Radio Control: Scale
IN THIS SPORT/HOBBY, there are few combinations more satisfying than long, sunny days with light winds, plenty of fuel, and a good Scale model. This is the right time of the year for all these things, so I hope every one of you is making the most of them. I've been a bit long-winded and light on the photographs over the last two columns, so this month I'll lay low and share some great looking airplanes you've been kind enough to photograph and bring to my attention.
Radio Control: Scale
I'VE BEEN SOMEWHAT long-winded over the last couple of issues, so I'll give the procedural angles a rest for a while to show photos of some of the great models you've built. Modelers' Projects: Our opener comes from Tom Senften, a firefighter from Middletown, Ohio and a member of the Miami Valley Radio Control Club. Tom built this striking Fokker D. VII from modified Rich Uravitch plans. The model weighs 18 1/2 pounds, spans 75 1/2 inches, and carries a Quadra 40 up front. The D. VII's paint scheme emulates that of Ernst Udet, but handled with Mooreguard red and white latex house paint and Accent Acrylic Country Colors (for the lozenge pattern) over Solartex fabric from England. Tom claims that "It's a great flier, but as you might expect, the narrow gear keeps you on your toes."
Radio Control: Scale
ON JULY 16 I enjoyed a very pleasant Sunday afternoon with Contest Directors Mel Katz, Mike Dalton and their club, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Aeromodelers Radio Control Society. The occasion was the SPARCS' 20th Annual Sport Scale Meet and US Scale Masters Regional Qualifier at Warminster (PA) Naval Air Station. The large paved runways provided the perfect atmosphere and operating conditions for the meet. Fourteen fliers brought first-class models and top-level flight skills to Warminster. Aircraft ranged from Norm Malinowski's SE-5 and Bill Setzler's Fokker Eindecker to Dave Malchione's more-contemporary Lockheed T-33. I arrived after static judging had taken place, but I did check the board to find that the impressive Setzler Eindecker had taken top static honors with a 93.5.
Radio Control: Scale
BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS, my wife and I will have returned from a trip to London. We're going to visit with the folks at Irvine Ltd.-the makers of Irvine engines. Hopefully I'll have some interesting photographs and product news for you, especially any engine-related developments that are on the horizon. I bet I take in a little rock-and-roll, too. Suits me. After England, I'll have a week at the office, then I'll be on to Chicago for the Radio Control Hobby and Trade Association's annual National Model and Hobby Show. The Chicago show is a good one for hot new products and fabulous displays.
Radio Control: Scale
IRVINE LTD.: MY VISIT with the folks at Irvine Ltd. in New Southgate, England last month was terrific-but way too short. The English hospitality was first-rate; my wife and I had a terrific time, and really appreciated the hospitality shown to us by our hosts. It's amazing how closely their RC flying situation parallels ours; I had a first-rate flying demonstration on October 14. I spent the afternoon at the local sod-farm flying site with Irvine's Director of Operations, Mark Wood and a dozen other club members. Believe me when I tell you that if it wasn't for the strange (yet somehow familiar) language they speak, I could have been fooled into thinking I was in the good old USA. The site had the usual blend of RC personalities that are at every American flying site I've ever seen: The runway-buzzing hotdogger, the guy with half the covering coming off his "ugliest trainer on earth," the precise aerobatic engineer, and his younger protegé who does everything just a little bit better. Of course, there was the typical collection of old-timers who hang around, shoot the breeze, and enjoy the company.
