmitter and cool themselves after the
turbine has shut down. An ECU module
controls all these functions.
The new improvements make turbines
user-friendly, as evidenced by the immense
popularity of RC jet aircraft. For more
information about the XL, visit the
Boomerang Jets’ Web site. For additional
information about JetCat turbines, please visit
the company’s Web site.
Fokker D.VI: Gunther Uthgenannt of
Syosset, New York, scratch-built his 1/3-scale
Fokker D.VI from Peter Gross and John
Schuler plans. It spans 100 inches, weighs 30
pounds, and is powered by a Zenoah GT-80
twin-cylinder gas engine.
The Fokker is covered with SR-Tex and
spray-painted with Rust-Oleum Painter’s
Touch. Gunther scratch-built the Oberursel
rotary-engine cylinders. The D.VI is a gentle
flier and a good subject that is rarely seen on
the World War I circuit. Nice job, Gunther!
In January 1918 the German Imperial
Military held an open competition for new
fighters. The winner was the Fokker D.VII;
however, the transitional Fokker D.VI was not
far behind.
The D.VI possessed excellent flight
characteristics, but the D.VII overshadowed
it. The D.VI featured a slightly longer Dr.I
fuselage with a larger rotary engine and a
shortened pair of Fokker D.VII wings. Since
the larger rotary engine was unavailable, the
production model used the standard Dr.I
fuselage-and-engine combination.
Approximately 59 airframes were
completed. Eight went to Austrian forces for
testing, and most of the others found their way
into training schools; however, Jasta 80 was
known to have flown the D.VI.
Moucha’s Fly Baby: Walt Moucha of Fort
Pierce, Florida, likes to build big models. His
latest creation is a 1/2-scale Pete Bowers Fly
Baby. The model spans 14 feet (two 6.5-foot
wing panels), has a 28-inch chord, and the
fuselage is 9 feet, 8 inches. F&M Stits fabric
92 MODEL AVIATION
covers the Fly Baby, which is finished with
Poly-Tone color paints.
The detail work includes scale pinking tape
and rib stitching. It took Walt six months to
build the Fly Baby and two additional months
to design, draw, and mount the 82-inch-long
floats.
The model is powered by a 3W-140 twincylinder
gas engine turning a 30 x 10
propeller. It weighs 68 pounds without floats
and 86 pounds with the floats. Walt uses the
new Futaba 2.4 GHz FASST radio system.
The full-scale Fly Baby was the winning
entry in the 1962 EAA (Experimental Aircraft
Association) design contest. Although not
designed for aerobatics, the Fly Baby will roll,
loop, and spin. It can be built as a biplane or a
monoplane. Four smaller wing panels replace
the two monoplane wing panels, and a centersection
for the top wing is added.
The aircraft can be switched back and forth
between versions in approximately an hour,
but it takes a helper. In either configuration the
Fly Baby meets the US rules for Sport Pilot. In
the United States you do not need a Federal
Aviation Administration medical certification
to pilot a Fly Baby.
(Editor’s note: AMA regulations place the
weight limit at 55 pounds for model aircraft;
however, the Academy has an experimental
class for aircraft that weigh no less than 55
pounds or exceed 100 pounds, with fuel, ready
to fly. For more information about this
experimental class please visit the AMA Web
site and read document 520-A.)
That’s it for this month. Next month I will
continue with the 1/4-scale Balsa USA Spad 13
build. Thanks for reading the column, and
enjoy your hobby! MA
Sources:
Boomerang XL
(972) 991-1499
www.boomerangjets.com/us/home.htm
P80 turbine
(805) 226-8700
www.jetcatusa.com/p80.html
AMA Document 520-A:
www.modelaircraft.org/PDF-files/520-A.pdf