RADIO CONTROL SCALE
Stan Alexander, 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville, TN 37211; E-mail: [email protected]
It's flying season in most of the country, but I am 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 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 a 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 three-channel 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 that 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 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 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 up elevator 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 U.S. Navy purchased the radial version for carrier operations.
Bob’s Hawk weighs 10 3/4 pounds and 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 101) for the sealer. Thanks for the photo, Bob!
Manny Sousa has been trying electric power in his Tucano semiscale ARF. Manny’s electric-powered Tucano has an orange-and-white color scheme and a 63-inch wingspan. The model (Almost Ready to Fly) is 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 and rolls. Flight times have been up to 14½ 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 seen 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 HobbyTown 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 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 U.S. markings. Even though you check the U.S. 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 did use them for reference material for documentation and as 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 a 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 3114 Yukon Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or call (714) 979-8058.
Bookshelf
Fokker Dr I Aces of World War I 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 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 70 3/4-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 I 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, MI 54020).
’Til next time, fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
