RADIO CONTROL SCALE 2003/06

June 2003 109
Stan Alexander, 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville TN 37211; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SCALE
IT’S FLYING SEASON in most of the
country, but we are expecting another
snowstorm as I write this. Other than for
the building time, I’m ready for the winter
of 2002/2003 to be over! Soon it will be
time to take the vacuum to the shop and
clean up all of the sawdust and balsa
shavings, used sandpaper, and other
assorted junk that has accumulated during
the winter building season.
I have received several pieces of mail
Bob Thacker’s Curtiss P-6E Hawk weighs 103⁄4 pounds.
Manny Sousa’s electric-powered Tucano semiscale ARF has an
orange-and-white color scheme and spans 63 inches.
The Bob’s Aircraft Documentation catalog
features three-view drawings, photos,
Scale articles, and Foto Paaks.
The softcover Fokker Dr I Aces of World
War 1 is available from Zenith Books,
Historic Aviation, Osprey Publishing.
from which to take off?
• At what altitude is the runway? Thinner
air requires more runway; ask a pilot who
flies out of Denver, Colorado.
• If I can’t take off into the wind, which
way should I take off?
The list could be longer. If the pilot has
the option of taking off into the wind on
the asphalt runway, he or she will probably
do that. It also depends on the pilot’s
lately about flight routines and the way a
full-scale aircraft performs takeoffs,
maneuvers, and landings. Some model
pilots, and judges for that matter, think
there is only one way for the full-scale
aircraft to behave in the takeoff, during
flight, or landing and taxiing back to the
hangar. It isn’t true; most full-scale aircraft
have only one way to do certain maneuvers.
The biggest factor for many model
pilots is that they have never been taught to
use the rudder! I can’t tell you how many
modelers I’ve seen who have models of
full-scale aircraft which almost had to use a
rudder to make turns or to take off and
land. For my money, one of the best
investments I made after learning to use the
rudder was a transmitter tray and a threechannel
trainer, but more about that later.
Have you ever seen a Scale model
taking off and it goes all over the runway?
I’ll bet you have. Some Scale models have
more trouble getting off the ground than
others. One of the best known of these is
the Bf 109, which wasn’t made for asphalt
in the first place, but for rough-field
operation.
Some would say that a Stearman PT-17
always takes off in a three-point attitude, or
all three wheels (mains and tail) come off
the ground at the same time. It just isn’t so.
There are many factors involved in a
biplane’s takeoff and landing so that it
doesn’t ground loop. Some of the things
involved in the pilot’s decision are:
• Can I take off into the wind? (It never
happens at a Scale gathering or contest.)
• Do I have the option of asphalt or grass
110 MODEL AVIATION
experience with the aircraft and with the
surfaces he will use to take off from and
land on.
The aircraft should come up on the
mains and travel down the runway until
flight speed is achieved and a little upelevator
is added. Of course, the pilot is
working the rudder all the way down the
runway to compensate for the radial
engine’s torque.
The main item flight judges and
competitors have to go by is the rule book;
it is the main guide for Scale flight as we
know it, and we should all start there. If you
have documentation proving that a certain
aircraft always took off or flew a certain
maneuver in a particular way, show the
judges the diagram, tell them what you are
going to do, then duplicate that maneuver.
After you start flying your Scale model,
whether it’s a J-3 Cub or an F-86, after
boring holes in the sky a few times, you
will probably want to do something with the
model in flight that is more interesting.
Working on technique and realistic flights
will add to your enjoyment of the model for
years to come.
Projects: The Curtiss P-6E Hawk has long
been a favorite of Scale modelers around
the world. Bob Thacker of San Clemente,
California, built the P-6E shown. This is the
Army Air Force version of the Curtiss
Hawk fighter series. The US Navy
purchased the radial version for carrier
operations.
Bob’s Hawk weighs 103⁄4 pounds, and it
is powered by a K&B .65 Sportster engine.
It uses a Master Airscrew 12 x 6 propeller
and is covered with Solarfilm. Bob used Sig
butyrate dope for the colors and Rust-
Oleum Gloss Clear (number 1901) for the
sealer. Thanks for the photo, Bob!
Manny Sousa has been trying electric
power in his Tucano semiscale ARF
Bill Brucken scratch-built his Fokker Dr.I. Notice the brush marks
down the fuselage, which many full-scale Dr.Is had. Richard Crupi’s P-51B won Sportsman at the 2002 Nationals.
(Almost Ready to Fly) from Richmond RC.
The turboprop trainer has a wingspan of 63
inches. A MaxCim brushless motor and 16
Panasonic 3000 mAh NiMH sub-C cells
power this 60-size model. The motor turns a
13 x 10 E-APC propeller through a 2.75:1
gearbox.
The Tucano is capable of normal
aerobatic flight, including loops, rolls, etc.
