120 MODEL AVIATION
Stan Alexander, 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville TN 37211; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SCALE
IT’S ALWAYS GREAT to see a group, a club, or an individual
(sometimes all of them!) come up with an idea to increase
participation in Scale competition and Scale modeling in general.
Avid Scale modeler and webmaster Ed Clayman did just that. He has
several Web sites on the Internet and has been a big promoter of
Scale competition across the country.
One of the ideas that many think will catch on is similar to the
SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Rally series for automobiles.
The National Scale Championship Rally is designed to increase
John Thompson built his Convair Tradewind from plans.
John’s Tradewind is on the step and ready to take off.
Keith Shaw’s Bugatti Model 100 electric-powered racer.
participation in Scale contests across the country throughout the year.
It’s fairly simple in design and uses the AMA RC Scale rules. In the
future, there very well could be versions for CL and FF Scale
competitors also.
The Web site—www.scaleaero.com/nasa_scale_rally.htm—has a
great deal of information for modelers who are thinking about trying
Scale competition for the first time and for holding a Scale
competition themselves. Much of it parallels the AMA rule book.
At a local field in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, last year the
Murfreesboro Skyhawks held a one-day Fun Scale event to try to
gauge how much participation there would be from the surrounding
area. The result was that everyone had a great time, and most of the
judges were full-scale pilots. They used the KISS principle—Keep it
simple, stupid!—for the contest and offered lunch and a great dinner
afterward. I hope I’m able to attend this year.
According to the rules, the rally competitor will go to no fewer
than three AMA sanctioned Scale contests and will have the contest
director fill in the data and mail, in an SASE, the form that the
contestant prints off of the Web site. The contest director will
complete the form and mail it to the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers (NASA) address: 16115 Espinosa Dr., Houston TX
77083.
It’s a broad rally, in that you can participate in AMA or Scale
Masters (www.scalemasters.org) events anywhere in the country.
The competitor’s name, AMA district, and contest scores will be
posted on the My Rally Tally page of the National Scale
Championship Rally Web site and distributed to the hobby media.
No additional information will be disclosed without the entrant’s
permission. Only data entered on an official NASA Web registration
form and official submission form will be accepted.
If you placed third at the first contest, fourth at the second contest,
and fifth at the third contest, you could win the rally; it is based on
consistency, similar to the SCCA Rally.
Classes that are open for the rally include Team Scale (AMA
event 522), Designer Scale (AMA event 515), Expert Sport Scale
(AMA event 512), Sportsman Sport Scale (AMA event 511), and
Fun Scale (AMA event 520). It only costs $5 to enter, so why not see
how many contests you can go to this year?
Vickie and Dave Pinegar at the Scale Nationals with their Top
Flite T-34 finished in a US Air Force color scheme.
06sig4.QXD 3/24/04 12:30 pm Page 120
Incoming: John Thompson (Southampton, England) built the Scale
Convair R3Y-1 Tradewind shown in the photos from his plans that
were scaled up from drawings he found in a recent publication about
this rare transport.
Electric power allowed John to build this model in a size that is
easy for him to transport to his club’s water fly-ins. With the fullscale
aircraft having turboprops, at this size it would be impossible
to get the engines inside the cowlings.
The Tradewind spans 75 inches and is 67 inches long. The all-up
weight is 10 pounds, 12 ounces. It is all built-up balsa-and-plywood
construction, covered with fabric and painted with Ford automotive
paint.
The model is powered by four Speed 480BB Race electric motors
geared down to a 4.5:1 ratio, using Cosmotec gearboxes. John has
this combination attached to 8 x 6 three-blade Tornado propellers. It
uses a five-channel radio system, including a Schulze Smart 50bo
speed controller. The model’s “fuel” is two
10-cell Sanyo 2400 Ni-Cd packs and the
receiver battery pack.
One of the changes we are beginning to
see with Scale models is the use of electric
power. It gives modelers more options when
it comes to power sources and building some
of the more obscure or harder-to-model
aircraft, such as the Bugatti Model 100
shown.
