www.ModelAviation.com April 2012 Model Aviation 107
The 1/5-scale
Mossy boasts
handmade
landing gear.
rcff gsicaanltse
remember some of the great early Bud
Nosen kits. These Giant Scale models
were designed to fly on a glow .60 and
reduction gear.
Tom Wolf of Goleta, California,
recently completed a 1/5-scale de
Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito FB Mk VI
that sports a ZDZ-100 inline twin gas
engine. His model is a replica of NS850/
TH-M Black Rufe of the No. 418 City
of Edmonton Squadron, Royal Canadian
Air Force, based at Holmsley South in
June 1944.
This aircraft was flown by Squadron
Leader Robert Allan Kipp and Flight
Lieutenant Peter Huletsky. They are
credited with having shot down 10
aircraft with one shared destroyed, one
shared probable, one shared damaged,
seven destroyed on the ground, and
eight damaged on the ground. Their
Mosquito was destroyed in a landing
accident on November 1, 1944, when it
overshot the runway after landing with
an engine out. Here’s what Tom wrote:
“I built a 1/8-scale (82-inch-span)
version of this airplane about 20 years
ago from a set of plans purchased from
Bob Holman Plans that were a 115%
blowup of a 71-inch Brian Taylor design.
This airplane has been my workhorse
competition aircraft for Scale Master
events for a number of years, as well as
two trips to Top Gun.
“I tackled this more recent project
because, while my original Mosquito
is an excellent flyer, it is small by
today’s standards for Scale competition,
W elcome back to the RC Giants column. One of the
most famous and unusual aircraft of World War II
was the de Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito. It’s famous
because it was fast, excelled in many roles, was strikingly
beautiful, and deemed unusual because it was made mostly
from nonstrategic materials—plywood and balsa!
The twin-engine, multirole aircraft served in all theaters of
operation during the war and was affectionately known as the Wooden Wonder.
Read further about a man from California who built and owns two Wooden Wonder
models.
Those of us who have been around for a while, especially in Giant Scale, surely
Tom Wolf’s 1/5-scale
de Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito
by Sal Calvagna
[email protected]
PLUS:
> Bud Nosen
Mustang by
Rich Schaffer
Tom Wolf’s 1/5-scale de Havilland Mosquito
is powered by two O.S. 1.60 glow engines
hidden nicely in the nacelles.
Tom Wolf built the Mosquito in two scales. He liked the smaller model’s flying
attributes so much that he decided to build a larger version.
108 Model Aviation April 2012 www.ModelAviation.com
especially for Top Gun. This, together
with the fact that the larger airplanes fly
better and look more prototypical in the
air, prompted me to go bigger.
“The newest Mosquito was built
from a 175% blowup of the same Brian
Taylor design, resulting in a wingspan of
124 inches. The plans and a set of spun
aluminum spinners were purchased
from Bob Holman. No other accessories
are currently available, so everything
else had to be scratch-built, including
the scale landing gear mechanics for the
main landing gear and the tail wheel, the
vacuum-formed canopy, and the epoxy
fiberglass engine nacelles.
“Because of the high degree of
enlargement of the design, a lot of
ff scaffl escale
reengineering of the
structure was required to
be appropriate for the size
of the aircraft. Intermediate
partial bulkheads between
the main fuselage bulkheads
were added, the wing spar was modified,
and the wing/fuselage interface was
redesigned to change from a one-piece
wing to plug-in wings utilizing a 1.5-
inch diameter carbon-fiber joiner tube.
The wing interfaces with the fuselage
to retain the scale joint locations.
Other than the fiberglass nacelles, the
construction of the model is built-up
balsa and plywood, with ¾-ounce
fiberglass/epoxy over all sheeted
surfaces.
“The only open framework item is the
rudder, and it
is covered with
Super Coverite.
The airplane is
finished with
rc giants
paint from WarbirdColors, with a deadflat
clear coat by Klass Kote over the
entire airplane. Cockpit detailing utilized
a Best Pilots 1/5-scale Adolph Malan pilot
and radio-operator/navigator, and the
scale WW II British instruments were
from inZpan and IFlyTailies.
“Robart air cylinders, control valves,
and pressure vessels drive the main
landing gear, with separate systems in
each wing. Thus, there are no air system
connections impacted by wing removal
or installation. This also provides a more
realistic retract operation, in that each
side works independently and smoothly.
