Scratch-built Nanchang CJ-6A
Mark Schuler
makiluan@charter.net
Mark Schuler has been involved with aviation throughout his entire life. “My father was a commercial airline pilot and flew [Boeing] 707s, [McDonnell Douglas] DC-10s, and [Boeing] 747s,” he wrote. Mark was bitten by the aviation bug at a young age and began flying RC airplanes in his early teenage years. “As I got older, I got my pilot’s license and started flying small, civilian aircraft like the Cessna 172,” he mentioned.
Living in the St. Louis area, Mark became involved with the Missouri wing of the Commemorative Air Force, which owns a B-25 Mitchell bomber called Show Me. He became hooked on the radial engine sounds and smells and bought a Nanchang CJ-6A full-scale airplane.
The Nanchang CJ-6A is a Chinese aircraft powered by a nine-cylinder 285 hp Zhuzhou Huosai HS-6A radial piston engine and is used by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force as a basic trainer. Slightly more than 200 of the aircraft have been imported to the US as hobby/civil airplanes. Mark reported that the full-scale airplane flies well.
Because he owns a full-scale CJ-6A, Mark also wanted a model of it. At the time, there were not any companies that sold or manufactured one, so he decided to scratch-build his own. His model has a 48-inch foam core, a built-up fuselage, and uses a GMS .32 engine.
It was finished with MonoKote to match the markings on Mark’s full-scale airplane. He noted that the model flies great as well.
Do you have a high-quality/high-resolution airplane, helicopter, or multirotor photo that you are proud of, or a model aviation-related photo with a great story behind it? Email your “Viewfinder” photo and a description about it to jennifer@modelaircraft.org, or submit it online at www.ModelAviation.com/viewfinder.
