FOCAL POINT
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Balsa USA Sopwith Pup
Jay Wiley (Brunswick, Maine; email: jaywiley6@gmail.com) completed a Balsa USA 1/6-scale Sopwith Pup with a Saito 62 four-stroke engine in the spring of 2025 and was waiting for the snow in Maine to clear for the maiden flight.
The roundels and markings are from Callie Graphics and based on the full-scale example that is found at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in New York. Scale RC Engines 3D-printed the dummy, half-profile, nine-cylinder Le Rhône engine to Jay’s dimensions, and Aces of Iron supplied the pilot bust. The airframe is covered in antique-color iron-on Oracover. The pitot tube, instrument panel, and machine gun-mounted windscreen were all scratch-built based on photographs that were taken of the full-scale aircraft at the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Maine.
Jay was planning on bringing it to a future Rhinebeck Jamboree.
Vintage Piper Tomahawk
Darren M. Gibson’s (Eau Claire, Wisconsin; email: darren.g8@juno.com) new airplane for 2025 is a Pilot-RC vintage Piper Tomahawk kit. Using an O.S. 25FP engine, a 9 x 4 propeller, and a Futaba radio, Darren stated that this 57-inch wingspan kit, from Japan, was ahead of the time and went together very fast.
“Back in 1983, I went for a ride in a full-scale Piper Tomahawk,” Darren said. “Piper had just come out with these airplanes], so it was a new design. When we were flying, the air became bumpy, and my instructor took over the controls. He was afraid the tail was going to come off.”
Fighting Tri-Pacer
Ray Ihlenburg (Ocala, Florida; email: ray.ihlenburg@gmail.com) found this “antique” Sterling Tri-Pacer kit on eBay to model a Fighting Tri-Pacer. “This kit was basically a Free Flight model designed for rudder-only using a single-channel rubber band escapement,” he said.
The RC redesign included reducing the dihedral to prototype specifications, designing provisions for the ailerons and fully functioning tail feathers, a steerable nose wheel requiring a separate servo, and the requirements for installing an electric motor, ESC, and side-access battery compartment. Guidance is by Spektrum, with power as a Cobra 3520/14 700 Kv motor and Cobra 60-amp ESC using a 4S 5,000 mAh LiPo battery. The model is covered with olive drab MonoKote and will be weathered to resemble the Frenchman KAG squadron spotter airplane that operated in the Algerian desert sand and sun. The graphics are from Callie Graphics.
The maiden mission flew on March 13, 2025, with not a smidge of trim required.
Twin Gee Bee
Tim Norris (Katy, Texas; email: timnorris723@yahoo.com), a member of the Bayou City Flyers in Katy, owned two Great Planes Gee Bee ARFs and came up with the idea of combining them into a single, twin-fuselage airplane because “no one else has done it!” He approached another club member, George Lumpkins, about helping his dream come true. George was initially hesitant, until Tim shamelessly dared him to help, indicating that George could not do it! The gauntlet was thrown down and picked up!
Foam particles flew everywhere, carbon-fiber rods came out for reinforcement, piles of wiring snaked through the wing, and acrylic paint was splattered around. A Futaba radio and SMC batteries were used for an 82-inch wingspan model.
A large percentage of the club turned out for the maiden flight, which was uneventful and a surprise to all—except for Tim, whose hands were shaking. “The question of ‘Why?’ was asked. The answer was, ‘Because we could!’”
New Life for Carbon-Z Cessna
Eric Ritter (Visalia, California; email: eritter78@yahoo.com) brought new life to a Horizon Hobby Carbon-Z Cessna by repainting the original tricycle gear model and converting it to a tail-dragger. “After almost eight years of flying this model, it now has floats and a new life,” he said.
The Carbon-Z Cessna is shown in the photo on the float area at the Central Valley RC flying field in Visalia.
Self-Designed F-117 Nighthawk
Jeff Thomas (Shelbyville, Indiana; email: jatjetsvc@gmail.com), a member of the Indianapolis RC Modelers Club in Morristown, Indiana, self-designed and scratch-built an F-117 Nighthawk twin-fan EDF jet model. It took him approximately six months to build and fly.
The airplane has a 34-inch wingspan and is 36 inches long with a flying weight of 7.1 pounds. It uses two 6S 70mm 12-blade FMS EDF fan units and runs off of a single 6S 5,000 mAh LiPo battery. It also uses 80mm FMS Futural retracts. Jeff noted that it is a true “composite” airplane made of a green foam main wing and ribs, spruce spars, balsa leading and trailing edges, balsa stabilizers and control surfaces, some plywood mount blocks, and a basic foam board upper fuselage.
“It took three attempts to get it airborne, taking nose weight out each time,” he said. “On March 12, 2025, it took to the air on its maiden flight and was about perfect! Three clicks of up-trim were all that were needed. This surprised all with the ‘guessed-at’ mix of ruddervators and elevons on the airplane. Even the maiden approach and landing were nice and smooth!”
Bf 110 Zerstörer
Gonzalo Bures (Toa Baja, Puerto Rico; email: gonzalobures@gmail.com) took advantage of some personal downtime to refurbish this ESM Bf 110 Zerstörer model that he had built approximately 12 years ago. The refurbishment included overhauling the engines, replacing fuel hoses, cleaning up the tank, replacing the pneumatic lines, and retouching the paint.
With a 95-inch wingspan, the model is powered by two RCG 27cc engines with 17 x 8 propellers, and guidance is by a Futaba T14SG radio and a 14-channel receiver. It also utilizes 13 servos for the rudders, tail wheel, retracts, flaps, throttle, ailerons, bomb drop, and external tank release. The gear doors operate mechanically. Gonzalo did not use gyros.
The model is schemed after a German night fighter and features a frontal radar antenna. It also has a full cockpit with a pilot, a radar section with the equipment, and a rear gunner.
The model was re-maidened on February 19, 2025, at the Borinquen RC Club in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. “It flew very well, although I was very nervous,” Gonzalo said.
Online Fokker D.VII
Chris Reibert’s (Macedon, New York; email: 3dandscalercarhelicopters@gmail.com) beautiful 1970s Online Fokker D.VII balsa kit was meticulously built by expert craftsman Al Bensley, a member of the Rochester Aero Modeling Society in Macedon.
The Fokker D.VII was originally built and flown with an O.S. .90 four-stroke engine and was later converted to a modern 6S electric setup.
Chris said, “Even though it’s a classic 1970s design, the modern electronics allow the Fokker to fly on rails. It is a joy to fly and a head-turner at fun-flys. All of the models that Al builds look and fly amazing.”
