Stan Alexander, 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville TN 37211; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SCALE
THE CENTENNIAL of powered flight is
here. Could it have been 100 years ago? From
the Wright Flyer to the modern RPVs
(Remotely Piloted Vehicles), space flight, and
stealth aircraft of today, “We’ve come a long
way, baby.”
Several upcoming events will be special to
Scale modelers as well as anyone interested in
any aspect of aviation—models, full-scale, or
whatever. Go to the Centennial of Flight Web
site at www.centennialofflight.gov. It has a
calendar of events throughout 2003 which will
culminate at the December 17 re-enactment of
the first flight with a replica of the 1903
Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
If you can’t go there, or if you haven’t
already made your reservations, there are
plenty of other events in the Dayton, Ohio,
area and at many air shows across the country.
Air shows are great places to obtain
documentation and talk to full-scale pilots.
One of the best for my money is the Oshkosh,
Wisconsin, fly-in. It’s called AirVenture now,
but to those who have attended it will always
be just “Oshkosh.”
During AirVenture 2003, which will be held July 29-August 4,
special events are planned for the centennial of flight celebration.
Check out the Experimental Aircraft Association’s (EAA’s) magazine
Sport Aviation or the Web site at www.fly-in.org for more
information.
The EAA already has the dates listed for the 2004 and 2005
AirVentures. Why? With an attendance of approximately 850,000
people and 120,000 aircraft landing and taking off during that week,
it’s a busy place and the motels, guest rooms, etc. stay packed. It’s
Space shuttle Atlantis mounted on its Boeing 747 carrier at Fort Campbell KY.
This view shows the aerodynamic tail cone on the shuttle and the 747’s additional stabilizers on the horizontal fins.
also the place to see all types of airplanes, jets, flying boats,
hovercraft, fighters, trainers, antiques, home-builts, and anything else
that will fly.
If you plan to go to Oshkosh, you should make reservations today!
I can’t stress that enough. You’ll have a hard time in any of the
surrounding cities now; if you wait until May, you might not find a
bed within 60 miles of the site.
When you arrive at Oshkosh, get there early in the morning. Scope
out the section of aircraft you want to examine, then at roughly 10
a.m. you can go back and take all the photos you want of these
beautiful aircraft up-close. Just don’t touch. On the north/south
84 MODEL AVIATION
02sig3.QXD 11.21.02 1:50 pm Page 84
runway there are 137 rows of airplanes to look at, and those are just
the civil and classics.
The warbirds section will be closed off early each day for the air
show, so you have the choice of getting there early or maybe not at
all. The daily air shows are at roughly 2 p.m., but that can vary
because of weather conditions.
If you have never been to Oshkosh, buy all the film you think you
might need and double that amount. You can always take it back to
the store if you don’t use it, but I’m betting you will. I’ve heard of
modelers going there and shooting as many as 70 rolls of film in a
week; it’s easy to do.
Imagine 125 AT-6s flying over at the same time, 25 P-51D
Mustangs in a flyby, or a squadron of WACOs flying in and landing
one after another. When the AT-6s fly over, it will shake the ground
where you stand and the hair on the back of your neck will stand up.
While you are at Oshkosh, stop by the AMA booth and see new
Herman Cholewinski (Indianapolis IN) and his Pitts S-1-11B. A new-style paint scheme really brings the Pitts to life.
Nick Ziroli’s Boeing Stearman, powered by a Robart radial
engine, flies at Top Gun. It’s very realistic in flight.
Fits Like
A Glove
Now you can experience real gas
performance and economy in more
airplanes with First Place’s new 1.3 cubic
inch gas engine.
Built tough, the 1.3 is made right here in
the U.S. with the same top quality materials
and attention to detail you’d expect from
First Place. Then, we go a step further by
including a smaller footprint, (back plate
width 3.5”, overall width about 5”), to fit in
more airplanes, a fully electronic ignition
system insuring a definite spark and surer
starts, a sound reducing efficient Pitts style
muffler, and linear throttle arm set up for
easy installation.
