Radio Control: Scale
Bud Atkinson
BY THE TIME you scale fans are reading this the spectacular Toledo Trade Show will have come and gone. And spectacular it was! I wonder how it can outdo itself each year but it seems to do just that. A real credit to the many hours of hard work I'm sure the Weak Signals club has put into this annual affair.
Each year one facet of our hobby is the highlight of the show, or it seems so to me, and I have attended many of the Toledo Trade shows throughout the years. One year it may be helicopters, the next racing aircraft, or even boats, etc. Without a doubt this year, Scale or mostly Stand-Off Scale seemed to be the most spectacular from a show and sell standpoint. The majority of kit manufacturers are producing, or have in the works, some sort of Scale or Stand-Off Scale kit and many scale accessories. Through the efforts of the Miniature Aerobatic Biplane Assn. an interest in the multi-wing birds is obvious. Several manufacturers are producing some superb classic biplanes. Dave Platt Models has kitted one of the all-time classic beauties, the Waco UMF-3 for the larger-class engine, or .60 class. Sterling also is kitting a classic favorite, the Waco cabin biplane of the late 30's as well as the fine Stinson Reliant. Both are more or less in the mid-range engine sizes — .40 to .45. Royal Products was showing the all-time favorite, the Beech Staggerwing, along with a new P-51. We also saw a fine fiberglass fuse Staggerwing with retracts and all. There were also many fine, and some rather large and unusual static biplanes. The interest is sure back in multi-wing scale airplanes. There were some really big airplanes on the static tables, as well as those being shown by the manufacturers.
My old scale buddy Bud Nosen seems to think if you can get it through the door in one piece it's too small and I'm sure there are many scale modelers who think the same way. Bud has some superb large models. His Mr. Mulligan has a very unique and easy way to construct the large cowl which must measure 10 in. or more across. Bud also had the skeleton of a new J-3 Cub soon to be kitted — about the size of a big Aeronca Champ. Bud also has a fine selection of plywood and balsa to select from. Several large static models were superbly done — some up in the 1500 to 1800 sq. in. class. Could keep an army silk worms busy for a while. Without a doubt, the warbirds had gathered in the two large auditoriums, both as static displays and manufacturers' tables. Some exciting ones too. The time and effort and many hours that went into some of these birds can only be measured as truly a labor of love and burning of many a night of the mid-night oil!
While on the way to Toledo from old K C town and, with some time to burn, we stopped at the Air Force Museum at Dayton and rekindled our romance with (sorry about that Alice) many of the fine restored warbirds, like the P-40, P-51, PT-17, AT-6, FW-190, and on and on. Arriving at the exposition hall in Toledo and seeing the array of most of the same airplanes in smaller scale, sure makes you appreciate the hours of work that went into the RC models. I think this is not a bad idea for you static judges and would-be judges, to be better enlightened in static judging properly. By seeing the full-size birds where possible you become a better static judge — which any of us can be. Spending many hours in some of these beautifully restored airplanes in WWII I thought I would never forget where this switch, that air scoop, etc., were, but the old mind does tricks on you with time. It sure was good to see those priceless classics of the air. Don't miss the chance to visit the Air Force Museum at Dayton, especially if you are going to build a warbird scale model.
D & B has a superb line of fiberglass and foam Stand-Off Scale, such as a JU-87 Stuka, P-40, and several others — with a
(continued on page 87) out the expense of the large metal syringes usually used for this purpose.
Sandair Aircraft, 1250 Adams St., Fairborn, OH 45324, will provide computer-drawn airfoil sections to any size required. Available airfoils include any NACA four or five-digit designation as well as some older airfoils such as the Clark Y and RAF sections. The plots are accurate to .001 inch, and can save a lot of plotting work for wings that taper in chord or thickness as well as providing accurate templates for a straight wing.
A catalog sent to me by Dave Wallick, Wallick Industries, 158 Brookvalley Dr., Elyria, OH 44035, describes many specialty items and services that will be of interest to carrier modelers.
(My address is 5016 Angelita Ave., Dayton, OH 45424.)
Sabre F-86 for ducted fan. Also a complete line of instruments, panels and cockpit controls with seat. The whole ball of wax in molded plastic. These are available in separate packages and may be purchased separately from the kit for scratch-builders along with exhaust stack and all kinds of hardware to make accessories. Also they sell the glass fuse and foam wings independently of each other for replacement. Truly an exceptionally fine line with many more things up-coming.
At the next booth was Sig Manufacturing with their fine line of scale kits. The latest kit will be a Beech Bonanza E-33 which, by the way, was painted the same as the beautiful E-33 owned by Glen and Hazel Sig. It should be a well accepted Stand-Off model of the popular Bonanza, to be released sometime this fall. Visited with my scale friend Ralph White of Flightglass. They have a fine line of glass and foam scale birds—well known in his P-51. Ralph was showing me a new product he is packaging, a masking compound which is a pasty liquid when sprayed over letters, or trim, or what have you. After painting the rest of the model it will peel off with ease, leaving a clean neat job without the mess of taping on and all that paper. We have needed this product for a long time. If you were to ask the modeling public what were the most well-known airplanes of all time, I'm sure most would say the J-3 Cub, P-51 Mustang, and the C-47, or DC-3, commonly known in WWII as the "gooney bird."
Sure Flite has come out with a fine fiberglass-and-foam C-47 or DC-3—should be a popular Stand-Off Scale. Westcraft also had their magnificent, large B-17. If you like them large you will like this one. For a while I thought she had escaped from the air museum at Dayton.
On the other end of the scale, House of Balsa had several 1/2 A Stand-Off Scale models. Their Me-109 is a real doll with the camouflage finish and all the markings of the time. Ace also will have a twin 1/2 A Aero Commander Stand-Off some time this summer. It is a real goer. I'm sure other manufacturers will follow suit now that many of the radio manufacturers are building small and light airborne systems.
Time and space will not permit, I'm sure, to detail all the excellent new scale products and nor doubt I've missed some. If you scale types have never attended the Toledo show you are missing the highlight of the Scale RC world. Try to make it next year.
By this time we are into the contest season so let's hear about it and send those black and white pictures to me on your scale events. I received word from Ollie Olson concerning the fourth annual multi-wing contest to be held July 10 and 11 at Omaha. Besides the Pattern events, Stand-Off Scale also will be flown, with the exception that all entries must be multi-wing aircraft. So all you biplane fans, here's your chance—$2000 worth of awards to be given with Stand-Off getting its share. So drop Ollie a line for all the information at 6111 Maple, Omaha, NE 68104.
(My address is 734 N. 6th St. Terrace, Blue Springs, MO 64015.)
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
