ISSUE FREE PLAN: MISS BARNSTORMER 0.

5CC
1011
Est. 1935

August 2021.
No. 1011. (93) £5.99
www.aeromodeller.com

08

9 770001 923011
L D C H A MPS
OR
1961 FF W
U U M F O RMING
VAC
M A L L M ODELS
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THE 2ND WAVE OF

BRITISH GLOWS

MISS BARNSTORMER DB’S SPORTS PARASOL FOR FF OR RC

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Contents
AEROMODELLER 1011 August 2021 – Next issue published on 19 August 2021.

04 HEARD AT THE 40 PAPER PLANES

HANGAR DOORS STEVE MIDSON’S A4 PAPER DESIGNS ARE THE
EDITORIAL, NEWS AND VIEWS. OPPORTUNITY TO ENCOURAGE KIDS WHEREVER
THEY MAY LIVE.
09 UP & COMING
CALENDAR OF EVENTS. 44 1961 FF WORLD
CHAMPS
10 VACUUM FORMING A RECOLLECTION BY MARTIN DILLY OF THE 1961
CHRIS BRAINWOOD GIVES A BEGINNER’S GUIDE FREE FLIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Issue 1011 August 2021
TO MOULDING SMALL COMPONENTS. IN GERMANY. (Issue 093 since relaunch)
How to contact us:
16 BRITISH GLOWS 50 SCALE MATTERS Tel: 01525 222573
Email: enquiries@doolittlemedia.com
THE SECOND WAVE OF BRITISH GLOWPLUG BILL DENNIS WITH THE LATEST FF SCALE BUILDS.
ENGINES IS EXAMINED BY ADRIAN DUNCAN. Editorial:
Editor: Andrew Boddington
58 LOCKDOWN BUILDS Email: editor@aeromodeller.com
22 BOXED MODELS AM READERS SHARE SOME OF THE FRUITS OF Publisher: Alan Harman
Administration: Gordon Angus
RICHARD CROSSLEY DESCRIBES HOW TO STORE ENFORCED SOCIAL ISOLATION OVER Editorial Design: Peter Hutchinson
AND TRANSPORT SMALL FLYING MODELS. THE PAST YEAR.
Advertisement and circulation:
Aeromodeller, Doolittle Media, Doolittle Granary
26 BLUFF BODY 62 CREATING Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe, Beds, LU6 1QX
CORRECTION TRANSFERS Tel: 01525 222573
SUPERCOOL ON ALLOWING FOR ENGINE CHRIS OTTEWELL USES AN INKJET PRINTER TO E-mail: enquiries@doolittlemedia.com
COWLING WHEN DESIGNING HIGH PRODUCE WATERSLIDE DECALS/TRANSFERS. Newstrade:
PERFORMANCE PROPS. Select Publisher Services, 3 East Avenue,
Bournemouth, BH3 7BW
66 TAIL END CHARLIE Tel: 01202 586848 E-mail: tim@selectps.com
30 FREE PLAN – THE THOUGHTS OF CHRIS OTTEWELL.
Subscriptions:
MISS BARNSTORMER Aeromodeller, Doolittle Media, Doolittle Granary
FROM THE DAVID BODDINGTON FAMILY OF Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe, Beds, LU6 1QX
Tel: 01525 222573
BARNSTORMER DESIGNS A 39” SPAN VERSION Subscribe: 12 issues - UK £66, Europe £87,
FOR FF OR MINIRC. Worldwide £98

Website: www.doolittlemedia.com

AeroModeller is published monthly by Doolittle

Media, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe,
Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX. Entire Contents © 2019
Doolittle Media Reproduction in part or whole of
any text, photograph or illustration without written
permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.
While due care is taken to ensure the content of
AeroModeller is accurate, the publishers and printers
cannot accept liability for errors and omissions.
Advertisements are accepted for publication in
AeroModeller only upon Doolittle Media’s standard
terms of acceptance of advertising, copies of which
are available from the advertising sales department
of AeroModeller.

DB’s original 20 year

old FF Miss Barn-
stormer adapted for
RC by the editor.

