AIR WAVES

Model Airplane News, Jan 2005

"I HAVE BEEN a fan of the Rare Bear race team for many years ... since the mid-'70s ...

BETTER THAN YOUR AVERAGE BEAR!

The cover of your December 2004 issue that features the Thunder Tiger Rare Bear racer was great! I have been a fan of the Rare Bear race team for many years and have followed the racing career of the Bear's chief pilot LyIe Shelton, since the mid-'70s. I have built several models of the Rare Bear; I modified the old Top Flite and Royal Grumman Bearcat kits to produce the Reno racer. I can't wait to get the new one from Thunder Tiger! Thanks for a great first look!

RICKY JOHNSON [EMAIL]

Ricky, our West Coast associate editor John Reid is also a fan of the Bear, and he jumped at the chance to review the one sent to Model Airplane News. This model requires a fair amount of assembly work, but the result is well worth the effort. Having tweaked the balance and control throws, John is now doing a pretty good impersonation of LyIe Shelton! Have fun with your new Rare Bear.

GY

FUN-FLY FANATIC

Many of the models available today are referred to as "fun-fly." I think all models are fun to fly, but is there a class of competition out there, such as pattern or scale, that's actually called "fun-fly"? If so, where can I get more information on it? The funfly airplanes I read about seem to be very high performance. I'd like to find models that are a bit easier to control.

RALPH THOMPSON [EMAIL]

Ralph, yes; there is a fun-fly aerobatics class, and it is very popular, indeed! The difference between fun-fly and typical acrobatic competitions is that the pilots are judged against time; other aerobatic events are judged according to haw well a pilot flies each maneuver. Contrary to what you may think, you don't need a superhigh-performance model to get started in funfly. What you do need, though, is a rugged, 4-channel model that can do loops, rolls, spins and touch-and-go's. These are the basic maneuvers that make up fun-fly events. The faster you do them, the better your score. The sportsman class is the place to start, and when you become more competitive, you can move on to the expert class! There are several specialized models to choose from, and the best source of information is the National Competition Fun Fly Association (NCFFA) website: ncffafunfly.org.

GY

MACHO MUSTANG

In the October 2004 issue, there is a review of the new Top Flite giant-scale P-51D Mustang ARF. The article gave this model great scores. Now that you've flown the model for a few months, how is it holding up? I am about to buy one of these impressive warbirds, but I want to know more about its staying power and flight performance.

TOMMY FRANKIE [EMAIL]

Tommy, the Top Flite P-Sl ARF is still going strong. After flying it several times and taking it to the Warbirds over Delaware giant-scale warbird fly-in (where several other pilots twisted the sticks), the overall opinion of this giant-scale ARF remains very high. Powered by the ZDZ 40 gas engine, the Mustang has excellent flight performance and is one of the nicest high-performance models I have flown. At full power, it really grooves! I did increase the air-inlet area of the cowl to improve engine cooling, but that's all I have done. The Mustang remains a winner.

GY

CHATTING WITH THE EXPERTS

Kudos for your "It's Showtime" article in the November 2004 issue! I have often wondered what it would be like to compete at Top Gun or at a Tournament of Champions aerobatic event. The number of years that these master fliers devote to the sport is awe-inspiring. When I see one of them fly, it inspires me to try harder to improve my flying skills. They can be proud of what they have accomplished. Thanks for the great reporting!

GEORGE CUNNINGHAM [EMAIL]

George, we agree: pilots such as Terry Nitsch, Quique Somenzini, Jason Shulman, Dave Patrick and Len Sabato are great assets to the RC hobby. Whenever the public gets a chance to see them do their stuff, it helps us all. We all benefit from positive PR, and these guys hand it out in spades.

GY

ZIROLI AT-6 TEXAN PLAN

Due to a punting error, the full-size plan of the AT-6 Texan that appeared in the December 2004 issue was inadvertently reduced to 96 percent. You can either enlarge the existing plan at 104 percent or download the 100-percent version online at modelairplanenews.com. We apologize for any inconvenience.

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