106 M ODEL AVIATION
Stan Alexander, 3709 Valley ridge Dr., nashville tn 37211; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SCALE
SPriNG iS aPProachiNG in most
areas of the country, and it’s time to start
finishing up that winter building project—or
in some cases, last year’s building project.
Scale events are starting across the
country. There are contests and fly-ins.
You must qualify for some events before
you attend, and some you just show up at
and enjoy the different aspects of the
experience.
Try a contest or fly-in, let everyone
know you are a beginner, and I bet you’ll
receive all the help you need to get started
in Scale modeling.
The AMA National Championships is
one event in which anyone can show up and
compete in Radio Control (RC) or Control
Line (CL) Scale, or any of the other classes.
The competitors seem to help each other,
and everyone has a good time.
This year’s Scale Nationals is starting a
new program; Expert modelers will be
teamed with Sportsman modelers, to help
the less-experienced learn the basics of RC
Scale competition.
This will be a voluntary program, and
hopes are high that a new generation of
Scale modelers will fly from these
sessions and events.
This year’s Scale National
Championships will take place July 6-8—
not a week later, as previously reported.
Other ideas to help “grow” the number
of Scale modelers will be presented at the
annual Toledo show (Weak Signals RC
Exposition) in April.
The National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers (NASA) will host the first
NASA Road Show. Expert modelers will
host miniseminars, to help modelers
improve their skills and give them an
extra shot of enthusiasm for that
unfinished project.
Webmaster Ed Clayman will manage the
first NASA Road Show at Toledo.
US Scale Masters qualifiers will be held
across the country this year. This series of
competitions determines which Expert modelers
will compete in the Championships, held each
fall. This year the Championships will take place
somewhere in the western half of the US.
The qualifiers are one of the handiest
avenues for Scale modelers to enter
The US Scale team with a few of the 35 supporters who made the trip to Interlaken. Photo by Wayne Frederick.
US F4C team member Ramon Torres (Miami FL) with his 1⁄5-scale Cessna O-2A
Skymaster at the Scale World Championships in Interlaken, Switzerland.
As we complete the airframe and start
adding details on the outside and the inside,
it’s a good time to stop and recheck photos
and three-views. Of all the three-views I’ve
compared, the Paul Matt version seems to
be the most accurate.
Another interesting source of
documentation is a reprint of the PT-19
pilot’s manual. Original specifications, load
limits, speeds, and a hundred other things
about the aircraft are available. These are
available from Zenith and Historic Aviation
book catalogs.
Before you cover a fabric-covered
aircraft, think about details and adding
realism to the airframe.
Look at your photos for the usual
handholds near the rear of the aircraft fuselage.
These can be added by using bent music wire.
Fuel gauges, landing-gear strut covers, access
doors, flap hinge covers, and the airspeed
indicator are just a few items to consider.
Another often-overlooked but very
visible detail, which will be added to a
fabric-covered aircraft later, are inspectionplate
covers. These are usually round and in
various points on the airframe, including the
fuselage and all flying surfaces.
It’s time to think about coverings and
the type of paint to use on the covered
model, although painting may be a few
months away. If we wait until the last
minute, the manufacturer will surely send
out a notice stating a “backorder” has been
placed. Planning helps the process go more
smoothly.
At some point, many of us might wish
we had bought a good supply of K&B
epoxy paint. As with many others, mine was
a case of too little too late—so looking for
another paint source is mandatory.
Checking out what others have been using
in the last year or two is a good idea.
One model that interested me at the
2000 Scale Masters Championships was a
March 2001 109
competition. Last year there were 23 Scale
Masters qualifiers across the country, where
you could enter a variety of classes for your
experience level.
Plans are under way to have the Scale
Masters Championships in Dayton, Ohio in
2003, for the 100th anniversary of powered
flight. That date is just around the corner, so
check out what’s happening on the NASA
Web page or look in the “Contest Calendar”
section of Model Aviation for the qualifier
nearest to you.
The US Scale Masters Association Web
page is www.scalemasters.org. To join,
send $25 to Scale Masters Association,
21952 Airport Rd., Aurora OR 97002, or
call (503) 678-6036. E-mail at
[email protected].
The Scale Masters has its own rule book,
so joining the organization is a good idea if
you plan to compete in a qualifier.
One contest I’ve wanted to attend is the
River City Challenge, held in Decatur,
Alabama. This Masters qualifier is held
June 24-25—right after Father’s Day
weekend. Classes included are Fun Scale,
Team Scale, Expert, and Sportsman.
The club field has a 60 x 600-foot paved
runway, and there is a 200-foot runoff on
each end. There is also a 40 x 600-foot
grass field adjacent to the paved runway, for
all those World War I and tail-dragger
aircraft from the 1930s.
There is entertainment close to site for
the family, including Point Mallard Aquatic
Park, a public golf course, and several other
attractions.
