Savoia-Marchetti S.M.92
When my jumbo rubber-powered S.M.92 made its debut at the FAC Nats, it was greeted with admiring comments and picture-taking-my rewards for several months of research and construction. Many of my friends asked for plans and construction tips. The Savoia-Marchetti S.M.92 and its sister ship the S.M.91 were attempts on the part of Italian engineers to take advantage of the inherent power and redundancy of twin power plants to make an extremely fast and deadly escort fighter. This seems to have been a theme common to many nations during WW II, and was an effort that met with failure more often than success. One well-known failure of this design philosophy, at least as a conventional day fighter, was the Messerschmitt Bf 110, while the Lockheed P-38 ranks among the relatively few successful twin-engined fighters. In fact, the S.M.92 was a refined version of the S.M.91 that eliminated a central crew nacelle in favor of an elongated "greenhouse" on one of the two fuselages.
Computer Generated Markings
MODELERS ARE an ingenious lot. Just subscribe to a few club newsletters, and you'll see a steady stream of clever hints that fall into the "Now why didn't I think of that?" category. The widespread use home computers has added several new wrinkles to the tradition of finding easier and more-inventive ways to construct model airplanes. Computers have been used for computer-assisted design (CAD) and model flight simulation-the latter an exclusively RC application. This article describes several different methods that use a computer to design and manufacture insignia, markings and decorations for model aircraft.
Sidewinder Stick
Here's a rubber-powered model that is simplicity itself. Besides that, the all-sheet-balsa structure is just heavy enough (and durable) for it to be a great small-field flier. Stick models have many positive qualities. It is curious that more modelers do not fly them. For the inexperienced modeler, a simple stick job can be a rewarding introduction to building and flying, offering ease of construction coupled with good performance. Experienced modelers will find that the variety of these models is astounding, since nearly every planform and propulsion arrangement has been tried by someone at some time or other. In fact, the stick fuselage model even predates the Wright brothers; it was the single most popular type of model in the infancy of our pastime. Over the years literally thousands of stick job plans have been conceived and published.
Piper Turbo Lance II
This model of Piper's T-tail private plane is attractive and a good flier when properly trimmed. The result of an international collaboration between two modelers, the design is sure to find favor among the Rubber Scale crowd.
