Radio controlled model world september 2016

FREE

JR RETRO RADIOS

FIRST LOOK AT JR PROPO’S VINTAGE STYLE R/C SETS

WEIGHT LIFTERS! STUDENTS CONTEST THE BMFA’S UNIVERSITY AND SCHOOLS PAYLOAD EVENT

PULLOUT R/C PLAN

WORTH £11.99

WWW.RCMODELWORLD.COM

SEPTEMBER 2016

PIPEDREAM

BUILD THIS 1.3 M ELECTRIC POWERED FLYING WING

SENSEI FS

TEACHING A TYRO PILOT WITH FLYZONE’S GYRO STABILISED TRAINER

RED FLAG

R/C JET AEROBATICS OVER LAKELAND, FLORIDA

BOEING PEASHOOTER

PLAN FEATURE!

P-26A PURSUIT FIGHTER

BOEING PEASHOOTER

Issue 392 £4.75

CHRIS GOLDS DESCRIBES HIS 76" WINGSPAN P-26A PURSUIT FIGHTER FOR 8S LIPO PACKS

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Contents 12 SHOP WINDOW

FEATURES

90 THE SPORT CHANNEL

22 BOEING P-26A PEASHOOTER

A look at the latest R/C products Gray selects another batch of popular sport modelling topics

93 DIARY DATES

Last of the summer model flying events

REVIEWS 16 SENSEI FS FRONT COVER

The Boeing P-26A represented a great leap forwards in the early 1930s, from the biplanes of the period, as it was a monoplane, albeit wire-braced, with huge spatted undercarriage legs. It was powered by a 500 horsepower Pratt and Whitney R-1340-27 nine-cylinder radial engine. Soon the monoplane fighter became the ‘norm’.

Chris Golds had long wanted to model the P-26A, following on from his 50” span Curtiss A-12 ‘Shrike’ (Traplet plan MW3404), which had borne the yellow/blue colour scheme of the period. And now he has taken the opportunity to model the ‘Peashooter’. You can read how he went about modelling this most striking of aeroplanes, starting on page 22

REGULARS

SEPTEMBER 2016 • ISSUE #392

Trainee R/C pilot Jordan Harding tries her hand at flying solo with Flyzone’s WISE equipped gyro stabilised training aircraft

30 JR RETRO RADIOS

We take a close look at JR Propo’s new pair of vintage style radios, which hark back to the days of classic transmitter design but with 2016 levels of reliability

64 ROBAN BELL 407

Continuing his scale helicopter review from last month, Jon Tanner finishes and flies Roban’s 700-size Bell 407

Master model builder Chris Golds describes his 76” span USAAF ‘Pursuit Fighter’ for a C63-32 outrunner and an 8S 5000 mA LiPo

38 WINGS & WHEELS MODEL SPECTACULAR We report from the 30th Anniversary of the Essex based R/C show, which was held over the weekend of 25th-26th June

44 WEIGHT LIFTERS

Bruce Corfe reports from the British Model Flying Association’s University and Schools Payload Challenge, which featured contestants from as far afield as China and Germany

50 PIPEDREAM

Pull out this month’s free plan and use it to build this 1330 mm span electric powered, tail-less sport aerobat, designed by Mike White for four function R/C

16

PRE FLIGHT

6

Introducing this issue

TAKE OFF

8

Latest R/C model flying news

64 4

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58 SLINGSBY T42 EAGLE

In part two of his plan feature, Chris Williams completes the build of his 174 inch span, quarter scale vintage sailplane for five function R/C

70 WESTON PARK 2016

We make our annual pilgrimage to the popular Midlands model air show, held over 17th-19th June

74 RED FLAG

Barry Vaught reports from the inaugural Red Flag RC Jet Aerobatic Competition, held at Sunny Paradise Field, Lakeland, Florida, USA

81 FAI SCALE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW

22 82

Neil Tidey looks forward to returning to Romania for the 2016 FAI F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft, to be held over 20th-28th August near Ploiești

82 SPIRIT FLIGHT

Mark Wilkins reports on the first public flight of Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome’s replica of Charles Lindberg’s famous aeroplane, the Spirit of St. Louis

