AG CAT MAGIC
By Stan Alexander | onawing/602@att.net
WOW—2020 WAS ONE STRANGE YEAR! It seemed that no matter what clubs or groups did about competitions and events, there was no right or wrong decision during the pandemic—only risk or regret. But 2021 is here now and I hope that by the time this goes to print, the worst will be behind us all!
Most of us are in the middle of the building season, and whether you are finishing a project or getting started on a new one, know that some longtime Scale product suppliers are still out there. Sullivan Products, Du-Bro, Sonic-Tronics, and several others operate under their own banners and offer premium products for all modelers.
Lee Richter’s Ag Cat
Lee Richter likes crop dusters, which seem to be gaining popularity. He contacted Roger Marshall with Camden Custom Cutters to cut a 1/3-scale Ag Cat. Roger did an excellent job of engineering the kit.
Lee also contacted Casey Johnson with Desert Aircraft to see what size engine the company suggested to power the big aircraft, which had an estimated weight of 50 pounds. He settled on a Desert Aircraft DA-150 twin engine. It’s probably a little overpowered, but with a Scale model, you almost always need a little extra weight up front.
Lee built the five extra cylinders to make a seven-cylinder radial engine. He requested five used plug leads for his DA-150. At the time, Desert Aircraft didn’t have them, but when Lee sent the photo of the completed “radial,” he called and was told that the used plug leads were in the mail! The engine
is amazing, and running at 800 rpm, it sounds just like an old, full-scale Pratt & Whitney engine.
Lee built the aircraft and his wife, Bev, did the detail painting. The finished model, with a 50-ounce fuel tank and 32-ounce spray tank, weighs 48 pounds. The first flight had Lee wondering how much runway he was going to use to get it in the air. To his surprise, by slowly adding throttle, the big Ag Cat was tail up and lifting off at half throttle.
He took it around the field a few times then up to three mistakes high (always a safe flight routine with a new aircraft) to see how it handled in a stall. The nose came up, and then the nose dropped down for wings-level flight. Lee brought the nose back up and did it again to see if there was
any difference, but everything was the same.
His first landing came in a little hot, and the Ag Cat floated halfway down the 600-foot runway before it decided to land, going so slowly that Lee said he could probably walk beside it. Lee states that the Ag Cat is fun to fly, and living in a farming community in Dooly County, Georgia, there are a number of full-scale agricultural pilots who flew Ag Cats. Sounds like both Lee and Bev are having a great time with his big, yellow biplane!
AMA Plans Service
AMA has had the largest plans service in the US—and probably on the planet—for a long time. Greg Prater, the plans coordinator, has announced a new AMA Plans Service webpage, where you can click on the plans you are interested in and actually look at them on your screen! With roughly 18,000 sets of plans, this is great!
The AMA Plans Service has all types of plans, including RC, Scale, Free Flight, Control Line, and many others. For example, if you want a 1/3-scale Gee Bee Model Y Sportster instead of one that is 1/4 scale, it’s no problem. Greg can enlarge or reduce the plans to your specified size. Just realize that when you do this, you will probably have to do your own fiberglass work on items such as the cowling and wheel pants.
Check it out! If you want an odd or “different” airplane, this might be just the place to find it.
Upcoming Events
The AMA Scale Nats is scheduled for June 16-19, 2021, at AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center (IAC) in Muncie, Indiana. Wednesday will be for practice; Thursday will be static judging for both RC and CL Scale; and Friday and Saturday will be the flights and finals.
Fair skies and tailwinds.
SOURCES:
Camden Custom Cutters
(803) 432-2347
Desert Aircraft
(520) 722-0607
www.desertaircraft.com
Sullivan Products
(410) 732-3500
www.sullivanproducts.com
Du-Bro
(847) 526-2136
www.dubro.com
Sonic-Tronics
(215) 635-6520
www.sonictronics.us
Balsa USA
(800) 225-7287
https://shop.balsausa.com/default.asp
National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA)
www.nasascale.org
AMA Plans Service
(800) 435-9262, ext. 507
https://plans.modelaircraft.org
