RC Airplanes | Gliders | Helicopters
6TH VINTAGE GLIDER MODEL MEETING
DECEMBER 2016
BEIJING MODEL EXPO TOUR
AN INSIDE LOOK AT SHENZHEN’S
T-ONE JET FACTORY
GIANT SCALE PIPER CUB BUILD
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BUILDING SCALE FOR COMPETITION IRON-ON COVERING TECHNIQUES USA & CANADA $6.49
RC-SF.COM
EVENT The Schweizer TG-2 was design as a trainer glider. It first flew in June of 1938. It has a 18.84-meter wingspan.
6TH VINTAGE GLIDER MODEL MEETING TAKING A STEP BACK IN TIME WITH QUIET FLYERS BY VINCENZO PEDRELLI
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The smile on Carlo Cobianchi as he holds his Orlik II glider says everything about the fun had at the 6th Vintage Glider Meeting.
He is another example of the quality of the model’s shown and flown. This is the cockpit of the famous IS-4 Jastrzab glider.
An Axel pilot fills the cockpit of this Bocian model glider, which was built as a 1/3-scale version — nicely done!
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n 20th September 2015, at the airfield of Annicco, near Cremona, the Sixth Vintage Glider Model Meeting was held for modelers. It is an event which increases every year in the number of models and pilot that participate. In its sixth edition 33 pilots attended. They came from different regions of central and northern Italy, entering 43 vintage models, There were also 11 tow airplanes used to launch the model gliders. The G.A.C., Gruppo Aeromodellistico
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Cremonese, had put in place twenty members of the Club to take care of the various stages of the event. With this force deployed, the event could not have been carried out any better and in complete safety. A lunch was served on the airfield. It was delicious pasta and fried fish, with about a hundred meals being served together with white and red wine. It made for many relaxing moments being shared by friends and model fans, many not seen for a year or more. As is always, they had many
stories to tell and lots of technical questions to ask. After lunch and before continuing flight activities, a lottery organized by the C.A.G. was started. The first prize was a Swift model offered by the company X-Model. The second prize was a watch of the fiftieth anniversary of the “”Frecce Tricolori” (Italian Air Force Patrol), donated by Tullio Facchini, one of the historic founders of the C.A.G. The participation in the lottery was good, and the lucky winners were quite satisfied.
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EVENT
BEIJING MODEL EXPO 2016
CHINESE FACTORIES BRING IT TO MARKET BY WIL BYERS
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y first trip to China for the Beijing Model Exposition was in 2001. I was sponsored to attend the event by Mr Huang. I remember the drive from the airport like it was yesterday in that there was not much traffic and that the city looked like it was stuck in the ‘50s. It is a complete and utter understatement to say much has changed in Beijing. Now the city boasts a population of 36 million, the traffic is typically a true nightmare, and the air pollution can be utterly stifling if not choking. During my 2001 visit to the trade show, the event was quite small, and the quality of the products left something to be desired. Again, much has changed! While the venue is still the same, the Beijing show has grown into a huge event, with the waiting lines to enter extending for a block or more. If you’re a dedicated RC aircraft enthusiast like me, I suggest you make plans
The Beijing Model Exposition has grown since my first visit in 2002. It is still hosted at the same venue. The waiting line at the gate was about a block long this year. rc-sportflyer.tumblr.com
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BUILD
IRON-ON COVERINGS,PART III SUPER SPORTSTER 60 WING AMEND BY JEFF TROY
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y four prime directives of film covering were explained in the two previous filmcovering installments. They are: 1) don’t make a seam; change the color, 2) it’s not about shrink; it’s about stretch, 3) the “Four Corners” application method, and 4) my “Divide-By-Half” (DBH) sealing
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technique. In review, a color change never looks like a seam, stretching the film during application goes a long way toward eliminating loosening and bagging covering, my Four Corners method is the essential step toward drum-tight covering, and the “Divide by Half” (DBH) sealing method helps you iron down perimeters without
Circus Pink MonoKote was applied next to the white covering in my previous installment. Do not shrink the outboard area of this covering material until the adjacent gray covering is added to your model. RC SPORT FLYER • DEC 2016
gathers or creases. This installment will address applying the final trim color to the Great Planes® Super Sportster 60 wing, adding accent stripes, and “cleanup” strips. The upper covering scheme of my SS60 wing has a Jet White Top Flite MonoKote® center, with Circus Pink and Dove Gray MonoKote, two bays each, transitioning outward from the white. Sky Blue MonoKote will cover the last bay, as well as the wingtip. Presently, the SS60 wing has Metallic Platinum MonoKote completely covering its underside, and two patches of Jet White MonoKote extending outward from the center section on the top of the wing. I had also ironed sections of Circus Pink over the two bays outboard of the white covering. This pink covering was shrunk over the inboard bays, but not the outer bays. Shrinking the covering next to a stillopen bay could easily put pressure on the rib, and cause it to bow toward the tightened film. My next step is to cover the outermost bay and wingtip with a single piece of covering. Most modelers, including me, will agree that wingtips — or any compound twitter.com/rcsportflyer
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One piece of Sky Blue MonoKote will cover the wingtip and the outermost wing bay. Begin the application tacking down a small area at the center of the next-to-last rib.