All weighing around 40 ounces.
Try one on at your local hobby dealer.
The fit will be perfect.
First Place Engines are distributed exclusively by:
SIG Manufacturing Company, Inc. • P.O. Box 520 • Montezuma, IA 50171-0520 • Phone: 641-623-5154
www.firstplaceengines.com
Specifications:
Bore: 1.268 inches
Stroke: 1.024 inches
Displacement: 1.3 cu. inches
Weight w/muffler: 40 ounces
RPM: 2,800 - 7,400 rpm
Thrust: 10 lb. @ 7,400 rpm
02sig3.QXD 11.21.02 1:50 pm Page 86
booths to see as well. I could go on and on
about the event, but why not experience
Oshkosh yourself? You’ll regret it if you
don’t.
Correction: In the January column I reported
that there would be a Scale indoor Radio
Control (RC) National Championships. That
wording is incorrect. Steve Kaluf, AMA’s
Technical Director, wrote that “for an event to
be sanctioned by AMA to be a National event
it must be either an AAAA or AAAAA event.
AAAA events must be run by a Special
Interest Group and require EC [Executive
Council] approval to host the event.”
I’m sure this event’s name will be changed
and any other requirements needed to sanction
the event will be met by the Contest Director.
There will be several shows, contests, and
fly-ins in the next few months. The Toledo
expo will take place April 4-6. If you haven’t
attended, this is a great chance to examine
new equipment, meet new friends, and attend
some of the seminars held each year.
This year the National Association of
Scale Aeromodelers (NASA) will continue to
host the NASA Scale Road Show, which is a
series of short seminars with topics related to
Scale modeling and competition. Scale
modelers included last year were Nick Ziroli
Jr. and Sr., Bob Underwood, Terry and Sheila
Nitsch, Mike Barbee, Dave Fogarty, George
Maiorana, Dave Pinegar, and Jim Rediske.
Seminars have included “Effective
Practicing for Competition,” “Better Piloting
Skills,” “Why You Should Compete in Scale
Contests,” “Competing with Electric Scale
Models,” “Fabrication of Small Parts and
Control Systems,” “Choosing an Airplane for
Competition,” and “Paint and Pigments.” To
check out this year’s lineup, go to
www.scaleaero.com/amascale.htm. I hope to
see you there.
The Top Gun Invitational will be held
April 23-27, then the Mint Julep Scale Meet
converges on western Kentucky May 16-18.
This is just a brief list of events that might
interest Scale modelers; 2003 will be a busy
year for all forms of aviation.
On the West Coast a group of modelers
who have been together since 1976 have been
promoting Scale competition. The One-Eighth
Air Force came about late in the summer of
that year. Kent Walters, Bob Frey, Dave
Linne, Al Casey, and several others worked to
make the One-Eighth Air Force happen. After
the success of the first local fly-in, they
organized a regional Scale fly-in for March
1977. Today the membership includes as
many (or more) out-of-state members as
local-area members.
The 2003 edition of the One-Eighth Air
Force fly-in will be held March 22-23 at the
Sun Valley Fliers’ Cave Buttes Park flying
site, just north of Phoenix, Arizona, at the
intersection of Cave Creek and Jomax
roads. Everyone’s invited; you don’t have
to be a member to attend.
Al Casey, who provided this information
along with Michael Peck, has stated that as
long as modelers continue to attend the flyins,
the One-Eighth Air Force will remain in
business doing its best to perpetuate what may
be the oldest event of its type in existence.
For more information about this event and
membership, contact Commander Michael
Peck at 8731 W. Meadowbrook Ave.,
Phoenix AZ 85037; Tel.: (623) 872-0176; Email:
[email protected]. There is no
Web site at this time.
The Gunsmoke US Scale Masters
Qualifier is held in the Phoenix area in March.
