A Look at What Our Readers are Doing

Model Airplane News, Jul 1998

AUSSIE AIRTRUCK

Quintin "Joe" Penka of Carrollton, TX, spent a year and a half building this unusual model from New Zealand Aero Products plans. The 118-inch-span, allwood model weighs about 30 pounds and features panel lines, rivets and navigational and landing lights. The "Truck" was finished with .5-ounce fiberglass cloth and polyurethane paint. Joe says that speed was marginal with a G-38, so he plans to fly it with a G-62 soon.

ATTIC TREASURE

Fifteen-year-old Joe Caccia of New Boston, MI, found a crashed, homemade fiberglass seaplane in his grandfather's attic and rebuilt it. The 10pound model is equipped with its original engines, two Enya .45s, and also uses its original radio, a 4-channel AM Futaba. Joe added landing gear because there isn't a pond where he flies. Nice work!

SCRATCHY AND FRIEND

Model Airplane News contributor George Wilson of Marston Mills, MA, shows off his latest creation, "Scratchy." The 3pound, 10-ounce model uses an HB .25 for power and flies well. George, who is constantly looking for ways to improve his designs, comments, "The plan will be modified to show a longer nose moment mostly to accommodate a 6-ounce tank more easily and a narrow fuselage to minimize weight."

I WANNABE A P-63

Ian Kagihara of Corona, CA, sent this photo of his Fred Reese Cloud Dancer .60 dressed up in Bell Cobra colors. Ian powers his model with a K&B engine and writes, "It's very aerobatic and so easy to fly. Landings are slow and easy."

HAND-LAUNCH HELLCAT

This 321/-inch-span Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat started out as a Guillows rubber-powered kit, then Jimmy Wilson of Claremont, NC, modified and beefed it up to accommodate a Norvel .061 AME glow engine and 2-channel radio equipment.

SEND IN YOUR SNAPSHOTS

Model Airplane News is your magazine and, as always, we encourage reader participation. In "Pilot Projects," we feature pictures from youour readers. Both color slides and color prints are acceptable. We receive so many photographs that we are unable to return them.

All photos used in this section will be eligible for a grand prize of $500, to be awarded at the end of 1998. The winner will be chosen from all entries published, so get a photo or two, plus a brief description, and send them in!

Send those pictures to: Pilot Projects, Model Airplane News, 100 East Ridge, Ridgefield, CT06877-4606

ROTHMAN'S STAMPE

This 1/4-scale bipe is the handiwork of Terry Overton of Oxford, MI. The model features functional rigging wires, landing gear and tailwheel; scale section cabanes and interplane struts of formed aluminum; scale control cables; Solartex iron-on fabric covering; simulated rib-stitching; and spray-painted markings. Terry writes, "... a Saito 150 improved performance dramatically but requires sensitive throttle control to give realistic flight performance."

BIG, BIGGER, BEST

Bob Buckbee of College Station, TX, enlarged Don Smith plans 60 percent and modified them slightly to come up with this IS-foot-span, 87-pound "K"-series Invader. Bob explains that the "K" was the modified version of the A-26-B that was used in Vietnam in the mid-60s. The Invader uses two Quadra 75s for power, and some of its features include: custom retracts, a bomb release on the main bay with 10 bombs and a TME smoke pump that can be set for one or both engines. Bob tells us that his big bird lands just like the full scale-fast and heavy.

DAKOTA BIPE

Brian Regan of Albuquerque, NM, sent this photo of his newest model, a Dakota biplane. He writes, "It is my second attempt at scratch-building ... I think it will fly great."

WACO YMF3

Masaki Uchida of Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan, sends greetings from across the Pacific with this photo of his 1/3-scale Pica biplane. The model has a 72-inch wingspan, weighs 16 pounds and uses an O.S. 1.08 2-stroke with a custom muffler. Masaki covered his model in 21st Century fabric, dressed it up in automotive paints and writes, "It flies elegantly and can perform old-style aerobatic maneuvers and extremely slow and easy landings."

1/3-SCALE BENSON

Victor Bailey of Fredericktown, MO, built a full-scale autogyro many years ago and decided to build a smaller one this time. His model's frame is made of TV antenna tubes that have been pop-riveted together, and its rotor parts are machined polypropylene plastic and aluminum. A full battery charge results in close to 400rpm with scale plywood blades, which are kept spinning by Hitec heavyduty servos and an ASP .65 2-stroke.