RADIO CONTROL GIANTS - 2001/02
John A. de Vries 4610 Moffat Ln., Colorado Springs, CO 80915
Errol Winson — Grumman TBM-3E Avenger (124-inch span)
Errol Winson (League City, TX) must have sprinkled a multigallon supply of shrinking potion over Bill Hill’s full-scale Grumman TBM-3E Avenger! How else could Errol have come up with a true-scale model of the big Navy torpedo bomber of World War II? A 124-inch-span Avenger that has all 79,800 rivets?
- The wings fold.
- The retractable landing gear was made for Errol by Unitracts in England.
- Construction took 3,700 hours.
Power is provided by a Quadra 200 driving a three-bladed 28 x 10 propeller.
Scale features include:
- onboard starter
- functional rear turret
- pilot’s canopy
- tailhook
- bomb-bay doors
The Avenger is capable of dropping bombs or scale torpedoes. The model uses 19 servos, controlled by Errol’s Futaba radio modified with the Vantec “Piggy Back,” which provides 15 additional channels for operations.
There are five air systems operating 15 air cylinders ranging from two to 14 inches long.
Errol based his model on a restored Avenger owned by Bill Hill of Spring, Texas. The full-scale aircraft flew from the carrier USS Yorktown in the closing days of the war and was credited with sinking nine Japanese ships. The rebuilt aircraft is airworthy, and Errol had the thrill of getting a flight in it.
Dan Santich — Miss San Bernardino (50% scale)
New friend Dan Santich has shared his latest Giant with us, and it’s a big one. Dan modeled the Miss San Bernardino in 50% scale. At 134 inches in span, the wing is actually 75% scale and contains 3,000 square inches of area.
- Weight: 32 pounds
- Power: 3W-40
- Dan says it flies “like a butterfly.”
Plans for the model are available from Dan for $40. He is also offering a “Big Bird Gasser,” which includes a commercial-grade pump (for gas or glow fuel) and a self-contained 12-volt battery. Price: $59.95 plus shipping and handling.
Contact: Dan Santich, 1029 Old Hwy. 601, Mt. Airy, NC 27030.
San Diego Aerospace Museum — visit report
I recently visited the San Diego Aerospace Museum—a trip I’d anticipated for a long time. The museum has a host of full-scale airplanes that are maintained in apple-pie order.
The museum’s philosophy is to restore aircraft to precise condition, but not necessarily to flying condition. More than 200 volunteers rebuild the aircraft in the museum’s basement workshop. The entrance fee is $8; a docent tour of the workshop is an extra $3 (well worth it).
While I was there:
- Workers were rebuilding a Cessna L-19 that had been completely destroyed from the propeller to the cockpit.
- They were also building a full-scale replica of a Boeing P-26A “Peashooter.”
- I saw an absolute scale version of the Wright Brothers’ first engine — and it runs. The engine uses a crude but effective form of fuel injection: four gallons of boiling water are put in the “radiator” system, the fuel line circles the hot water jacket and terminates above an open venturi, atomizing the fuel into the cylinders.
The museum proper is jam-packed with historic aircraft. Highlights include:
Pre-Wright and early flight:
- Full-scale Wright Flyer replica
- Pre-Wright gliders
World War I:
- One of only three surviving Spad VIIs
- A Fokker Triplane
- A Nieuport
Postwar / 1920s:
- A 1920s Swallow
- Two barnstorming Curtiss Jennys
- A pristine Ryan ST
World War II:
- P-40 (the only flyable airplane in the collection)
- F4F Wildcat
- F6F Hellcat
- An inverted Messerschmitt Me 109
- A Japanese Zero in prelanding condition
- Ryan PT-22 with polished aluminum finish
Korean War:
- North American F-86
- MiG-17
Center atrium:
- Consolidated PBY-5A (“Dumbo”) — the first I’ve seen that includes full machine-gun armament
- A helicopter (identification card not seen)
The next replica on the museum’s schedule is a Gee Bee R-series racer (R-1 or R-2). Given the skill of the volunteers, it should be a doozy.
The average age of the volunteers is 78 years—and they’re all perfectionists. My four-hour visit was more than memorable; it left me practically breathless.
Park flier project
As I wrote in the January column, I have acquired a park flier. All the bits and pieces are in hand, but I’ve been overcome by all the wires the electric-powered model requires.
So far I’ve determined that the battery pack, which powers the motor and the airborne radio control system, is to be “parked” in the prebuilt balsa gondola.
I’m a bit antsy about the servo installation; the servos are to be mounted to the motor stick/fuselage using hook-and-loop tabs. I’m not about to epoxy them in place!
The construction instructions consist of very obscure exploded diagrams that appear to have been drawn by a knowledgeable Czechoslovakian designer. If I can get the knee bone connected to the leg bone and the batteries charged, I’ll have a flyable Bleriot—if the servos don’t slip from their mountings.
There are some components intended to gear down the electric motor, and the propeller must be assembled from provided plastic parts. Simple, it ain’t!
I hope your winter Giant Scale project is proceeding apace. I’m looking forward to photos of it for the column!
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