“A conventional retract servo is the
moving force for the retractable tail
wheel. The model features functional
bomb bay doors, bomb releases at the
Right: Check out the cockpit detail
in the business end of the Mossy.
Tom says that the Mosquito
behaves well in flight.
This is a rear view of Rich Schaffer’s Bud Nosen Giant Scale Mustang.
Rich’s ZDZ 100-powered
Mustang flies extremely
well. Unbuilt kits can still
be found on the Internet.
wing stations, four bombs inside the
bomb bay, retracts, and flaps.
“For better ground handling, especially
during takeoff, the airplane includes
mechanical brakes on the main landing
gear, which are actuated with the rudder
channel. The right rudder applies light
braking to the right main wheel; the
left rudder applies braking to the left
main wheel. A similar brake system was
utilized on the smaller Mosquito, and
it completely tamed the Mosquito’s
notoriously poor directional control
during the early stages of the takeoff run.
“The two engines’ throttles are also
on separate radio channels that are
mixed together to allow synchronizing
the engines throughout the throttle
range via the radio’s mixing curve. In
addition, there is a small amount of
mixing between the rudder channel and
the throttle channels to aid in taxiing
and to provide a little more realism for
that portion of the flight routine. The
left rudder advances the throttle slightly
for the right engine, while right rudder
advances the throttle slightly for the left
engine.
“The 1/5-scale Mosquito weighs 51
pounds and is powered by two O.S. 1.60
two-cycle engines. The glow engines
were selected because suitable gas
engines could not be found that would
fit within the Mosquito’s slender nacelles.
Guidance is via a Futaba 10 CAG 2.4
GHz radio, driving 19 servos. The model
was built over a two-year period, and was
completed in late November 2011.”
Tom reports that he is pleased with the
flying characteristics of the newly finished
Mosquito. It tracks well throughout the
flight, including the takeoff run and the
landing. It slows nicely on final with
full flaps and some power carried to
touchdown.
Here’s an interesting fact from
World War II. The Focke-Wulf Aircraft
Company, under Kurt Tank, designed
and built its own “Wooden Wonder,” the
Focke-Wulf Ta 154, which was named the
Moskito in recognition of the successful
British design.
However, only one factory in Germany
made the special phenolic resin adhesive
called Tego Film that was used in
construction of the Ta 154. The Royal
Air Force bombed the glue factory and
a different adhesive was used. The new
glue had a corrosive effect which caused
the plywood to delaminate, thus causing
wing failures in the Moskito. The entire
project was canceled.
Total production of the Mosquito was
7,781, including more than 1,000 built
in Canada and nearly 200 in Australia.
The Bud Nosen Mustang
Rich Schaffer of Atlanta sent photos
of his recently completed Bud Nosen
Mustang. The Mustang spans 102 inches,
has a 92-inch fuselage, and weighs 35
pounds. It was an 11-month project for
Rich, who wanted something different
when it came to the color and finish.
He stated that the model is for his own
pleasure and not built for competition.
Rich chose a captured P-51 refinished
in Luftwaffe colors, specifically the
captured P-51D from the Staffel of the
Versuchsverband Oberkommando der
Luftwaffe. This aircraft was recaptured
by American troops in May 1945. At
least two P-51D Mustangs had their
upper surfaces repainted in dark green
and were flown in the Rosarius Flying
Circus.
The model is powered by a ZDZ
100 R2 inline twin-cylinder gas engine
and has Robart retractable landing gear.
The model is covered with ¾-ounce
fiberglass cloth using Z-Poxy finishing
resin and painted with Rust-Oleum
paint. Rich belongs to the Stone
Mountain RC Club and the model
was test-flown at Scenic RC in Winder,
Georgia.
Rich plans to detail the cockpit area.
A YouTube link to a video of its first
flight is listed in “Sources.”
Next Column in June
That’s all for this month. The next
“RC Giants” column will appear in the
June issue of MA. See you then!
