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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ADVERTISING: Main advertising offices: FLYING MODELS, 108 Phil Hardin Road, Newton, NJ 07860. Phone: 973-383-3355; FAX: 973-383-4064.
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Contact Flying Modelsat (973) 383-3355 Voice, (973) 383-4064 FAX, or e-mail us at
frankf@flying-models.com
rank Tiano is probably not a name unfamiliar to you, especially to those of you interested in aspects scale. He is no stranger to these pages especially to those who go back to the early 1970s.
That’s about the time I started reading
FMand have saved every copy since then. Frank appeared quite often in the maga- zine’s pages, every time commenting in fea- ture review articles about scale airplanes. Without even looking them up, there are a few that I still remember, two of which were the reviews he did of the D&B Models Ju-87 Stuka and the still present kit of the Top Flite Fw-190D9.
With that sort of background in mind it is more than safe to say that Frank likes scale R/C models. That statement is more than amply bolstered by the fact that it was Frank who started a halcyon of scale compe- tition, Top Gun.
This past May, Frank celebrated the 25th anniversary of his brainchild. That is more than just a hallmark of scale competition. It paved the way for a whole new way of at- tracting the best of the best in any form of modeling.
For almost all of those 25 years FMhas presented coverage of this important scale event, and all through its 25 years Top Gun has offered a stage for some of the best and most unique modeling innovations you can imagine. It saw the advent of ducted fan jets that morphed into true turbines. It saw growth of big scale airplanes to giant scale. It saw the evolution of balsa wood to all com- posite airframes, and it saw the expansion of categories that extended all classes of scale.
To celebrate this auspicious anniversary,
FMasked a modeler with his own excellent scale bona fides to cover this year’s Top Gun. Rob Caso is no stranger to FMreaders and they will quickly recognize him as an excel- lent scale modeler who has shared his de- signs with us.
He travelled the flight line that’s become far more extensive these past 25 years and put together a montage of the models that his acute scale sense saw as some of the best of the many that were there.
And to Frank Tiano a major thank you for his vision that extended the horizons of scale modeling beyond what many thought could be. He may have ensured that Top Gun will thrive and last many more years. Another modeler who has more than am- ply proved his own scale bona fides is Laddie Mikulasko. In the past 20 years or so he has turned his talented design ability almost ex- clusively to scale airplanes. And more to the point he early on recognized the potential of electric power to make unique designs feasi- ble subjects for modeling. As proof of that statement there is a Cur-
tiss Condor hanging from the ceiling of my office. Laddie designed it 20 years ago and it appeared in FMas a construction article in the August 1993 issue of FM. He designed it
then for two Astro Flight 15 geared motors. In that setup it flew fine.
Since then he has made it almost a career designing very out of the rut scale models, some very obscure but the stuff that grabs your attention, like the Horton Wingless, the BicH 7A, or the most recent Flyer’s Dream. Well, I don’t know if his latest design that
he shares with us trumps the others so I’ll leave it up to you. His latest is the Canova PC-140. At first glance the plane looks like something that’s recent vintage. But its lin- eage goes back to the transition stage from biplane to monoplane. As Laddie says it floored him that a diamond shaped flying wing would appear then to rebut what was a logical evolutionary design in airplanes. No matter the conjecture, Laddie discov- ered that the plane’s designer was on to something. It’s been said that if the model flies well the full size will fly even better. Reynolds rules! And that is what Laddie found out. The model flies surprisingly well. Wood subjects continue to be a foundation
of FM’s content but this time around the ac- tual subject might not be what you’d expect. How about a rubber motor winder, and some other more understandable accessories like a stooge and some glue caddies. Well, Retro RC did just that, creating a 10:1 winder completely out of wood. Yeah, I know what many will say: It’s a novelty. I re- ply no, because I had the chance to put one together and try it. It is as practical as any of the more common concoctions of plastic and steel. And it is sized not for the jumbo or giant rubber power models but the more sedate indoor and peanut scale planes. Quickly running out of space so let me turn to another project I acquired, the ParkZone P-47D Thunderbolt. I’ve seen a lot of “Jugs” fly in various sizes and there just seems to be something about the plane that lets it fly really well no matter how big or small.
ParkZone’s version of the P-47 shares that wonderful trait and adds the garnish of good scale outlines and details to the package. And besides that, it offers the option of adding retracts and flaps to what has been a very popular size of model, the so-called Schoolyard Scale. Hobbico’s Tactic brand of radios have been around for quite a number of years and have proven themselves not only very economical but also quite capable, thanks to their Se- cure Link Technology (SLT). Just recently they added what should become a very pop- ular new 6-channel version, the TTX650. Jim Wiggin got the chore (?) of looking the radio over and letting us know just what has been added and just what this new flagship of the Tactic line can do. For one thing, Jim reports that it’s the first of the Tactics with extensive
computer capabilities and a
screen, and that’s just the beginning. So Jim took out three of the planes in his hangar and set them up using the new TTX650 to give you a good idea of the radio’s versatility. –FRANK FANELLI
JUNE 2013
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