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
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
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
THE ALLISON ENGINE purred, hurtling the P-40N through the cloud canyons. The practice stall series, the purpose of the training flight, had been completed, and there was plenty of gas left in the wing tanks. There wasn't any sense in returning to base just yet. Not when the billowing Alabama cumulus clouds were begging to be buzzed. Air Force regulations prohibited "real" buzzing-low flight over the ground. It was deemed to be a dangerous practice. But there wasn't anything in the rule book about bending an airplane around isolated cloud build-ups at a safe altitude.
Radio Control: Giants
WITH YOUR KIND INDULGENCE, I'm going to begin this month's column with a "fairy story." Like all good fairy stories, this one begins with "Once upon a time. . ." Once upon a time there was a poor-but-honest Radio Control builder and flier. He had been building small-but-flyable Scale models in his basement workshop. Every evening after supper he would descend the stairs to his shop and begin to tinker with balsa, plywood, and the other magical materials there. From time to time, his skillful efforts would be realized in a beautiful, multicolored model airplane, complete with a glow-plug engine and a complex array of electronic equipment. Saturday afternoons, when the weather was fair and the wind was only hinting at a zephyr, he'd take his beautiful airplane out to his club field. After checking the radio and filling the gas tank with glow fuel, he'd entrust his current masterpiece to the mercy of the air. Most of the time, his model would fly and give him much pleasure as he bent it through a routine of aerobatics.
