2004 Model of the Month

ARF or Ready to fly category	Kit or Scratch Built category

ARF Category: Jay Taylor's brightly finished World Models ZEN 120 sport/pattern aircraft was impressive with its 71" wingspan and long lean fiberglass fuselage. The model employs retract gear and its 10lbs, 2oz frame will be hauled around by a YS 120 Four stroke with a sawed off Hatari tuned pipe, swinging a 16x8 prop. This ought to move this beautiful ARF through the air with plenty of authority. Jay says he invested in some fairly expensive servos to help control the ZEN. We look forward to watching Jay fly this beauty. It is a big airplane that looks fast sitting on the ground. We are sure it will be plenty fast when Jay gets it airborne. Congratulations Jay.	Build It Yourself Category: A very consistent builder, Fedrico Jones, has done it again! Fedrico showed up with a huge version of the Lanier Giant Scale Stinger. This Stinger was very large and sported a 85" wingspan. Fedrico has yet to weigh the large aircraft but the Zenoah G-62 gasser he mounted ought to pull it without much trouble. The 20oz tank should provide enough flight time to wear out most pilots. Coupled with its large size and bright color scheme, the smoke muffler ought to make this Stinger easy to see in all aspects of flight. Keep your fingers out of the 22x10 prop Fedrico, and congratulations on a very nicely done Giant Scale Stinger.

February's ARF Category for Model of the Month was won by our Club President, Owen Dwire. Owen showed off his Hangar 9 Ultra Stick 60. Owen made a few changes to the model. He mounted the rudder and elevator servos externally on the tail, beefed up the landing gear mount, added a tail wheel bracket, and of course, added his usual custom graphics. Owen used quad servos in the wing and demonstrated the various programs that are possible with his Futaba computer radio. The aircraft is powered with an OS .91FX 2-stroke and weighs only 5lbs 8.5oz. By placing the servos in the tail Owen did not have to add any weight to balance the model. Owen has flown this airplane 15 times already and reports that it flies great.

(There was no entry for kit or scratch built this month).

Almost Ready to Fly Category:

Mr. Pete Dixon provided club members with a real treat Monday night when he brought in his Arizona Models DeHavilland Tiger Moth aircraft. Although technically an ARF, you could have fooled us. Pete took the meaning of "Almost Ready To Fly" to a whole new level with the amount of scale detail he added to the already substantial model. Pete replaced the windshields with scale ones of his own making. He built upon the included cockpit kit by adding a ton of scale detail to include some of his own instrumentation. Pete added a scale tail wheel, and built a highly detailed scale fuel tank in the top wing center section, to include the corrugated outer skin and a scale fuel cap. Pete has the four scale cockpit door-lets functioning and has installed scale rigging throughout the aircraft. A Saito 150 will serve as power for the quarter scale model and best of all, Pete modeled the aircraft after a real one he flew periodically years ago. This beautiful bi-plane is a superb example of what someone can do to an ARF with a bit of imagination, a little skill, and plenty of spare time. A beautifully done aircraft that is sure to turn heads at the field every time Pete brings her out to fly. Congratulations Pete.

(More photos in the photo gallery of this model)

(There was no entry for kit or scratch built this month).

Marshal Tucker won the ARF Division this month with this sharp looking Skyraider Mach II by World Models. The price of the kit was below $100.00 and it appears to be a very good bargain! He powered the model with the new Revolution .46 engine. The model has an all up weight of less than three pounds with the 700 ma battery pack and standard servos! The only change he made to the kit was replacing the wire landing gear with the Dubro gear shown above.
Marshal says the kit is very complete and it flies great!

Our Pres., Owen Dwire, won in Kit Built Division this month with this beautiful Cessna Cardinal. The Aviomodelli kit (Italian kit) was given to him by his father who was also visiting with us this month. The model has a molded plastic fuselage and balsa covered foam core wings. Owen covered the wings and tail feathers with fiberglass and painted it with Lustercoat. He changed the control system from the torque rods in the kit by adding flaps and then a servo for each control surface in the wing. The rudder also was given pull-pull cables.

The Cessna has an 83 inch span and is powered by an OS .91 4- stroke engine. With a weight of 12 lbs 8 ounces, it flies in a very scale like manner. It certainly is a nice looking model, Owen!

Model Of The Month-July 2004
ARF Category

John Philbrick surprised us all when he brought out his entry for Model of The Month, ARF Category, at the very end of July's meeting. It was a pleasant surprise, however, because John put together a beautiful model of the J-3 Cub. It is always hard to keep from smiling at the sight of any model of the venerable old Cub and John's project was no exception. His was the Great Plains ARF and he explained to the club that he chose that manufacture's model because of the fabric covering that the kit comes with. John said it only took a short time to put the ARF together and that he was impressed with the instructions and ease of construction. The Cub employs a Saito .72 four stroke engine for power and a glow driver was added to smooth out the engine and give it better low end reliability. The model has a 80" wing span and sports a good looking set of those big balloon tires with the yellow "Cub" hubcaps that are a must for this airplane. A great looking ARF John! Good luck with her and congratulations.

(There was no entry for kit or scratch built this month).

Model of The Month for August: (Kit build Category)

Club members were surprised once again by the latest creation from Federico Jones Airplane Works. Fred showed up at the August meeting sporting his Sig Ryan STA. Fred modeled the aircraft after a red and yellow example of the real aircraft and he was quick to admit that this Sig kit was probably the most challenging he has ever tackled. Fred said that much of the curved and rounded areas on the aircraft were crafted from laminated 1/16 sheet which made finishing the pieces a chore. He opted for aftermarket fiberglass wheel pants as opposed to those supplied in the kit which were plastic and divided into several parts that had to be precisely constructed. Fred says the model weighs in at around 8 lbs and the wire rigging is scale. A Thundertiger .91 Four Stroke powerplant will provide the go. We were all glad to discover that Fred was true to form when he showed us the "pink" name lettering on the side of the fuselage (pink being a Federico trademark). Another fine model Fred. The best of luck with her.

No ARF Category entry for August

SEPTEMBER Model of the Month -ARF Category

Fred Murphy showed up the at September meeting with a beauty! This is the Great Planes Super Stearman ARF kit! This is a rather large model with a top wing span of 71.5 inches. The bottom wing is 69 inches. Fred powered his Stearman with the OS 1.20 FS, a four cycle engine. The model weighs approximately fifteen pounds.

The kit came with the scale spinner, and all of the struts are highly finished, predrilled and ready to bolt on. Fred said no additional weight was required to balance the model and it's very stable in flight, although ground handling will take a little getting used to. So far, he has flown it eighteen times. It's a beautiful model, Fred! Happy landings!

(There was no entry for kit or scratch built this month).

October Model Of The Month, ARF Category

Joe Lupton surprised those present at October's meeting when he entered the room with a bird in his hands. Turns out the bird was an electric ARF that Joe picked up (or actually pulled off the ceiling at Doug's Hobby Shop) as he was traveling up north recently. The model is a release from Hobby Lobby and is called the "Funky Chicken". Constructed of styrofoam and powered with a Speed 400 motor, the Funky Chicken comes from the factory with some funky colors but our Joe Lupton is in the process of laying one of his signature paint jobs on the bird and it is looking much more scale. The model was already built and Joe has no box or instructions to go by to get it into flying shape but the bird is fairly straight forward and once the prop and spinner that are designed for it arrives from Hobby Lobby, Joe says he just needs to balance it and fly it. Looks like a fun project Joe, good luck with the Funky Chicken.