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Firmly pull the material tight while you tack down another small area at the approximate center of the wingtip. Pulling the material snug will help to prevent wrinkles when shrinking.
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Pull the material firmly once more, this time at the trailing edge (TE) of the wingtip. Stretch away as many wrinkles as you can, and iron down the TE tip.
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Repeat the procedure at the leading edge (LE) where it meets the wingtip. Pulling left or right as you stretch helps to get the material laying as flat as possible.
curves — are some of the most difficult areas to cover with iron-on polyester films. The reason is that polyester films are relatively stiff, and trying to get them around compound cures without a little help will often result in nasty wrinkles and creases. Fortunately, ‘a little help’ is available, and it comes in the form of your patience and skill, and your proper use of a hobby-quality heat gun. When modelers think of a heat gun, the first thing that comes to mind is shrink.” However, going back to second of my four directives, shrink mentality must be replaced by stretch mentality. Instead of trying to make a stiff polyester covering conform to curves that it cannot match, the heat gun will be used to soften the covering so it can be pulled and stretched around those compound rc-sportflyer.tumblr.com
curves as if the film was made of thin rubber and not unyielding polyester. Just imagine covering your model with material similar to a Playtex glove. You could pull and stretch it around almost anything — even a Ping-Pong ball — without a single crease or wrinkle. I start at the inboard end of the last wing bay by tacking down approximately one inch of covering over the center of the rib. Then I pull the material tightly toward and over the center of the wingtip, and iron a one-inch area there. The only concern so far is to tack the material at the center of the rib and tip, and ensuring it is smooth and tight between those two points. The curvature from the center of the wing chord to the trailing edge (TE) of the tip is less severe than it is
from the center to the leading edge (LE), so you should get familiar with the rest of the tip-sealing method by doing the rear section first. Grab the loose end of the covering and pull it back evenly toward the TE of the rib and wingtip. The objective is to pull the material tightly to eliminate as much creasing and wrinkling as possible before trying to attach it to any part of the structure. If you can do this without using the heat gun, great! Use the iron to tack the covering down, first at the rearmost tip of the wingtip, then by alternately dividing by half along the rear half of the rib and the curve of the wingtip. If you cannot get the covering to lay completely flat by pulling, you’ll need to use the iron or the heat gun to soften the material and make it pliable. Pull the material snugly to Subscribe @ RCSportFlyer.com
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BUILD
AWE PIPER PART 1
THIRD-SCALE PA-18 PIPER CUB - PART 1 BY PHILIPP GARDEMIN
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After four months of relaxed fun, construction the model is up to this point in the build.
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gain, I’ve opted to build a 3.6-meter PA-18. It was 12 years ago that I built my first 1/3-scale Piper aircraft, and it was electric powered even then. At the time, the kit was from Eduard Seidl. That Cub was fitted with 60 NiCd cells and a “Torcman Monster” outrunner motor. I enjoyed flying the model for many years. My fascination with this classic aircraft never left me. Then, before rc-sportflyer.tumblr.com
glider Fair 2014, I became interested in Christian Negele’s Rödelmodell Cub, after he shared images of their new PA-18. Again, the Cub is 1/3-scale and of wood construction. It was right up my alley. The final temptation was when I spent three days at Gliding Fair. A demonstration of the Cub had me hooked. Assured of my choice, I ordered one and it arrived in my workshop in time for the 2015 construction season.