Sources:
Bob Holman Plans
(909) 885-3959
http://bhplans.com
YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KTT-p5FGZ0
International Miniature Aircraft Association
www.fly-imaa.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/04
Page Numbers: 107,108,109,110
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/04
Page Numbers: 107,108,109,110
www.ModelAviation.com April 2012 Model Aviation 107
The 1/5-scale
Mossy boasts
handmade
landing gear.
rcff gsicaanltse
remember some of the great early Bud
Nosen kits. These Giant Scale models
were designed to fly on a glow .60 and
reduction gear.
Tom Wolf of Goleta, California,
recently completed a 1/5-scale de
Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito FB Mk VI
that sports a ZDZ-100 inline twin gas
engine. His model is a replica of NS850/
TH-M Black Rufe of the No. 418 City
of Edmonton Squadron, Royal Canadian
Air Force, based at Holmsley South in
June 1944.
This aircraft was flown by Squadron
Leader Robert Allan Kipp and Flight
Lieutenant Peter Huletsky. They are
credited with having shot down 10
aircraft with one shared destroyed, one
shared probable, one shared damaged,
seven destroyed on the ground, and
eight damaged on the ground. Their
Mosquito was destroyed in a landing
accident on November 1, 1944, when it
overshot the runway after landing with
an engine out. Here’s what Tom wrote:
“I built a 1/8-scale (82-inch-span)
version of this airplane about 20 years
ago from a set of plans purchased from
Bob Holman Plans that were a 115%
blowup of a 71-inch Brian Taylor design.
This airplane has been my workhorse
competition aircraft for Scale Master
events for a number of years, as well as
two trips to Top Gun.
“I tackled this more recent project
because, while my original Mosquito
is an excellent flyer, it is small by
today’s standards for Scale competition,
W elcome back to the RC Giants column. One of the
most famous and unusual aircraft of World War II
was the de Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito. It’s famous
because it was fast, excelled in many roles, was strikingly
beautiful, and deemed unusual because it was made mostly
from nonstrategic materials—plywood and balsa!
The twin-engine, multirole aircraft served in all theaters of
operation during the war and was affectionately known as the Wooden Wonder.
Read further about a man from California who built and owns two Wooden Wonder
models.
Those of us who have been around for a while, especially in Giant Scale, surely
Tom Wolf’s 1/5-scale
de Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito
by Sal Calvagna
[email protected]
PLUS:
> Bud Nosen
Mustang by
Rich Schaffer
Tom Wolf’s 1/5-scale de Havilland Mosquito
is powered by two O.S. 1.60 glow engines
hidden nicely in the nacelles.
Tom Wolf built the Mosquito in two scales. He liked the smaller model’s flying
attributes so much that he decided to build a larger version.
108 Model Aviation April 2012 www.ModelAviation.com
especially for Top Gun. This, together
with the fact that the larger airplanes fly
better and look more prototypical in the
air, prompted me to go bigger.
“The newest Mosquito was built
from a 175% blowup of the same Brian
Taylor design, resulting in a wingspan of
124 inches. The plans and a set of spun
aluminum spinners were purchased
from Bob Holman. No other accessories
are currently available, so everything
else had to be scratch-built, including
the scale landing gear mechanics for the
main landing gear and the tail wheel, the
vacuum-formed canopy, and the epoxy
fiberglass engine nacelles.
“Because of the high degree of
enlargement of the design, a lot of
ff scaffl escale
reengineering of the
structure was required to
be appropriate for the size
of the aircraft. Intermediate
partial bulkheads between
the main fuselage bulkheads
were added, the wing spar was modified,
and the wing/fuselage interface was
redesigned to change from a one-piece
wing to plug-in wings utilizing a 1.5-
inch diameter carbon-fiber joiner tube.
The wing interfaces with the fuselage
to retain the scale joint locations.
Other than the fiberglass nacelles, the
construction of the model is built-up
balsa and plywood, with ¾-ounce
fiberglass/epoxy over all sheeted
surfaces.
“The only open framework item is the
rudder, and it
is covered with
Super Coverite.
The airplane is
finished with
rc giants
paint from WarbirdColors, with a deadflat
clear coat by Klass Kote over the
entire airplane. Cockpit detailing utilized
a Best Pilots 1/5-scale Adolph Malan pilot
and radio-operator/navigator, and the
scale WW II British instruments were
from inZpan and IFlyTailies.