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58

50 www.rcmodelworld.com

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Boeing P-26A Peashooter From the design board of master model builder Chris Golds comes this 76" span USAAF ‘Pursuit Fighter’ for a C63-32 outrunner and an 8S 5000 mA LiPo. The P-26A requires four function R/C

At A Glance

SCALE: CONSTRUCTION: WINGSPAN: LENGTH: WEIGHT: WING LOADING: POWER LOADING: POWER:

1:4.5 All balsa and plywood 76" (1930 mm) 62" (1575 mm) 220 oz (6.16 kg) 28 oz/sq ft 94 watts/lb 1025 watts

Motive Power (Prototype) MOTOR:

ESC: PROP: BATTERY:

JP EnErG C63-32 brushless outrunner (5040KV) 100 A HV Pro OPTO APC 20" x 10" two blade Two 4S 5000 mAh LiPos

A Potted History In 1931 the Royal Air Force was being equipped with the latest and most up-todate fighter aircraft, which was capable of 200 miles per hour, a huge increase over the previous in-service aircraft. But the new Hawker Fury was a biplane and it was fitted with just two .303 machine guns, not much better than the fighters at the end of the Great War that had ended just thirteen years before.

The United States Army Air Corps (in the same year) was quite strapped for cash but desperately needed new pursuit machines if it was to achieve parity with Europe, from whence came disturbing news of monoplane fighter development. The Boeing Company was asked to provide these new aircraft – at its own expense! But the USAAC would provide the engines and instruments, and the new aeroplanes would remain the property of the company.

22

Wheels and compression legs

Port leg unit

Fuselage keels on 3/8" square stand-offs

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FEATURE PLAN

Some of the 64 inch long planks

Planking has begun!

Left and right half-shells

The whole fuselage shell weighs just 23 ounces

Tailplane frame

Tailplane with fin and rudder fitted

Boeing had a long history with the American military and had produced ‘pursuits’ from the Thomas Morse of 1918 onwards. So the Company pressed ahead at great speed, beginning the design in January 1932 and first-flying the machine on 20th March, 1932.

The product was a great leap forwards from the biplanes of the period as it was a monoplane, albeit wire-braced, with huge spatted undercarriage legs. It was powered by a 500 horsepower Pratt and Whitney R-1340-27 nine-cylinder radial engine. Thus was born the Boeing P-26A ‘Peashooter’; a great step forwards in the early 1930s, as the monoplane fighter became the ‘norm’.

I had long wanted to model the P-26 but the closest that I had come had been the 50 inch span Curtiss A-12 ‘Shrike’ (Traplet plan no. MW3404 of RCMW June 2009), which had borne the yellow/blue colour scheme of the period. So now was my opportunity to

model the Peashooter, this most colourful of aeroplanes, and to see how it would fly.

Design Increasing years bring decreasing eyesight and despite having had both cataracts splendidly expunged, I now avoid the small fast models that were my mainstay just ten years ago. So I chose to model at 76 inches span, hoping for a weight of about 12 pounds, a wing loading of around 28 ounces per square foot and a power loading of at least 75 watts per pound.

The shape of the fuselage is all curved and the rounded flying surfaces add up to a model with few straight lines in its design.

Thus I had to choose between a framed box, clad in foam and carved/sanded to section, and a fully planked fuselage of 62 inches length. I have often been assailed by the cry, “But I don’t like foam!", although this

argument has lately been quashed by the increasing number of ARTF ‘foamies’ coming on to the market.

So I chose (as a penance) to go the ‘planking’ route, even though this would require some 64 planks of 64 inches length, tapered fore and aft, cut from soft 1/8″ sheet balsa to half-inch width and scarfed to length.

Here I must stress that electric models need to be light and this means good quality LIGHT but regular density balsa in both sheet and strip form. For me that means balsa from Balsa Cabin, where Vanda delivers really excellent balsa of all densities and sizes. All you need to do is specify what you require and Balsa Cabin will ensure that you receive it; I have never had a ‘bum’ delivery. Did you know that balsa is defined as a Hardwood!

Sounds daft, does it not?

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