The dates aren’t firm for that contest yet, but
for more information about the classes
available contact Austin Goodwin at (480)
357-1816. Also check out the US Scale
Masters Web site for more information about
this and other Scale Masters qualifiers at
www.scalemasters.org.
While I was watching the news I saw that the
space shuttle Atlantis took off on another
mission to build the international space
station. What a wild ride that must be. I have
included photos that Tim Ambler of the 101st
Airborne took at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, of
Atlantis riding piggyback on a modified
Boeing 747 during a stopover on a return trip
to Florida.
NASA used RC models while testing this
concept to make sure it would work.
Imagine the possibilities of flying Scale
model(s) of these two aircraft.
The space shuttle is mounted to the 747
by its landing-gear mounts. Note the
additional stabilizers on the 747’s horizontal
fins. The space shuttle’s exhaust nozzles are
covered by an aerodynamically shaped tail
cone. It would be great to have a walk around
this set of craft sometime.
Request: Ruben Nolf is looking for a
Seidel radial engine or any dealer who still
sells the wonderful engines. I thought
Seidel was out of business; if it isn’t, please
let me and Ruben know. He is working on
an 89-inch-span Flair Boeing Stearman. He
said that Proctor used to sell the engines,
but that the company has had no contact
with Seidel in approximately five years.
Contact Ruben at [email protected].
This one almost got away. Herman
Cholewinski’s Pitts S-1-11B is a work of art.
He enters the model in Fun Scale Open
competition. The Pitts is 35% scale, has a
wingspan of 76 inches, is 761⁄2 inches long,
and weighs 27 pounds. It is powered by a
Brison 5.8 gas engine. The big Pitts swings a
24 x 10 Zinger propeller and features a
smoke system. Control is provided by a
Futaba 1024 PCM radio, but what follows is
the best part.
Herman covered the Pitts in MonoKote
with a twist. The MonoKote wing panels
were ironed together on a glass surface prior
to covering. He used a stencil underneath the
★ ★ ★ ★
Four Star 120
For .90 - 1.20 engines
“An amazing performance.” “Talent like this
doesn’t show up anywhere else.” “It’s hard to
follow this act.”
These are just a few of the comments heard
around flying fields when a SIG Four Star
airplane shows up.
Based on a very simple design goal, SIG
Four Star airplanes have impeccable flight
characteristics without looking like a box with
wings.
Featuring laser cut parts, SIG Four Stars go
together fast and true for even the most novice of
builders. Add in a molded canopy, complete
hardware package, large decal sheet, full size
plans, and a fully illustrated instruction booklet
as only SIG can do for a value-packed Build It
Yourself kit unlike any other on the market.
Performance-wise, the Four Stars shines. Tear
through the air with anything you can throw at
it, and the SIG Four Stars stay right with you.
Landings are trainer-slow with no unwanted stall
tendencies.
Sized to fit every flyer, SIG Four Stars are
available wing-sized from 59” to IMAA-big 81”
and for .40, .60, and biggie 1.20 engines. Each
kit delivers the same easy construction and
outstanding flying distinctiveness you expect.
Now showing at a hobby dealer near you.
Pick one up and give your two thumbs a reason
to go up.
SIG MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC.
P.O. Box 520 • Montezuma, Iowa 50171-0520
www.sigmfg.com • 641-623-5154
Four Star 40
For .30 - .40 engines
Four Star 60
For .60 - .75 engines
glass as a guide. The red-and-blue panels
were overlaid on chrome MonoKote, giving
a candy-apple effect that you have to see;
black-and-white photos just don’t do it
justice. The preassembled panels were ironed
around the edges of the wing, and a heat gun
was used to permanently attach and shrink
the panels on the wings.
Herman’s club is Indy R/C South, and he
really enjoys multiple-winged aircraft. Look
for a new Fokker Dr.I triplane this contest
season. My thanks to Model Aviation
contributor Steve Ashby for the photos and
information.
It’s been a busy month, but remember: fair
skies and tailwinds. MA
