Radio Control Scale
Stan Alexander [[email protected]]
Civilian aircraft at the 2010 Scale Nationals
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 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 retractable 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 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.
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 line
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 bent-wing 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 SR-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 seven-channel 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 as 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 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 high-wing, 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 WWII.
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 wartime 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
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