AeroModeller 1011 - 3
 News, Views and Editorial

HEARD AT THE
HANGAR DOORS
Busy Second Half of Year

A
s we start to enjoy the
loosening of pandemic
lockdown restrictions, 18
months of pent-up demand
for social events is beginning
to be released. Inevitably this has meant
that many postponed model event dates
are being shoe-horned into a relatively
short period of outdoor flying time in
2021, and combined with everything
else outside of aeromodelling that has
been rescheduled, I’ve found myself
being double and triple booked for some
weekends.
Just to add to my diary I’ve recently
finished my civic duty as a juror for two
weeks as the courts are also reopened.
Almost every part of our life is in catch-
up mode after the restrictions required to
combat this horrible virus.
So, much as I hope to meet and talk
with many of you at events around the
UK in the coming months, I can’t be
in two places at once! The marvellous
band of AM contributors will be there
and providing coverage, and if you can
contribute, please get in touch.
Regards, Andrew Boddington
editor@aeromodeller.com

BOWDEN AT EAST ANGLIAN GALA

T
he ever-popular Bowden
Trophy competition will
now be held on the Sunday
of the East Anglian Gala.
The MOD Sculthorpe
Airfield is the venue on the weekend
of 31 July to 1 August 2021 for the
East Anglian Gala which will host on
the Saturday: BMFA Rubber, Vintage
Rubber/Power, Classic Glider, Tailless,
E36, P30 and HLG-CLG. On the
Sunday: BMFA Power, Combined
Electric, BMFA Glider, Mini Vintage,
Classic Rubber/Power, CO2, Vintage
Glider and Bowden.
Start time each day 9.00 am, finish
6.00 pm. Competition entry £5.00 for
any event taking place on the field,
other flyers and engine runners must
register and pay the £5.00 site fee at
control.
The Bowden competition will be
organised by Brian Waterland and
the Peterborough Model Flying
Club, registration before 10.30 am
on Sunday. The event will be run
generally to BMFA rules, including the
cabin/cockpit requirements, the ROG,
the permitted engine starting time
of two minutes and the target flight
time of 45 seconds but excluding the
subjective aspect of the model build
quality and flight profile.
Additionally, FF scale flyers are
encouraged to use the weekend for
trimming and SAM35 will be running 4
and 8 oz Wakefield competitions.
Sculthorpe airfield has OS Map
reference TF 852300, and is 100
Metres in a NE direction along the
B1454 from its junction with the A148
road from Kings Lynn to Fakenham.
The entrance gate at Sculthorpe will
be manned and you must have proof
of BMFA membership. No camping or
refreshments on the field but there is a
cafeteria close to the entrance. There
will be toilets. BMFA membership
essential. For safety reasons no
motorised retrieval and no dogs.
Further information from Michael
Marshall 01223 246142 mandrshall@
gmail.com freeflight.bmfa.org or Mike
Woodhouse 01603 457754 michael.
woodhouse1942@gmail.com
The Bowden is Go! Now part of the East Anglian Gala at
Sculthorpe on Sunday 1st August 2021.

4 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021

SUBSTITUTE FF NATIONALS

T
he replacement duration and space contests for a Saturday 28th Sunday 29th
cut down substitute Free Flight Nationals will be a Tailless Mini Vintage
lower key affair than the ‘real’ Nationals. There is no Woman’s Cup CO2 Duration
pre-entry requirement, a ‘light-touch’ organisation, Catapult Glider Vintage Glider
and the contests will be flown for their respective FROG Junior Classic Rubber/Power
Free Flight Nationals trophies. There is no camping allowed on E30 Electric Classic Glider
the sites overnight and there will be no catering provided, but S3A Parachute Duration BMFA 1/2A power
there will be toilets. Start is 09:00. S4A Boost Glider Duration S6A Streamer Duration
S9A Helicopter Duration S1B Altitude
The FF Open BMFA classes will be held at Salisbury Plain S5C Scale Altitude S2P Precision Payload Alt
on August 28/29th. S8EP Rocket Glider

Saturday 28th Sunday 29th The FF FAI classes will be at Salisbury Plain
Combined Glider SLOP on September 4th/5th.
Combined Rubber P30 Rubber
Combined Power Hand Launch Glider Saturday 4th Sunday 5th
Combined Electric Vintage Rubber/Power F1A F1H
F1B F1G
F1C F1J
F1Q E36

Further information on the FF duration events from Mike

Woodhouse 01603 457754 michael.woodhouse1942@gmail.
com and the FFTC website freeflight.bmfa.org . For the space
events Trevor Seabrook 07899 030875 contacttrevorseabrook@
gmail.com .
The Bowden Trophy and Vintage Wakefields will be flown
at the East Anglian Gala on 31st July/1st August. Note that
the FAI Stonehenge Cup and Equinox Cup events have been
postponed until 2022.

