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
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Contact Flying Modelsat (973) 383-3355 Voice, (973) 383-4064 FAX, or e-mail us at
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ne of the most enduring icons of general aviation is the Piper Cub. Everyone knows the Cub and it has been modeled in innumerable
sizes, big to small. The reason for its popu- larity? A marriage of appearance and fan- tastic utility. How could a plane like that miss being appealing. So it may be a justifiable question: Will
the Cub’s iconic status ever be replaced? That’s a hot potato I’m unwilling to juggle, but it might be interesting to speculate a lit- tle about it. One candidate may be the ven- erable Cessna 170 series that ultimately produced the fantastically successful Cess- na 172 that’s still going strong some 60 years after the series was first produced. There are a lot of appealing factors that
make the original tail dragger progenitor a worthwhile choice for a model. With its curved tail and 172-like cabin it’s a blend of old and current. There’s no denying that the fabulous flying qualities of the real plane would imbue a model with the same traits. So it’s no surprise that Pat Tritle, that
master modeler, would turn to this enduring aircraft as the subject of one of his latest de- signs. He has a thoroughly insightful eye for planes that will turn into really successful models. The Cessna 170 is one of those. Pat’s 170 is a decent size, some 53-inch
span and at the same time is pretty eco- nomical with an E-flite Park 450 motor that needs only a 2-cell 2500 mAh Li-Po. That equates to a pretty decent Sunday flier, ca- pable of some mild aerobatics, but unques- tionable easy flying. To add to the plane’s appeal, and also add
a little spice to the formula, Pat also incor- porated flaps in the model. They’re not real- ly needed but why not. It just adds another enjoyable dimension to this very nice model. And speaking of nice models, but in a vein
that’s 180 degrees opposed to Pat’s 170, is the BP Hobbies Pitts 12 EP that Frank Granelli put through its paces. Frank was the obvious choice for this plane. For the many years I’ve known him, he has been a devotee of performance aircraft, and long competed on the East Coast Pattern circuit. And he was ready, willing and able to take
on the chore of thoroughly examining the model and its flying characteristics. He does- n’t ascribe to the one and done theory of re- views and spent a good deal of time flying the model before he put together his assessment. He likes the plane and notes that it’s al-
most naturally 3D capable, even for its small size. But for those who are looking for a less sensitive but very aerobatic model he has some valuable suggestions. If you like 3D and/or aerobatics in a small package give this plane some real consideration. Besides, it wraps all that performance in a small package, a plane that’s easily transported in any car. It’s time to turn to nostalgia. Every one of
us has wonderful, vivid memories of our start in modeling. If not, we wouldn’t be reading the pages ofFMmonth after month.
Mine are that way. Never intended to get hooked, but it’s funny the ways things work out. My “hook” was a Guillow’s Piper Chero- kee. Never touched a stick and tissue plane in my life because there wasn’t anyone I knew who could teach or help me. I decided to build it as a lark. Little did I suspect that I would end up at my basement workbench for a whole week, thoroughly smitten by what I thought was the exquisite geometry of the little Piper’s airframe. There are more stories to tell of the Piper
and the other early models I built, but they all cemented an enduring love affair with modeling. For all of us, the story line may be unique and individual but the outcome was just the same. The Vintage Stunt Championships are a
testament to that passion borne of that first experience with a model airplane. Long time readers of FM, no matter their modeling persuasion, are no strangers to the event. It has been around for 24 years now, and al- most every yearFMhas reported it. Its start in California back in 1989 wasn’t exactly a portent of how big it would grow and bring C/L modelers the world over to the desert outside Tucson, AZ. Brian Malin, head honcho at BMJR Mod-
els, decided to go for the first time, and since he’s no slouch with a camera asked if FM would like a report on this annual C/L festi- val. It seems that same magic of his own start in modeling finally drew him there. And it became a memory relived. Bet you can identify with what he has to tell us. For Daniel Walton, the memory was a combination of his fascination with the Cox .010 and of a little plane he put it in. That little plane, the Baby Biwinger, had only one flight but as Daniel starts his article: “There are times in your life when it just seems that destiny calls.” So we are witness to his excursion down memory lane with a remake of the this po- tent little bipe. It was originally a freeflight plane as presented in the 1957 Air Trails ar- ticle, but in a nod to modern micro R/C tech- nology Daniel also incorporated the require- ments to change it to an R/C version and claims that with the equipment specified, it’s possible to build a plane lighter than the original freeflight with its Cox engine. Maybe this might be your trip down mem-
ory lane that recalls your roots. Take a look at the Baby Biwinger and see. Since the subject of micro R/C was just broached it can serve to lead us to the last article in this issue, a review of the Flyzone Fokker Dr. I Triplane. To find out just how this diminutive foamie would fly I took Jim Wiggin to the Teaneck Armory. This has be- come one of the East Coast’s centers for in- door R/C and freeflight. It was the perfect place for the plane and
we took turns flying it, and exploring its abilities. And it now has the capability of the AnyLink technology that Great Planes re- cently introduced. If you want to find out more, head to page 52. –FRANK FANELLI
JULY 2012
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