Radio Control Giants
Sal Calvagna [[email protected]]
WRAM Show 2010
WELCOME BACK to the RC Giants column. Winter is here, and we Northerners are in the midst of another building season. Those living in the warmer southern climates are fortunate to be able to fly all year. However, that translates into less building and, consequently, inferior Giant Scale models. I'm only teasing about the inferior models — I'm jealous of not being able to fly year-round.
On the topic of winter, February means it's time again for the WRAM Show, which gets its name from the host club: the Westchester Radio AeroModelers of White Plains, New York. It's one of the country's largest hobby trade events and the biggest on the East Coast. This gathering has been held every year since 1968.
The WRAM Show is held each year at the Westchester County Center. This year's dates are February 19–21. A large number of manufacturers and organizations will be represented, and the static competition for all types of RC models is a longtime attendee favorite. Visit the club's web site for more information.
This month I'll feature four AMA members' Giant Scale aircraft. The first one is easily identifiable and has been a favorite subject among modelers. The others are rarely seen at local fields or flying events.
Larry Alles — de Havilland Tiger Moth (40%)
Larry Alles of Chalfont, Pennsylvania, built a beautiful 40% de Havilland Tiger Moth from Gary Allen plans that were originally sized at 30%. Larry wanted something larger for his ZDZ 100cc in-line twin gas engine. The model weighs 42 pounds, spans more than 140 inches, and is covered with Solartex.
Larry is a member of the Buc-Le Aero Sportsmen of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Its field is located in Quakertown, where the club hosts the ever-popular Warbirds Over Pennsylvania fly-in.
The de Havilland D.H.82 Tiger Moth was a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland to be a primary trainer for the British Royal Air Force. Before World War II, de Havilland Aircraft of Canada manufactured the D.H.82, and licensed versions were made in Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. At the outbreak of the war, the Tiger Moth was also built in Australia and New Zealand.
Of the 8,700 D.H.82s built, 4,200 went to the Royal Air Force, where they trained thousands of pilots for wartime service. The aircraft remained in service until 1952, after which many entered civil operation because they were inexpensive to operate. Today many of these biplanes are used for recreation and restored in wartime colors and markings, and they are seen at full-scale air shows worldwide.
Chuck Backman — Seversky P-35 (1/5 scale)
Chuck Backman constructed a great-looking and rarely modeled Seversky P-35. The model spans 86 inches (1/5 scale), weighs 23 pounds, and is powered by a Zenoah G-45 gas engine.
Chuck built the model from Col. Art Johnson's plans found in the June 1992 Radio Control Modeler. He made the molds for the canopy and cowling, and covered the P-35 with silkspan using nitrate dope and fillers. He applied the color using Brodak B-25 Silver dope; according to Chuck, the silver dope has a high metal content that gives the impression of a polished-aluminum finish. The scheme he used was from the 94th Pursuit Squadron commander's airplane based at Selfridge Field in Michigan in 1937.
The full-scale P-35 left much to be desired as a fighter: it was unstable, underarmed, and lacked armor protection for the pilot and self-sealing fuel tanks. Some say the airplane's greatest claim to fame is that it paved the way for the successful P-47 that Republic Aircraft built on Long Island. Although the P-35's wartime performance was lackluster, it has interesting history: it was the first single-seat, all-metal pursuit aircraft with retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit to go into service with the US Army Air Corps (USAAC).
Sweden ordered 120 export versions, but only 60 were sent after President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted an embargo at the outbreak of hostilities leading up to WWII. The remaining 60 were designated the "P-35A" and were sent to the USAAC in the Philippines. Some aircraft bore Swedish markings when attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. The Japanese Navy ordered 20 two-seat versions of the P-35 in 1938; those became the only American-built airplanes Japan used operationally during the war.
