RADIO CONTROL SCALE
Jeff Troy, 759 New Holland Ave., Lancaster PA 17602
HEY! WHERE IS this guy?
Never got an answer? Never saw your stuff in the Radio Control (RC) Scale column?
I've moved, and somehow the address change didn't make it to the head of the last couple of columns. If your cards, letters, photographs, or Docu-Search requests have not reached me, please accept my apology and note the new address at the top of the page. Send all future correspondence, including Docu-Search requests, to that address.
Docu-Search
One got through via post-office forwarding. Perhaps you can lend this modeler a hand.
Mike Laible is desperately trying to find photographs and three-views of the Vultee V-1A. He has the Paul Matt drawings and the Thompson book.
In particular, Mike is looking for the orange and blue American Airlines color chips and drawings or written descriptions to document the details of rivet size and spacing. Landing-gear detail would also be very helpful.
If you have any of these materials, please contact Mike Laible at [email protected] or write to him at 2823 Sea Ledge Dr., Seabrook TX 77586.
Product News
The trade-show circuit has been very heavy this year. First was AMA's Convention 2001 in Pasadena, California, then the WRAM (Westchester Radio Aero Modelers) Show was in White Plains, New York. The Weak Signals show in Toledo, Ohio followed in early April.
My next report will bring you a few RC Scale highlights from all three shows, but for now I'll treat you to a closer look at the 80-inch Great Planes Ryan STA — a model I was introduced to in October at the National Model and Hobby Show in Rosemont, Illinois.
I built and flew this new Ryan, and I think you'll be pleased to know how it went.
RC Scale — Great Planes Ryan STA
Ryan produced a classic series of airplanes that can grab almost every Golden Age-aviation buff right by the throat. Great Planes Model Manufacturing Co. chose the STA from this proverbial pot of gold.
Great Planes translated the classic Ryan design into a large RC model that would fly gracefully, with superior versatility and visibility, then committed to producing the model as an Almost Ready-to-Fly (ARF) project—one that might turn the "real" modeler's perception of ARF kits 180°.
The people at Great Planes succeeded. The Ryan STA is an outstanding achievement, and is the most ambitious ARF undertaking I've seen to date.
Great Planes' Ryan is a first-class model. It's absolutely no different from a high-end kit that a customer paid a master craftsman a hefty fee to custom-build on his behalf.
With the building and covering complete, the customer could pay the tab, pick up the finished airframe, and truck it all home to add his own engine and radio system.
That's the ticket; that's the Great Planes Ryan STA. It isn't compromise. It isn't a shortcut that circumvents quality. It's built straight and colorfully covered with greater skill than most average modelers could bring to bear.
The STA is a precisely crafted model that's ready for engine and radio installation—right from the box.
The Ryan is carefully constructed from select balsa, plywood, and Lite Ply. Kit design is conventional model-airplane stuff, and no sacrifices of integrity are made to produce the model as an ARF.
The correct number of bulkheads and ribs keep the airframe sound, the right gussets are where they should be, and there is plenty of wood where the stabilizer and vertical fin meet the fuselage and where the wing rests on the saddle.
The Ryan's distinctive landing gear consists of a pair of beefy steel struts, factory-formed and silver-soldered for integrity. Both struts come painted, to bring an overall first-class finishing package to the model.
The struts are hidden by a set of beautifully molded, factory-painted fiberglass wheel pants, which are formfitted to the curvature of the wing. The modeler mounts them securely with a quartet of 1/2-inch Phillips screws.
A factory-painted fiberglass cowl is also provided, complete with correctly shaped and functional air scoops, panel separations, and plenty of rivet detail.
Empennage parts are neatly embellished by formed ABS plastic fairings that blend each flying surface gracefully into the flowing curvatures of the ovoid fuselage. An ABS headrest and a dorsal-fin fairing are also provided.
The Ryan is covered with Top Flite Super MonoKote® white and red with black trim. Short of painting, modelers will be hard-pressed to find better examples of finishing expertise.
The black-over-white checkerboard pattern on the underside of the wings is surprisingly well done. Even in the areas where MonoKote® was ironed directly over MonoKote®, bubbling is kept to a minimum and the quality of the workmanship is way above standard fare.
My Ryan absorbed some 30 hours of workbench activity prior to its maiden flight. That is a very short time, considering the intensity of the project.
A very clearly written step-by-step instruction manual is provided. If this book is followed to the letter, each building sequence will progress smoothly and no problems should be encountered.
Under the direction of project manager Kevin Burner, Great Planes' talented product-development team has clearly spent a great deal of time assuring modelers of an almost guaranteed success story.
Building the Ryan STA was a pleasure. Everything fit—and no parts were left when the kit was complete. I joined the dihedral braces with slow-setting epoxy, then assembled the two wing panels over the braces.
Since the wing joint had to cure overnight, that was the ideal time to attach the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical fin to the fuselage.
That done, I went through the selection of an appropriate receiver battery and servos, then put the Futaba 8U Super on charge for the evening.
Sequence-by-sequence, the instruction manual walks you through the installation of the control surfaces, landing gear, radio system and linkages, fuel tank, engine mount, and motor.
Although I had initially planned to power the Ryan at the top end of its range with a 120 four-stroke engine, a more attentive read of the model's flying characteristics led me to the better choice—a new O.S. 91 Surpass four-stroke.
This size engine, just as Great Planes pledges in the manual, is the perfect performance match for the Ryan's modest airborne requirements.
Relieving the factory-painted fiberglass cowl for the needle valve, muffler, and airflow followed the engine-mounting sequence.
A Great Planes Fueling Valve and a Sonic-Tronics Remote Glow (formerly McDaniel R/C) were added before attaching the cowl, propeller, and spinner.
Great Planes provides a few extra-effort finishing features, including shaped and covered wing struts, an adhesive-backed instrument-panel graphic, and a crystal-clear windscreen. I also added a factory-painted 1/4-scale pilot bust from Multiplex USA.
Following the balance check and a thorough flight-system setup with the 8U Super computer, the Ryan was ready to fly. The O.S. roared to life instantly. The engine was set a touch on the rich side, a final control surface deflection and direction check was made, and the big Ryan headed down the taxiway.
Elevators up, into the wind, I gradually applied throttle and the Ryan moved forward—slowly at first, then it built speed and prepared to spread its wings. Neutral elevator brought the tail up, and a gentle nudge on the stick had the beautiful Ryan in its natural habitat.
What a joy to fly! Climbout is gradual and predictable. When set up as directed, the airplane is stable, graceful, and very realistic in flight. Loops and Rolls, Split "S" and Stall Turns, Figure 8s, and low-speed passes are very smooth and heartwarming to watch.
I played pass-the-box through a number of flights, and everyone who flew the airplane enjoyed the experience as much as I did.
The O.S. Surpass never missed a beat, and the graceful Ryan made me look slightly more accomplished on the sticks than my meager talent actually deserves.
Compliments to Great Planes for a very ambitious project well done.
Till next time, build straight and fly safely. We'll do this again. /MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
