Piper J-3 cub

Left: The size of this month's featured RC model becomes apparent when it is held by the author, Fred Reese. He's getting ready for a flight from Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Bruce James photo. In the big picture, below, the Cub is just as pretty on wheels as it is on floats, we think. This picture was taken at the Jackson Airport in Grand Teton National Park. THE PIPER CUB, next to the P-51 Mustang, is probably the second-most popular aircraft ever modeled. This particular Cub has a 44-in. wingspan and is for .10 cu. in. engines. The model can be built with floats, wheels, or both.

Buttercup

I have always liked little airplanes. Actually, I like all airplanes, but I prefer to build small ones. I especially like simple little airplanes so that, once I get the idea, I can get into the air quickly. I also like a change of pace. I will spend months on a Scale project, then turn around and build something like the Buttercup in a few days. This particular small, simple model is actually a caricature of an airplane that I doodled while on the phone. I thought it was kind of cute, so I built it. When it came time to cover the model, I chose yellow, as I had a lot of yellow Super MonoKote. I like yellow, so I named it Buttercup. In addition to being very simple and small, Buttercup really performs well. Especially when pushing limits, sometimes simple things are best. Buttercup is not the smallest RC that is possible, but it is a practical small airplane that does not require any special techniques, and it uses all stock components. It is designed to use the Ace (or other) micro-sized radios or the Ace micro servos and your receiver along with a 100 mAh battery pack. Two different-shaped 100 mAh battery packs are available from Ace RC, and either one of these will fit. There is room enough for most any receiver.

Miles-Atwood Special

This is a classic racer from the Golden Age of Air Racing. Clean lines and streamlining made it competitive with other racers of its day that had twice the power. At one-fifth scale this still is a small model, and it is designed for .20-.25 cu. in. engines. To many of us, the building and flying of model airplanes is a way of studying and preserving aviation history. There were many aircraft and people involved in pioneer aviation that are not well known, but they still contributed to modern aviation. The bravery of the pilots who strapped themselves into machines that were just chalk lines on the floor three months earlier needs to be remembered. Air racing quickly changed the military airplanes from biplanes to all-metal monoplanes that were double the speed. This technology became very important, as we were thrown into World War II shortly thereafter.

Swallow

With Golden-age-type classic looks and a lightly-constructed airframe that makes the most of four-stroke engine power, this model is both docile yet Pattern capable. Requires a .40 engine and four channels. This design actually came about two years ago in an effort to utilize the performance of the .40 four-cycle engines. At that time the Enya, Saito, and O.S. .40s our club members had were being flown in Falcons and the like, and most weighed about 5 lb. Performance was marginal but pleasant.

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