Although he lives nearly 70 miles from his club's field, Chuck is a member of the Fond du Lac Aeromodelers in Wisconsin. He claims the club has one of the best modeling fields in the Midwest. Chuck is a newly retired full-scale pilot with 30 years at American Airlines, and he flew F-106s and A-10s while serving in the Air Force. He says he started in aviation flying models and now he's back where he started. "I'm real happy with that!" he said.
Larry Botsford — Lublin R-XIIID (1/4 scale)
Larry Botsford of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, modeled an unusual Polish aircraft: the Lublin R-XIIID. At 1/4 scale it spans more than 131 inches and weighs a paltry 26 pounds. Larry drew his plans from Polish five-view drawings.
Larry wrote: "The Lublin R.XIIID was an obscure Polish observation airplane that served the Polish Air Force from 1934 until the Germans invaded in 1939. It was rather large for a short-field airplane but it had a Wright 220 hp engine built under license by Škoda for power.
"The Lublin was flown by both the Polish Air Force and by the Navy, the latter being on floats. The Lublin had a good reputation with its crews, who found it easy to fly and a reliable machine.
"The Lublin squadrons that flew during the two weeks it took for Germany to overrun Poland suffered a 70% loss rate, much of it from friendly ground fire. No Lublin aircraft survived the invasion by the Germans.
"I had built a .40-size Lublin R.XIIID almost 20 years ago and it flew really badly. I screwed up the airfoil on the little one and vowed to someday do it right.
"I have never seen a Lublin modeled and yet it looks like it should fly great, which after getting the correct airfoil, it does. I also wanted to build the airplane to 1/4 scale giving it a span of 131.5 inches; just under 11 feet.
"The dummy engine posed a problem — it is very visible from the front and the rear, so the fake cylinders had to have fronts and backs. Williams Brothers came through with a perfect 1/4-scale replica. A Saito FG36 fills the #1 cylinder position; most people ask what kind of a radial is that?
"The cabane struts, landing gear structure and the functional shock struts are all made of #4130 1/4 x .035 chrome-moly tubing that I welded up. The landing gear was then covered with fabric just as the real plane, and again Williams Brothers provided the wheels.
"The wing may look simple but it is elliptical on the outer halves and tapers on both the top and bottom to the tips with 2 degrees of washout that I added. Then the ailerons are cut out at an odd angle giving me one more challenge during wing construction.
"The fuselage and tail are straightforward plywood and balsa construction with the nose shape achieved by balsa blocks and lots of sanding. It's covered in the old antique Super Coverite and painted with Klass Kote epoxy that was custom mixed to achieve the correct colors.
"The cockpit interior is all scratch-built right down to the seat belt buckles. I was very lucky to contact the chief of the Registry & Research Dept. of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków, Poland, Mr. Piotr Lopalewski, who provided the correct color mixes and lots of other good documentation — a very helpful gentleman.
"It flies just as you would expect a 26-pound airplane with a million square inches and a Clark-Y airfoil — really slow and gentle!"
You chose a great modeling subject and it's nicely done, Larry! I hope to see it in person one day.
John Fitzmaurice — Aviatik 30.40 (30%)
John Fitzmaurice of Toms River, New Jersey, constructed a 30% Aviatik 30.40. Only one full-scale version was ever built. It was manufactured and flown in the summer of 1918 and was the lightest fighter the Austro-Hungarian Empire ever built. Weighing a mere 586 kilograms fully loaded, the Aviatik 30.40 was powered by a 150-horsepower Le Rhône rotary engine. The airplane was fast for its time, but shortages late in World War I led to the project's being shelved.
John is building his Aviatik based on Dave Johnson drawings. The model is covered with Solartex and painted with Behr exterior latex flat paint. A Briggs & Stratton 40cc gas engine will provide the power. John expects to have the aircraft ready to fly in the coming year. Keep up the great work, John!
That's all for now. I hope to see you at the WRAM Show!
Sources
- WRAM Show — www.wram.org
- International Miniature Aircraft Association — www.fly-imaa.org
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