Some might say that Keith Shaw’s
Bugatti isn’t Scale, but it is. The full-scale
aircraft hangs in the Experimental Aircraft
Association AirVenture Museum at
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which is wonderful. I
don’t have any stats on this model, but I
would love to know how it flies.
The 40-size Aeronca Champ shown was
at last year’s Mint Julep Scale Meet at the
Falls of Rough State Park in Kentucky. I’m
mentioning it here because it shows that you
don’t need a warbird for competition.
Painted in Aeronca’s main Champ color
scheme, the yellow-and-orange airplane is
easy to see in the sky and ideal for a
beginner.
Upcoming Events: The Western Regional
Scale Masters qualifier will be June 11-13 at
the El Toro Orange County Modelers’
Association field in Irvine, California. Sam
Wright will be the contest director again this
year, and the Scale Squadron of Southern
California will host the event.
This group has been active in hosting
Scale contests for many years, and if you
have never tried Scale or want to get back
into competition, this is a good place to start.
You’ll find many people who will be willing
to help you at the competition, so don’t be
afraid to ask.
Classes will include Expert, Team Scale,
Sportsman, and Fun Scale. For more
information, please contact Sam Wright at
[email protected] or (949) 766-9786, or
contact Gordon Truax at
[email protected] or (714) 525-7926.
If Scale contests aren’t your thing and
you are interested in going to an event to fly,
plan to attend the Denver Warbird Fly-In. It
will be held June 11-13 at Chatfield State
Park. The site has two 800-foot runways,
and according to longtime Scale competitor
Brian O’Meara, it’s the best field in
Colorado. Camping is permitted at the
parking lot of the field, but there are no
hookups there.
Brian stated that any warbird is welcome,
but no Ugly Sticks or sport jets with warbird
markings are allowed. For more information,
please contact Brian at (303) 254-5160 or by
E-mail at [email protected].
Bookshelf: Jagdwaffe: Birth of the
Luftwaffe Fighter Force (Volume One,
Section 1) by Eric Mombeek with Richard
Smith and Eddie J. Creek is another of the
“Classicolours” series, published by Classic
Publications. This volume covers the
beginnings of the new Luftwaffe after WW I.
This 96-page book (ISBN 0952686759)
is in the same series as the American Eagles
book I recently reviewed, but there is a
marked difference in the way the publisher
has treated the material for modelers and
historians.
Most of the color side plates have
matching photos on the same page or on the
page next to them. This really gives those
black-and-white photos from the 1930s
some clarity. It also gives the modelers who
want to build an airplane from this book
better documentation material for painting
and marking. I guess it would be too much
to ask all publishers to require this in their
books.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/06
Page Numbers: 120,122,124
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/06
Page Numbers: 120,122,124
120 MODEL AVIATION
Stan Alexander, 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville TN 37211; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SCALE
IT’S ALWAYS GREAT to see a group, a club, or an individual
(sometimes all of them!) come up with an idea to increase
participation in Scale competition and Scale modeling in general.
Avid Scale modeler and webmaster Ed Clayman did just that. He has
several Web sites on the Internet and has been a big promoter of
Scale competition across the country.
One of the ideas that many think will catch on is similar to the
SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Rally series for automobiles.
The National Scale Championship Rally is designed to increase
John Thompson built his Convair Tradewind from plans.
John’s Tradewind is on the step and ready to take off.
Keith Shaw’s Bugatti Model 100 electric-powered racer.
participation in Scale contests across the country throughout the year.
It’s fairly simple in design and uses the AMA RC Scale rules. In the
future, there very well could be versions for CL and FF Scale
competitors also.
The Web site—www.scaleaero.com/nasa_scale_rally.htm—has a
great deal of information for modelers who are thinking about trying
Scale competition for the first time and for holding a Scale
competition themselves. Much of it parallels the AMA rule book.
At a local field in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, last year the
Murfreesboro Skyhawks held a one-day Fun Scale event to try to
gauge how much participation there would be from the surrounding
area. The result was that everyone had a great time, and most of the
judges were full-scale pilots. They used the KISS principle—Keep it
simple, stupid!—for the contest and offered lunch and a great dinner
afterward. I hope I’m able to attend this year.
