Author: Paul Bradley
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/06
Page Numbers: 88,89,90
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Summer flying and a SMALL gathering

Paul Bradley | [email protected]

Ah, summer. We are nearly midway through the year already. I hope you have been doing a lot of flying—or in our case, flying in lots.

The Small Model Aircraft Lovers' League (SMALL) annual fly-in is approaching; it is scheduled for June 3–6. This will be the 20th anniversary of the event, which is held in the Little Rock, Arkansas, area.

Steve Staples, event coordinator for this year's SMALL gathering, sent me a photo of his Joe Wagner–designed Sioux. Veco originally kitted the model for FF, but Steve converted the 36-inch-span aircraft to RC using a vintage single-channel ACE pulse radio system.

A DC Dart .03 diesel engine powers the Sioux. Diesels are great to use in small-field flyers, because they are quiet and provide excellent power for their size.

I am looking forward to spending time at the 2010 SMALL fly-in. It is a wonderful event, and I hope to see some of you there. If you would like information about this get-together, see the source listing for contact information.

RTF Toys and the Innovative Small-Field Flier

In past editions of this column, I have shared some of the things people are doing with RTF RC "toys." I never cease to be amazed by the creativity of model airplane builders. Carl Hock, who lives in the Houston, Texas, area, had noticed that RC flying toys often go on clearance in stores for fractions of their original prices. He decided to buy a few to see if their internals could be put to good use in an airframe that a modeler built.

After head-scratching, experimenting, and plans-drafting, Carl came up with some outstanding, inexpensive small-field flyers. One is his nicely turned-out profile foam F-4F Wildcat. The power system, radio, and control-surface actuators are from a discounted RTF toy. Among the tricks Carl came up with are melting plastic housings away from the actuators using acetone. His message is to be on the lookout for these RTF items on sale and then let your imagination go. You won't have a great deal of money invested, and you can probably devise a model that will reward you with plenty of flying fun.

Oh yeah, Carl is planning to attend the upcoming SMALL fly-in. If you can make it, you might be able to see his handiwork in person.

Faux Solar-Powered Model

John Krouse of Rockville, Maryland, a friend and regular contributor, has produced another interesting model. He decided that rendering a scale version of the Dr. Paul MacCready–designed Solar Challenger would be fun. John built the 1/24-scale aircraft from sheet balsa.

The main issue he faced in reproducing the solar-powered aircraft was making a scale model for indoor flying. Using the current solar-cell technology, it's hard to get solar power to work for any size of indoor model. John's solution was to simulate the solar panels with black tissue and supply power to the motor with a 130 mAh Li-Poly battery. It looks convincing and allows the craft to fly with adequate power.

To keep things interesting, John's rendition of the Solar Challenger has only motor control. He sets the turn circle and then controls the model with throttle. Power is from a brushed Mabuchi N-20 motor turning a 3-inch U-80 propeller. Throttle control is handled with a Plantraco Micro 9 900 MHz receiver. The Solar Challenger's all-up flying weight is 30 grams. According to John, the 22-inch model is distinctive-looking in the air.

Nice work as usual, John.

Triple Treat

Bob Wilder is a longtime modeler from the greater Dallas, Texas, area. Many aeromodeling accomplishments are associated with his name.

In recent years, Bob has been instrumental in advancing indoor electric-powered CL flying. He has also been helping with the development of micro RC aircraft. And long before the world of RC and electric power existed, Bob was established in the world of competitive Duration FF.

When a person with his background gets an idea for a kit, it is normally interesting. That is especially so when this person owns a laser cutter. I received word from Bob that he is offering a neat sport model that uses 3mm Depron foam as the construction material.

What makes this kit unique is that it can be built as a rubber-powered FF, electric-powered FF, or electric-powered RC model, using the ParkZone brick. Bob is offering two sizes; one has an 18-inch wingspan and the other spans 22.5 inches. A photo shows all three versions built from the 18-inch-span kit.

Bob says he gets 50-second flights indoors from the rubber-powered model. That is respectable for an airplane this size.

These multifunction kits are available from Bob Selman at BSD Micro RC. Please see the source listing for contact information.

It's a paper glider! No, it's a powered model! No, it's a ...

Jack Pignolo, who lives in the greater Houston, Texas, area, sent me down the Starship Enterprise slippery slope.

He has since sent me a picture of one of his latest creations, which he calls the "Origami E2." It is made from folded blue fan-fold foam and is based on the geometry of a folded-paper glider.

Jack's 38-inch-span blue fan-fold-foam "paper glider" is a perfect small-field flyer. The wing has a total area of 825 square inches.

The Origami E2 weighs only 15 ounces with a three-cell, 1320 mAh Li-Poly battery pack, so it is a real floater. It's the right recipe for a comfortable-flying small-field model.

For power, Jack is using a low-cost brushless motor from HobbyCity. The motor turns an 8 x 4.5 electric propeller. Controls include throttle, rudder, and elevator.

According to Jack, the Origami E2 is quick to build. With his permission, I have developed a plans package for the model that is available for free download from my web site; the address is in the "Sources" listing. Go to the downloadable plans section.

I set up the drawing package as I did for the Starship Enterprise. If you don't have access to fan-fold foam, 6mm sheet foam will work well.

Vintage designs work well in all sizes

With model aviation having a few years under its belt by now, we have access to an extensive set of aircraft designs. Some are best left to memories and old-publication archives, but many others make great subjects of which to develop modern-day small-field flyers.

When you look through the list of vintage models, a few designers' names are mentioned more often than others; one of these is Hal deBolt. He had a kit business for many years and produced some extraordinarily nice kits, one of which was the Live Wire Kitten.

The Kitten had a wingspan of 34 inches and was intended for flying in little fields. Yep, the models we like were being developed even in the early 1960s.

As you might know from my recent column, MA's Bob Aberle is quick to recognize a good vintage design and put it in a shrinking machine. The Live Wire Kitten was already a perfect size for many tiny fields, but Bob recently reduced it from 220 square inches of wing area to 100.

At that size, the Kitten is perfect for indoor and outdoor flying. The picture that Bob provided shows you the nice lines of this great vintage design.

You already have access to free plans for Bob's reduced-size Live Wire Kitten if you subscribe to the RC Micro World online magazine. If you don't, sign up now; the plans are in the April 2010 issue. See the source list for the RC Micro World web site address.

New From Rough and Ready Aviation

It has been a while since I mentioned this company, which sells several nice World War I profile foam–based kits that are well suited to small-field flying. The kits are machine-cut from 6mm Depron.

The WW I lineup has been expanded to include aircraft from the Golden Age of Air Racing. With wingspans of roughly 24 inches, you will find the Travel Air Mystery Ship, a Wedell-Williams, a Mister Mulligan, a Monocoupe D-145, and a Turner Special.

These models use 10-gram brushless outrunner motors and are set up for rudder, elevator, and throttle control. See the source listing for contact information.

Here we are again, at the end. I am looking forward to hearing from you and sharing your latest projects. MA

Sources:

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