FanFacts W
elcome back, and I hope you have gotten more accomplished in your workshops than I have over the last month!
In February, I had the opportunity to head
to Surprise, AZ for Desert Jet Storm, and since I reserve the right to occasionally blow my own horn, I’ll start with a photo Joe Bal- abon sent me of my Modellbau-USA F-86D Sabre Dog on short final. The beauty of a scale jet is that so many color schemes exist for that model. The ’86D was the USAF’s first single- seat night interceptor, and lacked guns. In- stead, a belly-mounted tray firing 2.75-inch missiles was provided as armament against the feared Soviet bomber masses. Since their primary role was homeland defense, many colorful state-schemes exist, and since I live in Colorado, and had the full size just down the road, a kit-bash color scheme was born. Well, warped minds must think alike, since we have three of these models in my club, and both of the others are being done in their respective “crew-chiefs” home state colors. Should look really neat on the flight line this summer! If you are look- ing for airframes for the 60-80 Newton en- gines (mine has a well used 15-pound thrust Wren 54 Mk4 in it), Modellbau has three models to choose from. At the other end of the size spectrum,
when the Tomahawk Futura was first intro- duced two or three years ago, many hated while a few loved the looks, and I, like many, reserved judgment, depending on how fu- ture paint schemes looked. I’ve seen two of the smaller (1.9 meter) versions fly, and re- gardless of the great (or minimalist) cover- ing, they flew very nicely. Well, I finally got to see Scott Marr’s large version, and I guess (in this case) it is true that larger really does fly better. With a 2.5 meter (98.5 inches) wing span and a JetCat P-200 for power, it has fantastic perfor- mance and presence, yet best of all, it slows down to land like a butterfly with sore feet. If you are looking for a really large sport jet, check this one out, I can see why so many are saying it is now their preferred, large sport jet. Also seen was Jim McEwen’s interesting long-nosed Reaction from PST Jets. Appar- ently, the regular version needs significant
by greg moore You can reach Greg Moore via e-mail at
jetflyr@comcast.net
PHOTO: JOE BALABON
Joe Balabon captured Greg’s Modellbau F-86D on short final at Desert Jet Storm in February. Weighing 17 pounds, with only a 63-inch wing span, it is easy to transport, and Greg reports it is a blast to fly.
weight in the nose to balance, so a long- nosed variant was made. Since I couldn’t find it on PST’s web site, I guess that it then morphed into their newer, ReVision sport jet. Regardless, it sure looked neat flashing by with that long nose and reshaped canopy and gives us options/ideas for other planes that we have that need a lot of weight (kit- bash 101 anyone?) This year, at Desert Jet Storm, there was
a new CD, who asked for feedback on how things could be improved/made easier/ smoother/etc. One of the pilots suggested that rather than have a noontime lineup and shut down the flight line (we did come to fly, after all!) that next year we have vol- unteer pilots give small group tours through the pits. To his credit, the CD (Chris Balling) asked
us if we would do it this year. With over- whelming acceptance, the pilots signed up to lead tours all day, each day, and every vol- unteer that I talked to thought that they got more out of the experience than the “tourists” did. With each tour only taking 15–20 minutes, one’s flying time was not im- pacted while the ability to inform and edu- cate potential R/C pilots was immeasurable, and who knows the airplanes better than the guys flying that type! So, if your club struggles with shutting down the flight line during events, this might be a very useful, and beneficial to all, way to handle things.
Moving on, Andy Zaner’s T-38 just keeps getting better and better! With the wings and stabs now cut and in place, the reality of this airplane (and its size!) is really setting in. Seeing this 12-foot long airplane come to life has me thinking of perhaps a twin 70mm version in a “slightly” smaller size, hmmm…. Staying with the electric theme, The Elec-
tric Jet Factory has been named the North American distributer of HET products, and their new, all composite, Super Sniper 90XL has made it to our shores! Significantly larger than many of the
90mm offerings, at 56 inches long with a 53- inch wing span, this version of the Sniper has been designed around HET’s 90mm fan unit—for 39mm diameter motors—the 9305-V2. This fan allows higher cell-count motors (designed for 8–12 cells) to be used, which decreases the amperage drawn by the motor (when the correct KV motor is cho- sen), which is then easier on all of the elec- tronic components. This is the third “newly-redesigned” mod-
el in HET’s lineup. Their F-16 has been a hit, as has their beautiful L-39 (I really want one of these!). Next up, they have an F-18 Hornet to be followed by an F-20 Tigershark, both of which have been through the beta testing process and are in the production pipeline at this time and which are reported to fly wonderfully! Fully molded airplanes are not new, but
PHOTOS: GREG MOORE
At the large end of the size spectrum is Scott Marr’s 98-inch span Futura (above left). Whether slow or fast; gentle maneuvers or aggressive, right side up or upside down this airplane does it all, and predictably, then lands as gentle
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as a feather. Jim McEwen ripped around the AZ skies with his PST Jets long- nosed Reaction (above right). Extending the nose and modifying the canopy gives the airplane a totally different look.
JUNE 2012
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