Radio Control: Giants
The October 1995 column featured a whiz-dinger of a model built by Ralph Beck of Beloit, Wisconsin. Ralph's model duplicated a full-scale Lincoln Sport single-place biplane homebuilt of the '30s. He copied a Sport that was/is owned by Dennis Trone - with one major exception. Mr. Trone's aircraft is powered by a three-cylinder engine and Ralph had only a two-cylinder Saito 270 available. Although many versions of the Lincoln "Sport" were built with two-cylinder engines, Ralph had to make a compromise and wasn't able to duplicate Denny Trone's aircraft exactly.
Radio Control: Giants
IN THE NOVEMBER 1997 issue, I promised you a whiz-dinger of a model photograph. I've included it in this installment, and you may agree that Gary Miller of Charlotte NC is an outstanding Giant Scale modeler. His de Havilland Chipmunk started out as an Ohio kit, but he modified it as he built his 82-inch-span Giant. Gary "split" the wing for easier transportation, and slightly reduced its dihedral, and he shaved the fuselage formers and the firewall. He hung a G-38 out in front, and equipped it with a 19 × 10 propeller. The landing gear was tweaked (the wheels were moved slightly forward from the kit's position), which produced a tail-dragger with impeccable ground-handling manners. Gary then applied a camouflage color scheme based on Doc Pepino's documentation of a full-scale Chipmunk.
Radio Control: Giants
IT IS WITH the greatest degree of regret that I announce the "passing" of a valiant warrior; Dick Smith's Ziroli Zero is no longer among us! Pictured earlier in this column and in Robart's retract ads, "Spider" Smith's Giant set some sort of record for longevity. When it "went West," it had 729 flights; its final flight was recorded in the 90's Barnstormer, the newsletter of the Hemet CA Model Masters: "Dick Smith announced the demise of his Ziroli Zero after 729 flights. Dick was diving on the Elsinore (CA) field to make an inverted low pass. When down elevator was applied to recover from the dive, the wing broke at the center and the airplane went into a violent roll. The wreckage was spread over 100 feet and the spark plug was torn from the engine-threads and all."
Radio Control: Giants
ONCE IN A WHILE I thumb through my library. I found an interesting book that I had long forgotten, but that's not too surprising since it was first published during WW II; Air Age Gas Models was published by Model Airplane News. The point of greatest fascination is the introductory screed, which recalls that balsa was in short supply during the War. (It was being used for life vests and insulation of oil tankers.) The book's authors recommended using pine, bass, and spruce in lieu of the lighter wood, but in smaller cross-sections than plans called for. That was good advice, because the .60-powered Free Flight models of the era were almost as large as today's "Giant" size models.
Radio Control: Giants
DO YOU GET the feeling that every other Giant Scale model is a J-3 Cub? There are many of the yellow high-wingers around, and they are available in every size for almost any engine displacement, from .049s to the biggest gas-burner. Cub kits and Cub drawings are available up to and including 1/3-scale. The reason for all of these Pipers is that J-3 models fly beautifully. Other Scale subjects that have essentially the same configuration as the ubiquitous Cub inherit great flying characteristics. Seemingly overlooked are the Curtiss Robin and a 1930s homebuilt, the Pietenpol, designed by Bernie Pietenpol. There are two "flavors" of Pietenpols: the single-place Scout and the two-seater, the Air Camper; these models could be recommended to Giant Scale modelers for many reasons:
