PHOTO: LASER-CUT PLANES
Laser-Cut Planes’ newest offering is this 22-inch profile rubber-powered ship (above) based on the Joe Elgin Playboy Old Timer. Owner John McGrath has six other designs intended for new and advancing modelers that he is now kitting. This easy-to-assemble laser-cut adjustable winding stooge (at right) is just one of hundreds of products offered by TailSpin Aviation to help beginners get off on the right foot.
simplified version of the old classic Berkeley design, Sinbad the Sailor, with a flat fuse- lage instead of the built-up structure of the original and is offered by Retro RC. The smiles on the kid’s faces clearly show their feelings about the class and their accom- plishments. Note that several of them are also holding the Camp Racers they built pri- or to tackling the larger glider. For more information on Retro RC and
their full line of offerings, check out their ad elsewhere in this magazine or go to their website at
www.RetroRC.US.com.
More kits for kids John McGrath has been involved in working with young modelers for a number of years, and after assisting with some mass-building Delta Dart sessions, deter- mined that he wanted to design something that “builds better—and flies a whole lot better”. He began focusing on models for indoor
flying, and says “For quite a few years I drafted, cut, flew and sold kits to schools and
students involved in the Science Olympiad events with moderate success at the region- al and state level here in Colorado and else- where.” During the past couple of years John has
been concentrating on a line of sport fliers ranging from ex-Sci-Oly models to most re- cently a rubber powered motor glider kit that’s been doing pretty well for him called the Meadowlark. John says he now has sev- en kits in production with two more on the way soon—one of them a 22-inch ROG mod- el based on the Old Time Playboy called the PBR and a new A-6 called the Prowler. A photo of the classic lines of the PBR can be found elsewhere in this column. All of these kits are being marketed by
John’s firm, Laser-Cut Planes, and can be viewed by going to his web site at
http://lasercut-planes.com/. Feel free to con- tact John about any of his offerings by e- mailing him at
johnmcgrath2@comcast.net.
Basics for beginners Quite often, those of us who have been in-
PHOTO: TAILSPIN AVIATION
volved in modeling for some period of time take a great deal for granted in terms of what we assume beginners know about building models or about the hobby in gen- eral. That point was driven home literally day after day for me this past year as I took on the project of mentoring two high school age students in a state-wide competition that involved building a model from a high- ly prefabricated kit—neither of whom had built anything other than a plastic model or two when they were younger. After overcoming my initial surprise, it oc-
curred to me that we really needed to begin with the basics of just gluing two sticks to- gether squarely, and learning about the qualities of the wood and glues we were go- ing to use in the kit construction process. It turned out that was not even basic enough. Before we began sticking stuff together, we needed to learn just how to pin wood strips and sheet to the building board squarely and without splitting the material. That brings me to the final items for be- ginners in this month’s column. The stu- dents had the most success with the pinning pieces in place by using the two types of pins shown in another photo. The pins with the large red plastic heads are called “Grip Pins” and the smaller ones with the circular black base are called “Clamp Pins” and both are available from TailSpin Aviation, another of this magazine’s fine advertisers. While browsing their website, I also came
PHOTO: LARRY KRUSE
These two types of pins are immensely helpful to all modelers for pinning thin balsa strips to plans and for inserting through thicker pieces of wood without putting undue pressure on fingers. Called “Clamp Pins” and “Grip Pins” respectively, they are available from TailSpin Aviation.
FLYING MODELS
across another item that will be indispens- able to beginners, the “Gryffin Winding Stooge”, an adjustable winding stooge for the planes mentioned previously. TailSpin Aviation has an extensive line-up of begin- ner’s kits, sport models, scale models of all types, props, accessories, pilot figures, wheels, and almost anything else you could name that modelers, both novice and expe- rienced might need to further their hobby interests. Check out their website at
http://tailspinaviation.com/ as well as this month’s ad in FM. Next month will feature planes from some
of our best builders and flyers, free plans sites, and building tips from our readers to make us all better modelers. Enjoy the break from the heat!
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