FOCAL POINT
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Dynaflite Giant Spitfire
Ron Cheshire (Largo, Florida; email: ronwc@hotmail.com) built this Dynaflite Giant Spitfire in the 1990s and is still flying it today. Powered with a Saito 1.20 engine and 18 x 6 propeller, Hitec servos are used for control.
“Some people said I couldn’t do a good job with camouflage using Top Flite MonoKote, but I think it turned out well,” Ron noted. “At an 82-inch wingspan, it’s easy to see in the air. It flies scalelike and lands like a trainer. It’s a very well-designed kit.”
Kerry Sterner 20% Vampire
Larry Wright (Swoyersville, Pennsylvania; email: larrywright75@yahoo.com) sent in a photo of himself with his kit-built Kerry Sterner 20% Vampire. “I bought a kit from National Balsa and a completion kit of all the wood needed to skin it.”
The balsa and plywood Vampire is covered in 2-ounce fiberglass and Z-Poxy finishing resin and painted with Shop Line single-stage urethane. The 97-inch wingspan model is 75 inches long and powered by a Jet Cat P-120SX turbine. It weighs 25 pounds and is controlled by a Futaba T14GS transmitter with a 14-channel Futaba receiver. The servos are a mix of Hitec and Spektrum.
As of March 2023, Larry had four flights on it. “It took three clicks of right trim and three clicks of down-elevator to make it fly hands-free,” he stated.
RC Livewire Trainer
Andrew Jones (White Plains, New York; email: vze2hkd4@verizon.net) wrote, “Being 84 years young, I can remember my first RC airplane. In the early 1970s, it was a Harold de Bolt Livewire Trainer all-balsa airplane that was single channel (rudder only), with a 48-inch wingspan and powered by an .09 Cox engine. For new RC fliers, this airplane was equipped with a wind-up rubber band escapement because servos were just appearing. Back then, if the airplane survived a flight without crashing, that was considered a successful flight.”
Approximately 20 years ago, Andrew purchased this same airplane kit on eBay for a trip down memory lane. The airplane was built roughly one year ago, converted to electric power, and equipped with a Spektrum radio system, thanks to Andrew’s friend, Joseph Dellutri (Hartsdale, New York; email: uej54027@gmail.com).
Both Andrew and Joseph are long-standing members of the Miniature Aircraft Association of Westchester in New York.
Two Whynotts
Quite taken with Pat Tritle’s Whynott that appeared in the October 2020 issue of Model Aviation, Scott H. Kruize (Tukwila, Washington; email: scotkruize@yahoo.com) was inspired to build two! All balsa and done in classic lightweight Free Flight fashion, Scott’s first model has a 25-inch wingspan and a 100 sq. in. wing area. Its 1.7-ounce weight, doubled with the appropriate rubber motor, has a wing loading of only 5 ounces. The 125% RC enlargement is for small-factor electric power. Ready-to-fly with the battery, it’s approximately 8 ounces, or a little more than 7 ounces, per square foot.
Scott prefers round tips on flying surfaces, and instead of tissue and dope, he covered both with very lightweight iron-on film from HobbyKing. “This is better for flying in the soggy Pacific Northwest,” he stated.
“It’s delightful to see either in the air. The smaller one goes where it will but is predictably well-behaved. The larger one goes along lightly, more or less where I think my thumbs should take it!”
Das Ultra Stick
Randy Knopf (Katy, Texas; email: rknopf@bop.gov) wanted to pay homage to one of his all-time favorite airplanes, the Ugly Stick, by adding new decals and renaming his Hangar 9 Ultra Stick 30cc ARF as Das Ultra Stick. With a wingspan of 81 inches, the powerplant is an E-flite Power 160 brushless outrunner motor using Spektrum servos, ESC, transmitter, and receiver.
“This Ultra Stick is one of the most versatile airplanes, from sport flying to some 3D,” he wrote.
Sopwith Triplane
Terry Killow’s (Blaine, Washington; email: tikillow@gmail.com) scratch-designed Sopwith Triplane has a 56-inch wingspan and is powered by an O.S. .40 surpass four-stroke engine. Built mainly from balsa, it was designed using TurboCAD 3D from a three-view drawing of the original aircraft.
Decorated to represent the machine flown by Richard Little of the Royal Navy Air Service, who was the highest scoring Australian ace of World War I, the Sopwith had yet to be flown as of March 2023.
Cessna O-2 Super Skymaster
Darren Gibson’s (Eau Claire, Wisconsin; email: darreng8@juno.com) 2023 airplane is a 52-inch wingspan Chin Model Aircraft Cessna O-2 Super Skymaster. The front engine is an AP .15 and the rear is an AP .09. Darren noted that if one engine stops, the O-2 should still fly on the other engine.
He wrote, “I had been thinking of a push-pull airplane for a long time and this one seemed to work the best. It was in the Vietnam War, which I like. Most people put in electric motors, but I like engines. It should make for a nice sound with two engines running at the same time.”
Top Flite 1/6-Scale S.E.5
Alan Scuterud (Old Greenwich, Connecticut; email: shootsnap@aol.com) acquired a set of 1970s Top Flite kit plans for a 1/6-scale, 53-inch wingspan S.E.5a and used them as a guide to scratch-build an American version.
Weighing slightly more than 6 pounds, the model uses Futaba 3003 servos—two for pull-pull elevator control and one for pull-pull rudder control. Ailerons are on the lower wing only, with Corona CS-239MG Slim-Wing servos. Power is an FMS 4250-500 Kv motor with a 4S 4,000 mAh battery turning a 16 x 10 APC propeller. The receiver is a six-channel Spektrum 620, and the ESC is a 60 amp Turnigy Plush.
Alan currently gets approximately 7-minute flights, but as he learns better throttle control, he expects 8-minute flights or more. Callie Graphics supplied the custom markings on the S.E.5a. He stated that the aircraft flies very well with some rudder to initiate turns. “I’m awaiting warmer weather to get to fly it more.”
