My home-brew winter project has reached the stage where the woodwork is essentially complete, bar some final gluing up, and it’s time to cover the model. Since the aeroplane is a sports design I’ve decided to use an eye catching scheme in a bright iron-on film. Now, before applying any covering I always perform a trial installation of the radio and engine, including all control runs, as it’s all too easy to damage a covered model during this process. Also, it’s very much easier to cover components whilst they’re still flat objects on the bench.
I don't mind the cold, dark, wet nights. I'm not ashamed to admit that I adore those long evenings in the shed with the radio on. I find the smell of balsa dust and machine oil very comforting. I'm definitely in 'winter project mode' at the moment, though I keep the trusty winter hack charged up just in case.
Early season, and I was at ex-RAF Sleap on a different mission and where I had a pleasant surprise. It was my first outdoor meeting of the 2012 season and, as I limbered up with three clanking cameras, the last thing I expected to shoot was two brand new ARTF Sea Furies! They were not small fry either. The new Black Horse Sea Fury is over six feet in span, which my dodgy maths makes about 1/6-scale. Weighing in at around 7.
A Cox control-line P-51. Cox were making live fuel powered RTFs generations before the current boom in ARTFs.
Spring has sprung, the grass is riz. The blonde person has been having great fun with her brand new, shrieking-yellow strimmer.
The Ponnier Monoplane Racer, conceived by Albert Pagny, was specifically designed to compete in the Gordon Bennett Rheims Air Race in 1913. It had a span of 23ft 6in, and was powered by a twin-row rotary Gnome engine.
The event, the third of its kind, was held on the Betheny Plain site of the historic first race in 1909. It is significant to note that even this early in the history of air racing, eight of the nine entries flew monoplanes.
In the period immediately after the Second World War, the coming of the jet engine saw much innovation in both civilian and military aviation. At the time the possibilities of the jet age were vaguely glimpsed, but largely unknown. However, the arrival of jet power did prompt the need for broader training opportunities, and a number of manufacturers, sensing commercial possibilities, rose to the challenge. At that time there was also much discussion about the effects of fast jet flight on human physiology.
This plan was first published in 2002 and is available from the RCM&E plans service.
PART. 1
To my eyes, Edwardian design has always combined elegance and practicality. Take the Blackburn 1912 monoplane, for instance.
This review was first published in 2003, the kit has since been re-issued in an all-silver scheme and currently enjoys limited availability.
Graupner’s semi-scale Taifun follows the recent trend towards a slightly more up-market ARTF, with high build quality and additional features such as flaps and retracts. Actually, I’ll let you into a secret: I’ve not yet built a model with both flaps and retracts, so this was an exciting prospect for me.
At 63” span, the Taifun has a 14” root chord, a chunky fuselage, and .
This review was first published in RCM&E November 2005 and the kit is still available (see link below).
I like Mustangs. In fact I’ve owned three such ARTFs over the last few years, two of which I’ve managed to ‘total’ in dodgy circumstances. I therefore came to this particular review with both excitement and a certain amount of trepidation.
