Radio Control Scale - 2006/01
Byline
Stan Alexander <[email protected]>
Indoor RC Scale at the Nats!
At this year's National Championships held in Muncie, Indiana, there was a new venue for the Scale RC indoor event. Ball State University hosted the contest in Worthen Arena. Nats officials said that working with the Ball State group was great, and they are looking forward to having the modelers back next year for the third annual Scale RC Indoor Classic.
This basketball arena provides a large area for flying indoor models—especially those weighing less than 20 ounces with low wing loadings. Many contestants selected Sig kits, and a few scratch-built their aircraft. There were three classes:
- Fun Scale
- Sport Scale
- Designer Scale
One flightline was used because flights took roughly five minutes, compared to outdoor RC Scale models that take 12–15 minutes. Each flight included nine maneuvers, with required categories such as Takeoff, Fly-Past, Figure Eight, Landing, and Realism in Flight. Four rounds were flown, along with a lengthy practice session while static judging took place in the morning.
Models, kits, and construction
Among the models were several built from Sig kits, the popular Dumas L-19 Bird Dog, and several aircraft from DJ Aerotech Roadkill kits. Sig has taken a leadership role in developing kits and power systems for park flyers and indoor Scale models.
Some outdoor park flyers make excellent indoor models, such as the Sig Fokker D.VII, the Bristol Scout, and the Jenny. These foam ARFs generally use the same battery packs, motors, and hardware.
The Fokker D.VII I have is a stock Sig kit with a few additions to enhance realism and appearance. I used water-based paints and artist brushes for detailing; the kit also comes prepainted in a red-and-white scheme. It would be great if Sig offered kits in all-white foam so builders could paint their own schemes—Fun Scale would likely show off a wide variety of colors.
Some of the more interesting competition models were scratch-built. Greg Hahn constructed a Blériot and flew to a second-place finish in Designer Scale. It was built with the same technology as the Sig Antoinette—lots of stick construction. In photos of Greg’s Blériot you can see the Li-Poly battery pack located directly under the dummy engine and the motor powering the aircraft overhead. The delicate fuselage structure and the scale wire bracing from the wing trailing edge to the rudder are visible. Notice the undercambered wing; the ribs show the airfoil, especially at the leading edge. The little model even performed a loop and a stall turn successfully.
Scott Christensen won Designer Scale with his own-design Demoiselle, which is now a Sig kit. This little French home-built has a 44.5-inch wingspan and is completely built up from sticks supplied in the kit.
In Fun Scale (where you may fly anything you brought—borrowed or an ARF) there were the most entries. Notable entries included:
- Demoiselle
- de Havilland Tiger Moth
- Mountain Models Cessna 180
- de Havilland Beaver
- Fokker D.VII
- Roadkill B-17F (winner)
The Fun Scale winner was a Roadkill B-17F that Greg Hahn modeled after the "Memphis Belle." He not only dropped bombs at the judges’ feet, but his Futaba computer radio played "Sentimental Journey" during flight.
Indoor flying techniques and weight considerations
One of the important differences when flying indoors with such light models is that throttle directly controls the model’s height. The elevator is mostly used for trim. If you overthrow the elevator and try to fly indoor models like outdoor Scale models, you’ll end up all over the place.
Unlike many who fly outdoors and build models without thinking much about weight, you have to check every ounce—and sometimes every gram—of weight you add to an indoor Scale model. Most models in the competition weighed less than 10 ounces. Even Fun Scale ARFs weigh 10–11 ounces for outdoor or indoor flight.
Indoor flying has many advantages: no wind, no sun, no rain, and the flying direction stays the same all day. For Scale pilots, including Fun Scale flyers, watching out for corners usually lets you bring your aircraft back to its starting point with no problem.
FAI team selection and Nationals highlights
At this year’s Scale Nationals the U.S. F4C (RC Scale) and F4B (CL Scale) teams were selected. Judges with FAI experience were brought in from across the country to preside at this qualifier for the Scale World Championships in Sweden in July 2006.
FAI Scale Sub-Committee Chairman Narve Jensen of Norway assisted with static and flight judging during the week. Event Director Jim Rediske, Mike Welshans, and the FAI Scale Team Selection Committee with chairman Mike Gretz put together a great venue. There were dedicated static and flight judges for the F4C contestants.
Notably, a father and son made the team with almost identical airplanes. Hal and Gary Parenti took first and second spots flying Dave Platt-designed T-28 Trojans. The U.S. naval color schemes showed up well in the air, and the airplanes tracked well on the ground with tricycle gear. Both models were built from Dave Platt plans, finished with 0.6-ounce fiberglass cloth, and painted with the PPG automotive paint system. Each spanned 83 inches and was powered by Moki 1.80 two-stroke engines turning 18x8 propellers. Both Parenti T-28s were controlled by Airtronics Stylus eight-channel systems.
Finishing third was Wayne Frederick flying his familiar scratch-built Fokker D.VIII—a design he has used in competition for several years. In Scale it is permissible to qualify with one model and take a newer or different model to the finals.
I look forward to seeing our team head to Sweden in 2006. For more information about the 2006 FAI Scale team and competition, check www.nasascale.org.
Bookshelf
Junkers Ju 88 Vol. 1 by Krzysztof Janowicz (Kagero, 2005). ISBN 83-89088-57-6.
- The Ju 88 was Germany’s B-25–class medium-range bomber and was used in many roles and theaters during World War II.
- The book has 79 large-format pages of text, close to 20 pages of 1/48-scale drawings and foldouts, and color side views of several schemes and types.
- There is a photo showing the main gear retracting into the nacelle as it pivots (similar to the Curtiss P-40), clarifying that the gear does not retract straight back into the nacelle.
- The book features about 150 photos, the scale drawings, and bilingual history (Polish and English). Plans for the Ju 88 are available from several sources, including a large-scale set from Don Smith Plans.
This series includes other titles such as Heinkel He 111, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 (Vol. IV), Chance Vought F4U Corsair (Vol. 1), Grumman F6F Hellcat, and Nakajima Ki-27. For more information, check www.squadron.com or call (972) 242-8663.
Photos and closing
This month’s photos are courtesy of Ben and Mark Lanterman. Thanks so much, guys!
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
