Control Line: Navy Carrier
Dick Perry 6739 Stonecutter Dr. Burke, VA 22015
SYNOPSIS
This is a busy month with the winner of the Mystery Plane contest from the April issue, a listing of three-views which have appeared in the column since Year One, details of special activities for Carrier fliers at this summer's Nats, and some good news from Sterling Models.
A Moving Story
I have moved (again!). No change of telephone or job this time, just a new house — with a bigger garage, but a smaller workshop. The new address appears at the head of the column.
April Mystery Plane
The April Mystery Plane is the Sea Wolf. It was designed by Vought as the XTBU-1. Because Vought was busy with Corsair production during the war, Consolidated-Vultee actually built the Sea Wolf as the TBY-2. I accept either answer. The only readily apparent difference in the two aircraft was the radome on the TBY-2 which was not on the prototype XTBU-1.
The fortunate winner of the April MP contest is Zigmond Puzycki of Philadelphia, PA. His entry was randomly selected from among the many other correct entries.
The story of the Sea Wolf began in 1939 when the Navy asked for proposals for a new torpedo bomber. The specifications asked for three crew members, an internal weapons bay, and two defensive gun positions — one turret above the fuselage, one gun below.
Two competing designs were selected from among those proposed, and they were quite similar. The Grumman TBF was the winner, receiving both prototype and production contracts. It first flew in August 1941 and saw action in June 1942 in the Battle of Midway. The TBU received only a prototype contract and did not fly until two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941).
When the TBU proved to be a better design than the TBF, it was also ordered into production (as the TBY), but delays in getting the aircraft ready for operational service kept the TBY from seeing any action.
Three-View Drawings
Three-view drawings of aircraft have been a regular feature of my column. Over the years I've published over 30 of them depicting carrier aircraft which qualify as prototypes for the CL Navy Carrier events. Many of them are obscure aircraft for which three-views are not easy to find. For those of you who may be interested in using any of these drawings for documentation, a complete listing follows.
Actually, the list does not include all of the drawings which have appeared in the column. The Miles M35 Libellula (August 1988 issue) doesn't qualify for Carrier bonus points.
If you cannot obtain back issues, I can provide a copy of the drawing (usually larger than appeared in the column — up to 8 x 10 in.). Please include 50¢ in stamps with your request (or 75¢ if you desire the drawing sent unfolded in a large envelope).
Aircraft
- Arado Ar 96 — Mar. '84
- Bellanca XSE-2 — July '85
- Blackburn Airedale — Jan. '82
- Blackburn Firebrand — Feb. '88
- Blackburn YA.5 — Jan. '84
- Boeing XF7B-1 — July '84
- Boeing XF8B-1 — June '80
- Boulton Paul T. Mk 21 Balliol — July '86
- Brewster XSB2A-1 — May '84
- Consolidated XBY-1 — Oct. '83
- Consolidated-Vultee TBY-2 Sea Wolf — Apr. '90
- Curtiss XBT2C-1 — Sep. '89
- Curtiss XS2C-1 — Sep. '84
- Curtiss XSC-2A Seahawk — Dec. '87
- Douglas BTD-1 Destroyer — Oct. '88
- Fairey Barracuda — Apr. '88
- Fleet Shadower, Airspeed — July '79
- Fleet Shadower, General Aircraft — July '79
- Handley-Page Scout HPS-1 — Sep. '79
- Loire-Nieuport LN-42 — June '88
- Messerschmitt Bf 109T — Apr. '78
- Miles M.20 — May '86
- Miles M.38 Messenger — May '85
- Mitsubishi A5M3 — June '83
- Mitsubishi A7M1 — Dec. '89
- Morane-Saulnier MS.474 — Aug. '83
- North American XSN2J-1 — Mar. '86
- Northrop XFT-2 — Feb. '83
- Supermarine Attacker — Aug. '78
- Supermarine Type 322 — Mar. '85
- Supermarine Type 508 — Feb. '90
- Vought XTBU-1 Sea Wolf — Apr. '90
Nats Special Activities
There will be three unofficial flight events for Navy Carrier fliers at the Nats this summer and two special awards in addition to the usual Nats trophies. The Navy Carrier Society will also hold its annual meeting and banquet and awards presentation on Friday, July 20. The location for the dinner will be announced at the Nats. The flight events will be on Saturday, July 21.
Sportsman Carrier
At the 1988 annual meeting of the Navy Carrier Society (NCS), the members voted to sponsor a Sportsman Carrier event at the 1989 Nats. The event was envisioned as a low-pressure one in which newcomers and people who were not interested in all-out competition could compete among themselves without having to fly against experienced competitors. The event would require restrictions in equipment which would force a contestant to learn new skills or change equipment to be competitive in regular AMA Carrier events. NCS will again sponsor such an event at the 1990 Nats.
Sportsman Profile Carrier will be restricted to contestants who do not enter the official Nats Carrier events. The event will be flown in accordance with the AMA Profile Carrier rules, with one exception — mufflers will be permitted.
.15 Carrier
This event is intended as a simple one with restricted performance levels so that there will be less pressure toward expensive equipment. There will be no entry restrictions for .15 Carrier at the Nats. The event will be flown in accordance with the widely accepted "Denver Rules," which can be obtained by sending a stamped envelope to me.
Members of some of the Midwest control-line clubs will sponsor an event for the Sig Skyray Carrier. The Sig Manufacturing Company is sponsoring an unofficial Carrier event for its Skyray 35 model. There will be no restrictions in entry. Details of the event can be obtained from Sig or by sending me a stamped envelope with your return address on it.
Awards
The Eugene Ely Award is another part of the Nats made possible by the Navy Carrier Society. This perpetual award recognizes the outstanding competitor in the three Carrier events at the Nats. The winner is determined by adding the official scores for each of the three official Nats Carrier events (Profile, Class I, and Class III), with the flyer having the greatest total score being the winner. The winner receives a silver-plated trophy. It is presented at the annual dinner meeting of the Navy Carrier Society during the Nats.
The Rookie of the Year Award is also being sponsored by the NCS. It will go to a contestant who is new to Nats Carrier competition. The award will be a silver-plated plaque and will be based on performance, participation, sportsmanship, and other factors deemed appropriate by the sponsors.
Sterling Models Update
I just received a letter from Tom Halds describing the recent changes at Sterling. Tom is the new president of the company, which now operates as Sterling Hobbies, Incorporated. Those of you who have been disappointed with Sterling kits in the past should take another look because Tom is making an effort to improve the quality of the materials and workmanship.
I've just examined one of Sterling's newly reissued F6F Hellcat kits, and I found good quality vacuum-formed canopies and nicely cut die-cut parts. The Hellcat has a 42-in. span and about 360 sq. in. of wing area. It can be easily converted for competition in Profile Carrier, and I'm glad to see it available again.
Two other kits, the P-51 Mustang and Yak-9 kits (which for years were used for scale bonus points), should have the parts reissued as die-cut. Both kits have wing areas just above 300 sq. in.
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Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
