Radio Control Scale - 2006/01

there was a new venue for the Scale RC indoor event. Ball State
University was the place, and Worthen Arena was the spot. Nats
officials said that working with the group from Ball State 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 does have a large area in which to fly 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, and
Designer Scale.
One flightline was used since the flights took roughly five minutes,
compared to the outdoor RC Scale models which take 12-15 minutes to
fly. This is flying nine maneuvers, including the required Takeoff, Fly-
Past, Figure Eight, Landing, and Realism in Flight categories. Four
rounds were flown, along with a lengthy practice session while static
judging took place in
the morning.
Among the
models were several
built from Sig kits,
the popular Dumas
L-19 Bird Dog built
from a kit, and
several models from
DJ Aerotech
Roadkill kits. Sig has
taken a leadership
role in developing
kits and utilizing 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. All of these
foam ARFs feature basically the same battery packs, engines, and
hardware.
The Fokker D.VII I have is a stock Sig kit with a few additions to
help realism and appearance. I used water-based paints and artist
brushes to detail the model, which comes prepainted in a red-and-white
scheme.
There are several other designs in the series that the builder could
alter to re-create a different aircraft. It would be great if Sig could offer
the kits in all-white foam so you could just paint the scheme you
wanted. It would be interesting to see how many different color
schemes would pop up in Fun Scale!from scratch, such as the Blériot that Greg Hahn constructed and flew
to a second-place finish in Designer Scale. It was built with the same
technology as the Sig Antoinette: lots of sticks!
In the photo 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. You can also make out the delicate fuselage
structure and the scale wire bracing in the fuselage from the wing TE
to the rudder.
Notice the undercambered wing. It is easy to make out with the
ribs, especially at the LE. 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. The little French home-built has a
wingspan of 44.5 inches and is completely built up from sticks
supplied in the kit.
Fun Scale, in which you can fly anything
you brought—whether it’s borrowed or an
ARF—had the most entries. There were
several kits and ARFs in the field, including a
Demoiselle, a de Havilland Tiger Moth, a
Mountain Models Cessna 180, a de Havilland
Beaver, a Fokker D.VII, and the winner: a
Roadkill B-17F that Greg Hahn modeled
after the “Memphis Belle.” He not only
dropped bombs at the judges’ feet, but the
Futaba computer radio played Sentimental
Journey as he flew.
One of the new things we have to learn
(and remember) while flying indoors with
such light models with such light wing
loadings is that the throttle directly controls
the model’s height, or lack thereof. The
elevator is mostly used just for trim.
If you overthrow on the elevator and try to
fly the indoor models like you fly the outdoor
Greg Hahn’s Roadkill B-17 won the Fun Scale division.
The 2006 FAI F4C Scale team (L-R): RC Team Manager Lloyd Roberts and qualifying
pilots Gary Parenti, Wayne Frederick, and Hal Parenti.
Scale models, you’ll end up all over the place.
Ask me how I know!
Unlike many of us who fly outdoors and
build our models without thinking too much
about weight, you have to check every ounce,
and sometimes gram, of weight you add to an
indoor Scale model. Most models in the
competition weighed less than 10 ounces.
Even the Fun Scale ARFs weigh 10-11 ounces
for outdoor or indoor flight.
I’ll explore the indoor venue for RC Scale
modeling in the coming months. Things I’ve
come to love about indoor flying are that there
is no wind, no sun, no rain, and the flying
direction stays the same all day. And for those
with Scale models, even Fun Scale, if you
watch out for the corners, you can usually
bring your aircraft back to its starting point
with no problem.
At this year’s Scale Nationals the US 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, to be held in Sweden in July
2006.
FAI Scale Sub-Committee Chairman
Narve Jensen of Norway was on hand to help
with the 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 for the competitors.
There were also dedicated static and flight
judges for the F4C contestants.
For the first time I can remember, a father
and son made the team with almost identical
airplanes. Hal and Gary Parenti took the first
and second spots with Dave Platt-designed T-
28 Trojans. The US naval color scheme really
showed up in the air, and the airplanes tracked
well on the ground with the tricycle gear.
Both models were built from Dave Platt
plans. They were finished with .6-ounce
fiberglass cloth and painted with the PPG
automotive paint system. The airplanes
spanned 83 inches apiece and were powered
by Moki 1.80 two-stroke engines turning 18 x
8 propellers. Gary and Hal are longtime
Airtronics radio-system users, and both T-28s
were controlled by Stylus eight-channel
systems.
Finishing in third place was Wayne
Frederick flying his familiar scratch-built
Fokker D.VIII—a design he has used in
competition for several years. He’s going to
have a new model for the World
Championships. In Scale it is permissible to
qualify for an event and then take a newer or
different model to the finals.
I look forward to seeing our team on its
way to Sweden in 2006. For more information
about the 2006 FAI Scale team and
competition, check out www.nasascale.org on
the Web.
Bookshelf: Junkers Ju 88 Vol. 1 by Krzysztof
Janowicz, published by Kagero and number
13 in a series, was published in 2005 (ISBN
83-89088-57-6). The Ju 88 was Germany’s B-
25 medium-range bomber. As was the B-25,
the Ju 88 was used for a multitude of tasks and
appeared in all theaters during World War II.
This book has 79 large-format pages of
text and close to 20 pages of scale drawings
and foldouts in 1/48 scale. There are color side
views of several schemes and types.
There is also a photo that shows the main
gear retracting into the nacelle as it pivots, as
on the Curtiss P-40. Some might think the
gear retracts straight back into the nacelle, but
not so with the Ju 88.
The book features 150 photos, the scale
drawings, and history in Polish and English
text. It’s a great buy if you are interested in
this type of aircraft. There are plans for the Ju
88 available from several sources, including a
set for a large Scale model from Don Smith
Plans.
This line of books highlights quite a few
aircraft you might be interested in if you like
military Scale models. They include the
Heinkel He 111, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190
(Vol. IV), the Chance Vought F4U Corsair
(Vol. 1), the Grumman F6F Hellcat, and the
Nakajima Ki-27. For more information about
this book and others like it check out
www.squadron.com or call (972) 242-8663.
Next month I hope to get into some building.
It’s been a wild summer here, and I hope you
have those winter projects out and ready to hit
the workbench.
This month’s photos are courtesy of Ben
and Mark Lanterman Thanks so much, guys!
Fair skies and tailwinds