RADIO CONTROL SCALE 2003/10

116 MODEL AVIATION
Stan Alexander, 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville TN 37211; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SCALE
WOW! It’s almost fall already! Time flies
when you’re enjoying yourself. We’ve been
inundated with water, hail, high winds, and
tornadoes in this area of the country. There
has been a lot of water—approximately 91⁄2
inches in two weeks. Sometimes that’s more
than we see in a whole year.
I have received several positive comments
about the July column discussing the
transmitter tray with shoulder harness and
using fingers and thumbs. Several people have
asked where they can buy a tray. That’s fine,
but why not make one?
Steve Sauger used polyvinyl chloride
(PVC), pipe insulation, PVC joints, and 1⁄4
plywood to make his transmitter tray. He used
heat to gently bend the pipes to fit over his
shoulders, then he wrapped them with the
pipe insulation you can find at Lowe’s or The
Home Depot. Steve used light plywood to
make the tray, and the usual nuts and bolts
hold it all together.
I found a tray on the Robart
Manufacturing Web site, and it’s on sale as I
write this. This tray has wide fabric straps for
the pilot—not the hard metal type. Check out
www.robart.com for more information about this item.
I just received a photo of Alfonso Calero’s 1906 Demoiselle, and it’s
big. With a wingspan of 86 inches, the aircraft weighs just 101⁄2
pounds. Power is supplied by a Magnum 61 four-stroke engine.
The structure is built up using balsa and plywood. Alfonso used 1⁄8
balsa sticks and 1⁄8 balsa sheet for the undercambered wing ribs. He
used Solartex for covering and made the spoke wheels, which are 13
inches in diameter.
This is another model that sprang from the 1960s movie Those
Alfonso Calero’s big 1⁄3-scale 1906 Demoiselle has an 86-inch wingspan.
A cowl from Stan’s Fiberglass will go in the author’s Baby Ace. This is a color presentation of Europe’s 8th Air Force.
Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.
Alfonso said that he has watched the movie
many times, and he scratch-built his model
after scaling up the Sig indoor electric kit. I
can’t wait to receive photos of this one in the
air.
Corben Baby Ace: When I unwrapped my
O.S. FS 120, naturally I had to turn it over to
feel the compression from this reliable
engine. That just didn’t happen; it sort of
made a half turn and stopped. I let it sit on the
bench for a bit then tried it again. This time it
was a little freer, but not like it should have
been.
I don’t claim to be an engine expert, so I
looked around and found a source who could
see what the problem was. John Sepe works
on O.S. and Saito FS engines and makes
repairs. After describing the problem to him
on the telephone, he told me it was probably
the bearings, which it was.
So I sent the engine in, and approximately
two weeks later it came back good as new. He
adjusted the valves and replaced the front and
rear bearings, and the price was roughly $66,
as I remember.
Speaking of new, I realized after sending
this engine in that it had been laying around
the shop for 22 years or so, not in use. Have
you checked your engines lately? It could
save you some money in the long run.
John’s company is Seco Enterprises, 301
Sabal Ridge Cir. Suite A, Palm Beach
Gardens FL 33418; Tel.: (561) 625-9671; Email:
[email protected].
One of the hang-ups with the Baby Ace’s
fuselage has been finding a cowl that would
fit it and have the correct look for the scale
appearance. I really didn’t want to have to
build up a cowl for this model.
I contacted several fiberglass companies
and struck out. The last one I called was
Stan’s Fiber Tech, and I explained my
problem to Stan. He said he might have
something that would work. He had J-3 Cub
cowls, but the dimensions were a problem
with most of the manufacturers; they were too
long, too wide, too short, or they just didn’t
fit.
On tracing paper I copied the top and side
view of the Baby Ace’s cowl for him. I
waited roughly two weeks and called him
again. After that conversation, Stan found a
cowl in stock that fit the Baby Ace almost
perfectly. The photo included shows the cowl
as you would receive it, with the molded-in
engine heads and exhaust system. I’m looking
forward to getting the engine installed and
fitting the cowl onto the fuselage.
For more information about Stan’s Fiber
Tech, write to 2575 Jackson, Riverside CA
92503, call (909) 352-4758, or see the
advertisement in this issue.
Scale Sources: Last month I focused on
Gary Parenti’s J-3 Cub earned a first-place finish at the Toledo show.
