EARL STAHL DESIGNS AN FAC CONTEST WINNER
Photo provided by Frank Slavin | fslavinhope@aol.com
FRANK SLAVIN (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) submitted a couple of photos for “Viewfinder.” The first photo shows his two Earl Stahl-designed models that were increased to 1:20 scale. In it, Earl holds a Boulton Paul Defiant that is painted as a night fighter and Frank holds a Grumman F4F that is painted in prewar USS Hornet colors. Frank said, “Concerning Earl Stahl, I only met him that one time.”
The other photo shows Frank’s 1/30-scale, 42-inch wingspan Free Flight Boeing 307 Stratoliner that he scratch-designed and built using outline information and characteristics from a small Boeing Company plan that was in a circa-1950 drafting textbook. The markings were obtained from Paul Matz Data. The model was powered by four mini electric motors using NiCd batteries.
Frank stated that the full-scale Stratoliner was the first commercial four-engine pressurized cabin airliner, with the engine nacelles and tail assembly, including the originally configured stabilizer, from the B-17. Ten were built in 1939, and they were flown by TWA and Pan Am. A rehabilitated Stratoliner was flown several times in 2001, with the last flight landing in the water in Seattle, reportedly because of a loss of power.
Frank’s Stratoliner model design was started in the fall of 1996 and completed in June 1997. It took third place in Multi-Engine Electric at the 1999 Flying Aces Club (FAC) Scale contest in Geneseo, New York.
SHARE YOUR STORY
Do you have a high-quality/high-resolution airplane, helicopter, or multirotor photo that you are proud of, or a model aviation-related photo with a great story behind it? Email your “Viewfinder” photo and a description about it to jennifer@modelaircraft.org.
