Author: Stan Alexander
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/02
Page Numbers: 100,101,02
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The 2012 Scale Nats—prepare for a great week!

Stan Alexander [[email protected]]

Are you thinking about competing this year? Do you have your model nearly finished or a finish date in mind? If so, you may be ready for the Scale National Championships (Nats), held each summer at AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana.

The Scale Nats dates usually change to accommodate other activities, but it's generally in July. Last summer it was held during the Fourth of July weekend — not a good idea for a labor-intensive event. This year's Scale Nats will be held July 13–15. That should be good for the weather as well as a great turnout.

NASA (National Association of Scale Aeromodelers), the AMA SIG that operates the Scale Nats, has made some changes this year. There will be no late fee for entering after the cutoff date.

There are classes for beginners through seasoned scale modelers. You can enter as long as you are an AMA member; U.S. citizenship is not a requirement.

It's not a Mulligan; it's not a Monocoupe; it's a Mullicoupe!

You don't have to have a scale model; a P-51 or Zero ARF can be entered in Fun Scale. This class was designed for those who have an ARF or a model they purchased from another modeler. Download a copy of the AMA Competition Regulations from the AMA website and flip over to the Scale section. Read what is required for your particular class.

You have to perform nine maneuvers including takeoff, a flyby, a figure eight, and landing. You're scored on realism in flight as well as five optional maneuvers within your prototype's flight envelope. Now is the time to think about all of this and learn your maneuvers. Make sure your documentation is ready and make your hotel reservations.

NASA usually chooses an "official" hotel where many of the modelers meet either for dinner or breakfast. The 12th Street Cafe, where the food and service are good, has been a Nats hangout for breakfast for many years. There is a well-stocked hobby shop adjacent to the AMA flying site if you need glue or spare parts. Getting there early and staking out a space for your canopy is a good idea. Many bring a 10- by 20-foot canopy so they have room for the airplanes as well as themselves. Many come in groups — the club from Sarasota, Florida; the group from St. Louis; or the Pittsburgh-area bunch. Talk it up and come to the Nats. You'll have a great time.

AMA's National Flying Site is a beautiful place with a grass runway and a paved strip. The smell of freshly cut grass and nitro in the morning, clear skies, and the beautiful backdrop are inviting. Add the Saturday evening NASA banquet — where, if you go away hungry, it's your fault — and you won't want to leave on Sunday evening until after the awards ceremony! For more information, see "Sources."

It's the middle of winter and time to start working on that new scale subject if you haven't started already. One of the joys of scale modeling is finding an airplane to model that you didn't know existed. On a recent trip I was at the airfield and heard a distant roar behind the tree line. This is common at the Antique Airfield near Blakesburg, Iowa. Classic and antique airplanes and even airliners frequently make low passes at high speeds at this beautiful setting.

Jim Younkin, from Arkansas, and Bud Drake got the idea of the Mullicoupe while at this very airfield in 1982. Jim has built several reproductions of classic aircraft, some of which are no longer in existence, including the Howard DGA-6 Mister Mulligan and several Beech Staggerwings. Another racing aircraft he has constructed is the Travel Air Mystery Ship — one example still exists in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

The subject of combining a Howard Mister Mulligan and a Monocoupe came up. Would it be a Mullicoupe? The seed was sown and a few years later we had the first Mullicoupe. To my knowledge there are no three-views or scale drawings of this airplane and only four were built.

What does it look like? It’s basically a Monocoupe on steroids. It’s much larger and sits higher, and at first glance it looks like something that has been blown up in size in a replicator.

The full-scale airplane has a 29-foot, 3-inch wingspan, a 150-gallon fuel capacity, and 24–27 pounds per square foot wing loading. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-985 with Hornet or Wasp impeller and geared at a 12:1 blower-to-crank ratio, the aircraft’s cruise speed is 200–225 mph (depending on loading).

The aircraft is a two-seat, high-wing, single-engine monoplane. It is built with a steel-tube frame and covered with plywood. The Mullicoupe has a wooden wing and ribs, is double fabric-covered, and is stressed for high speed as well as aerobatics.

The two-place, side-by-side cockpit looks much larger than the Monocoupes that share the nearby field. The design and lineage of the Monocoupe and the Howard DGA-6 are well represented in this one design.

Mark Holliday owns and flies a Mullicoupe to local air shows and fly-ins. The airplane is based at Vintage Aero Flying Museum in Platte Valley Airpark in Hudson, Colorado. Deep black and trimmed in red, the Mullicoupe is something to see and hear, and it makes you wonder why one of the ARF manufacturers hasn’t chosen to model it. It looks like an antique classic, sounds even better, and in the air it looks like it’s going roughly 350 mph.

The Mullicoupe can transport you back in time to when most airplanes had fewer than eight instruments in the entire cockpit and flying was your next great adventure. Flying them must have been fun!

The Howard Aircraft Corporation built a line of airplanes for racing as well as commercial purposes. The Ike and Mike racers were favorites wherever they went. The DGA stands for "Damn Good Airplane" — a quote from Benny Howard in the 1930s.

Great Planes has a 52-inch, electric-powered Mister Mulligan ARF covered in MonoKote. If it were black, it would resemble the Mullicoupe.

Looking at several websites, I found that Troy Built Models is coming out with a line of racers from the 1930s. The line includes the 58-inch Travel Air Mystery Ship, the Champion Special flown by Col. Roscoe Turner, the Howard DGA-5 Ike, and the Wedell-Williams #121 Gilmore Red Lion. These aircraft, for the most part, span between 88 and 95 inches. They are due out in April 2012.

Nelson Hobby–Hobby Direct is back in business with a new owner. The great paint we’ve been using for years for scale models is once again available, as are the miniature piano hinges and other products offered by Jerry Nelson in years past. To get in contact, see "Sources."

Upcoming Events

  • Gunsmoke 2012 RC Scale Model Aircraft Contest, March 2–4, at Superstition Air Park, Mesa, Arizona.

A Scale Masters Qualifier; classes include Expert, Team, Advanced, Open, and Fun Scale. The contest director will be Austin Goodwin and the event is hosted by the One Eighth Air Force. For more information, see "Sources."

Fair skies and tail winds. MA

Sources:

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