According to the rules, the rally competitor will go to no fewer
than three AMA sanctioned Scale contests and will have the contest
director fill in the data and mail, in an SASE, the form that the
contestant prints off of the Web site. The contest director will
complete the form and mail it to the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers (NASA) address: 16115 Espinosa Dr., Houston TX
77083.
It’s a broad rally, in that you can participate in AMA or Scale
Masters (www.scalemasters.org) events anywhere in the country.
The competitor’s name, AMA district, and contest scores will be
posted on the My Rally Tally page of the National Scale
Championship Rally Web site and distributed to the hobby media.
No additional information will be disclosed without the entrant’s
permission. Only data entered on an official NASA Web registration
form and official submission form will be accepted.
If you placed third at the first contest, fourth at the second contest,
and fifth at the third contest, you could win the rally; it is based on
consistency, similar to the SCCA Rally.
Classes that are open for the rally include Team Scale (AMA
event 522), Designer Scale (AMA event 515), Expert Sport Scale
(AMA event 512), Sportsman Sport Scale (AMA event 511), and
Fun Scale (AMA event 520). It only costs $5 to enter, so why not see
how many contests you can go to this year?
Vickie and Dave Pinegar at the Scale Nationals with their Top
Flite T-34 finished in a US Air Force color scheme.
06sig4.QXD 3/24/04 12:30 pm Page 120
Incoming: John Thompson (Southampton, England) built the Scale
Convair R3Y-1 Tradewind shown in the photos from his plans that
were scaled up from drawings he found in a recent publication about
this rare transport.
Electric power allowed John to build this model in a size that is
easy for him to transport to his club’s water fly-ins. With the fullscale
aircraft having turboprops, at this size it would be impossible
to get the engines inside the cowlings.
The Tradewind spans 75 inches and is 67 inches long. The all-up
weight is 10 pounds, 12 ounces. It is all built-up balsa-and-plywood
construction, covered with fabric and painted with Ford automotive
paint.
The model is powered by four Speed 480BB Race electric motors
geared down to a 4.5:1 ratio, using Cosmotec gearboxes. John has
this combination attached to 8 x 6 three-blade Tornado propellers. It
uses a five-channel radio system, including a Schulze Smart 50bo
speed controller. The model’s “fuel” is two
10-cell Sanyo 2400 Ni-Cd packs and the
receiver battery pack.
One of the changes we are beginning to
see with Scale models is the use of electric
power. It gives modelers more options when
it comes to power sources and building some
of the more obscure or harder-to-model
aircraft, such as the Bugatti Model 100
shown.
Some might say that Keith Shaw’s
Bugatti isn’t Scale, but it is. The full-scale
aircraft hangs in the Experimental Aircraft
Association AirVenture Museum at
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which is wonderful. I
don’t have any stats on this model, but I
would love to know how it flies.
The 40-size Aeronca Champ shown was
at last year’s Mint Julep Scale Meet at the
Falls of Rough State Park in Kentucky. I’m
mentioning it here because it shows that you
don’t need a warbird for competition.
Painted in Aeronca’s main Champ color
scheme, the yellow-and-orange airplane is
easy to see in the sky and ideal for a
beginner.
Upcoming Events: The Western Regional
Scale Masters qualifier will be June 11-13 at
the El Toro Orange County Modelers’
Association field in Irvine, California. Sam
Wright will be the contest director again this
year, and the Scale Squadron of Southern
California will host the event.
This group has been active in hosting
Scale contests for many years, and if you
have never tried Scale or want to get back
into competition, this is a good place to start.
You’ll find many people who will be willing
to help you at the competition, so don’t be
afraid to ask.
Classes will include Expert, Team Scale,
Sportsman, and Fun Scale. For more
information, please contact Sam Wright at
[email protected] or (949) 766-9786, or
contact Gordon Truax at
[email protected] or (714) 525-7926.
