project pattern
H
Redux
aving reviewed the history of Pat- tern since the original Project Pattern (1984–1986) was put forth on these pages; it is time to
meet the “players” for this 2012 Project Pat- tern Redux. The star of the show is the Eu- ropa Pro LT, manufactured by RC-Composit in Eastern Europe by Lithuanian native Al- girdas (Algis) Ungulaitis. Algis is a lifelong modeler with a history of pursuing the high- est performance models he could get his hands on (modeling equipment and supplies were/are historically very expensive in Lithuania). Algis started flying with control line models at the age of 10, migrating to R/C about 7 years ago, and began construct- ing full composite planes in 2007. RC-Composit was founded (by Algis) in
2010, and in September of that year Algis travelled to Russia to meet with noted Russ- ian F3A competitor Sergey Danilov to obtain the production rights to the Europa Pro. Sergey has flown F3A for more than 20 years, designing and producing multiple planes, including the Triumph in 1997. The Triumph was one of the first F3A models to use the now familiar composite construction techniques and Sergey has been refining the techniques ever since. Several significant aerodynamic and structural changes to the Triumph ulti- mately led to a new design in 2002, the Eu- ropa. Driven by the increasing number of in- tegrated looping/rolling maneuvers and snaps in the F3A schedules, several revi- sions were made to the Europa in 2005, and again in 2010 giving birth to the Europa Pro.
Having obtained the rights to produce the Europa Pro, Algis generated the needed molds, jigs, and templates to manufacture the Europa Pro LT (LT distinguishing planes produced in Lithuania vs. Russia). Production of the Europa Pro LT began in early 2011 and even the earliest examples evidenced craftsmanship comparable to the
by dave lockhart with algirdas ungulaitis You can reach Dave Lockhart via e-mail at
davel322@comcast.net
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALGIS UNGULAITIS
Owner of RC-Composit, Algis Ungulaitis with his personal Europa Pro LT, an example of what is possible with a top of the line “custom series.”
best composite models made. Our subject model, Yuri, was produced in April 2011, and proved to be very well mannered and patient while other projects were pushed out of the workshop. In the era of “Baby Huey”, the original
Project Pattern subject, kits were essential- ly available in two forms; short kits, and long kits. Short kits included foam cores for the wings and stabs (and possible fin and rudder), a fiberglass fuselage (with hatches, cowls, canopies, etc.), and basic instructions that might include some templates for key items such as the firewall and landing gear mounts, and retract well cutouts. Long kits generally added the majority of precut ply- wood pieces (firewall, gear mounts, wing mounting blocks), balsa sheets/stock for
woodwork needed to complete the wing and stab/stab skins, and some amount of hard- ware and linkages. Virtually all of the equipment choices could be made after ob- taining the kit. Many of the modern day composite Pat-
tern kits include a variety of “prefabrica- tion” options, and some equipment decisions must be made in advance of the kit pur- chase. In the case of Yuri, the aileron servos are mounted in the wings on rib structures such that only the servo arms protrude from the wings/stabs. This method is lightweight and clean, but the mounting area for the ser- vos is largely inaccessible once the kit leaves RC-Composit. Therefore, the choice of aileron servos (or general size of servo) must be specified at the time of the kit order. If
As seen at the 2011 European F3A Championship (above): Sergey Danilov with his Europa Pro, the latest full composite Pattern design from this 20+ year F3A veteran. In September 2010 (at right), Algis Ungulaitis (left) travelled to Russia to obtain production rights for the Europa Pro, from F3A veteran Sergey Danilov (right).
42 MAY 2012
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