RADIO CONTROL GIANTS
Sal Calvagna 1335 Broadway Ave., Holbrook NY 11741 E-mail: ncalvagn@suffolk.lib.ny.us
I sincerely hope you have a wonderful holiday and a magnificent beginning to the new year. Now it's time to focus on your new Radio Control (RC) Giant project. If you don't plan to start a new model, how about finishing one of those you have hidden in your workroom?
I know sometimes it's difficult to find the motivation to start a new project or even finish a model already in progress. If it is time you lack, why not pick up a new RC Giant Almost Ready-to-Fly (ARF) model? Many are reasonably priced, and you can have one ready to fly in a fraction of the time it would take to complete a kit.
If motivation is your problem, get some friends together and start talking about airplanes. Even if you only go out to dinner, start talking model airplanes. Before you know it, that spark ignites and you can't wait to get your hands on some balsa.
If you don't have any aeromodeling friends close and you need help getting motivated, e-mail or write to me. I will try my best to spark your interest.
Ikon N'wst — Cessna 170B (press release)
Featured is the newest from the experts in traditional stick-construction scale model planes, designed for the true craftsmen of the model aviation hobby. For more than thirty years, Emil Neely of Ikon N'wst has been providing the industry with great scale kits that are easy to build, true to scale, and have all the flight characteristics of the full-size airplane.
This release of the Cessna 170B is being produced at 1/5 scale. It has an 86-inch wingspan and 864 square inches of total wing area. The fuselage is 59 inches long and it weighs in at 11-3/4 pounds flying weight. The kit features a fiberglass cowl, aluminum gear, working doors and wing flaps. It includes shaped wing struts.
During the late 1940s through the mid-1950s more than 5,000 Cessna 170s were manufactured. More than half of that number are still around today.
In 1948 Cessna expanded the 140 to make it a four-place aircraft and called it the 170. The Cessna 170B was introduced in 1952 and continued in production with several changes until production on the series ended in 1956. One of the greatest differences between the 170A and 170B was that the 170A had no dihedral in the wing and was commonly called the "straight wing" model.
- Contact Ikon N'wst: (208) 773-9001
- Address: 3806 N. Chase Rd., Post Falls ID 83854
- Web: www.ikonnwst.com
Lite-Flyte Products — Ray Lightfoot
Ray Lightfoot of Lite-Flyte Products started building and flying control line models in 1953 while serving in the US Air Force. In 1968 he made the jump to RC, and as he built larger and larger models, he began to make his own shock-absorbing struts. In 1990 Ray began manufacturing his shock-absorbing struts. He stocks Spring Air retracts and Ultra Precision control valves to complement the strut assemblies. He makes struts for a variety of model aircraft from 1/5 to 1/4 scale.
Lite-Flyte Products has exhibits at the annual Toledo show and many regional International Miniature Aircraft Association (IMAA) events in Ray's area.
- Contact Ray Lightfoot: (864) 886-0095
- Address: 138 Emerald Rd., Seneca SC 29678
- E-mail: lgthftm@aol.com
Warbirds Over Delaware 2002
Celebrating its 11th year, Warbirds Over Delaware 2002 was held July 11–14. Between 175 and 200 models were on display Saturday. There was plenty of time for everyone to fly throughout the weekend.
Warbirds from all eras were present, from the early World War I Eindeckers to a modern jet aircraft operating on miniature turbine engines. Fast Eddie, the announcer, did a fine job of keeping the spectators informed about what type of aircraft was flying and who the pilot was.
I think the most popular models this year were the Fairchild PT-19 trainers. They seemed to own the skies, and I believe that Fast Eddie was getting a little hoarse having to repeat himself every time one took off. There were 13 present, and this shows that RC Giants do not have to be complicated or expensive.
The PT-19 is a great-flying, easy-to-build, entry-level RC Giant that will undoubtedly give you hours of flying pleasure. I decided to include a photo of the PT-19 lineup so Fast Eddie can treasure it for years to come!
Hats off to the Delaware R/C Club and a special thanks to all the members who worked so hard during the weekend to make the event a success.
- More photos: www.delawarerc.org
Big Andy Kane — Piper PA-18 Super Cub
Big Andy Kane of Silver Spring, Maryland, likes to do things in a big way. He is shown with his very large PA-18 built from a 3W Modelmotor kit. The model spans 155 inches and weighs 42 pounds.
A 3W-120 twin gas engine that spins an RC Showcase 29 x 12 propeller powers this model. The aircraft has polyester linen covering and is painted with 30 cans of Krylon paint. If you're wondering what type of radio gear Andy uses, just take a good look at the photograph.
The PA-18 Super Cub was the last Piper production airplane to carry the Cub nameplate. It was a strengthened PA-11 with the ability to support as much as a 150-horsepower engine. Externally, the only noticeable structural change was a slight additional rounding of the vertical fin and rudder.
Introduced in November 1949, three basic versions of the Super Cub were built: Standard, Deluxe, and Agricultural. The PA-18 was produced at the Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, factory until the plant closed in 1983. Production resumed at the new Piper facility in Vero Beach, Florida, under new ownership.
Roughly 8,500 civilian Super Cubs were delivered and 1,800 more were sent to the United States and foreign military services as L-18Cs and L-21s for liaison, training, and transport use.
The model flew flawlessly. If there were any doubts about sufficient power, those doubts quickly disappeared when Andy started to do torque rolls with the PA-18. Not very scale-like, Andy!
- More info: www.3w-modelmotor.com
Dan Basovich — CAC Wirraway
Dan Basovich of Staten Island, New York, brought his newly completed Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) 1941 Wirraway advanced trainer and fighter to Warbirds Over Delaware. Dan scratch-built the model using Don DeForest plans. It spans 113 inches and is powered by a Zenoah G-62 gas engine.
Dan installed a dual smoke system and a specially designed exhaust system. He must have done it right because the aircraft spewed lots of white smoke during its flights. The model's total weight is 30 pounds, and Dan used 21st Century Fabric for the covering.
In 1936 the newly formed CAC chose the North American NA-33 after which to model a new general-purpose aircraft. The first Wirraway (Aboriginal for "challenge") was flown on March 27, 1939. The Australian Wirraway had twin synchronized guns in blast troughs above the fuselage and a flexible gun in the rear cockpit.
Camera and radio installations were introduced, and the wing and tail units were redesigned and strengthened for dive-bombing in later variants. Although hopelessly outclassed by enemy aircraft, the Wirraway remained in the front line as a stopgap fighter.
Great job, Dan!
Joe Saitta — German World War II Jets and Rockets
Joe Saitta traveled from Seminole, Florida, to attend this year's Warbirds Over Delaware. Joe is shown with models of two German secret weapons that were supposed to have changed the tide of war for that beleaguered nation in late 1944.
German engineers produced two firsts in aviation history: their operational jet-powered fighter—the Me 262 Schwalbe—and the first and only rocket-powered interceptor to go into operational status—the Me 163 Komet. Both aircraft were far ahead in technology and design. For Germany they were too little, too late.
Joe is producing kits for both models.
- Contact Joe Saitta: (727) 398-4417
- E-mail: bt7gjoe@juno.com
- Plans for the Komet: Jim Kiehl, (727) 595-0954
Closing
All good things must come to an end, and so must this column! I hope it was good — I'll let you be the judge of that.
Keep those photos coming and let's see some real progress on your winter projects. I promise to do the same with mine. If you have any comments or concerns, just drop me a line. My e-mail and snail-mail addresses are at the top of the column.
See you next month. MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
