Dale Dickey’s nicely done Cessna L-19 Bird Dog(facing page) makes a slow pass over the runway. The model is a Texas R/C ARF powered by an MLD .28 engine. It was one of only a few high wing planes flown this year, although its military history spanned from before the Korean Conflict and throughout the Vietnam Conflict. Evan Quiros flips the prop on his “Best in Show” Focke-Wulf 190D-13 giant scale ship (above left) while Dino DiGiorgio provides an anchor. The plane is powered by a BME 110 twin cylinder engine and spans 104 inches.
The planes that are the favorites at any event are, of course, the big ones, and War- birds over Texas was not lacking in that de- partment. There were many large WWII ships in the skies, but none more realistic than Evan Quiros’ Focke-Wulf 190 D-13 that he designed himself and powered with a BME 110 engine. The plane weighed 53 pounds and was painted with PPG paint to exactly duplicate the camouflage patterns of the full scale fighter. WWI did not lack representation from the “biggies” either, Jack Haynes’ “First Place WWI” winning Spad XII spanned 138 inch- es and darkened the skies when its DA 150 engine pulled it aloft. No less impressive was Bill Holland’s second place winning Nieuport 17 with its hand-painted re-cre- ation of Maurice Boyau’s dragon-like ser- pent paint job—and a machine gun sound system. When both planes were aloft at the same time, the scene could have been from 1917 over rural France after the Nieuport 17s and Spad XIIIs arrived at the Front to help the Allies gain air superiority. Those who have been around R/C models for any period of time know that gas engines have essentially permitted larger and larger planes to be adequately and reliably flown. A single cylinder gas engine just sounds differ-
The model weighs 53 pounds and is painted with PPG automotive paint to duplicate the wartime camouflage paint scheme. It was constructed from original drawings and inspired by the planes of the Champlin Fighter Museum. “Warbirds over Texas” producer, Terry Farmer in the orange vest (above right), is pretty happy with the way things are going as he confers with Ed Kettler, the event’s CD. Both North Dallas R/C Club members took turns serving as flight directors to keep the event moving along smoothly.
ent than a glow engine, and when you mul- tiply that by five, the sound is unmistakably Moki. This year’s event tripled the Hungari- an engine manufacturer’s unique sound with the “Moki Gaggle” flight, consisting of Gary Mill’s Corsair, Jeff Naul’s P-47, and Bill Hol- land’s Corsair all in the air at the same time. In that same vein, a WWII simulated “dog fight” with Focke-Wulfs, P-40s, and P-51s circling the field simultaneously to machine gun and cannon fire sound effects really got spectators’ juices flowing.
Speaking of spectators, “Warbirds over Texas” fosters interaction with the non-mod- eling public by shutting down flying over the noon hour on the second day of the event. Pi- lots are then asked to bring a plane of their choice to the center of the runway and then spectators are permitted on the runway for an “up close and personal” look at the models and a visit with the pilots. The interaction be- tween the flyers and the public in attendance is really special, and it was evident from spec- tators’ comments that they gained a new ap- preciation of both planes and people. Since this was the second edition of “War- birds over Texas”, it’s useful to compare the two events and note any trends that seem to be happening. The most obvious is the rise of electric power as a motor choice. Last year’s
electric entries trended toward smaller EDF jets, although there were some notable ex- ceptions. This year, much larger prop-driven models with a sophisticated array of opera- tional features were more in evidence. That phenomenon is very much reflective of the hobby as a whole as the electric movement continues to grow exponentially. At the same time, that is not to say that gas and glow engines are going away, but rather they, too, are growing in size and so- phistication. While multi-cylinder gas en- gines were notably more in evidence this year, glow engine entries continue to hold their own, but most are of the 4-stroke vari- ety. In essence, “Warbirds over Texas” is a pretty good barometer of power trends in the hobby and we can expect to see more planes reflective of the direction the hobby is going at next year’s event.
Given the growth and popularity of “War- birds over Texas” in its second season, those who have been there are already looking for- ward to the third version, sure to be in the planning stages as this is written. As veter- an Oklahoma pilot, Rich Richardson, said in an on-line blog, “This was a fun event, and I plan on attending next year!” Mark your cal- endars along with Rich’s for mid-June in North Texas in 2013.
Mark Kramer built this 1⁄5 scale Fokker D-VII (above left) from his own plans and powered it with a G-38 Zenoah. The model was selected as the third place winner among the WWI ships present. Mark covered the plane in MonoKote. Note the unusual screened air outlet for additional cooling located on the top of
FLYING MODELS
the fuselage. Darrell Kirk checks the receiver battery voltage of his Texas R/C PT-19 (above right) in preparation for flight. Darrell’s power choice was a MLD .28 gas engine. The PT-19 is a popular choice at warbird events because of its good flying abilities and distinctive, easy to see in the air, color scheme.
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