NORTH AMERICAN AT-6 Texan

Model Airplane News, Dec 2004 by Ziroli, Nick Sr

A zippy electric for racing or warbird fun!

The AT-6 Texan was a great advance in military trainer aircraft-a "detuned" fighter design that made new pilots' first steps into combat fighters much safer for them. At full-size warbird gatherings such as Oshkosh, many AT-6s always show up; in fact, the Texan is today probably one of the most available WW II aircraft-so many that a popular Reno racing class was formed. So for color schemes, the sky's the limit!

This little Texan is approximately 1/15 scale, and I designed it with an eye toward electric pylon racing. I have flown it with a direct-drive Graupner 6V Speed 400 motor and with an Astro Brushless 010, and both allow good performance. All my flying has been done with the model's landing gear in place, so I have flown only off smooth surfaces. If you removed the gear, performance would improve somewhat, but you would then have to hand-launch the model. I'm reluctant to toss the little AT-6 until I've gained more flight time and have it properly trimmed. If you don't use landing gear, you can also eliminate the rudder servo and save some weight; rudder is really required only for ground handling.

I designed the fuselage with rounded formers. It would have been much easier to build it using flat sides, but I felt that this would take too much away from the model's scale looks. Even with its rounded fuselage, the model is not very difficult to put together, and the curved sides are worth the extra effort. The wings are easily built in three sections and use torque wires to move the strip ailerons-again, pretty simple construction.

Once you have built the model, cover all the parts with a plastic film such as UltraCote or MonoKote. The newer lightweight films such as Lite Film from Nelson Hobby Specialties will help you save a little more weight. There are many attractive military and racing color schemes for the AT-6; just pick up a book and find one you like, or be imaginative and come up with your own colorful design. That's what modeling is all about!

Make the canopy out of soft balsa sheets and blocks and then paint it, or buy a clear molded one from me; I also offer a molded engine cowl (ordering info is on the plan). Use strips of covering film to trim the canopy framework. Cut the canopy to fit and hold it in place with clear tape or small screws. A small Williams Bros, pilot completes the picture.

Set up the model's control throws as shown on the plan. For an ROG (rise off ground) takeoff, a smooth surface is required. I have used a blacktop parking lot and a dirt baseball field baseline as runways. If you decide to hand-launch, be sure to have someone with experience make the first launch while you man the transmitter. To launch the model yourself and then get back on the transmitter in time to save a bad throw or correct for poor trim is usually too much to handle. You could easily break your airplane.

So far, two of my little AT-6s have been built and flown. My friend and flying partner Bill Steffes and I have flown the models together around an imaginary pylon course. For such a small investment in time and money, it's great fun.

Airtronics (714) 978-1895; airtronics.net.

AstroFlight Inc. (310) 821-6242; astroflight.com.

Graupner; distributed by Hobby Lobby Intl. (615) 373-1444; graupner.com.

Nelson Hobby Specialties (877) 263-5766; nelsonhobby.com.

MonoKote; distributed by Great Planes Model Distributors Co. (800) 682-8948; (217) 398-6300; greatplanes.com.

UltraCote; distributed by Horizon Hobby Inc. (800) 338-4639; horizonhobby.com.

Williams Bros. (805) 534-1307; williamsbrosinc.com.