Author: Stan Alexander
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/05
Page Numbers: 115,116,117,119
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Radio Control Scale

Stan Alexander [email protected]

Vacation and fun at a Scale contest

At roughly the time this column comes out, the contest season will be starting in earnest in most parts of the country. My usual first stop of the year is Top Gun in Florida, but I can't make it this year. Therefore, the Mint Julep Scale Meet in May will be my first event.

This is one contest I make sure to go back to year after year. The good times, the people, the hospitality, and the model airplanes are the attraction. The Mint Julep is much like most other contests and scale fly-ins across the country.

This is one of the many US Scale Masters Championships qualifiers held across the country each year. It takes place at the beautiful Rough River Dam State Resort Park in Falls of Rough, Kentucky.

The Mint Julep favors a diverse group of modelers and models. That drives the contestant numbers up, which helps the organizing club: the Southern Indiana R/C Modelers. You can enter the event and win with a J-3 Cub or any civil aircraft because the contest administration has split the Expert class into two groups: Division 1 and Division 2.

Division 1 is for models built from full-scale prototypes that had retracting landing gear, had more than one mechanical option, or were designed specifically for racing. These include the P-51 Mustang, SBD Dauntless, B-25, Art Chester Jeep, and Gee Bee R-2. These aircraft generally don't have as many struts and other drag-producing details and they tend to fly faster and more cleanly than the generally slower Division 2 airplanes.

Division 2 is for models built from full-scale prototypes that had fixed gear, had no more than one mechanical option, or were not designed specifically for racing. This includes most light civil types, such as Piper Cubs, Ercoupes, and many 1930s-era biplanes. Why not try this type of division at your next contest? You might gain several pilots with different types of aircraft and eventually help change the Sport Scale rules for competition.

A class offered at the Mint Julep that isn't in the rule book is Scale Aerobatics. It is the same as Fun Scale, but no mechanical options are allowed for scoring in flight. These classes are one of the reasons why this event typically draws hundreds of spectators and close to 100 competitors each year. The classes are popular with the contestants, which generates necessary funds for the Southern Indiana R/C Modelers.

A club has to have at least enough funds to cover expenses for a contest or it's hard to obtain enough interest to help. Sometimes even then it's a tough sell with the limited amount of time club members have to spend outside their regular schedules.

Bookshelf

Richthofen by A.E. Ferko is published by Albatros Productions Ltd. The 80-page, cardstock-covered book contains 193 photos of the highest-scoring ace in World War I.

Many of the pictures, which appear to be from typical photo albums, are of Richthofen—also known as the Red Baron—and other pilots and sometimes of squadron mates and their dogs. Fifty-eight of the aircraft pictures would be usable for documentation.

The book covers Manfred von Richthofen’s history from childhood through his short adult life. It also documents the fact that he was buried three times, the last of which was in 1976 in his hometown of Mainz, Germany.

This book is a treasure trove of photos of Richthofen’s different airplanes. There are no three-views, but there are several color side views of different aircraft the Red Baron flew.

An airplane that might be of particular interest to many scale modelers is the all-red Fokker Dr.I, or the "Dreidecker" as it was also called. Richthofen flew several different aircraft, and most of his victories were in Albatros Scouts rather than the more famous Dr.I triplane. Photos of Dr.Is were hard to come by for many years.

When presenting documentation, modelers may have only one photo of the subject aircraft. This book is a good source to add to your Dr.I collection and history from that period. It is available from Hannan’s Runway: Box 210, Magalia CA 95954; Tel.: (530) 873-6421; Website: www.hrunway.com.

There are several Dr.I kits on the market. The first two that came to mind are Balsa USA’s and the smaller-scale kit from Proctor Enterprises. Balsa USA’s version has a wingspan of 70.5 inches and is designed for a .120 four-stroke or a G-23 gas engine (the new G-20 would be perfect for it, too). The Proctor version has a wingspan of 47 inches, and the company recommends a .70 FS for its model.

I wish I knew of a source for good 1/3-scale plans for this aircraft. If anyone does, please let me know!

New Products

This service isn’t new, but you might not know about it. If you are looking for plans for something besides the standards out there, such as the P-51, J-3 Cub, and numerous ARFs, you are basically left with designing and building your own model or using someone else’s plans.

Gene Falada of Sea-Clusion Aeronautics has been drawing plans of obscure aircraft and maritime aviation subjects for many years. He is probably one of the least-known designers.

Gene has 90 plan sets available, including:

  • Blériot 5190 — 141-inch span
  • Heinkel He 115 — 109-inch span
  • Curtiss-Reid Courier — 120-inch span
  • Sikorsky S-42B — 118-inch span
  • Dornier Do 24 flying boat — 88-inch span
  • Northrop Gamma — 114-inch span
  • Phillips Aeroneer X-PT — 108-inch span
  • Heinkel HD 24 — 69-inch span
  • Caproni Ca 133 — 84-inch span
  • Kinner XRL-1 Envoy — 95-inch span
  • Saunders-Roe Mk II — 96-inch span

You can contact Gene at:

Web Sites

There are a million websites out there, and a few specifically for scale modeling or containing full-scale documentation. I'll try to list a few each month. I won't endorse them, but they are valuable sources of information.

  • http://usscockpits.com — I learned about this site from Frank Tiano. It has good, clear cockpit shots of almost any warbird you can imagine. It's definitely worth a few minutes on the computer.
  • www.charleslindbergh.com — Mike Gretz informed me about this site dedicated to the events in Charles Lindbergh's life, memorabilia, and books about the different events that took place. If you're interested in aviation in the Golden Age, it is a good source of information. This site also gives you an idea of how aviation exploded between 1927 and 1945. The advances during those years were incredible.

Fair skies and tailwinds. MA

Sources

  • Mint Julep Scale Contest:
  • CD Paul Cain
  • 1906 Center St., New Albany IN 47150
  • (812) 645-3103
  • [email protected]
  • Information or reservations:
  • Rough River Dam State Resort Park
  • Falls of Rough KY 40119
  • (270) 257-2311

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