Radio Control: Giants
FROM THE COMMONPLACE to the wonderfully obscure, Leo Opdycke's Master Materials List documents a host of books, drawings, and other aircraft/aviation documentation. It includes more than 50 pages of reference material, ranging from complete drawing sets of WW I prototype aircraft to service manuals for everything from an Aeronca C-1 to the Grumman J2F Duck. In addition to its valuable references (which are readily available) the list contains a comprehensive tabulation of aircraft drawings and their source addresses. Although most of the material is concerned with full-scale aircraft, the list would be a wonderful source for Giant Scale RC model documentation.
Radio Control: Giants
AH, THE FRUSTRATIONS OF WRITING a monthly column! Three pages on disk, then the bottom fell out of everything. Let me elucidate: The December 1995 issue of Kitplanes magazine contains their yearly compendium of data on homebuilt aircraft kits and plans. Would you believe that it includes information on 537 different full-scale airplanes? The best part of the exercise is that many of the aircraft lend themselves admirably to reproduction as Giant Scale models. Many of the manufacturers/designers offer information packages that not only document the aircraft but usually include great three-views at a very reasonable cost.
Radio Control: Giants
AS PROMISED in last month's column, I'm featuring the superb craftsmanship of Lawrence E. Klingberg of Canyon Lake, California. Larry forwarded several photographs of his current Giant Scale project-a 1/3-scale replica of the 1919 Sopwith Schneider Cup racer. Larry estimates that the biplane seaplane will have a completed weight of 42 pounds. It's powered by a 5.8 Sachs and is constructed of balsa, plywood, and hardwoods. The full-scale racer spanned 24 feet and was powered by a 450 hp Cosmos Jupiter radial engine. I've included a photo of the uncovered airframe. An outstanding model! When I was flying for Uncle Sam, I had the hots to fly the Bell P-39 Airacobra-it was one slick airplane. It seemed to be designed for the shorter pilots among us; it had a rather small, cramped cockpit. Unfortunately, by the time I got my wings, the only units flying the P-39 were in Panama or the Russian Air Force. The only Airacobra I ever saw up close was parked on the ramp at Biloxi, Mississippi. It was destined to become a maintenance training airframe for neophyte mechanics, more's the pity.
Radio Control: Giants
I'LL START THIS MONTH'S COLUMN with a story of true modeling devotion-there's a bit of real hero-admiration in the story as well. Add a stunning array of RC aircraft (from the small to the extremely large) to the tale and you have a more-than-interesting model-building chapter. I'm talking about Ralph Beck's great friendship with Lou Proctor and his incomparable collection of Antics. Ralph's been building Antics in several sizes, from the handy schoolyard size to a 10-foot-plus Giant. Ralph's interest in the aircraft began with the standard Proctor kit that he built and flew in the '60s. The Antic's airborne manners are impeccable, and Ralph wondered if they would translate into a smaller-sized model. Reducing the original to 75% of its five-foot size, the model still flew beautifully-so well, in fact, that Lou adopted Ralph's reduction, and was easily talked into producing the Mini-Antic in kit form in 1968.
Radio Control: Giants
REMEMBER WHEN Comet and Megow Scale model kits could be bought for a nickel or a dime at the local drugstore? Remember when a giant rubber-powered model-with a staggering 60-inch wingspan-could be purchased for a paltry $1.50? Remember when a new Ohlsson 23 cost $16.50, and included the necessary coil and condenser? Do you recall when Jim Walker's almost-solid-balsa Fireball kit was a staggering $10? Them days are gone forever, more's the pity. The magic word today is computer. Not only are our RC radios full of computer chips, but we're also bombarded with model-airplane-related programs for the "bug-eyed monster" that lurks on many of our desks.