The Open and FAI Nationals events have been split across successive
weekends at Salisbury Plain. The events will be low key with no camping.

BMFA SCALE AT
BUCKMINSTER
14/15 AUGUST
he scale events that are usually

T part of BMFA Power Nationals

are now to be held at the National
Centre at Buckminster on 14/15
August. As well as the Free Flight
scale classes of Open Power, Open CO2/
Electric, and Open Rubber, there will be
Control Line Scale and RC.
Of the events normally held at the FF
Nationals, the Credgington flying only FF
scale event will be part of the ModelAir Old
Warden Scale Weekend on Sunday 25th
July. It is hoped to fly the AM/MA scale
designs and kit scale competition as part of
the SAM 35 Octoberfest in mid-October at
Buckminster.
Further information from the Scale
Technical Committee website scale.bmfa.org

FF, CL and RC Scale events normally held at the Power

Nationals will now be run at the Buckminster National
Centre on 14/15 August.

AeroModeller 1011 - 5
 News, Views and Editorial
NEW FF SCALE EVENT AT N. LUFFENHAM
I
van Taylor will be well known to many
as both a FF scale and duration
flyer, and he has been instrumental
in organising a new FF Scale
competition. He has been given
permission to use MOD North Luffenham
for a FF Scale event on 4/5 September
OR 23/24 October - either of the 2 days,
Saturday or Sunday, could be used, they
will go for the best weatherwise, and if
the weather on the September dates is
not at all good they will go for the reserve
weekend in October. Therefore, please
pre-register with Ivan to receive an
update on the exact date.
The contest will be Flying Only with
no qualifying time required to score,
3 flights being available in each class:
Rubber, Power and Electric. An Outdoor
Rubber Kit Scale precision event will also
take place – 30 second target, 4 flights.
The contest will start with a briefing at
11.00am.
A site fee of £5 is the only cost, which
goes to BMFA. The prizes will be tokens
for modelling supplies: £30 for 1st, £20
for 2nd and £15 for 3rd in each class.
Winner of Kit scale: £15 for 1st and £10
for 2nd. AeroModeller has also provided
P30, SENATOR & CLASSIC 1/2A POSTAL
J
im Moseley has been in touch
about an international email/
postal competition he has
organised which will run until
28 February 2022. The rubber
events are for P30 Models to AMA rules
with plastic prop and maximum of 10g
rubber, and KeilKraft Senators. The
Classic 1/2A competition is for ‘locked
down’ models with no moving surfaces
Wherever you are in the world you can enter Jim Moseley’s P30, Senator and Classic 1/2A email/postal competitions.
6 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
Ivan Taylor is
enticing us to
join him with the
promise of cake
at a new FF Scale
event held at N.
Luffenham on a
weather dependent
date. The WWI
fighter aces Albert
Ball’s fruit cake is
to the recipe of his
mum’s, sent to him
on the front.
a year subscription prize. your chance to compete with one less
There will be refreshments after the opposition!
prize giving including, hopefully, a slice Further information and to register
of Albert Ball cake. (This is a reason for your interest contact Ivan Taylor
letting me know you intend come, i.e. 01782796675, 07851799223
the size of the cake!) Ivan tells me he r.d.taylor@btinternet.com
won’t be flying competitively so this is
other than for DT operation and powered The intent is to provide some incentive
with cross-flow (non Schnuerle) engines. to the many who are uninterested in
In all instances multiple models hard competition, perhaps lone hands
may be separately entered during the on their local small fields who might
contest period. It is not necessary to like to share photos and low-key
complete entry flights in a single day. activity with others.
In the past Jim ran a multi-event Jim Moseley can be contacted
‘Worldwide Postal’ for 21 consecutive by jjmoseley@look.ca or post to 50
years which was very well supported Exeter Road, Apt. 1153, Ajax, Ontario,
from enthusiasts from many countries. L1S2K1, Canada
HARD CL CIRCLE AT
NATIONAL CENTRE

