Author: Stan Alexander
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/10
Page Numbers: 107,108,109
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Pietenpol Air Camper update

by Stan Alexander

[email protected]

I have been working on the wing and center section of my Pietenpol Air Camper. I changed the wing structure from a one-piece wing to a three-piece wing with the center section staying attached. The ribs were cut and then all of the ribs that needed holes for the center section were stacked together and the main access holes for the aluminum tube and joiner were added. The aluminum tube will come out with one wing panel.

After adding the servos to the wing as well as the fuselage, covering will be next. I still haven't found that elusive silver paint I'm looking for.

I've experimented with Krylon and it seems to be fuelproof. I let the paint dry for a month, then poured raw 15% nitro fuel on it. I let it set for roughly five minutes and then wiped it off. The fuel didn't seem to have any effect on the paint or finish. But the silver paint wasn't what I wanted.

I added the servos to both wing panels and the fuselage, and the next step will be covering. The center section remains attached so the aluminum tube and joiner are accessible; the tube will come out with one wing panel when needed.

Around Scale

The 2012 Mint Julep Scale Contest—the 40th and last Mint Julep to be held in Kentucky—was May 18–20 at Falls of Rough State Park. Hosted by the Southern Indiana R/C Modelers (SIRCM), Paul Cain and Dale Arvin again headed up a great crew.

The club voted to move the event to southern Indiana for economic reasons. Next year's event will be held in June and it will still be called the Mint Julep.

The weather was some of the best I've seen in all the times I've been to the Mint Julep, or "Mint" as many call it. It was sunny with no rain, rather warm, and there was little wind. What more could you ask for? How about a full-scale runway with landing lights?

The Landing Light award (the one you don't want) will be retired after this year, because the new runway is a model airplane field. I am sure Dale and crew will come up with a new award.

Longtime SIRCM member Dale Arvin received several awards during Saturday night's banquet at the hotel restaurant, including an AMA Service Award. For once—and only once—the audience was not pelted with Dale's mischievous jokes and awards; we all missed that. Dale later told me, "For once I was speechless." He also received lifetime memberships in the National Association of Scale Modelers (NASA) and the U.S. Scale Masters Association.

I entered the most popular class—RC Fun Scale Open—and managed to complete my limited goal of not finishing last in my class. Longtime friend Bob Underwood called my flights for me and I finished 20th out of 29. It had been higher, but I think after the third round the judges were hot and tired. I wish I'd flown that last flight!

It's good to have someone who knows how you fly, knows what goes on at a contest, and knows where to look for possible problems that can arise while you are flying, to act as your caller. A quiet voice in your ear telling you what the next maneuver is or reminding you to retract the gear at a certain point also helps you to relax.

I flew a Hangar 9 Hellcat, powered by an O.S. 61FSR driving a 12x6 propeller, with a Spektrum radio system. The only mechanical option was retracts on this one, but the engine ran smoothly during all the flights. That's a plus when you are in competition. The O.S. had plenty of power to take care of any of the Hellcat's needs. On straight-and-level flight you need slightly less than half throttle to have nice speed and a stable flight.

Now on the market are many airplanes with a 64- to 70-inch wingspan requiring a .90 to 1.20-size engine. Are manufacturers trying to sell the larger, more expensive engines or are the airframes that much heavier? The Hellcat has plenty of room in the nose for a .61 engine up to a 1.20, but the more weight you put in a short-nosed airplane—as are most World War II fighters—the more weight you will have to add to the rear of the airframe to balance it.

I have added some other details to the Hellcat, which I'll go into in another column, but I like the way this one flies now. Another item that I've decided to add to my contest "kit" is a simple, easy-to-carry field box. It will contain the basics: a battery, starter, small bottle of starter fuel, and an extra glow plug. It's built from 1/4-inch and 3/8-inch plywood and has a long handle so I don't have to bend over so far to pick it up.

The main fuel bottle will stay in the pits. I've made it a habit to refuel after each flight so I don't make the mistake of going to the flightline with a nearly empty fuel tank.

A DLE 55 will be my next purchase for another upcoming project. Electric and glow engines occupy my shop, and I've had several gas engines. I don't see any of these engines going away and the glow engines will probably still be the primary engines of choice for Scale modeling, especially four-strokes because of their sound.

Some modelers have sold their glow and gas engines in favor of electrics. They all have their pluses and minuses; there are tradeoffs either way you go.

New Products

Jim Pepino plans are once again available. Jim produced and sold a large variety of plans, all for Scale modelers. After Jim passed away, his wife, Anne, carried on. When it was time to retire, she sold the business to Henry Budzynski, who has a new website up and running. With nearly 100 Scale plans available from various designers, it's worth a closer look.

Some of the plans include:

  • Art Chester's Jeep
  • Avro Model D 1911 Biplane
  • Curtiss 1912 Headless Pusher
  • Chipmunk
  • PT-19
  • Grumman Albatross
  • Hawker Hurricane
  • Heath Baby Bullet Racer
  • Stinson SR-5
  • Travel Air Mystery Ship
  • Waco 10
  • YMF-5
  • Various versions of a Piper J-3

Prices and sizes are listed on the website.

Upcoming Events

  • Warbirds Over the Rockies — September 28–30, Fort Collins, Colorado. This is typically Indian summer in Colorado and the weather is expected to be perfect. In the past, more than 5,000 spectators have attended and the host club, Love-Air R/C, and organizers have donated proceeds to Mental Health America of Colorado. For a great daily air show, as well as plenty of Scale flying, check out Warbirds Over the Rockies.
  • The One Eighth Air Force Scale Fly-In — October 20–21, Arizona Model Aviators Club Field, Mesa, Arizona. This group hosts a spring and fall fly-in each year. You can count on great hospitality and a good time. The group presents awards in several categories, including the famous "crying towels." The One Eighth Air Force promotes Scale modeling of any kind and encourages young and future modelers to join in the fun. It's always great to attend a fly-in and see a line of youngsters waiting to experience their first airplane flight.

For more information, check with:

  • John Geyer
  • Howard Kennedy

Scale Tech

If you are having trouble with your retract servo and the gear working properly, this might help. Replace the worn servo arm(s) that came with the servo with a larger, more robust servo arm from Du-Bro.

I had a problem with my JR NES791 servo. The landing gear wasn't retracting as tightly into the wing as it should. The servo had shredded the servo arm teeth in the sprocket below the Phillips-head screw holding the arm in place. So I added a Du-Bro Super Strength servo arm, which has thicker and deeper "teeth." The retracts showed immediate improvement in their operation during the contest and on practice flights. Give it a try!

Fair skies and tail winds.

Sources

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