Henry R. Carstens


president and publisher carstens@carstens-publications.com


Frank Fanelli editor


Jim Wiggin associate editor


Maureen Frazer production editor John A. Earley


vice-president and director of advertising


Pieter W. Uptegrove advertising manager George Riley


director of marketing Larry Deitch


advertising production manager


Tammy Havens advertising production


Phyllis M. Carstens assistant to the publisher


Otto Vondrak webmaster Chris Lane


book acquisitions manager Lynn Good


customer service


Cathy Streeter dealer service


FLYING MODELS (ISSN 0015-4849) Incorporating FLYING ACES and R/C Model Boating, is published monthly by Carstens Publications, Inc., 108 Phil Hardin Road, Fredon Township, Newton, New Jersey 07860. Phone: 973-383-3355. FAX: 973-383-4064. Visit our web site at www.flying-models.com, or e-mail us at: carstens@carstens-publications.com. Henry R. Car- stens, President; John A. Earley, Vice President, Phyllis Carstens, Secretary / Treasurer. Periodicals Postage paid at Newton, NJ 07860 and additional mailing offices.


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Contact Flying Modelsat (973) 383-3355 Voice, (973) 383-4064 FAX, or e-mail us at frankf@flying-models.com


t’s been a few months since we’ve got- ten together, and for that I apologize for the concern, and the aggravation it caused. With this issue, though pretty


late, FMis back on track and we’ll be trying to catch back up to our regular schedule. As we have always done, we’ll try our best to provide you with quality information and help you thoroughly enjoy your modeling. Thank you for your patience and sticking with us through a trying time.


So what’s better than some great coverage of the FAC Nats from this past summer. Those of you who have attended this freeflight scale event in Geneseo, NY know it’s more of a happening than anything else. The field—which is really a mile square air- port—has something going on, in so many spots, all over the field.


From my own past experience there one summer, I know that covering it is a near impossibility for one person, other than Su- perman. How do you get from a WW II Mass Launch to the Pioneer Event a quarter of a mile away. Oh, and you have to quickly tra- verse that distance in grass a lot higher than your ankles. Just like walking quickly in snow or sand. So, this time round, I beat the bushes for some volunteers to make up a team that could cover it all without risking heart at- tack or stroke. Well, I gotta tell you it did not take very long before the team was enthusi- astically in action. Tom Nallen II got it started and before I knew it he had Glen Simpers and Don DeLoach onboard. What a team!


You can see for yourself. starting on page 18. They provided a great package of pic- tures and stories that will put you right on the field in Geneseo with them. It won’t sur- prise me if you get the urge to head up to Geneseo next July for what is called the Non-Nats. It’s almost as impressive as the official Nats and probably just as enjoyable and interesting.


These three, by the way, despite their commitment to coverage, still managed to do a good bit of flying themselves. Don De- Loach even came away as the Grand Cham- pion in a tour de force of models and flying. A very grateful thank you to these guys for providing some really good reading. So do I have some volunteers for next year‘s Non-Nats team?


There’s a model that could be right at home with all those beautiful freeflight models even though it’s radio control. It’s Pat Tritle’s J-3 Kitten. It shares the stick and tissue construction of freeflight planes with slightly more heft.


Nonetheless the 48-inch span model re- mains true to the ultralight heritage of its full size predecessor. The real plane isn’t as in vogue these days as it was back in the 1980s when it garnered a number of awards for its design and was a star of the Hipps Su- perbird kit company.


For Pat, who has made a career of light- weight models, the Kitten was no surprise


and fit right into the type of models he usu- ally designs. They’re mid-size, economical, and leisurely. You won’t find sizzling, shoot- ing stars among the planes he creates. So maybe a lightweight, leisurely little model isn’t your cup of tea or coffee. Well then, how about something quite a bit more hefty, and scale as well?


Frank Granelli came up with the answer to that with the review of AirBorne Models Fw 190A. It’s a sport scale model of one of WW II’s more important German fighters. What’s more it comes as a very complete warbird ARF built from traditional balsa and ply.


For the many years I’ve known Frank, his experience has been thoroughly varied. He’s flown Pattern extensively and scale almost as much. He’s brought all that flying and building expertise to his involvement with the Fw 190A and he has some pretty insight- ful remarks about the plane. Even if you’re not in the market for this plane you might want to read his comments. The model is real quality but Frank’s expe- rience led to some tweaks that could be ap- plied to any scale model. So you want something with a lot more sizzle than a warbird? How about Great Planes’ Phazer. It’s a smallish electric duct- ed fan that was built for exactly that. Don Belfort, FM’s long time Electric Flight columnist, got the chore to take a look at the plane and tell us what he found. This one ain’t for the faint of heart. It scoots, even though it uses only a small 56 mm fan. And as Don reports the supplied bungee is probably the best way to launch it. He also reports that as fast as it can go—90+ mph—it slows down nicely, so much so that some power may be needed to drag it in. All of the foregoing models mentioned may not need the capability of a sophisticat- ed radio but all of them still could be flown with Spektrum’s latest radio offering, the DX18. I got the chore(?!) of delving into its operation and found that we could have eas- ily dedicated an entire magazine to detailing its capabilities, chief of which is its 18 pro- portional channels.


There are a few “super” radios like this on the market today but the price tag on the DX18 offers the chance for a lot more mod- elers to take advantage of all this radio has to offer.


Eighteen channels will sound like heaven to scale modelers, but it also offers geat ca- pability to the aerobatics competitor as well. There is a plentiful array of mixes, plus oth- er adjunct features. The one that I think is the stellar example of what the DX18 can do is the Sequencer, something that can be de- scribed in very broad terms as a mix with time values.


Space is running out, and the disrupted printing schedule didn’t offer the chance to wish you and those you care most about a happy holiday season. But it’s still timely to thank you for joining us and wish you a healthy, happy year. –FRANK FANELLI


DECEMBER 2012


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