Henry R. Carstens
president and publisher
carstens@carstens-publications.com
Frank Fanelli editor
Jim Wiggin associate editor Maureen Frazer production editor
John A. Earley vice-president and director of advertising
Pieter W. Uptegrove advertising manager
George Riley director of marketing
Larry Deitch advertising production manager
Tammy Havens advertising production
Phyllis M. Carstens assistant to the publisher
Otto Vondrak webmaster
Chris Lane book acquisitions manager
Lynn Good, Dot Schmidt customer service
Cathy Streeter dealer service
FLYING MODELS (ISSN 0015-4849) Incorporating FLYING ACES and R/C Model Boating, is published monthly by Carstens Publications, Inc., 108 Phil Hardin Road, Fredon Township, Newton, New Jersey 07860. Phone: 973-383-3355. FAX: 973-383-4064. Visit our web site at
www.flying-models.com, or e-mail us at:
carstens@carstens-publications.com. Henry R. Car- stens, President; John A. Earley, Vice President, Phyl- lis Carstens, Secretary / Treasurer. Periodicals Postage paid at Newton, NJ 07860 and additional mailing offices.
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ADVERTISING: Main advertising offices: FLYING MODELS, 108 Phil Hardin Road, Newton, NJ 07860. Phone: 973-383-3355; FAX: 973-383-4064.
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Contact Flying Modelsat (973) 383-3355 Voice, (973) 383-4064 FAX, or e-mail us at
frankf@flying-models.com
et’s see... where to begin? Maybe throw a dart at the facing page and begin with the picture it hits. An- other solution might be less strenu-
ous—and safer—but less creative: just start at the top of the contents list. Since I’m in a lazy mood as I begin this I think I’ll choose the latter. Whether by coincidence or not, it seems
that a fair number of the 1930s racing planes have appeared inFMduring the past two years, either as construction articles or reviews. Hard to know why the surge in in- terest but it’s there. Could be that they each offer some very singular planforms that are easily recognized. Those who have flown these models report
that they have been housebroken of some of the characteristic vices that the real planes exhibited. The one that easily comes to mind in that respect is the Gee Bee with its beer barrel fuselage and a poor excuse for a rud- der. Nonetheless the model Gee Bee’s are re- ported to fly quite nicely, and I even heard one report—perhaps tongue in cheek—that one Gee Bee model could knife edge. This all leads us to a newFMcontributor,
Gary Villette. Almost a year ago, in April, he sent an e-mail telling me he had an e-power model of the Howard DGA-5 Ike. And he wanted to know if FM might have any in- terest in it. It didn’t take me long to say yes since the
Ike, unique as it is, still has a fairly simple planform: flat fuselage sides with simple curved top and bottom, straight wing—al- beit with a curved trailing edge at the tip, not so hard—and a pretty straightforward tail group. What’s more, as Gary will tell you, the Ike proved to be a nice plane to fly, not one to provide high anxiety. What’s more as you’ll find is that the plan
is superb. Some criticism has been leveled at CAD plans, with some justification, that they are sterile and don’t exhibit the same personal character as traditional hand drawn plans. But when you get a CAD plan like Gary’s, they are a marvel of precision and fund of information. Go take a look and I guarantee the wealth of information he has provided will capture your attention and you may find yourself poring over the plan for quite a while. Coming to bat next is Jim Wiggin with an
article on the JR Indoor Festival. Really had to twist his arm to head out to Columbus, Ohio this past November to cover the event. Despite his “reluctance” he finally agreed to go. This all transpired over the course of a few seconds. I think you’ll find that he had a good time there despite his initial “fore- boding” and the tenor of his article will def- initely give you that impression. The JR Indoor has really evolved into a festival of sorts with plenty of room for all kinds of indoor R/C planes. And Terry Nitsch, perennial CD, founder, and all around good guy has sweetened the pot by bringing in vendors who can set you up and keep you flying, or keep you well fed.
If all that sounds appealing, then consid-
er that only a few hours away is Dayton, Ohio, gargantuan home of the U.S. Air Force Museum. Sounds like the perfect plan for a week’s vacation: head to the museum for a few days, then head for the JR Indoor. Now that’s the stuff of any modeler’s dreams. One of the planes you won’t find at the Air
Force Museum, or any other for that matter, is the Beardmore Inflexible. Yeah, I know, I never heard of it either. But it did exist for a very brief period between the wars. Chuck Wenlock saw a model of it at the Geneseo FAC Nats when Eddie Novak stepped out and launched his 75-inch freeflight model of the unique bomber. In- stantly smitten by the very memorable flight, Chuck mentally added it to his to-do list even though he didn’t know anything about the real plane either. The memory of that flight left an indelible
mark and since he never got the plans from Eddie, Chuck finally decided to set about drawing up his own plans. It seems he did a good job because his Inflexible flies just as well as Eddie Novak’s, so despite its un- gainly and unorthodox appearance, it might do you well to take a closer look at Chuck’s Beardmore. Remember: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Just below the Beardmore you’ll see a
much more recognizable plane, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. Storied in the annals of the American Volunteer Force in China and the North African campaign Curtiss’s fighter is predominantly recognizable because of that famous shark mouth that became synony- mous with the P-40. Frank Granelli has a short list of favorite
planes and one of them is the Warhawk, so when Top Flite introduced their giant scale P-40 Frank instantly succumbed to tempta- tion and rounded up kit, retracts, engine, and a host of other accessories to make his Warhawk as capable as possible. This isn’t one of those one and done re-
views. He spent his time setting up the plane and putting it through its paces before he wrote his evaluation. If you’re as hooked as he on this WW II icon you need to read his review because it will help you complete this very good model with suggestions for outfitting it and flying it. In a certain symbiotic way, our last arti-
cle ties in with one of our earlier ones. Jim Wiggin spoke of his trip to the JR Indoor. He probably could have used the Custom Hangar that Dan Walton presents this month. Seeing how Jim has to load up his Jeep Wrangler makes me pretty sure he would have welcomed this portable “hangar”. Dan engineered it when faced with re- placing the deteriorating transport box he used for a very special Beech Bonanza that needed a healthy dose of TLC. You’ll have to read Dan’s article to understand why. And maybe if you’re heading to the JR, the FAC Nats or any other event this box may guar- antee a safe arrival. –FRANK FANELLI
MARCH 2012
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