Mufflers and Purty Planes
Reading Bob Beckman's fine article in the July issue of MA, I am intrigued by the photo of the low-wing inverted-gull sport plane pictured on page 22.
Can you or Mr. Beckman tell me more about it? Such as its name, where I could obtain plans or possibly write to the builder. It has very clean lines and it's a ship I would like to build in the fall of this year. Could you assist me?
Mr. Beckman's article was timely indeed—like so many feel, while mufflers are required, they do detract from the scale or scale-like appearance of some airplanes.
Thank you and keep these type of articles coming.
D. Marchese Strasburg, PA
We have put Mr. Marchese in touch with Bob Beckman. Incidentally, all mail to authors is forwarded.
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Red-yellow forever? — That purely hurtful remark about red-and-yellow airplanes? I am sending black-and-white photos of a 3‑channel airplane. She is capable of other shades besides red and yellow:
- orange
- cream
- light blue
- dark blue
- yellow with black trim
As she stands she flies OK—excellent, just OK; I think she can be improved. I would like to fly ailerons and am in the process of changing a few angles that don't work; bigger changes are planned.
L. F. Randolph Dallas, TX
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Kudos to Glenn Lee. I have been building model internal-combustion engines since my first efforts in 1938. Just a few months ago it was a genuine pleasure to read the two consecutive articles on small internal-combustion engines written by Glenn Lee and published in Model Aviation magazine. Glenn's writings are absolutely tops. No matter what jealous mouthings may eventually come from those who vocalize about equipment infants have never known, modeling really should have provided a real boost to us who have little knowledge at the start and want to understand quite a lot. I offer congratulations upon the occasion of publication and real assistance to modelers.
Robert S. Demitz St. Louis, MO
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Help — I would like to learn about model airplanes, how to make them. Todd Davis (address unknown).
Todd is probably a young fellow who really got lost—he didn't include an address. Write again, Todd; read MA. We receive letters from nonmembers as well as members.
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Microfilm retrieval system? — Now what would you tell a young man? A well-done series of guidance pamphlets exists: a bird's-eye view of the hobby and perhaps two dozen others on its various aspects. Dewey RCM did it for R/C. HIAA and AMA—did anyone ever found a crash project? We'd sure know the people who would produce a library. Maybe someday someone will bite the bullet.
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Sky Rover — The March 1979 issue found a hybrid R/C glider-power plane. That's what I'm looking for—are plans available? I'm an older, slower free-flight modeler from the days of Baby Cyclones and Miss Americas—rubber before R/C, Windward-powered Golden Bee–style R/C. I'm an old-time scratch builder who admires modern-style innovations and the way youngsters fly about.
I enjoyed the comments about the 3‑channel description working for a hybrid. I'd like to share some fun and joy: a framed-up miniature airplane parasol has 680 sq. in., 7:1 aspect ratio, 18% wing (modified Clark Y airfoil), 19 oz. wing loading. Up front an OS .40 pulls up 20–25° either straight out or in a spiral climb. Oh yes—30° dihedral. A rookie R/C really flew it off the drawing board. My son, tech pilot, doubted the 7:1 AR longer span and uttered, "I'll be damned."
The fuselage and 4" of wing pods are non‑lifting surfaces. That leaves 54" of lifting wingspan. The chord tapers from 12" to 9", an average chord of 10.5". A 54" span times the 10.5" chord equals 567 sq. in. Divide that by 144 to get 3.94 sq. ft. Takeoff weight is 12 pounds; 12 ÷ 3.94 equals 3.05 pounds per sq. ft. I learned my lesson before Snapshot II. It has a wing loading of 1.76 pounds per sq. ft.
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Gilding the Lily—Again
First I would like to say our three customized profile models looked great in the June Letters to the Editor. My son Phil and I appreciate your interest. This past winter we built two models for CL sport scale.
The first is the Jemco Corsair RC kit. This is a very good kit to convert to CL. I put the controls in the fuselage and have a G.S. product 3‑line control system in it. Powered by a K&B .40 with Perry carb, the K&B .40 does a good job for takeoff, landing and wing-overs. The plane flies best on 70 lines. I have rivet detail and some cockpit detail.
The next model is a rare Adumas P‑51 Mustang kit we found in the basement of a hobby shop. My son Phil built this kit and did a real nice job. It's powered by a Fox .35 ABC and does most stunts (it is a shame kits like this are no longer produced). It has all the panel lines and some cockpit work. This coming winter Phil is going to build a P‑47 Thunderbolt, and I am going to build the Platt T‑28 trainer for CL sport scale. We'll let you know how they come out when we finish.
Salvatore Amico Mount Sinai, NY
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That Sniffer
How long must we wait for a construction plan and article for the six‑foot Sniffer?
Maybe forever, Tom. We can't fill MA with the editor's own crates—though he is doing something with just one of them. Other guys inquire, too. No wonder—thousands loved the Simmers Sniffer, later a Midwest kit. Mine is a 50% enlargement of their 48‑in. job, with reduced poly, less incidence, thinned lifting tail, beefier construction, opening from top instead of bottom for access. Nose 1" longer, thrust slightly raised, somewhat bigger vertical area. Someday we'll get around to a 3‑view with callouts. It is not hard to do, guys—give it a try. Alas, you'd need a small Sniffer plan from somewhere.
Tom Mehl Sand Lake, MI
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Hobby Helpers Plans
Hollinger Cub is Plan #1‑55 from Hobby Helpers, P.O. Box 217, Glenville Station, Greenwich, CT 06830. The PT‑19 is #8‑56.
Doc Mathews Greensburg, KS
Eureka! Sig writes that the "barn" referred to in July For Openers is cleaned out of Hollinger Cub plans, but that it (the Cub) formed the basis—much modified—for Sig's famous Cub kit, also mentioned. But Doc came to the rescue. To the many, many people who ask about old Air Trails and older American Modeler plans, now you know where to write. MA does advertise elsewhere but apparently very few people see that magazine.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
