PHOTOS: CHRIS HUXLEY
Chris Huxley’s Air Tractor(above left) was set up with floats and is now ready for a little back woods flying in those remote locations where fires are often found. Ideal placement of the model in an ideal environment makes for a realistic
them in small increments. Doing it that way, as the c.g. approaches “too far aft”, the model will start to get weird before it gets downright stupid. You’ll know when it gets close to the aft limit, at which time you can go back to the last happy spot and you’ll be in business.
Conversions work both ways This month we have a couple of conver- sions for you to ponder. Both still in the bones, we can see the stark similarity be- tween these two designs: one R/C to freeflight, the other, freeflight to R/C. To get started, Phillip Agnoletto has been busy building his 40-inch span Navion enlarged from the old Earl Stahl freeflight plan. Pow- er will be provided by a brushless outrunner with 4-channel guidance. I will definitely keep you posted on this one.
The other comes from a name we should all be familiar with: Chris Starleaf, and Chris has certainly mastered the art of large multi-engine freeflight models. This time Chris has taken the author’s 60-inch span DC-6 design and is converting it to rubber powered freeflight. The one major change from the original design was the wing. Chris went with a 10% flat bottom airfoil. To keep
picture. Chris is doing a bit of late day firefighting with his AT802 Air Tractor (above right) leaving a nice trail of fire retardant right on target. The evening calm is a perfect time to fly these lightweights.
things light, Chris used the cracked rib style of construction with diagonal bracing. This is going to be one very impressive model in the air, and we will definitely be keeping an eye on this one.
Ralph Snow has also checked in with his beautiful Westland Whirlwind. The model began with the Cleveland plan enlarged to 1.25 inches = 1 foot with a 56.25-inch span, finishing out at 64 ounces. Power is from a pair of BL-20 counter-rotating outrunners with Castle 36A ESCs and a 3S 2700 mAh Li-Po battery.
Chris Huxley is also back with another Air Tractor, this time converted to a 2-seat float plane. The floats and strut arrange- ment was scratchbuilt and added to the AT- 502 conversion. Just goes to show you what can be done with a little ingenuity and a de- sire for the unusual. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so we’ll let Chris’s in-flight shot of a bit of late day fire fighting do all the talking.
And our final conversion story comes from Mike Troxell. Mike built the Dumas 40-inch span L-19 Bird Dog, set up with 4-channel R/C using four 3.2-gram Blue Arrow servos and a Rimfire 300 outrunner on a 2S 450 Li- Po battery. Flying weight is 8.15 ounces. PHOTO: BILL BRADLEY
Battery access was simplified by omitting the right side cabin window. Spring winds have held up test flying here too, but I’m sure the conversion will do well in the air. And finally, we have an original design Junkers JU-52 from Bill Bradley. The model spans 571⁄2 inches with a flying weight of 41 ounces. Power is from three Turnigy 2210C outrunners, Plush 30A ESCs and MAS 7–3 props. Control is by way of six HXT 900 ser- vos for the 5-channel R/C function. Test flights proved the c.g. to be a bit illusive, but once the beast was tamed it turned into a terrific flyer. Laser-cut wood parts are avail- able from Manzano Laser Works for the JU- 52, with plans available directly from Chris. Well guys, we’ve just about filled all the available space again so we’ll have to pull the plug for another month. I really enjoy seeing what you guys are doing out there with the available kits and plans, and espe- cially the innovation shown by today’s dedi- cated modelers. With the growing populari- ty of ARFs, and decline in the number of kits available—and modelers to build them—it does my heart good to see the dedication of those still engaged in this wonderful hobby. So till next time, keep the good stuff coming and we’ll see you next month.
PHOTO: MIKE TROXELL
Mike Troxell built his Dumas 40-inch span L-19 Bird Dog (above) with a 4- channel modification. The dihedral was lowered to 2 degrees and ailerons added for even more scale-like flight than the original 3-channel offering. The simulated corrugated skin on Bill Bradley’s original design JU-52 (at right) makes for a very striking model. The JU-52 is no doubt one the most significant yet most rarely modeled airplanes of that era.
FLYING MODELS 57
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