NATIONAL MODEL AVIATION
MUSEUM VIRTUAL TOUR
MOST OF THE PRODUCTS or services featured in “Worth a Closer Look” have a cost or price associated with them; however, the National Model Aviation Museum Virtual Tour is free to anyone who has access to the internet.
If you are unable to physically visit the museum, taking a virtual tour is the next best thing. Even if you have visited the museum, the virtual tour continues to be updated with new exhibits and information.
When taking the virtual tour, you start outside the museum and click on the arrows on the screen to navigate. You can use the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom in and out on the tour, and if you hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse, it allows you look around.
To help you navigate your tour, the website also includes a map of the museum so that you can easily find the different areas you would like to visit.
My favorite part of the museum is the 1950s-style hobby shop, which can be visited on the tour. Inside you will see many products that would have been for sale in the 1950s, and nearly every product is found in its original packaging.
On the same page as the virtual tour, you will find a link to the Digital Collections. Here, you can learn much more about many of the items housed in the museum. You can view the items by category or search the database. A personal favorite is the collection of Pith helmets that were worn to events and contests.
Now sit back, relax, enjoy a virtual tour of the National Model Aviation Museum, and learn more about the items in the collection.
New Products from the Modeler’s Mall
NeuMotors/NeuRacing
Tel.: (858) 674-2250; website: www.neuracing.us
NeuMotors, known for brushless motor engineering and manufacturing, has launched NeuRacing.us, a website designed specifically for RC customers. The website offers easy-to-use tables to make motor selection a breeze for all manners of RC aircraft. Pair NeuMotors with Australian-made APD ESCs for power systems up to 28 cells and 300 amps! Electrifying performance is now available, even for Giant Scale aircraft, beyond a 200cc equivalent.
In addition to aircraft motors and ESCs, NeuRacing also offers motors for surface vehicles, as well as batteries, chargers, power supplies, motor selection tools, and SAE Limiters.
D131MW 8.5mm Ultra-Nano, Low Profile Wing Servo @ $69.99 + S&H from Hitec RCD
Tel.: (858) 748-6948; website: www.hitecrcd.com
Hitec is excited to announce the arrival of the ultra-nano, slim-wing D131MW servo. With a low-profile, machined aluminum case, high-efficiency coreless motor, and dual ball bearings, this competitively priced servo is the most durable and long lasting one in its class.
The robust technology is perfect for pilots and drivers who need powerful torque in a nano package, and it’s ideal for high-performance, thin-wing aircraft and Hand-Launch gliders.
Features include a wide operating voltage of 3.5 to 8.4 volts, one- to two-cell LiPo compatibility, high-response/high-resolution circuitry, Smart Sense Technology for servo analytics, full programmability with Hitec’s DPC11 or HFP-30 (sold separately), and an M2.5T micro output spline.
Backed with the performance and reliability that’s synonymous with Hitec, the D131MW will impress even the most discerning modeler.
Bird Dog @ $166-$175 + S&H from BMJR Models
Tel.: (321) 537-1159; website: www.bmj rmodels.com
BMJR’s earliest memory of the Bird Dog was a 1960s Model Airplane News ad for the Berkeley kit. Fast-forward six decades later, and it is time for an electric-powered RC model.
The Bird Dog is essentially a Cessna 170 with tandem seating for a pilot and an observer. The first flights of the aircraft took place in 1949 with the L-19 (liaison) designation, which was then changed in 1962 to O-1 (observation).
The BMJR Bird Dog comes in two versions: a park flyer with a dihedral wing for rudder, elevator, and speed control (kit B-339), or a Sport Scale version with scale dihedral, ailerons, and operational flaps (kit B-340).
Both models have a 40-1/2-inch wingspan and a 241 sq. in. wing area. The flying weight for the park flyer is 18-1/2 ounces, with the Sport Scale version coming in at 20-1/4 ounces. The model is intended to use 150 watts of electric power. Depending on the livery used, an L-19 or O-1 can be built from the kit.
According to BMJR, the RC version is slightly more stout than the earlier Free Flight models.