“Robart air cylinders, control valves,
and pressure vessels drive the main
landing gear, with separate systems in
each wing. Thus, there are no air system
connections impacted by wing removal
or installation. This also provides a more
realistic retract operation, in that each
side works independently and smoothly.
“A conventional retract servo is the
moving force for the retractable tail
wheel. The model features functional
bomb bay doors, bomb releases at the
Right: Check out the cockpit detail
in the business end of the Mossy.
Tom says that the Mosquito
behaves well in flight.
This is a rear view of Rich Schaffer’s Bud Nosen Giant Scale Mustang.
Rich’s ZDZ 100-powered
Mustang flies extremely
well. Unbuilt kits can still
be found on the Internet.
wing stations, four bombs inside the
bomb bay, retracts, and flaps.
“For better ground handling, especially
during takeoff, the airplane includes
mechanical brakes on the main landing
gear, which are actuated with the rudder
channel. The right rudder applies light
braking to the right main wheel; the
left rudder applies braking to the left
main wheel. A similar brake system was
utilized on the smaller Mosquito, and
it completely tamed the Mosquito’s
notoriously poor directional control
during the early stages of the takeoff run.
“The two engines’ throttles are also
on separate radio channels that are
mixed together to allow synchronizing
the engines throughout the throttle
range via the radio’s mixing curve. In
addition, there is a small amount of
mixing between the rudder channel and
the throttle channels to aid in taxiing
and to provide a little more realism for
that portion of the flight routine. The
left rudder advances the throttle slightly
for the right engine, while right rudder
advances the throttle slightly for the left
engine.
“The 1/5-scale Mosquito weighs 51
pounds and is powered by two O.S. 1.60
two-cycle engines. The glow engines
were selected because suitable gas
engines could not be found that would
fit within the Mosquito’s slender nacelles.
Guidance is via a Futaba 10 CAG 2.4
GHz radio, driving 19 servos. The model
was built over a two-year period, and was
completed in late November 2011.”
Tom reports that he is pleased with the
flying characteristics of the newly finished
Mosquito. It tracks well throughout the
flight, including the takeoff run and the
landing. It slows nicely on final with
full flaps and some power carried to
touchdown.
Here’s an interesting fact from
World War II. The Focke-Wulf Aircraft
Company, under Kurt Tank, designed
and built its own “Wooden Wonder,” the
Focke-Wulf Ta 154, which was named the
Moskito in recognition of the successful
British design.
However, only one factory in Germany
made the special phenolic resin adhesive
called Tego Film that was used in
construction of the Ta 154. The Royal
Air Force bombed the glue factory and
a different adhesive was used. The new
glue had a corrosive effect which caused
the plywood to delaminate, thus causing
wing failures in the Moskito. The entire
project was canceled.
Total production of the Mosquito was
7,781, including more than 1,000 built
in Canada and nearly 200 in Australia.
The Bud Nosen Mustang
Rich Schaffer of Atlanta sent photos
of his recently completed Bud Nosen
Mustang. The Mustang spans 102 inches,
has a 92-inch fuselage, and weighs 35
pounds. It was an 11-month project for
Rich, who wanted something different
when it came to the color and finish.
He stated that the model is for his own
pleasure and not built for competition.
Rich chose a captured P-51 refinished
in Luftwaffe colors, specifically the
captured P-51D from the Staffel of the
Versuchsverband Oberkommando der
Luftwaffe. This aircraft was recaptured
by American troops in May 1945. At
least two P-51D Mustangs had their
upper surfaces repainted in dark green
and were flown in the Rosarius Flying
Circus.
The model is powered by a ZDZ
100 R2 inline twin-cylinder gas engine
and has Robart retractable landing gear.
The model is covered with ¾-ounce
fiberglass cloth using Z-Poxy finishing
resin and painted with Rust-Oleum
paint. Rich belongs to the Stone
Mountain RC Club and the model
was test-flown at Scenic RC in Winder,
Georgia.
Rich plans to detail the cockpit area.
A YouTube link to a video of its first
flight is listed in “Sources.”
Next Column in June
That’s all for this month. The next
“RC Giants” column will appear in the
June issue of MA. See you then!
