Radio Control Scale - 2010/11

120 MODEL AVIATION
Also included in this
column:
• Stinson aviation
Civilian aircraft at the 2010 Scale Nationals
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Scale Stan Alexander
Right: Dave Pinegar built this
Piper Arrow II and flew it in
Expert at this year’s Scale
Nationals. It spans 81 inches
and weighs 19 pounds. Notice
the clean lines and surface
details.
Left: Vickie Pinegar and Steve Ort prepare
Steve’s SR-9 for static judging in Team
Scale. Vickie’s husband, Dave, flew the gaspowered
Stinson.
Below: Dave Pinegar flies Steve Ort’s
Stinson SR-9 in Team Scale. Its 100-inch
wingspan presents well to the flight judges.
Three contestants entered the Top Flite Cessna 310R in Fun Scale
at the Nationals. Shown is Dave Pinegar’s, powered with O.S. .46
two-stroke engines.
WOW! I COULDN’T have predicted it if I tried. The aircraft
type I covered in last month’s column won the Expert class at
this year’s annual RC Scale Nationals and was the Scale National
Champion.
It goes to show that civilian aircraft can win in big
competitions. In the NatsNews publication I called it “the little
airplane that could.”
Dave and Vickie Pinegar arrived at the National
Championships with two models: a Cessna 310R in Fun Scale
and a Top Flite Piper Arrow II in Expert. The Cessna was
basically an out-of-the-box Top Flite ARF with stock Robart
retracts and flaps, a finish of fiberglass and MonoKote, and two
O.S. .46 engines.
Dave said that he originally had electric power in the model,
but he switched back to glow after having to wait an hour for the
batteries to charge after each flight. He doesn’t use an onboard
glow system for the Cessna; he employs stock engines, keeping it
simple.
He finished eighth in Fun Scale Open with the 310R. Dave’s
wasn’t the only Top Flite Cessna 310 at the Nationals; Jeffery
Pike flew his in Fun Scale.
The Piper Arrow II, which is no longer in production, was
built from a sport-scale kit and spanned 81 inches. It featured
retractable landing gear and flaps. Dave added scale landing gear
11sig4x.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 9/23/10 9:50 AM Page 120
doors for both the main and nose wheels. The more you
looked at the model, the more details popped out at you.
Dave powered the Piper with an O.S. .91 FSR engine
controlled by a Futaba 9C radio system with a FASST
(Futaba Advanced Spread Spectrum Technology)
module. Most of the Scale RC models were flown on 2.4
GHz this year. Dave used Robart retract landing gear for
realism and reliability.
Arrow documentation included color photos of the full-scale
subject and scale three-view drawings from the factory. That,
combined with a simple, accurate outline, almost ensured a good
static score.
Dave selected a flight pattern that gave his model the best
chance of earning the most points in front of flight judges. His
November 2010 121
Left: This Stinson SR-6A was built on July 9, 1935 (NC-15127), and
is one of a few left flying in the US. Seen at AirVenture Oshkosh.
Below: Ron Peterka built this Stinson SR-5 from his plans. It has a
wingspan of 98 inches and is powered with a Zenoah G-26 engine.
The full-scale aircraft is on display in the San Diego Air & Space
Museum.
routine consisted of the five mandatory maneuvers—Takeoff,
Fly-Past, Figure Eight, Realism in Flight, and Landing—
combined with the five selected flight options. The FAI
Descending 360° Circle, Chandelle, Overshoot, and retracts and
flaps finished the flight.
11sig4x.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 9/23/10 9:50 AM Page 121
122 MODEL AVIATION
He stuck with those maneuvers during
the entire weekend, which is a good idea.
That way your flight scores generally
improve as the contest progresses. You get
more comfortable with the site, model,
and the judges.
Vickie, Dave’s wife, acted as his pit
crew and his caller. A calm, familiar voice
is helpful during competition, when there
are at least three other models in the air.
The Stinson Aircraft Corporation has
been around for a very long time.
Although the company disappeared after
World War II, when first the Cord
Corporation and then AVCO (Aviation
Corporation) bought it, Eddie Stinson left
a huge mark on the aviation industry.
Eddie and his sisters earned their flying
licenses from the Wright Brothers Flying
School and then opened the Stinson
School of Flying in San Antonio, Texas.
Eddie, Katherine, and Marjorie were
involved in their family business. Eddie
eventually went on to build production
aircraft in this hotbed of aviation.
The most familiar Stinson aircraft are
probably the SR-9, the SR-10, the bentwing
civilian 105 Voyager, and the post-
World War II 108. There were many other
models, including the SR-5, SR-6, SM-1
Detroiter, SM-2, and the Tri-Motor (which
was similar in layout to the Ford Tri-
Motor passenger airplanes).
