ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES DC-3
GROWING UP In Ethiopia in the 1960s and ’70s, Wayne Lehman’s (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) family would occasionally take advantage of domestic air travel—the aircraft was invariably a DC-3. “I admired the bright green, yellow, and red livery highlighted by a perky lion and the rumbling sound as we took off from grass runways,” he wrote.
Drawn by destiny throughout the last 10 years, Wayne has modeled several DC-3s. The one in the photo has a wingspan of 47 inches and was built from Control Line plans for two .10-size gas engines. Power is supplied by two small drone motors on an 11.1-volt 850 mAh LiPo battery. “I discovered the setup worked best with only one speed control,” he stated.
The first aircraft version was sheeted as suggested in the plans, but after substantial “growing pains,” Wayne decided to start over, this time in stick-and-tissue style, with the “tissue” being very thin iron-on covering. (“Lighter flies better!”) However, he learned through several crashes that tapered wings are quite prone to tip-stalling.
A solution came while reading about wingtip turbulators in Model Aviation—small fins set a varying degree on the outer wing to create “messy air,” which provides more stability. (The photo was taken before the addition of turbulators.) Wayne noted that the little airplane now flies great—“taxiing, takeoffs, and landings are poetry!”
He wrote, “My daughter supplied the tiny passengers and pilots [she made] from craft clay; my son designed the graphics that were printed by Callie Graphics; and the ET-AAR registration is genuine, taken from a glimpse of old home movies!”