Sources:
Bob Holman Plans
(909) 885-3959
http://bhplans.com
YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KTT-p5FGZ0
International Miniature Aircraft Association
www.fly-imaa.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/04
Page Numbers: 107,108,109,110
www.ModelAviation.com April 2012 Model Aviation 107
The 1/5-scale
Mossy boasts
handmade
landing gear.
rcff gsicaanltse
remember some of the great early Bud
Nosen kits. These Giant Scale models
were designed to fly on a glow .60 and
reduction gear.
Tom Wolf of Goleta, California,
recently completed a 1/5-scale de
Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito FB Mk VI
that sports a ZDZ-100 inline twin gas
engine. His model is a replica of NS850/
TH-M Black Rufe of the No. 418 City
of Edmonton Squadron, Royal Canadian
Air Force, based at Holmsley South in
June 1944.
This aircraft was flown by Squadron
Leader Robert Allan Kipp and Flight
Lieutenant Peter Huletsky. They are
credited with having shot down 10
aircraft with one shared destroyed, one
shared probable, one shared damaged,
seven destroyed on the ground, and
eight damaged on the ground. Their
Mosquito was destroyed in a landing
accident on November 1, 1944, when it
overshot the runway after landing with
an engine out. Here’s what Tom wrote:
“I built a 1/8-scale (82-inch-span)
version of this airplane about 20 years
ago from a set of plans purchased from
Bob Holman Plans that were a 115%
blowup of a 71-inch Brian Taylor design.
This airplane has been my workhorse
competition aircraft for Scale Master
events for a number of years, as well as
two trips to Top Gun.
“I tackled this more recent project
because, while my original Mosquito
is an excellent flyer, it is small by
today’s standards for Scale competition,
W elcome back to the RC Giants column. One of the
most famous and unusual aircraft of World War II
was the de Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito. It’s famous
because it was fast, excelled in many roles, was strikingly
beautiful, and deemed unusual because it was made mostly
from nonstrategic materials—plywood and balsa!
The twin-engine, multirole aircraft served in all theaters of
operation during the war and was affectionately known as the Wooden Wonder.
Read further about a man from California who built and owns two Wooden Wonder
models.
Those of us who have been around for a while, especially in Giant Scale, surely
Tom Wolf’s 1/5-scale
de Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito
by Sal Calvagna
[email protected]
PLUS:
> Bud Nosen
Mustang by
Rich Schaffer
Tom Wolf’s 1/5-scale de Havilland Mosquito
is powered by two O.S. 1.60 glow engines
hidden nicely in the nacelles.
Tom Wolf built the Mosquito in two scales. He liked the smaller model’s flying
attributes so much that he decided to build a larger version.
108 Model Aviation April 2012 www.ModelAviation.com
especially for Top Gun. This, together
with the fact that the larger airplanes fly
better and look more prototypical in the
air, prompted me to go bigger.
“The newest Mosquito was built
from a 175% blowup of the same Brian
Taylor design, resulting in a wingspan of
124 inches. The plans and a set of spun
aluminum spinners were purchased
from Bob Holman. No other accessories
are currently available, so everything
else had to be scratch-built, including
the scale landing gear mechanics for the
main landing gear and the tail wheel, the
vacuum-formed canopy, and the epoxy
fiberglass engine nacelles.
“Because of the high degree of
enlargement of the design, a lot of
ff scaffl escale
reengineering of the
structure was required to
be appropriate for the size
of the aircraft. Intermediate
partial bulkheads between
the main fuselage bulkheads
were added, the wing spar was modified,
and the wing/fuselage interface was
redesigned to change from a one-piece
wing to plug-in wings utilizing a 1.5-
inch diameter carbon-fiber joiner tube.
The wing interfaces with the fuselage
to retain the scale joint locations.
Other than the fiberglass nacelles, the
construction of the model is built-up
balsa and plywood, with ¾-ounce
fiberglass/epoxy over all sheeted
surfaces.
“The only open framework item is the
rudder, and it
is covered with
Super Coverite.
The airplane is
finished with
rc giants
paint from WarbirdColors, with a deadflat
clear coat by Klass Kote over the
entire airplane. Cockpit detailing utilized
a Best Pilots 1/5-scale Adolph Malan pilot
and radio-operator/navigator, and the
scale WW II British instruments were
from inZpan and IFlyTailies.
