FanFacts PHOTOS: GREG MOORE
Gary Rheault’s Me-163 looks like it is in a bad spot (off the runway in the rough stuff) (above left) as it attempts its takeoff roll. However his P120 provides enough power (above right) for a very scale-ish takeoff angle. All it needs is an Estes rocket in the rear to complete the illusion of the “rocket plane”. Though this version (at right) is electric (and probably sounds better than a glow engine roaring away) the visual image of the Komet lighting its rocket engine and dropping its dolly is definitely there and brings back pleasant memories of a Kansas-based version for Greg!
W
elcome back! For me, it has been a long, strange month. Visits to my workshop have been non-ex- istent, (does anyone have the
GPS coordinates of it?), so I really hope you have been in your workshop working over- time to make up for my lack of “visitation”. Since we are still locked into winter (ac- cording to the calendar) I hope everyone is making progress towards Spring and the hope of good flying weather, which by the cov- er date, means we are just around the corner! Last month, I showed you a few of the things I saw in Mesa, AZ at the Arizona Jet Rally, so I thought I’d start off with some more eye candy from the event! I can hear you saying: “Okay, that’s a nice looking Me-163, but who, what, where and why is it? The short answer is it is from the large Joe Saitta kit. Once again, I can hear: “Okay, who is that?” Now (as Paul Harvey is known for saying:) “The rest of the story”.
For at least 15 years, my club (The PPRC) has held a Warbirds event every summer, and for quite a few years we had a fellow from Kansas show up with his collection of WWI type biplanes—always interesting with our winds! The last time he came, before the gas prices became ridiculous, he brought along an Me-163 (albeit with a propeller in the nose and an Estes rocket in the rear). To say I was impressed with the flying characteristics is an understatement! For
years I flew a Chris Gold’s designed, profile fuselage version with a WeMoTec MiniFan powered by six 800 mAh, Ni-Cd batteries for push. It flew great, but it needed a bungee launch, which can be problematic depending upon one’s field. A Google search at the time turned up nothing as far as kit makers, so I semi-sort-a dropped it, until last November (envision a smiley face emoticon here). A few e-mails to folks I know in the Mesa area brought me Gary Rheault’s name and e-addy, and a few more searches brought me Joe Saitta’s e-addy (he doesn’t have a web- site), which led me to do some pondering. Let’s consider what is available in/on the market today: (1) A whole bunch of “just an- other $200 foamies”. (2) A few higher end edf arfs in the approximately $1000 (ready to fly) range. (3) Several jets in the $400–800 range, varying in quality of kit or semi arf construction. (4) A multitude of Chinese made arfs designed for large turbines with varying degrees of quality starting around $2000. (5) High quality offerings from Comp-ARF and BVM getting into the sever- al-thousand dollar ranges (yeah, I know it’s a very short list and not all inclusive). So, short of scratchbuilding, what is one on a limited budget to do?
Looking through the forums and older magazines (from the late ’90s) one will find several manufacturers who produced a lim- ited range of kits designed for ducted fans, so maybe they have a bit less than 100%
by greg moore You can reach Greg Moore via e-mail at
jetflyr@comcast.net
PHOTO: JOE SAITTA
scale fidelity, but they flew great and the companies are still in business. Bob Fiorenze’s T-38 Talon comes to mind,
(all the videos I can find on the web are rea- sonably current with the Talon powered by a twin edf setup), as does Aeroloft’s T-2 Buckeye, which in the videos is powered by a Wren 14-pound thrust MW-54. A Google search will take you to their sites if you are interested, with the big thing being that they (like Jet Hangar Hobbies) have kept their kit offerings not only complete, but very reasonably priced.
The most important word in the last para- graph is “kits”, which means you have a fair amount of work to do in putting things to- gether. That works for me, since I now know how well the internals are constructed! We now come full circle to Joe Saitta, and his kits. Apparently Joe’s kits are the kind I like, simple glass fuselages, wood parts as needed to create the bulkheads and necessary structure and the ability for me to dress it up with panel lines and other doo-dads, or keep it simple (and light) with pencil lines for the panel lines and open structure in the wings. For years, I have been fascinated with the
Ziroli Panther, which I have seen fly on both ducted fan and turbine, and had absolutely zero interest in planking! Yes I have thought of several different ways around that little chore, though I had kept reading about fiberglass “aftermarket” fuselages be- ing occasionally available. Well, we come
PHOTOS: JOE SAITTA
Nice looking glass work on the Joe Saitta fuselage, tip tanks, hatch and canopy (above) and the nicely shaped wood pack (at right) for his fuselage and short kit of the Ziroli Panther. Several internet threads and websites discuss this time (and weight saving) package, though the plans-set from Ziroli are still needed for the wings and tail feathers.
30 MARCH 2013
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