Structure The structure of the model showed me all sorts of construction techniques and assembly solutions that I did not previously know. For example, the tail is made of an 11-millimeter-thick, three-layer sandwich of wood, with a middle layer of plywood, two layers of balsa, and the assembly resin-bonded in a press. I like the layered material in different thicknesses! In the nose, Subscribe @ RCSportFlyer.com
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BUILD
AIRBORNE MODELS’ CLIPPED WING CUB
DA-120 POWER MAKES THIS CUB AN AGGRESSIVE TOWIN’ MACHINE BY WIL BYERS
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o apologies, I love largescale sailplanes and gliders. Aerotowing them to soaring altitude is part of the fun of this facet of the hobby. Unfortunately, over the last few years, the number of available tugs and their pilots has dwindled in my area of the country. It has done so to such an extent that at some events there has only been one tug and pilot available to the event, which obviously impacts the number of tows for the pilots. Consequently, I’ve been planning to become a tug pilot for about the last 10 years. However, every time I’ve built an airplane to serve as a glider/ sailplane tug it has been snatched up by a fellow enthusiast.
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This year, I made the decision to build an airplane as a dedicated tug; and, I was committed to keeping it! After researching a number of airplanes that I thought would be suitable as a good tug, my final choice was the Airborne Models Clipped Wing Cub. I chose it because: it would accept the DA-120 for power, was durably built, would be sporty to fly, had plenty of room for a large fuel tank, and it could be fitted with the Robart.com 1/3-scale Cub shockabsorbing landing gear. So the model was ordered. And, within only four days it arrived. It came extremely well packed against shipping damage. It is worth noting that the model’s kit included a very
good hardware package, however, some of the parts and pieces were changed out to suit my wants and needs for a tug aircraft. An Easy Build The Clipped Wing Cub is an easy build, even when modified to accept the DA-120 and a 100-oz fuel tank. You’ll need to modify the landing gear if you use the PR bush wheels, but that is easy as well. I started my model’s build by sealing all the internal wood parts and the firewall against fuel damage. I used epoxy finishing resin for this purpose — I thinned it with 10% alcohol. I just brushed it on with a throw-away, inexpensive paint brush.
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HOW TO
BUILDING SCALE FOR COMPETITION PART IV THE FUSELAGE BUILD BY TOM WOLF
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n my previous installment in this series, we discussed the importance of validating the plans or the kit before starting work. As outlined, a significant number of scale deviations were uncovered during the validation of the plans that I had purchased for my L-19 project. The required corrective actions to fix those issues were also identified. However,
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since that installment was published, the very reason for a complete and thorough validation reared its ugly head on this project, which resulted in a very significant change in direction. This installment will cover what happened, what my plan is going forward, and describe the initial phases of construction of the L-19.
An Unpleasant Surprise Based upon what I believed was the successful validation of the L-19 plans I had purchased, I began construction of the fuselage, with changes made to mitigate known scale deviations that I’d identified. For example, the upper part of bulkhead five was modified to correct the shape and location of the fuselage/
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PLAN
PIPER AIRCRAFT J-3 CUB THE QUINTESSENTIAL SINGLE-ENGINE AIRPLANE BY WENDELL HOSTETLER
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one of the best known light aircraft of all time. The Cub’s simplicity, affordability and popularity — as well as its large production numbers, with nearly 20,000 built in the United States — invokes comparisons to the Ford Model T automobile.
SPECIFICATIONS
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he Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1937 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design that gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is
J-3 Cub Crew : One pilot Length : 22 ft 5 in. (6.83 m) Wingspan : 35 ft 3 in. (10.74 m) Height : 6 ft 8 in. (2.03 m) Wing area : 178.5 ft² (16.58 m²) Empty weight : 765 lb (345 kg) Useful load : 455 lb (205 kg) Max takeoff : 1,220 lb (550 kg) weight
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3-VIEW
SCHEMPPHIRTH SHK-1 A GORGEOUS, MODERN CLASSIC SAILPLANE BY HANS-JÜRGEN FISCHER
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the Standard Austria was constructed primarily of wood, with plywood skins, and a fiberglass nose section, pilot’s seat, and tail-cone. Weight- and dragsaving features included the use of an all-flying V-tail. The V-tail increased cost and complexity of the controls. It also had the tendency to slightly pitch the aircraft with application of rudder and yaw the airplane with elevator control. After 1962 the Standard Austria’s design development continued with improved models. The glider got an optional retractable undercarriage
and the NACA sectioned wings were replaced with the Eppler 266 section, which improved low-speed performance.
