"Marvelous Mitchell": SoCal modeler's B-25J beauty, The

Model Airplane News, Oct 2004 by Reid, John

At any scale event, there is always one aircraft that stands out from the rest. Such was the case at the recent Scale Squadron of Southern California's 2004 Western Regional Scale Masters Qualifier. The B-25J Mitchell built by Jimmy Mazurek of Oceanside, CA, attracted a crowd of admirers throughout the day-and for good reason. This finely detailed scale warbird took form from raw materials and a set of Nick Ziroli plans. After two years of construction, Jimmy revealed his masterpiece in August 2002.

This large model has a wingspan of 101 inches, is 79 inches long and weighs 37 pounds dry. After the plane has been fueled up with 32 ounces of gas for each motor and 10 ounces of smoke fuel, the total takeoff weight is just under 42 pounds. Part of that weight comes from all of the extra items used to detail the visible interior, including a superbly done cockpit with two pilots, a richly detailed nose gun, top turret, tail gun and wing guns. Two 1.80 Saito 4-stroke engines provide more than enough power to lift this bird into the sky.

Constructing a scale plane that's this detailed requires enormous patience and ingenuity. The plane has a good complement of standard modeling items such as Du-Bro hardware, Robart gears, Graupner 3-blade props, an Airtronics flight pack and an Airtronics PCM Vision radio. Other items, however, required a scavenger hunt to locate! For example, the upper turret-gun shields require just the right arc7 and concave surface to fit within the opening of the turret. Jimmy found that the bottom of a beer can has just the right concave surface, and after numerous experiments (requiring him, of course, to finish off the beer inside each can), he found that a large can of Foster's fit the turret gun's opening perfectly.

The B-25J has a plethora of scale details to keep the static judges busy, but it doesn't stop there because once the B-25J is airborne, it has plenty of extra features to show off. Curtis Kitteringham pilots the plane for Jimmy, and he knows how to use these extra features to maximize their scale performance. He takes off with a nice, straight run down the centerline of the runway. Once the plane begins its ascent, he flips a switch, and the gears fold into the belly followed slowly by the gear doors. During a mock bombing pass, Curtis activates the B-25J smoke system and, because it is hooked up to only one of the engines, it very realistically simulates flak damage. As the B-25J approaches the target, the bombbay doors open slowly, and when the plane is directly above the drop point, he releases two 1,000pound bombs. Last, when the plane sets up for landing, Curtis lowers the flaps, drops the gears and flicks on the landing lights.

After a nice, gentle touchdown, the B-25J taxis over to the pit area; a crowd gathers, and before you know it, camera shutters are clicking and spectators are asking questions. Jimmy Mazurek beams with pride and answers every question. This is what scale competition is all about: a master sharing his knowledge with his apprentices.