Radio Control: Giants
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL, warm spring day at the Radio Control (RC) flying field. Only a couple of models are tracing filmy exhaust trails in the blue sky. One of the airplanes heads for the runway for a low pass, and the scream of the engine grabs everyone's attention as the model dives earthward. Then it happens! As the flier pulls his model sharply out of the dive, there's an ominous craaak - and the wing folds up in the middle! The fuselage, now bereft of any lift, spears into the runway and debris is scattered everywhere. Balsa, plywood, propeller, spinner, engine, and radio create a long swath of destruction. Above it all, a half-wing flutters slowly to the earth. "Too many Gs" (gravity) is the consensus of the modelers who witnessed the crash. Many of the modeling population have possibly witnessed this sort of ugly end to an RC flight. Too many Gs, but that isn't the whole story. A poorly braced wing center section might have been waiting for a high-G pull-out; maybe plywood dihedral braces weren't sufficiently epoxied to the wing spars; or the fiberglass "scab" over the center section of the wing wasn't fully adhered to the wing's planking.
Radio Control: Giants
ALTHOUGH THERE ARE jillions of Mustang models out there, I've never seen "it" modeled! P-51s out the gazoo and a very visible detail has been omitted on most of them. The same goes for other models of WW II US fighters. Maybe it's because the antenna, which was aluminum in color and construction, blends into the background in photos of the fighters' fins. Of course, it should have shown up on photos of Jugs (P-47s) and Lightnings (P-38s) as well. What we're talking about is tail-warning radar that was developed late in the war. The idea was that if some dastardly enemy airplane approached your airplane's posterior, a bell would ring in your cockpit and a red light would glow on your instrument panel so that you could take proper evasive action.
Radio Control: Giants
IT'S NO SECRET that I am fascinated by the racing airplanes of the Golden Age. Although today's "heavy iron" is much faster, they're just jazzed-up versions of WW II fighter aircraft. There's something about the essentially home-built designs of the 1930s that makes them unique in aviation history: many were designed and built by capable aeronautical engineers. Art Chester's Jeep, Goon, and Swea' Pea were competitive in their eras, but he was also responsible for the design of the P-51 Mustang's front end. Then there's Benny Howard; his Pete, Ike, Mike, and Mr. Mulligan polished more than their share of Cleveland pylons. Modified for commercial purposes, Mr. Mulligan was the inspiration for the extension of the DGA aircraft series. It was the basis of the Howard Aeronautical Co. that produced a host of the high-wingers.
Radio Control: Giants
They're all over the place - and with good reason. Almost every Giant Scale flightline has one, and maybe more; they're readily identifiable, since most of them are monoplanes with fixed landing gear; the paint jobs are stunning, and many of them carry miniaturized versions of sponsor decals. I'm talking about the proliferation of present-day aerobatic airplane Scale models. They may be Zlins, or CAPs, or Ravens, or any of a vast array of available designs. Bubble canopies and flat engines mark the breed, and models duplicate these common features. The better Giant Scale Radio Control (RC) fliers have taken the aerobatic models to heart, and usually (with smoke trails added) put on show of rolls, loops, and other maneuvers that would do a professional acrobatic pilot proud.
Radio Control: Giants
IT WAS MY good fortune to meet Dave Reid in the '80s at one of the STAR (Southern Tier Aero Radio Society) fly-ins at Olean, New York. Dave was getting started in the Radio Control (RC) business, and was featuring his great rubberlike 1/4-scale pilot figures. They were (and still are) realistic and included a host of realistic accessories, such as caps and sunglasses. Dave and I have kept in touch through the years, and I purchased a precut kit of Don Neill's Folkerts SK-4 from him. I had a set of plans and the fiberglass components for the Thompson Trophy winner, and Dave provided the balsa parts.
