RADIO CONTROL SCALE 2003/11

104 MODEL AVIATION
Stan Alexander, 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville TN 37211; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SCALE
THE ONE EIGHTH Air Force club out in Arizona really knows
how to hold any event having to do with Scale models, from
competition to a great fly-in. This is a place to get together, see old
friends, make new friends, eat too much steak, tell tall stories, fly
models, and go home happy, wondering where the weekend went
and when you’ll get to do it again.
The weekend of March 22-23, the Sun Valley Fliers (SVF)
hosted the One Eighth Air Force RC Scale Fly-In at the Cave
Buttes recreation-area flying field. The weather was perfect, with
warm temperatures and light winds, to the delight of more than 79
registered pilots who brought an excess of 100 aircraft to fly those
two days.
I keep telling my wife that we need to move to Arizona; there
are no trees, no limbs, no leaves, and no grass to cut or rake. That
means more time to do whatever we want to do, including
modeling.
Mike Peck started his weekend as follows.
“I arrived about 9:30 Friday morning and parked my little
Winnebago. After getting things set up and
unloading a ton of fun-auction donations, I
proceeded to put three flights on my
Ultimate bipe.
“All three were nice flights, but the last
one was one of those where you wish you
could press the ‘record’ button and save it
for future use. Even Kent Walters
commented on the landing with one of his
‘very nice—hmmmm!’ statements.”
Jim Morrow stayed the entire weekend
after dislocating his shoulder while setting
up his sunshade. The paramedics took care
of him after a call from Jody O’Meara. Jim
flew all weekend with his arm in a sling,
but he was lovingly awarded something
that would help him remember the
accident. Ask him about it!
Many of the One Eighth Air Force’s core
John Thompson with Convair Tradewind electric flying boat. Mel Whitley’s SBD Dauntless models span 80 and 58 inches.
Halftime lineup at One Eighth Air Force fly-in in March.
Curtis Kitteringham, Ron Peterka with his Stinson SR-9.
106 MODEL AVIATION
local members and officers are also members of the SVF, and the
March meet felt like a homecoming event for many of the group.
They were pleased to have One Eighth Air Force founding member
Frank Bigelow in attendance.
Some of the beautiful models flown during the weekend
included Mel Santmyers’ beautiful green Gee Bee Model Y, Dick
Skoglund’s XB-19 multiengine transport, Max Hopkins’ big P-47,
Jimmy Mazurek’s nice B-25, and Ron Marshall’s beautiful
Alexander Bullet. Kent Walters was there with his recent Scale
Masters Championship-winning SBD Dauntless.
Scale modeling is a social activity as much as any part of
competition. A Scale fly-in such as this 27-year-old tradition is
played out almost every weekend somewhere across the country.
Scale modelers help each other in competition, even if they are
competitors. A gathering such as this is a good time to just enjoy
each other’s company and fly.
The success of any event varies with the hard work the host
group puts into it. My thanks to Al and Kathi Casey, Sam Wright,
and all of the others in the One Eighth Air Force, as well as the
SVF, for the information and photos.
Awards included Best Military first place, Max Hopkins’ P-47;
second place, Kent Walters’ SBD Dauntless; and third place, Gary
Hunter’s S.E.5. Best General Aviation Flight first place, Ron
Marshall’s Alexander Bullet; second place, Curtis
Kitteringham’s/Ron Peterka’s Stinson SR-9; and third place, Mel
Santmyers’/Chuck Maitre’s Gee Bee Model Y Sportster.
Also Commander’s Choice first place, Mel Santmyers’ Gee Bee
Model Y Sportster. Pilot’s Choice first place, Dick Skoglund’s
Mel Santmyers’ and Chuck Maitre’s Gee Bee Model Y Sportster. Dick Skoglund behind his XB-19 military transport.
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November 2003 107
XB-19; second place, Jimmy Mazurek’s B-
25; and third place, Ron Marshall’s
Alexander Bullet. People’s Choice Award
first place, Jimmy Mazurek’s B-25; second
place, Dick Skoglund’s XB-19; and third
place, Max Hopkins’ P-47.
Modelers’ Photos: The Convair
Tradewind photo is from John Thompson, a
good friend in England. The model was
built up with balsa-and-plywood
construction. John is a dedicated electricpower
modeler, and this aircraft has four
motors.
