FOCAL POINT
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E-Flite P-39 Airacobra
This 1.2-meter E-flite P-39 Airacobra is the second one that Tom “Dutch” Merwath (San Diego, California; email: truckrdutch@hotmail.com) has owned. Powered by an 850 Kv motor and backed up with a 40-amp ESC, a 50C 3S 3,300 mAh LiPo battery is also used. The Airacobra gets 4- to 5-minute flights with control by a Spektrum AR6210 six-channel receiver and 10-channel radio.
Dutch changed the paint scheme from stock to that of Snooks 2nd, representing 1st Lt. William Sonomo who was stationed in Guam during World War II. Decals were ordered from Callie Graphics. “This is the best flying warbird I have, and I’ve got over a dozen flights on it,” he stated.
Skywing Laser 260
Sam Maples’ (Ft. Smith, Arkansas; email: deadmataircraft@gmail.com) new Skywing RC Laser 260 has an 89-inch wingspan and is powered by an EME 70 twin engine “that gives it more power that it needs.” All Hitec servos were used, with two 7.4-volt 400 mAh LiPo batteries.
“This is a go-where-you-point-it airplane [and a] very great platform,” Sam noted.
Sig Kougar Mark II
Erik Vogel (Sandy, Utah; email: erikvogel@comcast.net) completed his Sig Kougar Mark II in fall 2022 from a kit that he purchased a few years ago. “This was a popular plane at the club I started flying with when I was a teenager, but [I] never had the time, money, or building skills to build one myself,” he wrote.
“Additionally, this is the first plane that I have built that looks exactly like the picture on the box. I’ve always taken the creative approach with covering planes I’ve built but decided to follow the original trim scheme for this one.”
The airplane is powered by a .60-size electric motor on a five-cell battery pack. Erik stated that its performance is outstanding and it only needed two clicks of elevator trim.
The photo was taken on a dry lakebed outside of Salt Lake City.
Hot Hots
Marty Beattie (Riverton, Utah; email: mgmarty44@gmail.com) scratch-built this Hot Hots from the original plans. It’s powered by an MVVS .49 engine spinning an 11x5 propeller, with JR 4721 servos used throughout. A Spektrum radio controls the airplane.
“I spent hours hand-cutting all the graphics from MonoKote,” Marty wrote. “This is a true fun-fly airplane. [It] flies fast and lands like a trainer.”
Twin Apprentice Conversion
Edward “Sandy” Schmidt’s (Brunswick, Maine; email: edwardcschmidt@comcast.net) “Focal Point” was submitted at the request of the Brunswick Area Modelers club president. The twin-fuselage Apprentice conversion occurred because a club member “donated” four used Apprentice airplanes. The resulting aircraft was inspired by Burt Rutan.
Twin receivers were bound to the same Spektrum transmitter with ESCs and batteries in both of the fuselages. The stock Apprentice wings were separated just inboard of the right and left ailerons and mated with a 3/8 carbon-fiber rod at their embedded carbon-fiber spar, as well as the front and rear auxiliary composite spars. The only deviation from stock was shimming the left motor to straight ahead. The wingspan is approximately 82 inches.
Sandy stated that, at the time of this writing in November 2022, at least six pilots had flown it in dozens of elegant, sedate flight patterns. “It thermals and glides forever. Eight-plus-minute flights result from 2,200 mAh three-cell LiPo batteries,” he wrote. All six wheels permit a grass takeoff in 30 feet or less.
“I think it would make a smart towplane for smaller gliders or even a camera platform,” Sandy noted.
Sonic Pylon Racer
Dave Horvath’s (Temple City, California; email: davehorvath@usa.net) scratch-built Sonic Pylon racer is for the Run What You Brought Eliminator Air Racing event class in Chino, California (www.warbirdracing.org). The model is fashioned after the Phoenix Models Sonic.
The 53-inch wingspan model is powered by a Hacker A40 10S 14-pole outrunner motor turning an APC 11 x 8E propeller, a JETI Advance 70-amp ESC, and a Turnigy Nano-Tech 4S 3,300 mAh LiPo battery. Hitec HS-125 MG servos are on the ailerons and Hitec HS-225 MG servos are on the rudder and elevator. A JETI DC24 radio controls the aircraft. It is covered with UltraCote.
Avro Vulcan
Greg Minden (Las Vegas, Nevada; email: nvmustang@cox.net) submitted his 83.5-inch wingspan Avro Vulcan bomber, built from a Tony Nijhuis Designs kit.
Power is from two JetFan 90 EDFs and Castle Creations 160 HV ESCs, each on 10S 5,000 mAh battery packs for approximately 23 pounds of thrust. “As the plane came in at about 26 pounds, it has plenty of power and is a real floater on landing,” Greg wrote.
Currently flying the Avro Vulcan on a JR 12X radio, Greg fiberglassed and painted it, which took a year to complete. He stated that it has nearly 40 feet of winging!
The photo was taken at the Eldorado Dry Lake near Las Vegas after the aircraft’s fifth flight.
Ziroli P-38
Phil Camp’s (Queensbury, New York; email: philcamprc@gmail.com) plans-built Ziroli P-38 took two years to complete. It features two GP-61 engines, Sierra Giant Scale retracts, graphics from Callie Graphics, and a pilot figure from Warbird Pilots. The paint scheme is Yippee, the 500th-produced Lockheed P-38 in 1945.
Controlled by a Futaba 18MZ transmitter, Hitec servos, and LiFe batteries, its successful maiden flight took place at the Rutland County RC Flyers field in Fair Haven, Vermont. “[It] was rather uneventful, but during the second flight, she sustained minor damage on approach,” Phil wrote. “Repairs are underway and she will fly again in the spring.”
Phil has been building and flying RC aircraft for 36 years. The maiden flight can be viewed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/tUJJ7NyLOW8.