SPECIFICATIONS
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Crew : One Wingspan : 15 m (49 ft 3 in.) Length : 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in.) Wing area : 13.5 m2 (145 ft2) Aspect ratio : 16.7 Airfoil : NACA 652-415 Empty weight : 205 kg (452 lb) Gross weight : 323 kg (712 lb) Wing loading : 24 kg/m2 (4.9 lb/ft2)
VARIANTS
he Standard Austria is one of the few designs you fall in love with at first sight. It has the design lines that landed it on the flight line immediately after the vintage era (those built before November 27, 1957 — the advent of fiberglass sailplanes with the flight of the Akaflieg’s Stuttgart FS-24 Phoenix) and just as modern class sailplanes came to the scene. As such, it has a big roomy fuselage, a constant tapered wing, a V-tail, top-and-bottom type spoilers, and a retractable gear in the SHK version. The Standard Austria was a singleseat glider that was designed and built in Austria beginning in 1959. However, production was moved to SchemppHirth factory in Germany in 1962. It was commissioned by the Österreichischer Aeroclub (Austrian Aero club). The designer was Rüdiger Kunz. It was purpose built to compete in the 1960 Organization Scientific et Technique du Vol à Voile (OSTIV) competition for standard class sailplanes. It won acclaim as the best standard class aircraft entered. The design goals were focused on producing an aircraft with a low wing loading but with a high lift-todrag ratio. To achieve its design goals
Standard Austria Model built in Austria. Standard Austria S Production aircraft by Schemp-Hirth under license Standard Austria SH Improved heavier model — five built Standard Austria SH-I The SH with retractable undercarriage Standard Austria 1964 model with Eppler 266 airfoil SHK Schempp-Hirth 17-meter Open Class — designed by Klaus Holighaus in 1965 from the SH-1 version.
Stall speed : 55 km/h (34 mph) Velocity never : 250 km/h (155 mph) exceed Rough air speed : 140 km/h (87.0 mph) max Aerotow speed : 140 km/h (87.0 mph) Winch launch : 95 km/h (59.0 mph) speed Terminal velocity : w/ full airbrakes 250 km/h (155 mph) Maximum glide : 34 @ 105 km/h ratio (65.2 mph) Sink rate : 0.7 m/s (140 ft/min) @ 70 km/h (43.5 mph) G limits : +8 -0 @ 230 km/h (142.9 mph) twitter.com/rcsportflyer
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Schnitt F-F 2000
(Maßstab x 2)
Höhenflossen Ausschlag (Maßstab x 2)
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F 800
Schnitt A-A (Maßstab x 2)
Schnitt G-G (Maßstab x 2)
Schnitt B-B (Maßstab x 2)
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Schnitt C-C
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(Maßstab x 2)
Schnitt D-D 40
(Maßstab x 2)
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Schnitt E-E (Maßstab x 2)
Lackierung Stand 2010
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FEATURE
SHENZHEN’S T-ONE JET FACTORY TOUR
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aving been to China a number of times, I’ve visited quite a few factories to see how our RC models and drones are manufactured. Most of the factories visits have been to companies that make foam or wooden models, not high quality, hollow molded composite aircraft. That changed in April when I was invited by the T-One Model team to tour their factory. The name T-One isn’t immediately
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recognizable to modelers in the USA. That too may change in the near future. The reason I say so is that T-One is clearing a path for themselves in the area of composite aircraft, and at this juncture, specifically turbine-powered jets. Their dedicated team of engineers and designers have set a goal for T-One to build what may be arguably some of the best custom made jets money can buy. twitter.com/rcsportflyer
IT’S FULL-THROTTLE AFTERBURNER FOR THESE DEDICATED ENGINEERS! BY WIL BYERS To meet their goal the team has set about creating computer generated solid models of their aircraft in Pro Engineer. These solid models are not much different from those you might find at a company like Boeing. They replicate the project aircraft in every detail so that the model’s tooling can then be produced by computer numeric controlled (CNC) machining. As such, the design engineers takes into account everything from tool
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REVIEW
HACKER RC PARAGLIDER
IT’S MUCH MORE THAN JUST HANGING AROUND BY WIL BYERS
Flying a parasail is much more than just hanging around. With the new Hacker parasail you can power up for some exciting under-the-canopy fun.
