PHOTO: DAVE THACKER
Bill Becker’s Miss Tiny(above left),a reduced size Model Craft plan, created a modern edition of a classic design. Denny Sumner’s Toledo-winning LoPresti
serve another aspect of our hobby. Atten- dance grew as expected as the word had got- ten out that this is one great run meet at the best field I have ever flown at in my life. The 28th edition of the Mid America Elec-
tric Flies was held on July 7–8 in Northville Twp., Michigan, CD’d by Ken Myers and Keith Shaw. This is the longest running E- Fly in the US. The flying was held at the Midwest R/C Society’s spacious flying site. The conditions were very hot with tempera- tures around 100°F Friday and Saturday and a slight reprieve on Sunday which everyone enjoyed. Saturday night’s traditional on-site din-
ner had some special awards. Ken Myers re- ceived a well-deserved induction into the AMA Hall of Fame for his lifelong modeling efforts. There were some beautifully built aircraft such as Denny Sumner’s Toledo- winning LoPresti Fury, a redesign starting with a Globe Swift. Through correspondence with LoPresti, three views were used to de- sign the Fury in 1
⁄7 scale. It is all balsa with a Scorpion 3014/1040
on 3S 3700 Li-Po with Castle ICE 50 ESC. It uses E-flite 15-25 85-degree retracts. It weighs 3½ pounds and flies very realistical- ly. Denny’s biggest problem or opportunity to learn was making the rather large canopy plug to pull a canopy. The plug is 6 inches wide by over 13 inches long by 3½ inches tall.
Mark Rittinger, with many published de-
signs under his belt, took on this heavily modified P-51 with forward swept wings
Fury (above right), a redesign starting with a Globe Swift, flew well and was equipped with E-flite 85-degree electric retracts.
and a turbojet in the tail with a prop in the nose. The real aircraft never made it past wind tunnel tests. Mark’s model has a 32- inch span and is all balsa powered by a 790
Kv outrunner on a 4-cell 2450 Li-Po. Flying characteristics are much gentler than would be expected with this unorthodox looking design.
Readers write Dave Thacker, of Radical RC www.radical
rc.com sent in some great shots of his bud- dy’s project. “Bill Becker is a talented local builder. I see him in the shop with a high quality R/C model like this about every 4 or 5 months.” The model is a Miss Tiny from a Modelcraft kit plan reduced to 36 inches and is completely covered in Japanese tissue from Shorty’s Basement
www.shortysbase
ment.com. Power is a GWS IPS-A with an 8–6 prop, powered by a 2S 450 mAh Li-Po with a total weight of 7.4 ounces.
Project update My ¼ scale Piper Tri-Pacer, built from
plans from Calvin’s Classic Plans www.
calvinsclassicplans.com had been thor- oughly ground tested and was ready for a test flight. At the Toledo Show, associate editor, Jim Wiggin, requested to be present at the maiden flight to video for FM’s on- line edition. Jim made a 3.5-hour trip ar- riving right on time for a 7 a.m. test flight. After assembly and preflight the Tri-Pacer was taxi tested, which had not been done before. There was a pull to the right which
was felt could be corrected with rudder in- put and later fixed mechanically. With calm and cool conditions the Tri-
Pacer accelerated down the runway, lifting off before full power was reached. The mod- el handled well showing no bad habits and being able to fly at reduced power for a scale flight. Flaps were not tested at this time and the model was lined up for landing. Everything went fine until the nose touched down and the steering correction was needed in a hurry. The Tri-Pacer had completed its first flight safely. Flights made at Mid-Am with the steering corrected went off without a hitch and the power system barely warm despite the 100°F tempera- tures. A big thanks to John Kauk for his great flight shots of the Tri-Pacer at Mid-Am. Models specs: wing span, 88.5 inches;
1,400 square inches of wing area; weight, 12 pounds, 3 ounces. Built with balsa and ply- wood exclusively from National Balsa www.
nationalbalsa.com, Robart Manufacturing
www.robart.com forked nose wheel strut and wheels, Hitec
www.hitecrcd.com HS 5245MG servos, Sullivan Products www.
sullivanproducts.com control linkage hard- ware. The power system is a Cobra 4130/20
300 Kv from Innov8tive Designs www.
innov8tivedesigns.com spinning a 17–10 prop at 47 amps; Castle Creations www.
castlecreations.com ICE 75 data logging controller; two 4S 5000 G6 Pro Lite 25C Li- Pos from Thunder Power RC
www.thunder
powerrc.com. Till next time fly safely!
PHOTO: JOHN KAUK
Well known designer, Mark Rittinger, took on a P-51 design (above left) with forward swept wings. The real aircraft never made it past wind tunnel testing, but Mark’s model proved its flying ability. The Tri-Pacer caught in action (above
FLYING MODELS
right)! The finished model is a very stable platform and certainly has a presence all its own among other civillian scale models. Check Calvin’s Classic Plans for many easy to build and electrify designs.
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