PILOT PROJECTS

2003 EDITORS' PICKS

GRUMMAN GOOSE

Henry Simon, Bobcaygeon, Ontario, Canada

Henry's 65-inch-span amphibian turns out to be a real golden-egg producer; it has earned him the $500 grand prize in our 2003 "Pilot Projects" contest! The 7.2-pound Grumman Goose uses balsa-and-ply construction with a fiberglass and epoxyresin covering. Henry drew up the plans for it after studying 3-views and photos obtained from Bob Banka's Scale Documentation. Powered by a Model Motors electric motor on two, 8-cell, 170OmAh batteries wired in parallel, this great-looking Goose is worth a gander any day. Congratulations, Henry! Your $500, a one-year subscription and a Model Airplane News T-shirt are on their way to you.

DH112 VENOM

George Wardleigh, Ogden, UT

This unique twin-tail warbird caught our eye back in july, when it first appeared in the "Pilot Projects" column, and we've tapped it for an honorable-mention curtain call. George scratch-built his 19-percent-scale de Havilland DH112 Venom from 3views; it spans 96 inches and weighs 28 pounds. A RAM 750 provides thrust and an authentic jet whine. George's fine work has earned him a one-year subscription and a Model Airplane News T-shirt. Way to go!

FLY BABY BIPE

Ernest D. "Don" Harbin, Flushing, Ml

Seventy-plus years of modeling ... now that's what we call dedication to the hobby! Don Harbin writes, "I have Model Airplane News [issues] that go back to the '3Os, so you can see that I have been a longtime readerexcept for the years of WW II, when I was overseas." He's pictured here with his Va-scale Fly Baby bipe, scratch-built from Balsa USA plans. Don covered it with Sig Koverall, two coats of nitrate dope and one of butyrate, and he finished it off with latex paint. The 87inch-wingspan Fly Baby weighs 23 pounds and is powered by a Zenoah G-62 engine turning a Zinger 6x10 prop. Beautiful job, Don; thanks for sharing.

P51B MUSTANG

Chaisak Saeng-Xuto, Bangkok, Thailand

Chaisak and his friend Sittisak built this beautiful P51B Mustang from a Top Flite P51D kit, incorporating the P51B conversion kit (sold separately). The spinner, display propeller and in-cowl muffler are also from Top Flite. The building buddies silked the plane and finished it with automotive paint, then coated it with Polyurethane. A close look at their masterpiece reveals panel lines, screw heads and rivets ("... about 1,500 of them when we stopped counting!" says Chaisak). The first powerplant they installed overheated because of the small cowl opening and the in-cowl muffler, so they replaced it with a 12-year-old O.S. 61SX engine, and the plane flies superbly with it. They also used Robart retracts and tires, which, according to Chaisak, have contributed to the Mustang's flawless performance. he adds that his fellow fliers at the Don Muang R/C Club "... express their disbelief that this plane is from a 'common' Top Flite kit. Some people believe that cheap is not good and good is not cheap, but I have always found that cheap can be made good also."

He continues, "I have enjoyed Model Airplane News since I was a boy (I am 60 now). That you have been able to put out this excellent model magazine for such a long time is quite an achievement to be proud of, and I salute your team for the effort. Your recent articles by Quique Somenzini are very good and prompted an old-timer like me to resume and rediscover the excitement of aerobatics again. Thanks!"

EAGLET

Jack Dundas, Ridgeville, Ontario, Canada

Former Royal Canadian Air Force pilot Jack Dundas writes: "During the summer of 1930, my mother brought home my first copy of Model Airplane News. She had seen it on the newsstand and thought that I would be interested.

"That was the understated idea of the year! I read it from cover to cover immediately, and it proved to be the first of many."

Jack fell in love with a model called the "Eaglet" that he saw advertised in the January 1931 issue, but he never managed to get his hands on it. The years passed, and Jack served his country during WW II in the 424th Squadron of the RCAF, flying Halifax B3s and serving a tour of 35 "ops" including D-day. In 1993, the Yorkshire Air Museum honored Jack by sending a Ve-scale RC model of Jack's full-size, wartime QB-B "Bambi" colors to perform at the Hamilton, Ontario, airshow.

But what of his long-lost love, the Eaglet? Jack's cousin David-a member of the Society of Antique Modelers-was able to track down the model and even find plans for it! Says Jack, "There was nothing to do except fulfill my boyhood dream and build one, at last. A trip to my model scrap pile and about a week's work resulted in my own Eaglet-after 70-odd years!"

He concludes, "As I tell my friends: be like Peter Pan and never grow up! Save the worrying for when you grow old (I'm 82)."

Copyright Air Age Publishing Jan 2004
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