File: 10calvagna.lt1.doc
[Headline: New products for Giant Scale builders]
Summer has slipped by and although there’s still plenty of flying weather before winter’s arrival, now is a good time to start thinking about your next project. Take a look at some of the new offerings for Giant Scale modelers in the paragraphs below. It might get those building juices flowing!
1/3-Scale Wheels
Williams Brothers Model Products is now producing 1/3-scale German World War I wheels. The wheels are based on the Fokker factory drawings for a 700 x 100 tire on a 20-inch rim. Similar to the British wheels the company previously released, it’s a robust wheel design that has so far proven itself in hard landings to not experience tire “roll off,” tire shredding, flat spots, or bent or broken rims.
Williams Brothers is so confident in the design that the business offers a five-year limited warranty on them. For more information, visit the company’s website listed in the “Sources” section.
Sopwith Camel Release
Balsa USA in Marinette, Wisconsin, has done it again. Its latest offering is a 1/4-scale WW I Sopwith F1 Camel. Last year, the company was flying the pre-production prototype and working out the final tweaks, CG location, etc.
The Sopwith Camel features the same Balsa USA’s standard construction techniques as on its other 1/4-scale kits. It is available now at the street price of $289.95.
The model spans 84 inches, with a fuselage length of 55 inches and 2,264 square inches of wing area with a wing loading of 15-18 ounces per square inch. The Zenoah G26 magneto engine is recommended; however, it can accommodate 20-30cc-size engines. All-up weight is around 17 pounds.
For more information about this model, please visit the Balsa USA website.
F6F Hellcat
Lou Cetrangelo of St. James, New York, built this amazing F6F Hellcat from enlarged Nick Ziroli Plans. The model spans 108 inches with an all-up weight of 54 pounds. It is powered by a Moki 250cc radial engine swinging a Solo three-blade adjustable pitch propeller. Landing gear was designed and made by Sierra Giant Scale. Lou made all the fiberglass parts and canopy. These parts are now available directly from Nick Ziroli Plans.
The construction is typical built-up wood construction using balsa, light plywood, and aircraft plywood with maple hardwood blocks and spars. The model is painted with Klass Kote epoxy paints and mimics the finish of the F6F hanging in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at the National Air and Space Museum annex in Chantilly, Virginia.
Lou uses a Spektrum 12-channel PowerSafe receiver with a Spektrum DX18 transmitter. He installed four A123 2,500 mAh batteries by NoBS Batteries and installed a three-axis iGyro to help on those windy days.
Giant Scale S.E.5a
Walt Moucha of Fort Pierce, Florida, has designed a 120-inch wingspan S.E.5a that will be available in December 2014. The model has a fuselage length of 92 inches and is 40 inches high, with an all-up weight of nearly 44 pounds. The model pictured is powered by a DLE-85 gas engine.
The laser-cut short kit includes full-size plans, laser-cut ribs, fuselage formers, stabilizer, fin elevator parts, fuselage doublers, and turtledeck formers. The street price is $399.99; however, if you preorder it, you can save $100.
Walt is also offering a deluxe kit that includes everything in the short kit, plus prebent landing and cabane wires and 91/4-inch wheels. The street price on the deluxe kit is $499.99 with a preorder price of $399.99.
The gear and cabane wires and the wheels can be ordered separately. Walt also offers a scale information pack that contains color pictures, three-views, and history of the S.E.5a. For more information about this kit you can contact Walt by telephone, or write to him at the address listed in “Sources.”
That’s all for this month. See you in December.[dingbat]
SOURCES:
Williams Brothers Model Products
(512) 846-1243
www.williamsbrothersmodelproducts.com
Balsa USA
(800) 225-7287
www.balsausa.com
Nick Ziroli Plans
(631) 467-4765
www.ziroliplans.com
Walt Moucha
54 Tangelo Blvd.
Fort Pierce FL 34982
(772) 460-6436