Longtime Masters competitor Ed Terry
will be the chief judge, and James Ray
serves as the Contest Director. This is one
of those previously hidden contests, in
which there is typically a smaller field of
contestants. For more information, contact
James Ray at (256) 353-1323.
PT-19 update: As you build any Scale
model, you should check your
documentation often and be sure you are
recreating an accurate miniature aircraft—in
this case, a 1⁄5-scale model.
This 1943 pilot instructor at Wright Field
(Dayton OH) can be referred to for colors
and equipment for the PT-19 pilot.
Bruce Harlow’s 153-inch-span Dornier Super-WAL. The twin-engine flying boat was
built from Sea-Clusion Aeronautics, 22W070 Byron Ave., Addison IL 60101.
Tiger Moth that looked like a tiger. The
model was painted with a brush, with
paint supplied by Jerry Nelson Hobby
Specialties.
This paint can be brushed or sprayed
on, it dries quickly, and it’s fuelproof.
However, it isn’t cheap; a pint is $18-20
dollars. There are 38 basic colors offered,
including those used on the PT-19. The list
includes colors identified by their military
FS numbers. I’m told the paint doesn’t
smell, which is a big plus.
While at the US Air Force Museum
during Scale Masters 2000, I saw an exhibit
featuring different pilots’ uniforms. This is
a good source for you to make sure you use
the correct colors on your pilot and get the
equipment right.
The PT-19 has an instructor pilot and
usually a pupil. The normal dress code for
the time, which would have been 1939-
1944, was a brown leather jacket, khaki
shirt and slacks, and brown shoes. Notice
the radio headset and the Ray-Ban®
sunglasses in the photo.
The first Scale World Championships of
the century was held in beautiful Interlaken,
Switzerland. The modelers of the Swiss
Aero Club hosted the Championships, and
they had the largest turnout ever.
The US Scale teams winged their way to
Switzerland, led by George Buso and
Darlene Frederick. The teams finished third
in F4B (CL) competition and 10th in F4C
(RC), after the loss of Hal Parenti’s Ryan
Fireball in the second round.
Sponsors are very important in a
competition such as this. The team may not
have made it to the Championships without
their help. This year’s corporate sponsors
were Pacer Technology, the ZAP Gang, and
Zurich Sunglasses.
A big thanks to Continental Airlines, for
helping with the team’s flying
arrangements. Continental helped when
almost every other airline refused.
More than 35 team supporters from the
US were in attendance; among them was
Dick Hansen, who attended the entire eightday
Championships.
Dick had a dual role in Switzerland,
since he is the owner and cameraman of
Hansen Scale Aviation Videos. Dick did a
great job recording the event for those of us
on this side of the pond.
The video is available, and Dick has
tapes for many recent events, including
Top Gun and the Scale Masters
Championships.
For the Fédération Aéronautique
Internationale (FAI) Scale World
Championships video, contact Dick at
Hansen Scale Aviation Videos, 108 SE
Stacy Ct., Portland OR 97266; Tel.: (503)
653-2578; Fax: (503) 678-1342; Web site:
www.aero-sports.com/hansen. Ask for
volume 58. It is $19.95 plus $3 shipping
and handling.
If you’ve ever wondered what FAI Scale
is all about, this will give you a much
clearer picture.
Veteran Scale modeler and aeronautical
engineer Ramon Torres qualified for the
F4C team to go to the Scale World
Championships, and he was the highestplacing
US modeler in that class.
Ramon built his Cessna Skymaster
because of his passion for the aircraft, of
which he owns a full-scale version.
Ramon’s Cessna O-2A twin push-pull
model had a unique capability; besides
the normal retracts and flap operations,
he can shut down the front or rear engine
in flight. This is done with onboard
starters on each engine, which Ramon
built in his shop.
He can fly his model with one engine,
then restart the stopped engine during the
next pass in front of the judges.
This was the most unique scale operation
at the Scale World Championships.
The 1⁄5-scale model had a 91-inch
wingspan, Enya .53 FS engines, and
weighed 22 pounds. It was covered in
fiberglass, and built with a honeycomb
construction process.
A kit for the Skymaster is available from
RTR Enterprises, 3601 SW 137th Ave.,
Miramar FL 33027; Tel.: (305) 688-5803.
The standard kit is approximately $900, and
the basic kit with plans and molded parts is
$695.
another Scale modeler looking for
information on a specific aircraft type is
stumped; Jim Rediske is seeking
information, especially three-views, for the
Custer Air Channel.
“There is only one that I know of, and
it’s at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum at the
Reading PA airport. I have pictures, but
would like to track down something suitable
to make a set of plans from,” writes Jim.
If you have anything on this rare aircraft,
please contact Jim at [email protected]. MA
110 M ODEL AVIATION
