PHOTO: DAVE MITCHELL
The new Rees Winder Counter from George Bredehoft of Volare Products (above left), is shown fitted to the author’s trusty Scalewinder. It’s a snap to install, and works perfectly. “Never Ready” Eddie Novak and “Fast” Eddie
Stott that manages to capture the gestalt of a pregnant duck in full flight while still meeting all the requirements for FAC Em- bryo Endurance. Friends, if that ain’t genius in model design, I don’t know what is. Dave N. rates it a “very experienced” build, but easy to fly. Sounds like a good project for you guys who like to build but hate to trim! And speaking of trimming, with all that fuselage acreage, it’s an exterior decorator’s delight. Will it be camo? Stripes? Polka dots? Paisley? Name your pleasure. Video of these birds in the air can be seen at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOvqAY7oqW4. Builders are advised to be cautious when flying their models during hunting season...
Dinah don’t you blow your spar One of the things I really love about the digital age is the speed and ease with which you can share ideas when confronted with knotty modeling issues. Doug Beardsworth is plugging away on a Giant Scale Ki 46 III Dinah twin rubber job, and has been sharing his progress with a group of us via e-mail. This clean-lined WWII Japanese reconnais- sance aircraft has engine nacelles that are centered on the wing leading edge, which de- mands a bit of thought: how best does one make a strong wing without spars getting in the way of the rubber? How do you go about accurately marrying that nacelle to the wing structure? In short, what’s the process? Doug’s original design concept relied en-
PHOTO: GLEN SIMPERS
Pelatowski prep their Hung-Aereons (above right) for another sortie at the Rocky Hill Bean Farm in Connecticut, just up the road from the birthplace of the FAC—that’d be Pinkham Field. But you knew that.
tirely on his laminated nacelle formers to car- ry the outboard wing spar loads. He wrote, “The nacelle formers are wound from 1⁄32 sheet stripped to about 5⁄32 wetted and wound around a waxed balsa disk form. Thinned ti- tle bond is used for the glue. Fast. Easy. Light. Two 36-inch strips do the trick.” Com- menting further, he wrote, “The rear spar through the nacelle will be removed com- pletely. The main spar may have a piece of spruce running across the very top of the spar, with the rest cut away, but any carry- through may go away completely as well. That will be determined by a seat of the pants assessment as I move on through the build. The LE has and will disappear completely.” Some armchair builders on the sidelines raised a collective eyebrow. Andrew Ricci wrote, “I am concerned about the structural integrity of that wing without spars/leading edges running through the nacelles. It looks like the outer panels are going to snap right off taking half the nacelles with them. Have you thought about plywood arches connect- ing the spars, running along and behind the nacelle formers? Or maybe even some car- bon fiber?” After chewing on it a bit, Doug replied “Thanks for the good ideas, and san- ity check! I believe now I will need to rein- force at least the main spar like you sug- gest. I’ll go over the top of the nacelle and tie the spar together.” See the pictures for Doug’s solution.
Speaking of good design solutions, check
out how Doug aligns his nacelle formers us- ing thread cross hairs. Is that slick or what? So many times I have tied myself in knots on the drawing board trying to get everything just so on my plans, so I could “build with confidence” without any guesswork. But when you see a neat method like this, com- bining “on the fly” building with dead-on ac- curacy, its becomes obvious once again that there are many ways to get to where you need to go. Sometimes arriving at a simple process removes enough of the apparent complexity of a structure that you think, yeah...I can build this!
A first time for everything “I can build this!” That’s what a group of youngsters were saying recently as they par- ticipated in a Virginia after-school model building program being taught by Scott Rich- lin. Scott writes: “One thing I am trying to avoid is this just being something that is en- tertaining. That is why the kids will get chal- lenges each class. So, rather than just building a second Delta Dart kit, they will learn how to use templates and essentially make their own plan. When they build the Z-15 I think I’ll have them make some kind of jig for making the dihedral. With the Yard Ranger they will make their own prop hanger, etc... The goal is to build competence and confidence in their building skills.” Great work, Scott! We’ll follow this group’s progress over time and see where they are at the end of the school year.
PHOTOS: DOUG BEARDSWORTH
Doug Beardsworth writes: “The laminated (nacelle) formers are being mated up with the spars and LE with a minimum of fuss, using the crosshairs seen (above left). The threads allow me to eyeball all of the positions pretty accurately.” The spars on
FLYING MODELS
Doug’s Dinahhave been cut away; allaying the concerns of his commentators, Doug has installed a plywood-and-balsa sandwich saddle piece (above right) to reinforce the nacelle at the main spar.
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