Per the prototype, the Tradewind is
designed to fly off of water; the post-World
War II military turboprop transport was a
seaplane. To my knowledge, none of these
aircraft still exist today; that’s a shame.
John is working on flight tests, and I should
have photos of the model in flight soon. If
plans become available, I’ll be sure to
include his address and the price.
Mel Whitley sent me photos of his two
SBD-5 Dauntless models, which are
finished in the Atlantic sub-hunter color
scheme. The full-scale aircraft patrolled the
Atlantic coastline during WW II.
The smaller Dauntless has a 58-inch
wingspan, weighs 7 pounds, and is
powered by a .52 two-stroke engine. It has
B&D retracts, and the flaps are disguised
as part of the full-span ailerons. Mel built
this model from his plans, but
unfortunately they aren’t available at this
time.
“Not a lot of detail, but it outclasses
those pesky ARFs [Almost Ready to Flys]
any day,” wrote Mel.
The almost identical twin is a larger, 20-
pound version with full cockpit, detailing,
retracts, flaps, bomb drop, and a wingspan
of 80 inches. Mel uses an O.S. 160 fourstroke
engine in this model, and the
exhaust exits the scale locations.
While documenting the models, Mel
noticed the difference in the rear seat from
the standard gunner’s rotary seat.
“One of the mysterious things about
these sub-hunters is the rear seat. Using a
magnifying glass you can see a higher seat
back behind the radio operator and also the
last canopy seems to be permanently fixed.
“This would stand to reason, as the rear
gun would be useless while sub-hunting
while the rear cockpit should be primarily
for observation and radio work. For long
patrols a standard seat would be a
blessing.”
If you have any information about this
seat, please let me know.
Scale Sources: Balsa USA is coming out
with a 1⁄5-scale Fokker D.VII soon—
probably by the time you read this. In
recent years this company has released
several of the World War I scout aircraft.
They are designed for the large-scale flyins
and can be used for Sport Scale
competition.
Judging from Balsa USA’s earlier kits,
the outline is pretty good; go ahead and add
the details you need for a good Sport Scale
model. Power for the new D.VII will
include the Zenoah G-23 and other engines
in this class. Color schemes for the model
are plentiful, and it should build into a
good flier for WW I fans, with its narrow
nose.
Bookshelf: Thomas G. Ivie wrote the 128-
page 352nd Fighter Group, published by
Osprey Publishing Limited. Thomas has
had a lifelong interest in WW II aviation.
This cardstock-cover book is about the
352nd Fighter Group, its men, and its
aircraft.
One of the new fighter groups created
on September 29, 1942, the 352nd claimed
its first victory in November 1943. This
group was so effective in the air that when
it appeared over Germany with its nowfamous
blue-nosed Mustangs, the head of
the Luftwaffe, Reichsmarshall Hermann
Goring, reportedly said, “I knew the war
was lost when I saw the ‘Bluenosed
Bastards of Bodney’ over Berlin!”
All of that aside, the book is a
wonderful source of documentation for
modelers. The 352nd began its tour with P-
47s, and there are several photos of “Jugs”
and color schemes. Most are the earlier
version of the P-47 with the razorback
turtledeck, which many modelers think
makes a better-flying model.
Some of the P-47s included are the
“Bonnie Lee,” “Sweet Louise,” and, oddly
enough, I think they used all of the
characters in Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs; it was called the Snow White
Flight of the 486th Fighter Squadron,
including “Sneezy,” “Happy,” “Dopey,”
and so on.
The group later became more famous
for its blue-nosed Mustangs after
converting to B and D models. A light-blue
color was used, then the now-famous darkblue
nose color scheme was employed.
I guess the most famous aircraft of this
group was Major George E. Preddy’s
mount “Cripes A’Mighty 3rd”: the
Mustang D model he flew in 1944 and
1945. He has the distinction of shooting
down six German aircraft in one mission
on August 6, 1944. He had a final score of
26.833 aerial victories. Other color
schemes include “MoonBeam McSwine,”
“Petie 3rd,” and a host of others.
There are two pages of color side plates
for the P-47s and 11 pages of color side
plates for the P-51s. Missions are
described, as are some of the living
conditions in England. The unit was
deactivated in September 1945. This book
is available at most bookstores and book
catalogs. It is roughly $19.95 plus shipping.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
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