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C Powered Paragliding (PPG) has arrived. Hacker Motor GmbH has long been known for quality-manufactured brushless power systems in the USA. However, Hacker’s German headquarter’s team makes and sells other top quality RC products. Hacker’s Munich facility employs some avid full-scale paraglider pilots. They’ve worked several years with the full-scale paraglider firm, SWING, to develop a Hacker line of functional RC paraglider wings. These Hacker wings offer “no-excuses” performance, so you get quality piloting time. These new Hacker wings don’t just hang in the air like flapping bedsheets, as has been the case with other brands — not even, these wings really fly. RC-FREE & RC-FREE v2 + Backpack Power System LITE Hacker’s RC-FREE paraglider, when combined with the Backpack Power
Your Hacker parasail will come neatly packed against shipping damage. The kit includes everything you need to get flying with the exception of battery — you’ll need to pick all the power components too.
There is not much that must be assembled. Probably the most difficult task will be fitting the motor to the backpack, which is easy.
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REVIEW
ULTIMATE² BNF ® BASIC WITH SAFE BY JAMES VANWINKLE
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orizon Hobbies, and E-flite in particular, continue to turn out amazingly designed aircraft — ones that handle anything a pilot can throw at them. The Ultimate² is another design from Mike McConville that is a pure joy to fly! Like many of their new designs, this aircraft utilizes the Spektrum™ AS3X® technology, which turns a good model into a great one, thanks to their stability system. Even a step above, is the ability to recover from unwanted attitudes with the use of a Panic Recover Mode. With an E-flite 10-size motor, coupled with a 40-amp ESC, and using Z-foam construction, the Ultimate² is a treat to fly. The bright color scheme helps a pilot maintain aircraft orientation during even the most blistering 3D flights, no matter the sky conditions. In the Air Flying the Ultimate² is a wonderful experience in every regard. It takes off in about 30 feet and tracks extremely well thanks to AS3X doing its thing. If trim is needed, small adjustments should be made in the precision flight mode. Then no inputs are made for about 2.5 seconds, so the
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receiver can learn the new settings and incorporate them as standard for following flights. This is mentioned in the manual, though my Ultimate didn’t require any trim adjustment. The first flight of the Ultimate was performed in somewhat windy conditions, though it proved to be absolutely no issue for this model. I was never really concerned, even during the maiden, because I also own a Visionaire, which handles the wind like a champ. I expected this aircraft to perform similarly. One of the first things I like to try with a new model is a stall, which the Ultimate2 is reluctant to do without a lot of effort. It tends to just drop to a slightly nose down attitude, regain a bit of airspeed and fly away. After a few stalls, it was time to check out inverted flight. Once again, this was pretty automatic with zero loss of altitude. The stability system was working flawlessly and keeping the airplane’s nose-level to the horizon. Knife-edge flight always seems to wow my buddies at the airfield. Holding a good knife-edge can’t be any easier thanks to the AS3X stability system. I just held the rudder and adjusted the power to control the
elevation, never having to think about correcting for roll or pitch. It will fly slow and nose high, or add some power and zip across the runway with the nose lower to the horizon. The choice is yours because the Ultimate2 is more than up to the challenge, without asking much from the pilot. Another of my favorite maneuvers are rolling harriers, which are lightning fast with this airplane on maximum 3D control rates. In fact, I reduced the rate via the flight mode switch to add more of a harrier aspect rather than just a blistering fast rolling circle. The model’s four ailerons make for a very fast roll. Of course I eventually had to try out the panic recovery system, and I tried it multiple times from many positions with the same result: the Ultimate snapped directly upright wings level again and again no matter what I tried. Most of the time it took less than one second to return to a neutral position, thanks to the agility of the aircraft — all with very minimal loss of altitude. This airplane is capable of all the normal 3D aerobatics plus a lot more than I can possibly explain. A quick search of online videos will twitter.com/rcsportflyer
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE, DOUBLE THE FUN IT’S ALL WAITING FOR YOU!
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