T
hanks to Manny Williamson for
the latest update and photos
of the control line hard circle
at the BMFA National Centre,
Buckminster. With the end of
lockdown at the end of March progress
has been good when the weather allowed.
The under layers of crushed limestone
over a geotextile membrane have been
consolidated, and the laying and rollering
of the Tarmac completed. While the circle
itself is level the surrounding land is not,
so work has included landscaping and
drainage to ensure run off does not pool
on the circle.
As we finish this issue of
AeroModeller the safety fencing is
nearing completion, and it is planned
that the first CL Speed users will fly Matt Halton’s excellent drone photo of the BMFA National Centre, Buckminster shows top left the
new CL hard circle before Tarmacking, top centre an RC flight line, lower centre the tether car circle,
from the circle during SAM 35 Retrofest to the right the approach lane to the centre’s buildings, right of that the campsite and then more
this coming weekend. grass and the soft CL circles.

The finished Tarmac circle with pebble filled outer drain. The safety fencing was well advanced when this photo was taken by
Manny Williamson, and by the time you read this should be finished.

Professional crew
applying the Tarmac
over the crushed
limestone base.

AeroModeller 1011 - 7
 News, Views and Editorial

SUPER PROPELLERS
any of you will already be for IC and electric powered models, in

M
familiar with the Super
range of propellers; I
certainly am a user of the
grey IC propellers. With
the demise of Graupner as a distributor
it seemed that this comprehensive range
of props would no longer be available,
but I’m pleased to say that Peter Schulze
of Kunststofftechnik GmbH in Germany
has been in touch to say that they can
once again supply Super propellers
types suitable for outdoor and indoor
flying, two and three bladers, and folding
electric props.
Find out more on the website www.
schulze-luftschrauben.de

Super propellers are once again available www.schulze-luftschrauben.de

*** STOP PRESS *** NEW BRITISH RECORD

replace the lead roof that was stolen. It is

A
s we go to press a very tired
Brian Lever has been in
touch to say that he and the
team have made the attempt
on the British flying electric
control line models for 24 hours from two
circles on the 21-22 June 2021.
“The British Record is secured! We
managed to have achieved an airtime of
nearly 28 hours as the clock struck 10.00
the following morning.”
Not only is this a new record but money
has been raised for St Pega’s Church in
the Cambridgeshire village of Peakirk to
not too late to donate to this endeavour,
go to Brian’s page on the Just Giving
charity site
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Brian-
Lever
Brian will give us a full report next month.

The British record setters flew at Peakirk Village Green, which is adjacent to St Pega’s
Church, to enable the local community to become involved.