118 MODEL AVIATION
World War I aviation. A good friend sent me
an address for a Web site that has the largest
trove of early-aviation photos I’ve seen so far:
Rosebuds WWI Aviation Image Archive at
http://members.shaw.ca/flyingaces/archive1.h
tm. As this is being written, the page contains
2,638 images.
I have been busy surfing this site and it has
almost anything you could imagine, from
dawn-of-aviation experimental aircraft,
including the Wright Flyer, to the odd WW I
aircraft you never see in books, to the
normal WW I fare. Some of the photos are
crashes, which aren’t very helpful, but you
realize that it wasn’t a good thing to go
down in one of these airplanes.
If you are looking for photos of Albatros,
Antoinette, Curtiss, Fokker, Caudron,
Salmson, LVG, Blériot, Deperdussin, Voisin,
Farman, Rumpler, or several hundred other
aircraft, this is the place to find them. Thanks
to Mike Welshans for sending this in so we
can all enjoy and search for more
documentation on WWI aircraft and early
fliers.
If you are interested in Electric and indoor
RC Scale, these old photos give you an
invaluable source of documentation. They are
all black-and-white, but with some help you
can probably figure out the coloring of the
aircraft.
If you don’t have a computer to check out
the site, go to your local library; most have
access to the Internet now, and the clerks will
usually help you if you’re not sure what to do.
Bookshelf: The Mighty Eighth: The Colour
Record was written by Roger A. Freeman and
published by Cassell & Co. in 2001 (ISBN 0-
304-35708-1). There are 224 pages in this
color presentation of the 8th Air Force in
Europe. This volume takes you from station to
station with the different units of the 8th:
Alconbury, Bassingbourn, Bodney, Duxford,
and many others.
Most of the aircraft featured are B-17s, P-
51s or P-47s, P-38s, and B-25s. Other
airplanes include the J-3 Cub and the Catalina
SIG Knows Cubs
From 1938 to 1947, over 20,000 full size Piper J-3 Cubs were produced
in the small town of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. Designed to be the plane
anyone could fly, many are still flying today.
SIG knows a thing or two about Cubs. Since 1967, there has always been
a Cub in the SIG line. In fact, since that time, SIG has sold more Piper J-3
Cub models than Mr. Piper’s factory in Lock Haven.
Nothing flies like a Cub. Slow and gentle in the full wing versions, it
shines as a slow and gentle bird for a relaxing escape to the heavens. But,
clip its wings and your docile bear growls with excitement, tearing through
the sky with claws bared.
Our 1/4 and 1/6 scale J-3 Cub Build It Yourself kits feature premium
balsa and plywood, razor die cut parts, molded ABS detail parts, full
hardware packages, full size plans, and the best illustrated instructions in the
world.
The 1/5 scale version takes the evolution further with laser cut parts, a
fiberglass cowl, and gobs of scale details enough to turn the head of any Cub
fanatic.
No matter which J-3 Cub you decide to build, you can be certain of a
winner with a SIG Cub. See the full line at your local hobby retailer.
amphibian for Emergency Rescue Squadrons.
This book includes plenty of nose art on
fighters and bombers.
Another facet are the uniforms of the pilots
and crews, ground-support vehicles, and
standout assembly aircraft such as the “Spotted
Ape.” The book also gives you a brief glimpse
of what it might have been like to be at a
number of the different stations.
For any WW II buff who likes fighters and
bombers, this volume would rate high on the
list to have in your library. It’s available at
bookstores or from book catalogs such as
Zenith Books and Historic Aviation.
Toledo Show: I can’t put all of the photos
from this show in one column (or there
wouldn’t be anything else), but I’m going to
sprinkle in some of the standout models that
were entered in this year’s static contest.
A yellow Cub is a simple airplane with a
simple color scheme, but the one shown is well
documented with three-views and photos. It
belongs to Gary Parenti, and he only brought
the model to Toledo at the insistence of his
father.
The Cub spans 781⁄2 inches, weighs 7
pounds, and is powered by an Enya .53 FS
engine. I didn’t get information about whether
it was from a kit or plans, but with that
wingspan I’m guessing that it’s from a set of
old TopFlite plans. Charlie Bauer designed the
model a few years ago. Gary took first place in
the Non-Military Sport Scale Plane category.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA