Radio Control: Scale
TOLEDO AIRPLANES: This was a bountiful year for high-quality airplanes at the Toledo show. Judges selections of winners in all Scale classes would be based upon a concerted search for minor imperfections and slight variations in quality between the top airplanes. All were fine examples of Scale modeling at its best. Winner of first place, as well as the Best-of-Show award, was Steve Sauger's familiar Stinson A Trimotor. A commonly-heard remark from viewers around the table for Precision Scale models was that they are pretty, but never flown. This expressed opinion was securely put to rest at Toledo. Steve's Stinson has not only been flown, it has placed him on the FAI Scale team. We have watched while Steve made a landing with two dead engines. Only the right outboard continued to run, and there was no apparent loss of stability.
Radio Control: Scale
Metalworking. Anyone having a complete metalworking shop may find the following descriptions boring. However, those of us with minimum equipment are always looking for methods of producing quality models without great expense. Never having built a complete model from aluminum raw material, we aren't qualified to describe that type of work. We are, however, seeing an increase in the number of metal components on quality Scale models, and the degree of realism that is possible with metal can't be ignored.
Radio Control: Scale
SCALE DOCUMENTATION: Requests for information regarding documentation material continue to arrive in our mailbox. Doubts usually arise in their hearts when competition Sport and Giant Scale modelers are faced with having to supply photos of obscure aircraft, or those that have been neglected in historical information. If a three-view drawing is available, and the drawing shows color data, photos aren't required. When a three-view drawing alone is the complete documentation, it becomes a one-sheet presentation. To supplement this drawing, some modelers will include several additional sheets of printed data about the prototype, not realizing that judges have very little time to do extensive reading.
Radio Control: Scale
MEASUREMENTS: A letter from a reader in Finland asks for elaboration on methods of taking measurements of full-scale airplanes. We have, in past columns, expounded the virtues of having the prototype available for examination, photos and dimensional data, but then neglected to explain procedures. We made the incorrect assumption that everyone knew the necessary steps. Juhani Sederholm asks specifically for the method of determining exactly the shape of an unknown airfoil, without damaging the surface of an airplane, after permission is granted to make dimensional checks. When the airfoil designation is known, its outlines can be copied from a standard reference source such as our Handbook for Airfoil Sections by M.S. Rice.
Radio Control: Scale
DETAIL ANALYSIS: On the pretext that the model is to be Stand-off Scale, the external detail is kept to as little as will be accepted by fellow modelers. If the airplane being modeled is a later, jet type (a Boeing B-47 for example), external detail presents no burdensome task for the modeler because it's relatively clean on the outside. A Douglas DC-3 has a pair of magnificent wing-root fillets, non-existent on a B-47, and a model without the fillets wouldn't be a DC-3. In addition, the Douglas has several hundred thousand button-head rivets cluttering every surface. Duplicating the large quantity of rivet detail constitutes a major commitment in time and energy. Opinions on the amount of detail to be applied vary, depending upon the builder's purpose and aspirations.
