SFM News Letter

October 2005

by: David P. Andersen

See You at Our Next Meeting!
The next meeting of the Scale Flyers of Minnesota will be held on Friday, October 28, 7:00 p.m. at the American Legion Post, 6501 Portland, Richfield.   Guests are always welcome.  Come early and dine in the restaurant. The restaurant is now smoke-free!.

At the last meeting…

Pete Stapleton presented a partially completed Ziroli Panther.  Wood construction around a Sim Jet 1200-18 turbine (17 lbs thrust).  Projected weight 18 lbs.  Double wall tail pipe.  72” span, IMAA legal.  Pete extended the wing tubes with ply ribs.  Only one afternoon to cut all parts.  Fuselage was strip planked— “A whole lot of work.

Chris Rothstein Fly's "Maury's" Bearcat

Cal Branton showed a partially completed Canadian Clark Industries Hurricane MK II.  Dihedral in kit was wrong—much work to correct.  Scale hinging—”Ailerons have a million ribs inside, all with lightening holes.”  Three concentric torque tubes for flaps and ailerons.  104 cc inline twin cylinder engine comes with the kit—two Quadra 52s ganged together.  Scale exhaust ports.  “Dubious cowling” but exactly scale landing gear with 15 degree rotation—14 moving “all breakable” parts.  Expected to weigh 60 lbs, requiring lots of nose weight.  Tail controls are 2 double cables with bell cranks.  Sprung tail wheel. 118” wing span. 

Dave Andersen presented his 1/3rd scale Grumman Lynx.  Original design of a full-sized airplane owned by Bud Durant.  Photos and other documentation provided by Bud and the Lynx’s current owner.  Fiberglass cowl and canopy formed by Wayne Siewert. This airplane later qualified in the Upper Midwest Scale Masters Qualifier.
Tight 4-Spit Formation Flying Owatonna's First Saturday Monthly Fly-in Jim Greenlys P47

Scott Russell reviewed the new 14-channel Futaba 14MZ transmitter.  It does “more things than it needs to.”  Voice and audio output.  ATVs on each channel.  WINDOWS and Futaba operating systems.  “Very easy to program—easier that the 9Z.”  Color touch screen, sliders can be allocated as trims.  Can separately trim up to 4 engines.
Roy Maynard displayed a WWII German submarine.  Hey, it’s scale and it flies underwater.  OTW Designs (English) kit. 1941 Type 7 U-boat.  7-ft length, 1/32 scale. F/G hull was badly warped.  Roy de-warped with heat and reinforcement.  Radio control good for 3 ft depth in fresh water.  Fail safe blows ballast tank.  Roy accidentally called the hull a “fuselage.” Using airplane weathering techniques, he went on to win Best Military Boat at the Toledo Expo.  Congratulations, Roy.

Kirk Hall showed an Aerotech Models Mitsubishi Frank.  Quiet Bennet muffler required cowl to be moved forward slightly to fit.  30 lbs.  Yellow A/C cockpit kit.  Eric Malkerson retract. ”Best gear I’ve ever seen—light, low profile, strong,” Kirk reports.

Dave Schwantz brought a spectacular A10 Warthog built from a Mibo-Jets kit ($8000 list. Check-out www.mibojets.com) Two JetCat P120 turbines produce 55 lbs thrust.  2 1/2 gal fuel on board.  67 lbs. Lights and strobes.  Air-operated canopy, scale hard points.  7 batteries on board, 10 servos.  Minihobby airbrakes.  Duralite power box.  Operational trim tabs. Spectacular nose art by Keri Hanson. Blue Box cockpit.  PPG omni paint with Fixt N’ Flat clear coat.  Custom built for a customer in Louisiana who also builds drones for the military. Custom building is now Dave’s full-time job.  Amazing!
    Dave Schwantz Warthog's Nose Art Jim Brown 1/3 Scale Waco Static Judge Tells Author Everything He Did Wrong!
Eric Malkerson passed around some scale wheels he is making and marketing thru a new company he formed with his brother. Check-out  www.rcmfg.com .

“I don’t think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like some creation of the brain unfolding to success.”—Nikola Tesla.

Recommended wed site: www.landings.com. Click on databases and registrations. Look up owner of any current airplane by tail number or a/c type. Source of scale info.

Fly well...Fly safely

Mark Prokop, President, mjprokop@aol.com  David P. Andersen, Grand Poo-bah, davidpandersen76@gmail.com