Author: Stan Alexander
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/06
Page Numbers: 98,99
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Building the Pietenpol

Stan Alexander [[email protected]]

Spring has finally sprung here and there is lots to do in the shop, including building a new model (or a few) as well as checking all of my equipment in preparation for practice and contests. I need to decide what maneuvers to fly with which airplane and make sure that all of the equipment for the flying field, either the park or the local school, goes in the correct place.

I’ve been working on the Pietenpol, and the fuselage is coming along. I like the spruce longerons in the fuselage construction; they are strong but can be bent to shape. The tail surfaces are built up and ready for installation.

I’ll add a hatch behind the main gear in the bottom of the model for access to the servos and battery. I’ve also decided to add two low-profile JR servos for the ailerons instead of the bellcranks, as shown.

Keep in mind that the plans I am using for this aircraft are more than 30 years old now. Gee, it doesn’t seem that old.

On the fuselage sides, 1/4-inch spruce is used for the main longerons that make up the top and bottom pieces that run from the firewall to the rudder. I also added 1/4-inch spruce to the forward portion of the model and used 1/4-inch balsa behind the wing.

The dummy engine has been a delight to build. All of the parts were numbered and literally fell out of their forms. Each stack of cylinder fins simply glued to the next; parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc., went on to the next number in line.

Be careful when adding aluminum tubes to the cylinder parts and then gluing the parts together. If you get one drop of CA on the tube, it’s there permanently.

And when constructing the exhaust manifolds, be sure to reverse the pattern on one side; otherwise you’ll have the exhaust exiting the wrong way. It’s easy to do.

I’m using mostly hand tools on this model, in addition to a Dremel and a tabletop band saw. I’ll use the band saw to cut the wing ribs and the formers for the turtledeck behind the cockpits.

When cutting sticks, make sure that you measure twice and cut once; that makes it much simpler. And have your sanding gear handy to smooth the rough edges of the sticks before applying glue. You get a better joint that way.

Fair skies and tailwinds. MA

Around Scale

Messerschmitt Bf 109

In the past few columns I’ve shown you a variety of models. Knowing that warbirds are some of the most popular, I have one for you this month.

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was one of the most produced aircraft in World War II, in all variants. At last year’s Scale Nationals, Scott Miller of Brockport, New York, competed in Fun Scale Open with his beautifully finished Bf 109G-6 model.

He built the aircraft from a Dave Platt kit, and it spanned 79 inches with a wing area of 1,009 square inches. It was finished in the colors of Luftwaffe expert Gerhard Barkhorn in November 1943 on the Russian front. The airbrushed paint scheme is WarbirdColors paints over fiberglass, balsa, and plywood.

The Bf 109 was powered by an O.S. 120AX two-stroke engine swinging a 15 x 8 APC propeller. A JR X9303 2.4 GHz radio system provided control.

Scott equipped his model with Platt retract mechanisms and Flite Lite struts for the main gear. By the time the full-scale Me 109G-6 came out, almost all 109s had their tail wheels locked in place instead of being retractable, as they were on earlier F versions.

Scott has been a warbird fan for a long time, and this is the second paint scheme with which his Messerschmitt has flown. He is finishing a Bob Violett Models MiG-15 for this year’s National Championships. I look forward to seeing it!

Upcoming Events

  • The 2012 Scale World Championships will be held in August in Spain. By the time you read this, Bulletin 1 should be out. This is the earliest in the year that such a bulletin has come out, and in my humble view, it is as it should be for a World Championships.
  • The only RC class next year will be F4C for team participation.
  • The US Team Selection will be held at our Scale National Championships this July 1–3.
  • Check the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers website for all the latest information. If you can't find it there, send me an email.
  • The Texas Scale Championships will be held June 18–19 at the Greater Southwest Aero Modelers Field in Fort Worth. The contest flyer contains the schedule, the classes that will be held, etc., and does publicizing one better than most events; it lists the past winners.
  • Lee Rice was the 2010 Texas Scale Champion. Who will win this year? Be there to find out.
  • The Fresno Radio Modelers club is hosting the 2011 U.S. Scale Masters Championships in Fresno, California, October 6–9. For more information about this event, check the Scale Masters website.

Now is a great time to visit the Scale Masters website and see if there will be any scale competitions in your area this year. There will probably be at least a couple within driving distance. You can also look in the "Contest Calendar" near the back of this magazine.

A few events are still held in various locations throughout the country each year, and the Scale Masters Championships is one of them. It has been in existence for many years—probably longer than most of us have been into aeromodeling. Regional qualifiers are held across the country each year; those who finish high are invited to the Championships held in the fall.

On the Web

The National Museum of the United States Air Force has released information on its website about a new Virtual Tour for those of us who can't get there as often as we would like.

The site also features an Aircraft of the Week, which has highlighted subjects such as the Boeing P-26 Peashooter and the B-52D Stratofortress. Included each month are the airplane's fact sheet and photos. Check it out!

Scale Tech

For Christmas I received a new Spektrum DX8 radio system. Although I still think it's one of the most advanced radios I've gotten my greedy little fingers on, in January I questioned the purchase because Horizon Hobby, the distributor, changed from DSM2 to DSMX technology.

When I registered the new radio, I learned that DSMX technology was already included. The SD card in the side of the transmitter plugs into the computer and downloads updates for the transmitter. Great! If you have an older Spektrum radio—the DX7 or the DX6i, for example—if you register it on the website you can send it in for the upgrade to DSMX.

But what's the difference between DSM2 and DSMX? DSMX selects several signals to keep your transmitter and receiver working together. This helps prevent glitches or interference at large contests, where as many as 40 pilots could be flying with their transmitters turned on at the same time.

With my luck, it wouldn't be the six models in the air that would get me; it would be the 56 models on the ground whose pilots had their transmitters turned on while working on them.

I understand that there is a fee to update your DX7 or DX6i, and you have to purchase the newer X receiver. The new transmitters on the DSMX system will also operate the older DSM2 receivers, but only on DSM2—not DSMX.

The only thing I really don't like about the new Spektrum DX8 is where the flap knob, or "Aux 3" knob, is located. It's above the aileron/elevator stick on top of the transmitter in Mode 2. Most of us fly in Mode 2.

For flap operation, I would think that the knob would be on the left side of the transmitter, close to the rudder stick—and I do mean close. Other than that, I love the programming and ease of operation of the DX8, as well as the high throttle and battery alarms.

I'll have more about this system in the future.

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.