“Robart air cylinders, control valves,
and pressure vessels drive the main
landing gear, with separate systems in
each wing. Thus, there are no air system
connections impacted by wing removal
or installation. This also provides a more
realistic retract operation, in that each
side works independently and smoothly.
“A conventional retract servo is the
moving force for the retractable tail
wheel. The model features functional
bomb bay doors, bomb releases at the
Right: Check out the cockpit detail
in the business end of the Mossy.
Tom says that the Mosquito
behaves well in flight.
This is a rear view of Rich Schaffer’s Bud Nosen Giant Scale Mustang.
Rich’s ZDZ 100-powered
Mustang flies extremely
well. Unbuilt kits can still
be found on the Internet.
wing stations, four bombs inside the
bomb bay, retracts, and flaps.
“For better ground handling, especially
during takeoff, the airplane includes
mechanical brakes on the main landing
gear, which are actuated with the rudder
channel. The right rudder applies light
braking to the right main wheel; the
left rudder applies braking to the left
main wheel. A similar brake system was
utilized on the smaller Mosquito, and
it completely tamed the Mosquito’s
notoriously poor directional control
during the early stages of the takeoff run.
“The two engines’ throttles are also
on separate radio channels that are
mixed together to allow synchronizing
the engines throughout the throttle
range via the radio’s mixing curve. In
addition, there is a small amount of
mixing between the rudder channel and
the throttle channels to aid in taxiing
and to provide a little more realism for
that portion of the flight routine. The
left rudder advances the throttle slightly
for the right engine, while right rudder
advances the throttle slightly for the left
engine.
“The 1/5-scale Mosquito weighs 51
pounds and is powered by two O.S. 1.60
two-cycle engines. The glow engines
were selected because suitable gas
engines could not be found that would
fit within the Mosquito’s slender nacelles.
Guidance is via a Futaba 10 CAG 2.4
GHz radio, driving 19 servos. The model
was built over a two-year period, and was
completed in late November 2011.”
Tom reports that he is pleased with the
flying characteristics of the newly finished
Mosquito. It tracks well throughout the
flight, including the takeoff run and the
landing. It slows nicely on final with
full flaps and some power carried to
touchdown.
Here’s an interesting fact from
World War II. The Focke-Wulf Aircraft
Company, under Kurt Tank, designed
and built its own “Wooden Wonder,” the
Focke-Wulf Ta 154, which was named the
Moskito in recognition of the successful
British design.
However, only one factory in Germany
made the special phenolic resin adhesive
called Tego Film that was used in
construction of the Ta 154. The Royal
Air Force bombed the glue factory and
a different adhesive was used. The new
glue had a corrosive effect which caused
the plywood to delaminate, thus causing
wing failures in the Moskito. The entire
project was canceled.
Total production of the Mosquito was
7,781, including more than 1,000 built
in Canada and nearly 200 in Australia.
The Bud Nosen Mustang
Rich Schaffer of Atlanta sent photos
of his recently completed Bud Nosen
Mustang. The Mustang spans 102 inches,
has a 92-inch fuselage, and weighs 35
pounds. It was an 11-month project for
Rich, who wanted something different
when it came to the color and finish.
He stated that the model is for his own
pleasure and not built for competition.
Rich chose a captured P-51 refinished
in Luftwaffe colors, specifically the
captured P-51D from the Staffel of the
Versuchsverband Oberkommando der
Luftwaffe. This aircraft was recaptured
by American troops in May 1945. At
least two P-51D Mustangs had their
upper surfaces repainted in dark green
and were flown in the Rosarius Flying
Circus.
The model is powered by a ZDZ
100 R2 inline twin-cylinder gas engine
and has Robart retractable landing gear.
The model is covered with ¾-ounce
fiberglass cloth using Z-Poxy finishing
resin and painted with Rust-Oleum
paint. Rich belongs to the Stone
Mountain RC Club and the model
was test-flown at Scenic RC in Winder,
Georgia.
Rich plans to detail the cockpit area.
A YouTube link to a video of its first
flight is listed in “Sources.”
Next Column in June
That’s all for this month. The next
“RC Giants” column will appear in the
June issue of MA. See you then!
