F/FSport
“O sinewy silver biplane, nudging the wind’s withers
There, from Kill Devil Hill at Kitty Hawk Two brothers in their twin ship left the dunes...”
—HART CRANE E
very modeler I know has a love af- fair with biplanes. There’s just something about two wings and classic lines that grabs both atten-
tion and imagination—and the effect is not limited to the male gender. Writer Lane Wallace, in a piece entitled “The Path Less Traveled”, relates her first experience with a plane with two wings:
“I came out of a small grove of trees just as the plane burst into my field of vision in all its golden yellow tube-and-fabric glory. As if my imagination had willed it into exis- tence, there, right overhead, was a brilliant yellow Stearman biplane, with the wind singing in its wires as it whistled by. It was close enough that if the pilot had waved, I would have seen his hand move. I stopped dead in my tracks, transfixed, as the plane and its unknown pilot sailed past me and disappeared into the distance. Our paths crossed for only three breaths of a moment. But it was enough.”
This month we have the privilege of view-
ing the work of three modelers who share in the collective love of bipes. The three planes span the gamut of freeflight scale, ranging from kit-built, plans-built, and an original design—each an expression of its builder’s fascination with a plane that has more than one wing.
Taking them in reverse order, Vance Gilbert can always be counted upon for his creativity, whether in his nation-spanning music career, or his success at the FAC Na- tionals. Vance likes original, unusual, the
by larry kruse You can reach Larry Kruseat 18 NW Heatherstone Drive, Lawton, Oklahoma 73505, or via e-mail at
aircats@att.net
PHOTO: VANCE GILBERT
Noted FAC modeler, Vance Gilbert, is famous for his unusual and well-crafted models that turn heads at every FAC Nats. This is his newest original Curtiss Twin Jennyfor Jumbo Scale. Details in the text.
attention-grabbing designs that will stand out from the crowd. In preparing for this year’s FAC Nats, he chose the little-known twin Curtiss Jenny, referred to as the Twin JN, essentially an enlargement of the ubiq- uitous JN-4.
Vance says he came up with the unusual subject by way of Pete Bowers’ Curtiss Air- craft 1907–1947 and worked from pictures and 3-views he found there. There were only eight examples of the plane to ever be granted Army status; however, rumors sug- gest that the plane may have been used to hunt for Pancho Villa following his incur-
sion into New Mexico in 1916. That rumor alone adds the ambience of romance and ad- venture to the plane as a worthy modeling subject.
The end result of Vance’s efforts is the mu- seum-quality twin-engined bipe shown in the photo. The rubber powered plane spans 48 inches and weighed 119 grams before being balanced for flight and without the rubber motors being installed. He ended up using two loops of 1⁄4-inch rubber, 25 inches long on each side, assisted by motor sticks to make up for the short engine nacelles. Home-made cottage cheese container counter-rotating
PHOTO: LARRY KRUSE
Real-life aeronautical engineer, Dr. David Aronstein, is also a bipe fan in his modeling life. This nicely crafted Boeing F4B-2 post WWI pursuit ship (above left) is from the Dave Diels kit and spans 15 inches. Reader Robert Hauk’s
60
PHOTO: ROBERT HAUK Sopwith 11
⁄2Strutter(above right) was built from plans and added to his stable of WWI, Golden Age, and sport biplanes. Carved balsa props just make biplanes fly better by reducing torque and propeller speed allowing easier flight trimming.
NOVEMBER 2012
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