PHOTOS: JOHN KROUSE
John Krouse’s newest indoor foamie freeflight ship (above left) reverses the trend of converting freeflight airplanes to radio control. John used popular commercial R/C components to power his newest flat plate 16-inch freeflight
points (for a tandem wing design) and much easier to build than a biplane.” The plane has gained some popularity
over the years and can now be found in sizes from Peanut to Jumbo Scale. I’ve even found mention of R/C versions of the plane in blogs on the web, proving that moving forward can be productive, no matter what the speed.
Addendum to a masterpiece Subsequent to publishing photos of Bill Schmidt’s wonderful Republic Thunderjet last month (and after his return from vaca- tion), I discovered several other truths about the model that I did not have at hand when the magazine went to press. First of all, it is Bill’s original design (not the Comet version) developed from the Squadron Signal book on the subject and spans 19 inches. It is indeed intended for rubber power (installed only just before flight so as not to spoil the illu- sion) using four strands of 1⁄8-inch rubber and a 7-inch Peck Polymer’s prop. Instead of his usual tissue covering, Bill used Lite- Span for the base and colored tissue for the markings and decorations. Randolph non- tautening nitrate dope was the choice for the finish. Since more information invites an addi-
tional look at the plane, elsewhere in this column you will find a previously unpub- lished three-quarter rear view of this out- standing rubber powered jet with its rubber motor peg clearly in view, integral with its exhaust ring for the longest motor run possible.
In transition George Mansfield, who took the Scale
Staffel Newsletter digital some time ago, re- cently made the sad announcement that he would be discontinuing the on-line publica- tion in order to devote his time to writing a book, in addition to his teaching duties at San Diego State University. To his credit, George has done an excellent job with the newsletter with high quality technical arti- cles, club and regional news, and an eagerly awaited plan packet in each issue. His an- nouncement left a gaping hole in keeping up with West Coast FAC doings. Almost immediately, though, you could
hear the sound of cavalry trumpets riding to the rescue in the form of William Scott and his wife, Ann, partners in a firm called
FLYING MODELS
effort. Details in the text. The clever motor mount (above right) for John Krouse’s latest indoor freeflight effort has all the advantages of being adjustable in all thrust modes as well as being available from any office supply store.
“Visual Antics”. The pair brings significant talent and experience to the task of editing an on-line newsletter. As George noted, “William, using his sophisticated design soft- ware will have none of the MS Word format- ting issues I struggled with, so look forward to an exciting and attractive publication.” At the same time, no matter how adept an
editor may be, there is always a need for con- tent, so George is asking for continued sup- port in the form of photos, plans, contest re- ports, building tips and full-blown articles sent to
wscott@visualantics.com. Thanks for taking the initial brave steps
into the world of electronic newsletters, George. Your work was much appreciated! Also in transition is FAI Model Supply.
After many years of faithful service to the freeflight community, John and Sally Clapp have sold their business to Charlie and Ger- alyn Jones, effective immediately. FAI Mod- el Supply has been the go-to source for all of the permutations of FAI and Tan rubber for as far back as most of us can remember, and in addition, provided hard to get support equipment, services, and supplies. That is due to continue under the owner-
ship of the Jones family. As John Clapp notes in his letter to customers, Charlie, Geralyn and their sons, Ryan and Kyle, are avid modelers with significant collective his- tories in F1G and F1B events. Charlie, Ryan, and Kyle have each represented the USA Team in several World Champi- onships, with Kyle a silver and gold medal- ist, and Charlie a bronze medal winner in the 2009 World Championships in Croatia. Mom, Geralyn, has also been active in vari- ous management capacities in business and the electronic media, and had been involved in fund-raising for the U.S. Junior Free Flight Team. In turning the keys over to the Jones fam-
ily, John and Sally Clapp said that the tradi- tion of excellence at FAI Model Supply will continue into the foreseeable future and thanked their national and international cus- tomers for their past patronage. It is our turn to thank John and Sally for their many years of dedication to freeflight and their unparal- leled efforts to address the needs of the sport.
A reversal of trends John Krouse has proven himself the mas-
ter of all things tiny and electronic when it comes to indoor freeflight, but this month he
presents a project that decidedly pivots away from the ubiquitous turning a free - flight model into a radio controlled version of the same thing. John sent along two pictures of his latest “one-piece foamie”. The major design feature of this micro-electric freeflight model is that the wing/body/tail platform is simply cut from a single flat sheet of 3mm Depron foam. Wing dihedral/incidence and the V-tail are formed by bending along a scribed line. The desired angles are then set with Elmer’s wa- ter-based white glue and secured with a piece of Scotch tape on the bottom surface. The fuselage keel is made from two 3⁄4-inch wide strips of 3mm foam bonded together with a glue stick and attached to the model’s centerline for stiffness. Cardstock elevons (manually adjusted) finish out the tail. For power, John used a ParkZone Ember motor/gear/prop power module and a Vapor 2.4 GHz brick receiver. The two built-in lin- ear servos are not used in this essentially freeflight model. The motor mount consists of an extended paper clip for independent adjustment of thrust angles. All-up the 16- inch model weighs 23 grams with a single 130 mAh Li-Po battery. On that retro note, we have run out of
both space and time. Next month we’ll look at some new kits and some of the basic building items we often overlook. In the meantime, toss something into the air!
PHOTO: BILL SCHMIDT
Bill Schmidt took the 3-views from a Squadron Signal book to develop his own plans for his striking Republic F-84 Thunderjet and covered it with Lite- Span. Note the rubber peg going through the rear exhaust ring. The 7-inch Peck prop and rubber motor will be installed at the flying field to put this rubber- powered jet into the air.
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