In reflecting on the publication date of this issue of MA, I am reminded that one of my favorite annual model airplane events will be near when you read this. That event is the Small Model Aircraft Lovers League (SMALL) annual gathering near Little Rock, Arkansas. It is scheduled for June 5-8, 2014.
SMALL attracts pilots from many parts of the country. Mike Stone, a resident of Alaska, has attended the past two years. One of the unique aspects of this fun gathering is the variety of model aircraft flown. Most are RC, but you also see FF and CL models. Mix in some indoor flying, and you have a nice representation of the hobby.
SMALL is strictly a for-fun event. The only limitation is the size of the power plant. The engine/motor cannot exceed the equivalent of a .26 glow-fuel-powered engine. Multiple engines/motors are allowed and encouraged. The individual engines/motors need to be the .26 glow-fuel-powered engine equivalent in size or smaller.
SMALL will again be hosted by the Fraternal Association of Radio Control Modelers (FARM) club. The flying site is in Wrightsville, Arkansas, and it accommodates all of the types of aircraft being flown. I have included a photo of myself taken at SMALL 2012, flying my rubber-powered FF de Havilland Otter.
The photo only provides a glimpse of the site and a portion of the flightline area. If you can make it in 2014, please look me up and say hello.
Contact information for SMALL 2014 is listed in “Sources.”
What to Do With Leftover Foam
I have had the pleasure of sharing with you some models developed by longtime modeler Jack Pignolo. Jack hails from the greater Houston area.
Jack had a few sheets of Cell Foam 88, some blue foam, and a recently constructed hot wire cutter. He found a nice three-view of the old Chance Vought F7U Cutlass on the Internet. That combination resulted in a model he calls Illusionary Scale.
Dubbed the Switch Blade, the model has a wingspan of 30 inches. To help maintain the F7U’s unique look, Jack mounted the motor amidships in a pusher configuration. The wing’s LEs are hot wire-cut blue foam creating a Kline-Fogelman-type airfoil.
The Switch Blade’s power comes from an AXI 2212/34 motor energized by a three-cell 460 mAh LiPo battery pack. With a flying weight of 13.2 ounces, the model is lightly loaded. Nice work, Jack.
Vintage RC Models in Peanut Scale
In the February 2014 edition of this column, I mentioned a new initiative from Bob Selman Designs (BSD). Bob, in association with my brother, Ralph, has been developing a series of reduced-size vintage RC models. The models have 13-inch or slightly smaller wingspans.
Borrowing from the FF community’s designation of 13-inch-wingspan Scale models as Peanut Scale, each of the BSD models carries the prefix of Peanut. At the time of this writing, four models in the series had been developed. They include the Peanut Mite (the model I mentioned in the February issue), Peanut Mambo, Peanut Bug, and Peanut Squire.
Each model in the series is designed to use a brick-type receiver system such as the Spektrum 6400 series and a geared 6mm brushed motor. These are complete kits that don’t come with the covering material, motor, and electronics. A gear drive is also sold separately. I have included a photo of the four prototypes built by Ralph, and a close-up photo of the Peanut Esquire so you can see in detail an example of the BSD Peanut series. See the “Sources” listing for contact information.
Phil Kraft’s Bi-Fly
Before wrapping up, I want to introduce a nice, reduced-size version of the vintage 1959 Phil Kraft-designed Bi-Fly. This 34-inch-wingspan version is by Bob Aberle.
Bob’s Bi-Fly is powered by an E-flite Park 300 brushless motor driven by a three-cell 1,200 mAh LiPo battery pack. It has a 14.8-ounce flying weight. This model with rudder, elevator, and throttle is a great candidate for flying at small-field venues.
Plans and a construction article for Bob’s version of the Bi-Fly appeared in the March 2014 issue of RC Micro World.
Roland Friestad, the man behind RC Micro World, also has a complete set of the old Air Trails magazine available for sale in digital format. His digital magazine libraries make great club purchases. See the “Sources” listing for contact information for RC Micro World and Roland’s digital magazine library.
That’s all for this installment. Let me know what you are up to in the world of small-field flying. My contact information is in “Sources.”
