RADIO CONTROL SCALE
Jeff Troy, 200 S. Spring St., Ambler, PA 19002
The letters you've sent
The letters you've sent regarding Docu-Search have been complimentary and encouraging—to say the least. It's gratifying to know that this service is useful and is helping so many of you.
Thanks to you, several helpful items on the Curtiss Tanager were received and forwarded to R.C. Burnett. Dummy me—I omitted Mr. Burnett's address in my July column. Thank you for sending the material my way. In turn, Mr. Burnett's model should be well on its way by now.
If you've received helpful materials through Docu-Search and were able to complete your project as a result, please send a photo and a detailed description. If you want your project shared with the rest of us, I'd be happy to submit photos of your model.
Reader requests
- David M. Hayes, 331 Hickory Avenue, Feasterville, PA 19053, is trying to locate an F6F Hellcat kit suitable for his O.S. .48 four-stroke. He reports great success using this engine in Midwest, Royal, and Dynaflite kits. If anyone knows of a kit or plans for a simplistic F6F, please pass the information on to Mr. Hayes.
- Stan Blyskal, 60 Limewood Drive, Trenton, NJ 08690, needs assistance with two famous aircraft: the Lockheed Super G Constellation and the Curtiss Condor. He requires three-views, cross-sections, photos, or anything that may help him draw accurate plans. Stan also has access to a few local warbirds; if you need photographs of WWII aircraft, drop him a note with your needs. If the airplane is available, he may be able to take the pictures for you.
Please remember that only a limited number of subjects are available. If your letter to Stan is not answered, assume the airplane is not among them. Keep in mind there is only one Stan Blyskal (with a life of his own) and many readers.
Docu-Search (reminder)
For those new to MA's RC Scale column: Docu-Search is a cost-free service that helps locate plans, documentation, photos, or three-views needed for scale projects. Send a postcard with your name, address, phone number, and request—I'll try to include it in my next column.
New products and helpful items
The hobby industry continues to develop products that save building time and reduce flying problems. A few items I recommend this month:
Fiberglass Master
Fiberglass Master (Route 1, Box 530, Goodview, VA 24095) offers molded fiberglass aftermarket parts for many models, including replacements for Altech Marketing's Pilatus Turbo Porter and Super Stearman ABS cowlings and wheel pants. Workmanship and prices are good, and service is pleasant and speedy.
They also sell top-quality cowl attachment hardware sets. Each set includes:
- Four brazed-nylon locknut mounting plates
- Four Phillips-head bolts to match
- Eight wood screws for attaching the plates to your firewall or other mounting surface
The set shown is 8-32; other sizes are available. Send $1 and a SASE for prices and a product availability list.
Fourmost Products — Fuel Line Pullers
Feeding fuel lines through firewalls, nacelles, or other obstructions can be a real pain. Fourmost Products (4040 24th Avenue, Forest Grove, OR 97116) offers Fuel Line Pullers: a two-piece set of flexible-mesh tubing that grabs fuel lines and lets you pull them through without damage. The mesh acts like a Chinese finger trap—compress to widen, pull to tighten.
They accommodate fuel lines from 1/8-inch to 1/2-inch diameter. These are much better than improvised methods (hex wrenches, pushrod tubing, music wire, etc.) and won't damage the fuel line.
LDM Industries — Strongbox
Receiver and battery retention can be tricky in large-scale models with roomy fuselages. LDM Industries (P.O. Box 229356, Tampa, FL 33687-2396) offers the Strongbox: a heavy-duty molded case that bolts to mounting rails inside the fuselage.
Features:
- Size: 2.4" deep x 2.7" wide x 4.1" long
- Weight: 1.9 ounces
- Top and bottom foam-lined halves, plus three slices of soft foam for vibration protection
- Pre-cut exit holes for battery leads, servo cables, and receiver antenna (no cutting required)
This unit protects receivers and batteries and keeps the radio compartment neat.
Hobbypoxy — Paint mixing and formulas
Need paint-mixing recommendations for authentic military colors? Send $1 and a SASE to Hobbypoxy, c/o Pettit Paint Company, 36 Pine Street, Rockaway, NJ 07866, for information sheets on military color formulations and a Hobbypoxy finishes color chart. The packet includes Painting Pointers and product descriptions for their paint, sealing, and adhesive products. If your current epoxy goes brittle in winter and gooey in summer, check out Hobbypoxy.
Kits, models, and builds
Flair and Hobby Supply South
Good news: England's Flair model kits are once again available in the United States through Hobby Supply South, 5060 Glade Road, Acworth, GA 30101. The Hobby Supply South catalog is $2 and lists Flair, Veron, Bowman, and C.A.P. kits—quality British models at reasonable prices.
I've built Flair's Legionaire (their spelling)—a 52-inch-span, standoff Nieuport 17. I powered mine with an early O.S. .40 four-stroke, covered it with Supershrink Coverite, primed and painted with Coverite's 21st Century White Primer and aluminum paint, and used Major Decals roundel water decals. It hasn't flown yet but is on my to-do list.
