Mini-F-16
AN .049 ducted-fan model? You must be kidding. In many cases this is the first reaction to my mini F-16; but this is a good flying, practical sport airplane. Midwest's smallest ducted-fan unit, the RK-049, has been on the market for about a year now and is the smallest ducted-fan system available. Prior to this, most ducted fans had been designed around hot pylon racing .40s and .45s for high rpms and maximum power. I was intrigued by the possibility of a small, light fan model and so designed this F-16 styled model to see just what an .049 fan would do.
The Jetster
Developed from scratch on M.A.'s assignment, this airplane is designed for the Pattern/Sport flier as a relatively easy way to try ducted fan power. Is it maneuverable - or a flying brick? How does knife-edge flight grab you? It is apparent that practical ducted fan power units are now available for the modeler who wishes to simulate jet-powered flight. Most of the pioneering effort has been done by scale modelers, looking for realistic jet aircraft projects. The Jetster was designed for the pattern and/or sports flier as a relatively easy way to try ducted-fan power systems; I wanted to see if such a system was suitable for a non-scale, fun flying aircraft. This model has been flown from grass fields and in windy weather; it has an effective muffler and it does fly very well. There is no denying the extra complexity of a ducted fan; but they do work, performance is good, and you can have that jet-age appearance. Ducted fans are not new; Berkeley (a long gone kit manufacturer) had ducted fan kits on the market back in the 1950s. As I recall, the fan was simply stamped from sheet aluminum with twisted blades, intended for use on .049 engines. The aircraft structures were stick-and-tissue for light weight, and the models were flown as free flights. Over the years many ducted fan projects have appeared in the magazines with a wide variety of fan and duct designs; structures usually aimed for light weight as very little fan thrust was available.
Sportster 40
THIS PROJECT was started by some conversation with the editor who had several ideas about features he felt should be in a 40-size sport flier-not a trainer, but a model to be considered an intermediate airplane, or a plane for fairly relaxed, non-contest activity. We felt such a model should be capable of most maneuvers, but still be docile enough for easy handling; easy takeoffs and landings, stable enough to relax with while flying. And, as a scratch-built project the construction should be as simple as possible, with as few parts as possible. The engine would be 35 to 40. In this range there are many economical types to pick from. You don't need the latest ported, piped, pumped powerhouse for a sport machine.
Avenger
THIS LITTLE MODEL will give you a big return in flying fun for a small investment of material and effort to build it. Half-A flying is economical any way you look at it; low fuel cost, low engine and airplane cost, less space required, less building time, etc. The planes are rugged and therefore long lasting, and if designed right, will give surprisingly good performance. We have found models such as this ideal for learning the stunt pattern; my son is learning the maneuvers far more quickly than I did some years ago. This is mainly due to the ruggedness of the models; because of their higher speed, they may be more difficult to maneuver but this is more than offset by their ability to bounce back from most crashes. Learning requires a lot of practice and it helps not to be repairing planes most of the time. We do our flying over grass fields and for this reason leave the landing gear off the planes. Small wheels can't handle grass fields anyway and without them the models are that much lighter.
S'neat
WHO WANTS to build a S'neat? We designed this model with the expectation that it would appeal to these modelers: the Sunday sport flier who wants a small, basic, sailplane; the beginner who wants to learn to fly with a simple, rugged glider; the beginner who wants to scratch-build his own model rather than buy a kit; actually, anybody who likes to build from plans and wants a straightforward, basic design. Although there are many fine kits on the market which offer ease of building, good prices, proven designs, etc., modelers are individuals; many want a wider choice than they get in the available kits. The big thing is; don't be afraid to build from a magazine article. If you have only built from kits so far, try the S'neat for your first plan project. We think that for a little more work you will have more fun and a bigger sense of satisfaction when the project is completed.
