PHOTO: ANGELA HAYNES
Your author got a bit of flying time in as well with the Flyzone Micro Tiger Moth (above left). The little model is the perfect indoor or calm day flyer with touch and goes and stall turns a thing of beauty. Mike Zaborowski, the E-Fest Scale
ents. Andren built a now discontinued Herr Engineering Helio Courier for a previous E- Fest scale competition and earned the high- est static scale score. Originally designed as a free flight model, Matt adapted the Helio for RC with a 6-channel Spektrum receiver allowing throttle, ailerons, elevator, rudder, flaps and leading edge slats. Functioning navigation, strobe and landing lights com- plete the illusion of a full-scale bush plane. Even with all these scale features and span- ning nearly 30 inches, Andren’s Courier weighs in at only 6.03 ounces. The plane is motivated by an E-flite BL180 brushless motor and 7.4V 2S LiPo.
Matt’s flight was great, but was cut short when the propeller separated from the air- frame mid way through a maneuver. He was forced to make an emergency landing and scrub the rest of his routine. Even the land- ing was beautiful and he jokingly remarked that he should have called the emergency for the judges. He later made an easy 20- minute repair when he got home, so this is not the last we’ll see of the Courier. Mark Sthil chose a Stevens AeroModel 1931 Heath LNB-4 Parasol kit for this year’s competition (
www.stevensaero.com). In a brief interview after the contest, Mike stat- ed, “If someone can’t build one of the Steven Aero kits, you shouldn’t be building at all.” Mike spent around six to eight hours build- ing the basic structure with additional time adding scale details, such as the dummy en- gine cylinders and tail braces. The model is based on a full-scale aircraft undergoing a full restoration at Mid America Air Museum in Pennsylvania. Mike says the model flies itself and flew great right off the board. The model is equipped with a Spektrum Vapor brick and a Mustang motor. Mike did well in static and flew to a third place win. Up next was Tim Lavender with his ex- quisite scratchbuilt Army Air Corp version of the Bellanca Y1C-27 Aircruiser. Tim built the unusual pre-war plan from Golden Age Reproductions plans and trimmed the model in the printed Japanese tissue. The mark- ings represent a full-scale Aircruiser once stationed at Wright Patterson in Dayton, Ohio. While rare, one is currently undergo- ing restoration and another is on display in Oregon at the Tillamook Air Museum. Tim used a brick from an older 4-Site model and Mustang motor. Despite its intricate stick and tissue build, Tim built the Aircruiser in only three weeks and then flew to a well- earned second place.
FLYING MODELS
coordinator, got a bit of flight time as well with his Dumas Aeronca C3. The model (above right) suffered a mid-air two years ago but has since been returned to flight ready status.
The fourth entry to fly was Mark Lanter- man with his 1910 Eastbourne Monoplane, a prototype for the Retro RC kit. Lanterman saw Retro RC’s owner, Mark Freeland, building an Eastbourne at the Horizon In- door Electric event last November and was instantly intrigued. Lanterman was still looking for an entry for the E-Fest Scale event and after seeing Freeland’s model was more than inspired to build the Eastman. Lanterman built the model in stages start- ing in December and Mark Freeland provid- ed scale drawings and enough material to allow him a solid second overall in static. When it came time to fly for the judges, Mark later remarked that the contest flight was only the second flight of the model! De- spite this stress, Mark flew to a first place finish. Mark said that overall the build time, start to finish would only be about a week for most scale modelers. The kit is ex- tremely scale and the optional Anzani Y en- gine can be purchased separately. You can see more about this impressive model at
www.retrorc.us.com.
Winding down
E-Fest Sundays are typically quiet and this year was especially so. The weather was getting bad once again, so many pilots start- ed home early the night before, leaving the locals and diehards a lot of flight time. I was able to put in a few relaxing flights with my
Stevens Aero Piper Vagabond and FLYING MODELS Baby Biwinger.
Andy Kunz stopped by to pick up his Neo
180 micro Pattern plane that he had on dis- play at the FLYING MODELS booth and asked if I wanted to get a few flight photos. You will, no doubt, recall the Neo 180 was our construction feature in last month’s issue. I can attest to the model’s sweet vintage looks and the rock solid handling. Former Associ- ate Editor, Michael Ramsey, and I took pic- tures of Andy’s flights and with each frame, I found myself wanting to build one of his de- signs more and more. Perhaps you’ll see my Neo 180 at E-Fest next year.
As the day slowed down, Frank Noll gave the call that the flight line was closing and E-Fest 2014 was over. As with all the in- door events I attend, I hear a lot of “Nice seeing you again; see you at the next indoor meet.” or “What will you have built for the next meet?” as people packed to leave. No doubt, many attendees were formulating plans for next year’s models as they loaded their cars. Be sure to join in the fun next year. Keep an eye on the official E-Fest web site at
www.hobbico-efest.com around November and December this year. The dates are never the same, but typically fall near the middle of February. Regardless of the weather, it is worth the drive. The E-Fest flying site is al- ways warm and never windy.
Despite being busy, the flight line wait was relatively short and one was guaranteed a flight throughout the weekend. When finished with flying, one was tantalized by the many new items in the Hobbico booth.
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