Scale at the 2013 Toledo R/C Expo
by Stan Alexander <REDACTED>
Going to Toledo, Ohio, is a spring ritual for many. I hadn't been to the Toledo R/C Expo in three years and I missed seeing the new merchandise and many of my friends. The AMA booth is staffed by AMA leaders, including Bob Brown, AMA president, and people from AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana, who are ready to answer your questions and help new members.
There were many foam products at this year's show—lots! I believe there were more foam airplanes than balsa or plywood.
There were new radio systems, as well as the new gas engine line from O.S. Engines, which seems to be branching out into electric motors as well. I'm disappointed that many of the new gas engines have the carburetor positioned in the back of the engine, making it longer. Most of these are more than 6 inches long.
I measured many of them for my upcoming Cessna project. The full-scale aircraft is powered by a radial. For aircraft with inline engines, the longer engine doesn't create a problem, but for many radial aircraft it can.
The Balsa USA booth was much smaller than I've ever seen it. The people staffing its booth were taking orders only; no kits were sold this year at the Expo. I miss that! I also didn't see Yellow Aircraft's booth or Precision Cut Kits. Several other vendors have changed.
At the Hobbico booth, the new Spitfire ARF was there for show, as well as the company's Fw 190 that came out last year. These are large ARFs with wingspans of roughly 85 inches. Hobbico was also showing off its new 14-channel Futaba radio with a street price of approximately $599.
Sig Manufacturing's booth had many of its new sport models and the Stand-Off Scale, clipped-wing Taylorcraft called the T-Clips. This ARF model is constructed for electric power only, and most of the new Sig models are designed for electric or are glow-power ready. Look for these at your local hobby shop.
The largest Scale model I saw at the show was Mike Barbee's new T-34B Mentor. The civilian-owned aircraft won in the Non-Military Sport Scale airplane class this year. Some of its specifications include a 154-inch wingspan, a DA 200cc four-cylinder engine, and a 32 x 10 three-blade propeller. The gear door was Bob Patton designed and retracts were scratch-made electric units. The radio is a Futaba 18MZ.
One winning model I enjoyed looking at was the Bristol Scout D entered by Brian Perkins from Kingston, Ontario. This model was completely scratchbuilt except for the dummy engine. It took first place in Designer Scale Plane.
RC Scale
Stan Alexander
The Bristol Scout D has a 103.25-inch wingspan with a length of 82.25 inches and weighs 42 pounds. In the large-scale modeling world, that is becoming a lightweight!
The Best of Show honors went to another Canadian, Peter Howe, from Burlington, Ontario. He also placed first in Military Sport Plane with his large torpedo bomber. That was one of the most versatile aircraft of World War II.
Scale Flyers of Minnesota
The Scale Flyers of Minnesota have a great website that is loaded with Scale information and articles, as well as David Andersen's designs.
If you've been around a few years, you have probably seen David's construction articles in RC Modeler. Some of these include the Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 and Ta 152H types, as well as the Grumman Lynx, Lavochkin La-7, and one of my favorites: the Howard DGA-3 Pete. The plans are available either from the website or directly from David.
SOURCES:
- Toledo Show R/C Model Expo
- Scale Flyers of Minnesota
Minnesota Scale and Giant Scale R/C www.mnbigbirds.com
- National Association of Scale Aeromodelers
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