My Flair collection also includes a 49-inch Baronet (Fokker Dr.1), a 1/4-scale 80-inch Etrich Taube, and a 1/4-scale 73-inch standoff Fokker Dr.1 triplane. A new-to-me kit in the Hobby Supply South catalog is Flair's SE-5a, a 51-inch span model designed for .35-.40 two-strokes and .40-.60 four-strokes. C.A.P. kits offered include subjects from Phil Kraft's Super-Fli to a Supermarine Spitfire and a de Havilland Mosquito bomber.
Mike Barbee's T-34 Turbo
Mike Barbee of Columbus, Ohio—an RC pattern pilot, veteran scale competitor, and top finisher—sent a picture of his Beechcraft T-34 Turbo, which won first place at Toledo's Non-Military Sport Scale static category. The model was built from Ramon Torres plans, with Robart mechanical retracts and a Bob Violet nose gear.
Highlights:
- Dan Parsons' ultra-lightweight (0.6 oz/yd²) fiberglass cloth used overall
- Deltron basecoat/clearcoat paint system
- Photo by Georgia's Jerry Smith shows spectacular results
- Mike flew this T-34 at the '93 Top Gun Invitational
Events and organizations
Flying Tigers Warbird Air Museum
If you're heading to Florida this winter, stop in Kissimmee for the Flying Tigers Warbird Air Museum, 231 Hoagland Boulevard, Kissimmee, FL 34741. The museum features hands-on displays of aircraft, armament, engines, and related equipment, with knowledgeable guides available.
Highlights of the nearly forty aircraft include:
- 1943 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
- 1944 Lockheed P-38 Lightning
- 1944 North American P-51D Mustang
The museum has an experienced crew for commercial restoration of WWII aircraft used by the U.S. Army Air Corps, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps.
P-38 Model Organization International
P-38 fans: a new group, the P-38 Model Organization (as spelled), is launching from Mouldervej 54, 2610 Rodovre/Copenhagen, Denmark. The organization asks members to share knowledge and experience. A questionnaire is available by mail and no membership fee is required. Write to Pete Alstrup at the above address for a questionnaire and updates.
Build-along project: Fokker D.VII
If you read RC Scale last month, you know the next build-along project will be Rich Uravitch's Fokker D.VII Plan & Plastic set, constructed from a hard-carded, signed, and numbered kit from The Aeroplane Works (Chuck Gill), 2134 Gilbride Road, Martinsville, NJ 08836.
Throughout the project we'll cover detail construction, discipline, documentation, reasoning, psychology, philosophy, finishing techniques, and competition flight maneuvers. Whether your interest is warbirds or civilian aircraft, this project—like previous build-alongs—should reinforce that more information is better than less.
Why the D.VII?
Numerous letters requested a WW I aeroplane as the next subject. The D.VII and the SE-5a answered the criteria for being buildable with room for scale improvements. My first choice was the SE-5a, but Chuck Gill didn't have his new Scout kit available at the time. The D.VII won the decision. As you read this, The Aeroplane Works has ample SE-5a kits—just write or call.
The Uravitch Fokker D.VII kit is 1/5-scale and spans 75 inches. Engine recommendations: .90–1.08 two-strokes, 1.20 four-strokes, or up to 2.2 c.i.d. gas engines.
Chuck Gill prefers higher-powered two-strokes (G-38 or similar). I prefer four-strokes for early aeroplanes. We discussed engines and ultimately agreed a strong 1.2 four-stroke would fly the D.VII in a scalelike manner. The full-scale D.VII did about 116 mph at 3,280 feet—great for 1918—and a good 1.2 four-stroke will emulate that performance.
I expect my finished model to weigh about 16–17 pounds. With 1,748 square inches of wing area, 17 pounds gives an acceptable wing loading for realistic performance on an Enya R-120 engine. I chose the Enya R-120 (the R-series offers more power and rpm than the standard 120 at a reasonable price difference).
Documentation and color scheme
Finding interesting D.VII documentation and a paint scheme that doesn't require extraordinary skills was a challenge. Many authentic schemes use the lozenge pattern on the wings—great-looking but a nightmare to paint. Because this project is meant to inform and build confidence, I compromised between authenticity and practicality.
I received four sets of Fokker D.VII Photo-Paks from Bob Banka's Scale Model Research (3114 Yukon Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92626). From these, I chose two options: a complex lozenge-patterned restoration and a red, white, and yellow homebuilt with an "anyone-can-do-this" color scheme. For the build-along I selected the brightly colored homebuilt (S.M.R. Photo-Pak 1809/10) to keep the project accessible.
Closing notes
Stan Alexander will cover RC Scale events at the '93 AMA Nationals next month—I'll have more on the D.VII subject choice and more in January. Other commitments kept me from attending this year's Nationals.
Until then, build straight and fly safely.
I'll talk with you again.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
