Radio Control: Giants
ONLY 10 OF THEM were built by the factory, but counting every replica from Peanut to Giant Scale, thousands have been reproduced. If you figure in the long wing versions, thousands more have been built by modelers around the world. I'm talking about the sleek high-winged Monocoupe in its clipped wing form and the rest of the breed. Of the many Monocoupes manufactured, the Model 90 and 90A were the definitive versions. The aircraft have always fascinated me, and my first published Radio Control (RC) design was the Model 113 Velie-powered prototype. Its appearance in Radio Control Modeler in 1978 generated a friendship that has endured.
Radio Control: Giants
JERRY SMARTT IS absolutely fascinated with big Radio Control (RC) models. He figures that aircraft with "only" 84-inch wingspans (which are certainly IMAA [International Miniature Aircraft Association]-legal) are "schoolyard scale." Nothing in his fleet spans less than nine feet! Jerry is from Warsaw, Missouri, and he builds and flies gigantic models-not to say that they're heavy monsters. Jerry's latest construction project is enough to take your breath away. It's a 52% version of the Sopwith Baby-a pre-World War I Schneider Cup racer! He's going to build the landplane version of the biplane. The wingspan works out to be 13 feet with a chord of 32 inches; that will produce about 9,200 square inches of wing area, and the power will be electric! Jerry's Sopwith has a motor and gear box from an outfit in Germany that produces motors for ultralights! His power plant puts out two horsepower, and the sporty laminated propeller for the model is 36 inches in diameter!
Radio Control: Giants
IT SURE HAS piled up-the mail, that is. Since I had a month off (because the December Model Aviation was devoted to the Nationals) the mailbox has been clogged, so let's get at it. New friend Brian Allen of Sterling VA sent some photos of his latest project. The Giant is a model of the Interstate L-6 Cadet, built from Jerry Bates' plans. Brian duplicated the full-scale version of the WW II liaison aircraft owned by Joe Grotzinger of Brownsville TX. The invasion stripe color scheme is fictitious; Mr. Grotzinger added to his airplane to make it more visible! It sure does make the model stand out.
Radio Control: Giants
A VERY HAPPY New Year to all you Giant Scalers! We may be a bit behind the power curve, but since this issue of Model Aviation will arrive in January, it's the first chance we've had to wish you the pleasantries of the season. As promised last month, we've included photos of Don Hopper's Giant air force. You'll quickly see that Don's a big fan of WW II "heavy iron." He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the sun shines most of the time, so his models get frequent workouts. I had intended to elaborate on my earlier suggestion that it's a good idea to run a voltage check on your RC batteries. An E-mail correspondent came up with a most potent suggestion: a better, more reliable, and more accurate reading would result if the batteries were tested under a load that duplicated that placed on them by the radio itself.
Radio Control: Giants
DETAILS, DETAILS, details! That's one of the big advantages in Giant Scale: the little bits and pieces that make for great Scale models are of such a size that duplicating them is relatively easy. Many modelers, such as my good friend Lynn Lockrow, take advantage of the Giant Scale models' large size to completely outfit them with upholstered cockpit seats and dead-on-scale instrument panels. Even though most Giant Scale builders aren't interested in Scale competition, they often attempt to detail their models-even if it is only to include a pilot in the cockpit.