If Scale contests aren’t your thing and
you are interested in going to an event to fly,
plan to attend the Denver Warbird Fly-In. It
will be held June 11-13 at Chatfield State
Park. The site has two 800-foot runways,
and according to longtime Scale competitor
Brian O’Meara, it’s the best field in
Colorado. Camping is permitted at the
parking lot of the field, but there are no
hookups there.
Brian stated that any warbird is welcome,
but no Ugly Sticks or sport jets with warbird
markings are allowed. For more information,
please contact Brian at (303) 254-5160 or by
E-mail at [email protected].
Bookshelf: Jagdwaffe: Birth of the
Luftwaffe Fighter Force (Volume One,
Section 1) by Eric Mombeek with Richard
Smith and Eddie J. Creek is another of the
“Classicolours” series, published by Classic
Publications. This volume covers the
beginnings of the new Luftwaffe after WW I.
This 96-page book (ISBN 0952686759)
is in the same series as the American Eagles
book I recently reviewed, but there is a
marked difference in the way the publisher
has treated the material for modelers and
historians.
Most of the color side plates have
matching photos on the same page or on the
page next to them. This really gives those
black-and-white photos from the 1930s
some clarity. It also gives the modelers who
want to build an airplane from this book
better documentation material for painting
and marking. I guess it would be too much
to ask all publishers to require this in their
books.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/06
Page Numbers: 120,122,124
120 MODEL AVIATION
Stan Alexander, 3709 Valley Ridge Dr., Nashville TN 37211; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL SCALE
IT’S ALWAYS GREAT to see a group, a club, or an individual
(sometimes all of them!) come up with an idea to increase
participation in Scale competition and Scale modeling in general.
Avid Scale modeler and webmaster Ed Clayman did just that. He has
several Web sites on the Internet and has been a big promoter of
Scale competition across the country.
One of the ideas that many think will catch on is similar to the
SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Rally series for automobiles.
The National Scale Championship Rally is designed to increase
John Thompson built his Convair Tradewind from plans.
John’s Tradewind is on the step and ready to take off.
Keith Shaw’s Bugatti Model 100 electric-powered racer.
participation in Scale contests across the country throughout the year.
It’s fairly simple in design and uses the AMA RC Scale rules. In the
future, there very well could be versions for CL and FF Scale
competitors also.
The Web site—www.scaleaero.com/nasa_scale_rally.htm—has a
great deal of information for modelers who are thinking about trying
Scale competition for the first time and for holding a Scale
competition themselves. Much of it parallels the AMA rule book.
At a local field in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, last year the
Murfreesboro Skyhawks held a one-day Fun Scale event to try to
gauge how much participation there would be from the surrounding
area. The result was that everyone had a great time, and most of the
judges were full-scale pilots. They used the KISS principle—Keep it
simple, stupid!—for the contest and offered lunch and a great dinner
afterward. I hope I’m able to attend this year.
According to the rules, the rally competitor will go to no fewer
than three AMA sanctioned Scale contests and will have the contest
director fill in the data and mail, in an SASE, the form that the
contestant prints off of the Web site. The contest director will
complete the form and mail it to the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers (NASA) address: 16115 Espinosa Dr., Houston TX
77083.
It’s a broad rally, in that you can participate in AMA or Scale
Masters (www.scalemasters.org) events anywhere in the country.
The competitor’s name, AMA district, and contest scores will be
posted on the My Rally Tally page of the National Scale
Championship Rally Web site and distributed to the hobby media.
No additional information will be disclosed without the entrant’s
permission. Only data entered on an official NASA Web registration
form and official submission form will be accepted.
If you placed third at the first contest, fourth at the second contest,
and fifth at the third contest, you could win the rally; it is based on
consistency, similar to the SCCA Rally.
Classes that are open for the rally include Team Scale (AMA
event 522), Designer Scale (AMA event 515), Expert Sport Scale
(AMA event 512), Sportsman Sport Scale (AMA event 511), and
Fun Scale (AMA event 520). It only costs $5 to enter, so why not see
how many contests you can go to this year?