Flight times have been up to 141⁄2 minutes
so far. Manny thinks this type of power
would be excellent for such Scale subjects
as the C-130, the OV-10 Bronco, and many
of the turboprop models we haven’t see
very often. I’m looking forward to seeing
that next project, Manny.
Updates: I have more information on the
Cessna 195 from Rich Uravitch, described
in the March Radio Control Scale column
on page 124.
At this time the model is not available as
a kit, but the laser-cut parts are available
from Hobby Hangar for $69.95. The
address is 7715 Industrial St., West
Melbourne FL 32904; Tel.: (321) 727-8227.
Plastic parts and plans for the Cessna are
available for $39.95 including postage from
Rich Uravitch Enterprises at (321) 728-
0486.
Scale Sources: TopFlite has discontinued
its 1⁄5-scale P-51B kit, but the P-51D model
kit is still available. After running the photo
of Richard Crupi’s “B” model in the
December issue’s Nationals coverage, I
received several letters wanting to know
where to find the kit or decals for that
particular P-51B.
Your local hobby shop is probably the
best place to find the kit. There are several
Hobby Town USA stores here in the
Nashville area. I found a 1⁄5-scale P-51B
model at one of the stores; since the box art
looked a little faded, I offered the manager
a price and he took it.
The kit has also been seen on eBay,
where Jack Stovall found his. He is working
on a “Shangri-La” B model, but the box art
and decals show the “Shoo-Shoo Baby” B.
To solve his problem, Jack may have to get
on the Internet and look up where he can
buy the decals for “Shangri-La,” then scale
them up from there.
Another modeler wrote to me about his
TopFlite P-47 Razorback and all of the
modifications he made to it. He used the
Internet to find documentation and
markings. According to him, you can go to
www.aeromaster.com and find many
different color schemes for the P-51B or the
P-47. The site will come up on Eagle Strike
Productions; click on AeroMaster, and there
you can enter the parameters of your search.
I checked the 1⁄48-scale markings for a P-
51B and US markings. Even though you
check the US markings, several entries will
show up with British markings. Check the
little box for thumbnails, and all of the
available AeroMaster decal sets will come
up. Click on any of the thumbnails to
enlarge the drawings. They usually include
top, side, and bottom views.
The writer stated that, of course, he
couldn’t use the 1⁄48-scale decal sheets, but
he did use them for reference material for
documentation and can use them for guides
to make his markings at 1⁄6 or whatever
scale he needs.
A source for information,
documentation, scale articles, and photos is
the catalog from Bob’s Aircraft
Documentation, which used to be known as
Scale Model Research. Bob is celebrating
his 20th year in business within this
industry and has the largest catalog
available.
You might have seen the other press
releases about the catalog by now, so I’ll go
outside that box and let you know some of
the interesting items I’ve found in it.
Aircraft are listed from A through Z, then
you can go to the special-interest sections
which include “Racing,” “Sailplanes,”
“Helicopters,” “Gyrocopters,” “Engines,”
“Guns,” “Rockets & Missiles,” “Emblems
& Crests,” “Bombs,” and “Miscellaneous.”
Other interesting items include the
multitude of three-views and short stories
about aviation. The catalog is well worth
the $10 it costs. For more information,
contact Bob’s Aircraft Documentation at
June 2003 111
3114 Yukon Ave., Costa Mesa CA 92626,
or call (714)-979-8058.
Bookshelf: Fokker Dr I Aces of World War
1 by Norman Franks and Greg
VanWyngarden, published by Osprey
Publishing ([email protected]),
ISBN 1841762237, has 96 pages with three
pages of scale drawings and 12 pages of
color plates.
This is one of the best books I’ve seen
about the Dr.I. It gives the history of the
112 MODEL AVIATION
triplane as well as the technical aspects.
Aces such as Manfred von Richthofen,
Ernst Udet, and several others are illustrated
on the color-plate pages, providing color
schemes for several different aircraft.
The World War I black-and-white
photos clearly show how the paint was
applied to these aircraft—much like
whitewash, using a large brush. On many of
the aircraft the paint is shown running down
the sides in streaks from the brush strokes.
This is contrary to many of the model
finishes we see today. It’s nice to see that
the artist who did the color side and top
views added these brush strokes to the
painting to keep the realism there, which
helps modelers who want to duplicate this
on their airplanes.
Several Dr.I triplane kits are available.
One of the largest I can think of off the top
of my head is Balsa USA’s 703⁄4-inch-span
version. Proctor Enterprises has a kit of a
47-inch-span triplane.
If you’re into World War I aircraft,
Fokker Dr I Aces of World War 1 is
definitely a book worth having on your
shelf. It’s available from Osprey Publishing
at www.ospreypublishing.com, from book
dealers, and from the usual aviation-book
catalogs such as Historic Aviation
(www.historicaviation.com) and Zenith
Books (Box 1, Osceola WI 54020).
’Til next time, fair skies and tailwinds. MA