Henry R. Carstens
president and publisher
carstens@carstens-publications.com
Frank Fanelli editor
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Pieter W. Uptegrove advertising manager
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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
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Contact Flying Modelsat (973) 383-3355 Voice, (973) 383-4064 FAX, or e-mail us at
frankf@flying-models.com
ust as I was about to write this and struggling with how to begin, I glanced at the pictures on the oppo- site page. The wide variety of fea-
ture articles and the subjects of all the columns spoke reams of the wonderful and amazing diversity of model airplanes. There they were: a WW I bipe, twin float plane, tailless homebuilt, WW II warbird, and a Don Srull classic remade. Allow me to start with my review of the ElectricFly Widgeon. In two respects the model was a nice meld of two longstanding interests: floatplanes and twin engines—in this case twin motors. The first time I flew a float plane it was
the same thrill I experienced when I first flew an R/C plane. Here was a different ad- venture, and despite ensuing spills and dunks over time, I was hooked. But oppor- tunities started to dwindle after that. Suit- able sites became off limits, and the extra support equipment, i.e., a boat, needed to re- trieve a downed plane, was difficult to trans- port on my own. The memory of that very enjoyable time never quit and I always kept an eye out for another chance. Then there was the twin aspect. Think of
all the neat models that have never been done because they had twin engines. Of course there was the not so unrealistic fear of an engine out and the possible loss of con- trol. And there was the extra mechanical complexity of setting up two engines. Now with the increased reliability gleaned from electric motors and their much easier installation, twins seem much more feasible. That opens a whole set of new mod- eling subjects for everyone, not just the more experienced or adventurous. Enter the Widgeon. It’s not so big—51 inches—that it requires a lot of expense in motors, controllers and batteries. Two Rim- fire 400 outrunners turn the props and they’re fed by a single 3-cell, 3300 mAh Li- Po. Not a major outlay for a plane that is a decent size. It sounds almost like serendipity, and the
good quality of the model certainly made it seem so. But the learning curve reared its ugly head and made my enthusiastic return to float flying a cautionary tale that still had a happy ending. See for yourself. So in the same vein of happy endings, let’s
turn to Tom Binkley’s Skipper. Well it’s not his exactly. It really is the brainchild of one of FM’s more illustrious designers, Don Srull. Seems Tom, whom we first met not so long ago with his Yard Stick (February 2012, CD432) likes the smaller models. Intrigued by Don’s designs he settled on
the Skipper (October 1993, CF916), which Don had published here in FMway back in 1993 at the dawn of readily available electrics. The Skipper used the then popu- lar, small HiLine Mini 6 motor and the very old Cox Fail Safe radio. Remember them? Well Don, in his unquestioned craftsman-
ship and design genius, got the little plane to fly quite well with its simple power sys-
tem and radio. Tom, searching the FM an- nals, came upon the Skipper and had one of those Aha! moments. This was what he was looking for as the home for a modern remake with brushless technology, Li-Po battery and micro radio. It was definitely pure serendipity for Tom
and he has an interesting story to tell of his experience. As a matter of fact he’s looking forward to remakes of a few more of the more promising olderFMdesigns. Let’s stay tuned to see what he has to offer next. Daniel Walton has been very busy at his workbench of late and this month he’s pre- sented us with a pretty unique plane, an EPP foam version of the very unique Dyke Delta homebuilt. It isn’t unusual for Daniel to choose something like this. All the articles he’s shared us have shown a wide ranging curiosity about all things that fly. Maybe that’s a characteristic borne of his profes- sion as an aeronautical engineer. Yeah, it is a flat plate foamie, something
that probably doesn’t score high on the so- called bucket list. But then maybe it should because Dan discovered some unexpected benefits not only of the material he chose, but the unique and very capable planform of this plane. This model is worthy of consid- eration because of all it can teach quickly. Well, just below Daniel’s Dyke Delta is a
picture of E-flite’s re-released Hawker Sea Fury. The last year of WW II saw the belat- ed introduction of the zenith of piston engine powered fighters—Bearcats, Sea Furys, MB- 5, and others. They could easily be consid- ered some very beautiful aircraft. That’s how Chris Susiscke, formerFMAs-
sociate Editor, sees the Sea Fury. And from what he discovered of the recently released second version of the E-flite model, the sweet handling qualities of the plane en- dure. It’s no slouch in the speed department but it also handles slow, gentle landings with considerable aplomb. Might want to take a look and see more of what he has to say about the model. So finally, we come to the last in this month’s very diverse collection of models. In a way we’ve saved the best to last. You’ve seen Rob Caso’s work here inFMover recent years, and each time they’ve proven gems of modeling craftsmanship. To say he is metic- ulous is a gross understatement. He proved that point at the static display
in this past February’s WRAM Show. He brought a small (1
⁄9 ) Halberstadt CL.II to dis-
play. The closer you looked at it, the more you saw of the extraordinary amount of minute detail he managed to incorporate. Probably more than some other WWI fighters, the Halberstadt had a wealth of vi- sual details that Rob tackled with his usual zeal, each showing his prowess. Probably more than those odds and ends, the real tour de force of his CL.II is the lozenge scheme he applied. The effort involved in research, preparation and application is amazing. This In Detail article is really a wealth of detail. –FRANK FANELLI
JUNE 2012
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