Vickie and Dave Pinegar at the Scale Nationals with their Top
Flite T-34 finished in a US Air Force color scheme.
06sig4.QXD 3/24/04 12:30 pm Page 120
Incoming: John Thompson (Southampton, England) built the Scale
Convair R3Y-1 Tradewind shown in the photos from his plans that
were scaled up from drawings he found in a recent publication about
this rare transport.
Electric power allowed John to build this model in a size that is
easy for him to transport to his club’s water fly-ins. With the fullscale
aircraft having turboprops, at this size it would be impossible
to get the engines inside the cowlings.
The Tradewind spans 75 inches and is 67 inches long. The all-up
weight is 10 pounds, 12 ounces. It is all built-up balsa-and-plywood
construction, covered with fabric and painted with Ford automotive
paint.
The model is powered by four Speed 480BB Race electric motors
geared down to a 4.5:1 ratio, using Cosmotec gearboxes. John has
this combination attached to 8 x 6 three-blade Tornado propellers. It
uses a five-channel radio system, including a Schulze Smart 50bo
speed controller. The model’s “fuel” is two
10-cell Sanyo 2400 Ni-Cd packs and the
receiver battery pack.
One of the changes we are beginning to
see with Scale models is the use of electric
power. It gives modelers more options when
it comes to power sources and building some
of the more obscure or harder-to-model
aircraft, such as the Bugatti Model 100
shown.
Some might say that Keith Shaw’s
Bugatti isn’t Scale, but it is. The full-scale
aircraft hangs in the Experimental Aircraft
Association AirVenture Museum at
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which is wonderful. I
don’t have any stats on this model, but I
would love to know how it flies.
The 40-size Aeronca Champ shown was
at last year’s Mint Julep Scale Meet at the
Falls of Rough State Park in Kentucky. I’m
mentioning it here because it shows that you
don’t need a warbird for competition.
Painted in Aeronca’s main Champ color
scheme, the yellow-and-orange airplane is
easy to see in the sky and ideal for a
beginner.
Upcoming Events: The Western Regional
Scale Masters qualifier will be June 11-13 at
the El Toro Orange County Modelers’
Association field in Irvine, California. Sam
Wright will be the contest director again this
year, and the Scale Squadron of Southern
California will host the event.
This group has been active in hosting
Scale contests for many years, and if you
have never tried Scale or want to get back
into competition, this is a good place to start.
You’ll find many people who will be willing
to help you at the competition, so don’t be
afraid to ask.
Classes will include Expert, Team Scale,
Sportsman, and Fun Scale. For more
information, please contact Sam Wright at
[email protected] or (949) 766-9786, or
contact Gordon Truax at
[email protected] or (714) 525-7926.
If Scale contests aren’t your thing and
you are interested in going to an event to fly,
plan to attend the Denver Warbird Fly-In. It
will be held June 11-13 at Chatfield State
Park. The site has two 800-foot runways,
and according to longtime Scale competitor
Brian O’Meara, it’s the best field in
Colorado. Camping is permitted at the
parking lot of the field, but there are no
hookups there.
Brian stated that any warbird is welcome,
but no Ugly Sticks or sport jets with warbird
markings are allowed. For more information,
please contact Brian at (303) 254-5160 or by
E-mail at [email protected].
Bookshelf: Jagdwaffe: Birth of the
Luftwaffe Fighter Force (Volume One,
Section 1) by Eric Mombeek with Richard
Smith and Eddie J. Creek is another of the
“Classicolours” series, published by Classic
Publications. This volume covers the
beginnings of the new Luftwaffe after WW I.
This 96-page book (ISBN 0952686759)
is in the same series as the American Eagles
book I recently reviewed, but there is a
marked difference in the way the publisher
has treated the material for modelers and
historians.
Most of the color side plates have
matching photos on the same page or on the
page next to them. This really gives those
black-and-white photos from the 1930s
some clarity. It also gives the modelers who
want to build an airplane from this book
better documentation material for painting
and marking. I guess it would be too much
to ask all publishers to require this in their
books.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
