FOCAL POINT
Interested in sharing your handiwork? Visit www.ModelAviation.com for submission guidelines.
Top Flite P-51
Michael Odem’s (Belleville, Illinois; email: mikeodem2002@att.net) 1/5-scale Top Flite P-51 Mustang has an 84.5-inch wingspan and weighs 23.5 pounds.
The covering is 3/4-ounce fiberglass with automotive paint. It is powered by a DLE-55RA engine and lands using E-flite retracts. Details include navigation lights, an IFlyTailies instrument panel and switches on a custom-made interior, and custom 3D-printed radio/battery boxes.
“I have been quite surprised by how it flies for a warbird,” Michael wrote. “It flies well and slows well on landings, with minimum flaps needed.”
Force One 17C Stealth Fighter
Bob Mueller (Arlington, Texas; email: rwm[email protected]) calls his aircraft submission a Force One 17C Stealth Fighter. He started flying in 1984 and belongs to the Greater Southwest Aero Modelers in Fort Worth, Texas.
The airplane began as a Balsa USA Force One that Bob bashed. “I combined Laddie Mikulasko’s and Parker Leung’s F-117 plans,” he noted. When he changed the wing, he had to move the center of gravity forward by 2-1/4 inches. It uses an old U.S. Max 40SR engine for power and a Master Airscrew pusher propeller. A Spektrum radio controls the airplane.
Bob wrote that the flat black MonoKote on top and glossy red, white, and blue on the bottom are a good color contrast. “It is very fast and aerobatic. It’s unusual to see in the sky. I enjoy flying it.”
VisionAire Repair
Jim Talens (Boynton Beach, Florida; email: jtalens@verizon.net) said that he has been the source of considerable (good-natured) ridicule for his artistic and restorative skill in repairing his ParkZone VisionAire airplane. “It has crashed too many times now as I continue to emulate fliers who actually have serious skill. I am improving, but more than that, I refuse to give up on the airplane.”
He went on to state, “I bought this VisionAire 2 years ago from a friend in like-new condition. I was accustomed to an Apprentice, so my skill—notwithstanding mild exponential settings—led me to overcompensate and, well, crash. Not just once either. Each time, I added more epoxy to the plane, until now. Into its third season, the plane’s total weight is probably twice the original.
“It’s as much epoxy as foam, but it flies fine, with relatively high throttle rates necessary! One benefit is that it is uniquely identifiable sitting on a stand at the local field or if it is ever lost!”
Jim’s mentor at the park where he flies in Delray Beach, Florida, asserts that it flies better now than when it was new!
Balsa USA Enforcers
John Obuchowski (Cinnaminson, New Jersey; email: obie2014@aol.com) sent in a photo of his Balsa USA Enforcers.
Both aircraft were highly modified, using O.S. .61 rear exhaust and O.S. .91 engines, Byron tuned pipes, and spring air retracts. John, a member of the New Jersey Pine Barons RC Club in Southampton Township, New Jersey, stated that they fly great, whether slow or fast, and that they are both still flying today.
Balsa USA Super Cub
Jose Serrano’s (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; email: jaserramu@gmail.com) Balsa USA 1/3-scale Super Cub was built by his friend and fellow AMA member, Luis Morales.
Flown at the Borinquen RC Club in Sabana Seca, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, the Super Cub is powered by a Zenoah G62 engine with a Xoar 22 x 10 propeller. Control is by a Spektrum iX12 radio and Spektrum AR9030T receiver. Seven Hitec 5645 MG servos are used, as well as a bavarianDEMON Cortex gyro.
Jose stated that the airplane flies so well most of the time that there is no need for a gyro.
Stinson 108
David Erlenbach’s (Mendota, Illinois; email: iflydc@wildblue.net) Aerodrome Models Stinson 108 kit was started by a club member who found it to be more than he could handle. David was recruited to complete it. “[There] was a lot of TLC required on the previous work,” he wrote.
The Stinson 108 was copied off of a full-scale Stinson 108 Flying Station Wagon that belongs to a friend of the club member who started the build. It has a 74-inch wingspan and is powered by an O.S. .60 engine using Futaba servos. The aircraft has operating flaps and is covered with maroon MonoKote and white UltraCote. The cowling and pants are painted with burgundy Krylon rattle can spray paint.
Lockspeiser LDA 1000
Jim Kemble’s (Seaford, Delaware; email: jameskemble2019@gmail.com) 1/6-scale Lockspeiser LDA 1000 has a wingspan of slightly more than 7 feet. He worked on it for several years. Jim’s friend, David Lockspeiser, died before the model flew. Jim was involved in the design of the control system on the full-scale prototype.
Having a fuselage cross-section of 8 x 10 inches, the model was built using double-wall construction. The sheeted wings had hidden servos and shrouded ailerons. The forward wing had one long flap that was used to trim the full-scale aircraft.
Jim and his wife moved and, “I gave [the model] to a member in New Hampshire to continue the installation of a 120 electric motor,” he wrote. “He remarked how well it flew, but because of some error, the model crashed badly. I’m not sure what its future is.
“Perhaps I will reclaim the plans and build another. I don’t know what the electric setup was, but all servos were Hitec ball-bearing types and the wheels were commercial items.”
Goldberg Sophisticated Lady
Steven Pryor (Port Saint Lucie, Florida; email: stevenpryor@bellsouth.net) is a member of the PSL RC Hobby Group in Port Saint Lucie. “When I was 17 years old, I built my first Sophisticated Lady (in front), and now, 51 years later during the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve built a second Sophisticated Lady. It has all-balsa construction with MonoKote covering, and it flies (sails) great,” he stated.
The original model had a 1/2A Cox engine on a Sig power pod. Both aircraft have been converted to electric brushless motors. The newer, upgraded model has spoilers and is powered by a Cobra 2000 brushless motor, 20-amp Cobra ESC, and a Thunder Power ProLite X1,000 mAh LiPo battery. Steven flies it with his Spektrum DX6 transmitter, an AR6600T telemetry receiver, and two Hitec HS-225BB servos. The aircraft also sports a SKYholic 6.5 x 4 folding propeller with a 6mm yoke.
“Although technology has changed, the old models and memories still live,” Steven wrote.