Dick Graham produced two sets of
plans for Stinson aircraft, not for the Tri-
Motor or the SR-9/SR-10 series, but for
the Model O and the SR-5. These large
airplanes have wingspans exceeding 8
feet. Dick successfully flew the SR-5 in
competition in the early 1990s.
There are several model kits of the SRCall
Toll Free:
888-829-4060
7414 Burton Drive, Liberty Twp, OH 45044
All Aero-Pac’s are $15.95 + $5.50 s&h for the fi rst, $1.50 each additional.
• Each Aero-Pac is devoted to a single airframe.
• The documentation comes on a cd-rom and is
viewable in any modern Mac/Win web browser.
• Includes 8-point walk-around, exterior & interior
details, enhanced close-ups, and a 3-view!
• All wording (n-numbers, nomenclature, etc.) are
shot close-up and head-on for easier duplication.
Visit airbornemedia.com to
see all of our Aero-Pacs
Scale Documentation
for the Digital Age.
Lil' Toot
Get the free app for your
phone at http://gettag.mobi
SNAP THIS WITH YOUR
SMARTPHONE FOR MORE!
9 and the SR-10, the most notable of
which is by Top Flite. It has a 100-inch
wingspan and requires a Zenoah G-38 gas
or O.S. 1.60 glow engine. This is a project
for the builders among us.
Steve Ort, the vice president of the
National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers, competed in this year’s
Nationals with his beautiful Top Flite
Stinson SR-9 (bent-wing version). He
finished it in a civilian color scheme. The
model was covered with Nelson LiteFAB
fabric and Stits paint.
The SR-9 weighed 24 pounds and was
powered by a U.S. Engines 41cc gas power
plant. Steve used a Futaba PCM sevenchannel
radio for control. Dave Pinegar
flew Steve’s airplane in Team Scale.
Another Stinson line, which is one of
my favorites, is the straight-wing SR-5 to
SR-6A series. These aircraft have the same
lines of the later SR-9 and SR-10 but with
a straight wing, and the SR-6 has flaps.
There are a few SR-5s and SR-6s left, and
many modelers take the opportunity to
reproduce them.
Ron Peterka scratch-built his SR-5
model. He lives in the San Diego,
California, area and competes in Team
Scale in the U.S. Scale Masters series.
According to Ron, the inspiration for
his model was the full-scale SR-5E
displayed at the San Diego Air & Space
Museum. It won the EAA Antique Grand
Champion award at AirVenture Oshkosh.
Ron’s design is scaled at 1:5 for his
plans. It was built using traditional balsa
and plywood, with a sprinkling of epoxy
and fiberglass with cloth covering.
Construction began with the functionally
sprung scale landing gear to smooth the
takeoffs and landings.
He added a full interior, instrument
panel, and scale control surfaces and
hinges. If you’ve seen the inside of a
Stinson, you know that it’s as plush and
ornate as any aircraft of the day. With the
Cord Automobile Company having a stake
in the Stinson, it’s understandable that
those airplanes would be the finest around.
Ron’s model ended up with a 98-inch
wingspan and a weight of just more than
22 pounds. It has 1,450 square inches of
wing, which works out to approximately
30 ounces per square foot of loading. Ron
used full-scale Stits covering and paint to
match.
There are several other Stinsons
around, including a new replica of the
Model O in full scale. This was a highwing,
two-place parasol version, of which
only 10 were built. At this time there are
none left.
When Jeff Paulson of Evergreen
Aviation Services was searching for
documentation, parts, and anything else
related to the Model O, he found a set of
plans for a 1/4-scale version. Evergreen
already had approximately 20
photographs, which the staff used to
reverse-engineer much of the airplane.
The online photos are beautiful. See the
“Sources” list for where to find more
information about this aircraft. YouTube
has footage of the first engine run-up of
Jeff’s model and it in flight.
Roy Vaillancourt of Vailly Aviation has a
1/4- and a 1/3-scale Stinson L-5 available in
the form of kits or you can purchase only
the plans. Known as the “Flying Jeep,” the
L-5 had much the same role as the Piper
L-4 in WW II.
The 1/4-scale L-5 has a wingspan of 102
inches, and the 1/3-scale version spans 136
inches. This utility aircraft is just one of
many warbird models that Roy has
available.
Fair skies and tailwinds. MA
Sources:
Top Flite
(217) 398-8970
www.top-flite.com
Vailly Aviation
(631) 732-4715
www.vaillyaviation.com
Dick Graham plans:
Henry Budzynske
(540) 336-1492
11sig4x.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 9/23/10 9:50 AM Page 122