8 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021

Events
UP & COMING
Please note that the events listed are compiled weeks in advance of publication, so please check in case of change - specifically MOD venues
such as Barkston Heath can be cancelled at short notice. For inclusion of your event, please send an email with date and details in a format similar
to those shown below to editor@aeromodeller.com
During the current the Coronavirus Pandemic, events are often being postponed and cancelled. Please be aware of changes in the way events
are organised. You may need to pre-register for an event and you should check the day before that it is still happening (local lockdowns and
unforeseen problems can cause cancellations.) Be prepared and take face masks and hand sanitiser to the event, and follow the organisers’
instructions for social distancing to keep you and your flying friends safe.
JULY
24-25 July
F2B CL Aerobatics, Buckminster, Sewstern
NG33 5RW. BMFA 5th Centralised.
Mervyn Jones mervynf2b@outlook.com
07961 872264 www.bmfa.org
24-25 July
Scale Weekend, Old Warden SG18 9EP. Scale
FF, CL & RC. Children’s activities (James
Gordon jamesrrg@hotmail.com), also Tribute
Voetsak racing. Sun: Delayed Ebenezer.
Masefield Trophy & Earl Stahl Event (John
Ashmole johnashmole@yahoo.co.uk) Delayed
Credgington Trophy FF flying only (scale.bmfa.
org). Max weight: RC-10kg, CL-5kg, FF-500g.
FF engine 0.75cc Max.
www.sam35.org www.modelair.info
25 July
TBC Vintage Combat, Old Warden SG18 9EP.
Tony Cookson 01159 892751
streamerchaser@gmail.com
www.combatflyers.co.uk
25 July
BMFA CL TR, Barton, Manchester.
Centralised F2C and F2CN.
Chris Barker 01252 850239
chris.barker239@btinternet.com
www.controlline.org.uk
25 July
Handicap Speed, BMFA Buckminster,
Sewstern NG33 5RW. CL Speed Event if hard
circle complete.
Paul Eisner theeyesnose@gmail.com
0208 3942271
31 July-1 August
Speed Weekend, Barton, Manchester. All open
classes, F2A, F2G, Club & Klunker Speed,
have a go. BMFA Area Centralised Speed
1st only.
Dick Hart 01387 820335
www.controlline.org.uk
31 July-1 August
East Anglian Gala, Sculthorpe. CG, CR, CP,
CE, E36, Vintage RP, Vintage G, Classic RP,
Classic G, Mini Vintage, P30, H/CLG, Tailless,
CO2. PMFC to run Bowden Trophy postponed
from Nats. 4 & 8oz Wakefield run by SAM35.
FF Scale flying (no comps).
Mike Woodhouse 01603 457754
michael.woodhouse1942@gmail.com
freeflight.bmfa.org
31 July-1 August
Space FAI Practice, Sculthorpe. S1A, S3A,
S4A, S6A, S9A.
Trevor Seabrook 07899 030875
trevorseabrook@gmail.com
AUGUST
1 August
Pontefract Retro RC, Pontefract Race Course.
Single Channel, Retro RC & CL (no FF).
pandas.bmfa.org
7 August
Cloud Tramp Mass Launch, Everywhere. 26th
MIMLOCT. www.endlesslift.com
7 August
Nostalgic Speed, BMFA Buckminster,
Sewstern NG33 5RW. Tony Goodger
07802724402 tgoodger@hotmail.co.uk
7-8 August
Barton CL Bash, Barton, Manchester. Sat:
BGY, F2Cn, TQR, Club & Klunker Speed,
Carrier Deck. Sun: Barton B, Classic 15,
Vintage A, Carrier Deck, Voetsak Tribute.
Malcolm Ross malcolmross6610@gmail.com
01925 766610 www.controlline.org.uk
8 August
Handicap Speed, BMFA Buckminster,
Sewstern NG33 5RW. CL Speed Event if hard
circle complete.
Peter Halman peter.halman@ntlworld.com
01582 424398
14-15 August
BMFA & SAM 35 Festival of Scale Meeting,
Buckminster, Sewstern, NG33 5RW. Includes
delayed RC, FF & CL scale nationals. scale.
bmfa.org www.sam35.org.uk
14-15 August
TBC Combat, BMFA Buckminster, Sewstern
NG33 5RW. Sat; Oliver. Sun; Vintage.
Tony Cookson 01159 892751
streamerchaser@gmail.com
www.combatflyers.co.uk
15 August
British & Open Goodyear plus ìAî Rat, Barton,
Manchester. Ed Needham 01614 855193
www.controlline.org.uk
15 August
Southern Gala, Salisbury Plain. CG (Pilcher),
CR (Flight), CP (Short), CE, F1H (Ripmax),
F1G, F1J, 1/2A, H/CLG, E30.
Ken Faux 01279 721008
ken.faux@btinternet.com
20 August
Nostalgic Speed, BMFA Buckminster,
Sewstern NG33 5RW.
Tony Goodger 07802724402
tgoodger@hotmail.co.uk
Full details of BMFA events can be found at: www.bmfa.org
21-22 August
Model Show, Popham Airfield, Micheldever,
Hants SO21 3BD. 10:00-16:00. Display flying,
traders, & swap meet, in conjunction with
