SELECTING A NEW MODEL TO BUILD
By Stan Alexander | onawing4602@att.net
Bob Underwood’s Petlyakov Pe-2 attack aircraft from World War II featured retracts, dive brakes, flaps, and bomb drops to add to the Scale realism.
WOW, SEPTEMBER is already here! There are Scale contests, fly-ins, and Dawn Patrols all over the place! This might be the time to think about what you are going to build this winter. Should you build another P-51, a J-3 Cub, a Nieuport 17, or some other airplane that you see every day?
I recently ran across a photo of one of Bob Underwood’s models from the late 1970s or early 1980s. It’s another aircraft that you never see, making it a great subject for Scale competition. Everyone’s seen a P-51 and the ultimate trainer, the J-3 Cub, but Bob would pick out a subject that nobody had ever seen before, such as a Petlyakov Pe-2. He built two of them. This one was powered by two Kraft 45 two-stroke engines. Plans are not available—this was scratch-building at its finest.
Picking out a subject, such as the Pe-2, an Alcor C.6.1 Junior, or the Wittman D-12 Bonzo racer, was a hallmark of Bob’s building skills. He went on to place second in the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft with a Sorrell Hiperbipe as well. If you really want to show up with something different, why not try a scratch-built or plans-built model this time?
If you want an all-purpose model, the one that I’m currently building, an Eindecker E.III from Balsa USA, is an excellent choice. Warbird and Classics events, Dawn Patrols, or Scale competitions are all available to compete in with this easily built model.
The basic airframe is now built. I’m sanding the leading edge (LE) of the wing and adding details. Speaking of the LE, use a razor plane to shape the squared sticks that form it. After taking off the edges, I changed to my Du-Bro 22-inch Kwik Sand Hand Sander bar and sanded each wing halves’ top and bottom until they matched.
Gunsmoke Scale Classic
This year’s annual Gunsmoke Scale Classic competition was hosted in April at the Arizona Model Aviators field in Mesa, Arizona. While the weather was quite challenging on Friday, Mother Nature really came through on Saturday with a wonderful day of flying. The event had a laidback feel this year, with all types of aircraft represented, including electric, gas, electric ducted fans, jets, and several foam-construction aircraft.
This year, the event transitioned to AMA rules to enable single-day, two flight-round entries. Two participants took advantage of this option. Additionally, three participants were new to Scale competition. The flight rotation was juggled to enable two flight judges to compete; they had been practicing to demonstrate their skills.
Similar to other Scale competition events that utilize AMA rules and meet the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA) requirements, the event was awarded a NASA contest grant of $500. Leading up to next year’s event, the club will focus on increasing club member involvement by introducing an ARF-only class and working with the regular weekend fliers in an attempt to “light the competitive fire” for Scale competition. Thanks to Tim Dickey!
The clubs in Arizona around Phoenix and Mesa are great groups; I’ve been there several times throughout the years. I’ve been a member of the One Eighth Air Force club for many years, and their fly-ins at the Mesa field have always been well-attended events.
The One Eighth Air Force group has now turned over the Fall Fly-In to the Arizona Model Pilots Society to operate under their banner. The Spring Fly-In has been taken on by Bonnie and Brian O’Meara. The One Eighth has stepped back and will function primarily as a social group that supports other Scale organizations and Scale events with participation and/or trophy sponsorships.
2026 FAI F4 Scale World Championships
The 2026 FAI F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft will be held at Buckminster in the U.K.! This has been confirmed by the subcommittee chairman and voting at the recent meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Buckminster is the home field for the British Model Flyers Association (BMFA), and for the first time that I can remember in more than 30 years, the flying site is all
Note the balsa sticks that are installed for the flying wires in the Eindecker E.III. These have to be planned before covering.
grass! There’s no paved field, but this is some of the best-kept grass in the world. Jets or any other type of aircraft should have no problem taking off or landing at this strip. It should be an exciting event, especially with all of the aviation museums within an hour’s drive from the site.
We know that modelers around the country have started building their contest entries now and are getting them ready for F4B (Control Line Scale) and the two RC classes (F4H and F4C).
Bob Underwood
As this column was going to press, I learned that one of my best friends had passed away. Bob Underwood was a Scale modeler to the highest degree, but his passion for aeromodeling spanned much more than just Scale aircraft.
In his professional life, Bob was a teacher, an AMA executive director, Nats management, a model designer, and served on nearly every committee that AMA has ever had. He started the NASA Special Interest Group and served two separate times as NASA’s president. We worked together many times to get things done correctly.
All of this, yet Bob was a very humble man and didn’t seek the spotlight at all. He later honed his many skills with photography and served as his local church’s photographer.
Bob passed away on June 19, 2024, just one day shy of his and his wife, Rae’s, 71st wedding anniversary. He will be sorely missed by many.
Fair skies and tailwinds.
SOURCES:
Balsa USA
(800) 225-7287
https://balsausa.com
House of Balsa
(760) 955-8088
www.houseofbalsa.com
Gunsmoke Scale Classic
www.nasascale.org/event/gunsmoke-scale-classic-2024-rc
Gunsmoke Scale Classic Facebook Group
www.facebook.com/groups/989580131858595
BMFA
www.bmfa.org
FAI Sporting Code
Section 4—Aeromodelling Volume F4 Flying Scale Model Aircraft
www.fai.org/sites/default/files/sc4_vol_f4_scale_22.pdf