Sources:
Bob Holman Plans
(909) 885-3959
http://bhplans.com
YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KTT-p5FGZ0
International Miniature Aircraft Association
www.fly-imaa.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/04
Page Numbers: 107,108,109,110
www.ModelAviation.com April 2012 Model Aviation 107
The 1/5-scale
Mossy boasts
handmade
landing gear.
rcff gsicaanltse
remember some of the great early Bud
Nosen kits. These Giant Scale models
were designed to fly on a glow .60 and
reduction gear.
Tom Wolf of Goleta, California,
recently completed a 1/5-scale de
Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito FB Mk VI
that sports a ZDZ-100 inline twin gas
engine. His model is a replica of NS850/
TH-M Black Rufe of the No. 418 City
of Edmonton Squadron, Royal Canadian
Air Force, based at Holmsley South in
June 1944.
This aircraft was flown by Squadron
Leader Robert Allan Kipp and Flight
Lieutenant Peter Huletsky. They are
credited with having shot down 10
aircraft with one shared destroyed, one
shared probable, one shared damaged,
seven destroyed on the ground, and
eight damaged on the ground. Their
Mosquito was destroyed in a landing
accident on November 1, 1944, when it
overshot the runway after landing with
an engine out. Here’s what Tom wrote:
“I built a 1/8-scale (82-inch-span)
version of this airplane about 20 years
ago from a set of plans purchased from
Bob Holman Plans that were a 115%
blowup of a 71-inch Brian Taylor design.
This airplane has been my workhorse
competition aircraft for Scale Master
events for a number of years, as well as
two trips to Top Gun.
“I tackled this more recent project
because, while my original Mosquito
is an excellent flyer, it is small by
today’s standards for Scale competition,
W elcome back to the RC Giants column. One of the
most famous and unusual aircraft of World War II
was the de Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito. It’s famous
because it was fast, excelled in many roles, was strikingly
beautiful, and deemed unusual because it was made mostly
from nonstrategic materials—plywood and balsa!
The twin-engine, multirole aircraft served in all theaters of
operation during the war and was affectionately known as the Wooden Wonder.
Read further about a man from California who built and owns two Wooden Wonder
models.
Those of us who have been around for a while, especially in Giant Scale, surely
Tom Wolf’s 1/5-scale
de Havilland D.H.98 Mosquito
by Sal Calvagna
[email protected]
PLUS:
> Bud Nosen
Mustang by
Rich Schaffer
Tom Wolf’s 1/5-scale de Havilland Mosquito
is powered by two O.S. 1.60 glow engines
hidden nicely in the nacelles.
Tom Wolf built the Mosquito in two scales. He liked the smaller model’s flying
attributes so much that he decided to build a larger version.
108 Model Aviation April 2012 www.ModelAviation.com
especially for Top Gun. This, together
with the fact that the larger airplanes fly
better and look more prototypical in the
air, prompted me to go bigger.
“The newest Mosquito was built
from a 175% blowup of the same Brian
Taylor design, resulting in a wingspan of
124 inches. The plans and a set of spun
aluminum spinners were purchased
from Bob Holman. No other accessories
are currently available, so everything
else had to be scratch-built, including
the scale landing gear mechanics for the
main landing gear and the tail wheel, the
vacuum-formed canopy, and the epoxy
fiberglass engine nacelles.
“Because of the high degree of
enlargement of the design, a lot of
ff scaffl escale
reengineering of the
structure was required to
be appropriate for the size
of the aircraft. Intermediate
partial bulkheads between
the main fuselage bulkheads
were added, the wing spar was modified,
and the wing/fuselage interface was
redesigned to change from a one-piece
wing to plug-in wings utilizing a 1.5-
inch diameter carbon-fiber joiner tube.
The wing interfaces with the fuselage
to retain the scale joint locations.
Other than the fiberglass nacelles, the
construction of the model is built-up
balsa and plywood, with ¾-ounce
fiberglass/epoxy over all sheeted
surfaces.
“The only open framework item is the
rudder, and it
is covered with
Super Coverite.
The airplane is
finished with
rc giants
paint from WarbirdColors, with a deadflat
clear coat by Klass Kote over the
entire airplane. Cockpit detailing utilized
a Best Pilots 1/5-scale Adolph Malan pilot
and radio-operator/navigator, and the
scale WW II British instruments were
from inZpan and IFlyTailies.
