Radio Control Giants
Sal Calvagna [[email protected]]
The first flight of Dave Wigley's incredible Westland Wyvern
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 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 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 deck-landing 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 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 website. For additional information about JetCat turbines, please visit the company's website.
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 D.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 D.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 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 twin-cylinder 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 center-section 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 website 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!
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
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
