Sm Tall alk G
enerally, I like to open the column with a word or two about things modeling, or offer a bit of insight gained from years of experience
chasing model airplanes around the sky, then offer up a photo or two of what the readers have been up to. Well, this month we’re going to do things a bit differently. Why? Glad you asked: It’s because I am lit- erally slammed with photos of finished pro- jects from the readers that are just too good not to share. For that reason, July is going to be the “Showcase” month to highlight the efforts of the good folks out there that enjoy building, and have taken the time to send over the results of their efforts. So hang on to your seat, there’s some great stuff here and a nice variety of model types as well, ranging from freeflight to seaplanes and R/C both big and small.
Giving credit where credit’s due We’ll begin with Gary Spratling’s 60-inch
span Pilatus Turbo Porter built from the PCM kit. The 27-ounce model is powered
with a Turnigy 890 Kv Park 450 outrunner motor with a Hobby King Blue 20A ESC and an APC 11–4.7 Slow Fly prop. Guidance is by way of 5-channel R/C using six sub-micro servos. And because the model is quite large the wings are removable with two servos in each wing to control the flaps and ailerons. It still makes the magnet retained plug-in wings and lift struts quick and easy to re- move, requiring no tools for break down or setup. And with the flaps fully deployed, the model will fly so slowly that the ailerons will actually quit working. So leading edge slats were fabricated from .008-inch aluminum Venetian blinds to keep the ailerons func- tioning effectively even at ridiculously slow speeds. The aluminum blind stock was also used to fabricate the flap gap covers. The color scheme was taken from 161st Recon Squadron that served in Viet Nam. To continue in the military vein, we have
Gene Coleman’s L-19 Bird Dog. Gene’s L-19 was built from the 40-inch span Dumas kit and equipped with a generic Turnigy out- runner with an 18A ESC, APC 9–4.7E pro- peller and a 500 mAh 2S Li-Po battery. The model was built with Elmer’s white glue and
PHOTO: GARY SPRATLING
Gary Spratling built his PCM Pilatus Porter and finished the model in the very unusual colors of the 161st Recon Squadron that served in Viet Nam.
a dab or two of CyA and covered with 21st Century Microlite film and trimmed with the kit supplied vinyl graphics. The wind- shield was retained with cut down straight pins and inserted into pre-drilled holds and retained with a bit of white glue. And for a nice bit of realism, the sky light
and side windows were fitted and glued in from the inside. And finally, a recessed bat- tery compartment was built into the bottom of the fuselage so the wing wouldn’t need to be removed to replace the battery. Gene tells me that the model flies beautifully, and han- dles the breezes very well. Now, heading back into the more tradi-
tional style of early freeflight models we have Jerry Smith’s pair of Bogies. The Bogie 72 is a terrific flyer, and because of the high lift style of the model that even with a good bit of downthrust on the motor it’s a bit pow-
er sensitive—not a big surprise. Gerry de- scribes the flying style of the Big Bogie as “Oh Hum”, and easily delivers 15-minute flights using the 1300 mAh battery. The Lit- tle Bogie was built from the 36-inch span Mountain Models kit and is a great little fly- er too. With the geodesic design with a 1⁄64- inch ply stiffener on the trailing edge, the wing is easy to build and comes out straight and stiff, so there’s little chance for those pesky warps that can sneak up on you when shrinking the cover on these smaller models. Both models are controlled with 3-channel R/C, and are perfect for some nice relaxing flying. And as long as we’re on the subject of old freeflight designs, we’ll take a look at Mike Hudlass’s Dakota biplane. The Dakota is probably among the most classic of all freeflight designs and was the brainchild of
by pat tritle You can reach Pat Tritle at 10313 Snowheights NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112 or via e-mail at
patscustommodels@aol.com
PHOTO: LEE MOORE
When it comes to classic biplanes the Dragon Rapide(above left) is at the top of the list. Lee Moore has done a phenomenal job of representing that golden era of aviation with his Rapidebuilt from the Dumas kit. Ron Stanfield built the
58
PHOTO: RON STANFIELD
Ripple Skipper (above right) fromFMplans and in the process updated the old e-power package in it to the efficiency of the modern day brushless motors and lithium batteries to make a great model even better.
JULY 2012
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