“Robart air cylinders, control valves,
and pressure vessels drive the main
landing gear, with separate systems in
each wing. Thus, there are no air system
connections impacted by wing removal
or installation. This also provides a more
realistic retract operation, in that each
side works independently and smoothly.
“A conventional retract servo is the
moving force for the retractable tail
wheel. The model features functional
bomb bay doors, bomb releases at the
Right: Check out the cockpit detail
in the business end of the Mossy.
Tom says that the Mosquito
behaves well in flight.
This is a rear view of Rich Schaffer’s Bud Nosen Giant Scale Mustang.
Rich’s ZDZ 100-powered
Mustang flies extremely
well. Unbuilt kits can still
be found on the Internet.
wing stations, four bombs inside the
bomb bay, retracts, and flaps.
“For better ground handling, especially
during takeoff, the airplane includes
mechanical brakes on the main landing
gear, which are actuated with the rudder
channel. The right rudder applies light
braking to the right main wheel; the
left rudder applies braking to the left
main wheel. A similar brake system was
utilized on the smaller Mosquito, and
it completely tamed the Mosquito’s
notoriously poor directional control
during the early stages of the takeoff run.
“The two engines’ throttles are also
on separate radio channels that are
mixed together to allow synchronizing
the engines throughout the throttle
range via the radio’s mixing curve. In
addition, there is a small amount of
mixing between the rudder channel and
the throttle channels to aid in taxiing
and to provide a little more realism for
that portion of the flight routine. The
left rudder advances the throttle slightly
for the right engine, while right rudder
advances the throttle slightly for the left
engine.
“The 1/5-scale Mosquito weighs 51
pounds and is powered by two O.S. 1.60
two-cycle engines. The glow engines
were selected because suitable gas
engines could not be found that would
fit within the Mosquito’s slender nacelles.
Guidance is via a Futaba 10 CAG 2.4
GHz radio, driving 19 servos. The model
was built over a two-year period, and was
completed in late November 2011.”
Tom reports that he is pleased with the
flying characteristics of the newly finished
Mosquito. It tracks well throughout the
flight, including the takeoff run and the
landing. It slows nicely on final with
full flaps and some power carried to
touchdown.
Here’s an interesting fact from
World War II. The Focke-Wulf Aircraft
Company, under Kurt Tank, designed
and built its own “Wooden Wonder,” the
Focke-Wulf Ta 154, which was named the
Moskito in recognition of the successful
British design.
However, only one factory in Germany
made the special phenolic resin adhesive
called Tego Film that was used in
construction of the Ta 154. The Royal
Air Force bombed the glue factory and
a different adhesive was used. The new
glue had a corrosive effect which caused
the plywood to delaminate, thus causing
wing failures in the Moskito. The entire
project was canceled.
Total production of the Mosquito was
7,781, including more than 1,000 built
in Canada and nearly 200 in Australia.
The Bud Nosen Mustang
Rich Schaffer of Atlanta sent photos
of his recently completed Bud Nosen
Mustang. The Mustang spans 102 inches,
has a 92-inch fuselage, and weighs 35
pounds. It was an 11-month project for
Rich, who wanted something different
when it came to the color and finish.
He stated that the model is for his own
pleasure and not built for competition.
Rich chose a captured P-51 refinished
in Luftwaffe colors, specifically the
captured P-51D from the Staffel of the
Versuchsverband Oberkommando der
Luftwaffe. This aircraft was recaptured
by American troops in May 1945. At
least two P-51D Mustangs had their
upper surfaces repainted in dark green
and were flown in the Rosarius Flying
Circus.
The model is powered by a ZDZ
100 R2 inline twin-cylinder gas engine
and has Robart retractable landing gear.
The model is covered with ¾-ounce
fiberglass cloth using Z-Poxy finishing
resin and painted with Rust-Oleum
paint. Rich belongs to the Stone
Mountain RC Club and the model
was test-flown at Scenic RC in Winder,
Georgia.
Rich plans to detail the cockpit area.
A YouTube link to a video of its first
flight is listed in “Sources.”
Next Column in June
That’s all for this month. The next
“RC Giants” column will appear in the
June issue of MA. See you then!
Sources:
Bob Holman Plans
(909) 885-3959
http://bhplans.com
YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KTT-p5FGZ0
International Miniature Aircraft Association
www.fly-imaa.org