BMFA Southern Region. Ticket only.
www.popham-airfield.co.uk
21-23 August
CL Aerobatics Nationals, BMFA Buckminster,
Sewstern NG33 5RW. F2B, Classic, Vintage.
Includes team selection.
Alan Watson 01427 616965
maquinas2000UK@yahoo.co.uk
22 August
4th F1E, Peak District or Melton Mowbray.
F1E, SMC.
Ian Kaynes 01252 512538
kaynes@btinteret.com
22 August
F2C & F2CN TR, Barton, Manchester.
Chris Barker 01938 820706
chris.barker239@btinternet.com
23 August
SAM 35 Ajax & Achilles, Buckminster,
Sewstern, NG33 5RW.
John Ashmole 01406 370188
www.sam35.org.uk
28 August
CL Open Speed Nationals, Barton,
Manchester. All must pre-register.
Dick Hart 07595 863453
britintexas66@gmail.com
28-29 August
Open FF Substitute Nationals, Salisbury Plain.
BMFA Classes. Sat; CG, CR, CP, CE, Tailess,
Womans Cup, Catapult Glider, Frog Junior,
E30. Sun; SLOP, P30, HLG, Vintage/Rubber,
Mini Vintage, CO2, Vintage Glider, Classic
Rubber/Power (including Cranfield Classic,
Classic Glider, BMFA 1/2A power. No camping
or catering.
Mike Woodhouse 01603 457754
michael.woodhouse1942@gmail.com
28-30 August
*CANCELLED BMFA Power (RC, CL, FF Scale)
Nationals, Barkston. www.bmfa.org
29 August
Barton TR Day, Barton, Manchester. British
Goodyear, F2CN, Barton Classic FAI T/R,
Vintage A. Jim Holland 01858 880279
30 August
SAM 35 Small FF Models, Buckminster,
Sewstern, NG33 5RW. Frog Senior, KK Elf,
VMC Pilot, plus 36î Hi-Start Glider.
John Ashmole 01406 370188
www.sam35.org.uk
AeroModeller 1011 - 9
How To
VACUUM
FORMING
FOR BEGINNERS
Chris Brainwood encourages modellers to have a go at moulding their own canopies and fairings
V
acuum forming is something
I had always considered
a step beyond my own
modeling scope; it was
something that require
expensive and bulky equipment and a
considerable investment of time to learn
a new skill. Well how wrong could I have
been?
Over last summer I started a new
10 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
model build, a Miles Falcon for rubber
power, it features a rather unusual
reverse raked screen and molded
canopy. My normal method of bending
acetate sheet into shape and gluing it in
place while hoping it won’t spring back,
was just not going to work. There was
only one thing for it – I was going to try
vacuum forming.
Commercially made vacuum forming
Chris Brainwood’s Miles Falcon has home vacuum moulded screen, wing fairings and spinner.
machines are available of course but
they tend to be large and expensive, so
I’m looking at an easy and cheap way
to build a vacuum former for moulding
small aircraft parts.
DIY Equipment
The first thing you’ll need, apart from a
vacuum cleaner and heat source such
as paint stripping heat gun is a vacuum
 A basic box 20cm x 10cm forms the basis for
the forming box.
The top face of the forming box has a series
of holes drilled in it to form the vacuum
under the plastic sheet. You probably don’t
need this density of holes to be successful.
forming box. This is a sealed box into
which the hose from your vacuum
cleaner can be connected and in which
the top surface has had a series of small
holes drilled into it.
I made a small box 20cm x 10cm
from some 10mm x 68mm PSE from
my local DIY shop with some off cuts of
laminate flooring cut to size for the top
and bottom. For the top surface I drilled
some 1.5mm dia holes in grid pattern
about 5mm apart but looking at other
boxes this is probably too many, the
exact size and distance apart doesn’t
seem to be at all critical. The actual
size of forming box you make is more
dependent on how large the parts you’ll
Frames are joined using an angle plate and M3 countersunk bolts. You will
need two frames to clamp the plastic sheet between.
The frame is cut with mitred corners from 15mm aluminium angle section.
likely to be forming will be. You need a
bit of room around the edges for it work,
so the vacuum can suck the plastic all
around the mould, say about ½” or so
minimum. You probably don’t want to
go too much bigger than about 20cm
x 20cm with a simple box as it may not
generate enough of a vacuum.
20cm x 10cm gave me a working area
of 18cm x 8cm with seemed about right
for the small components I’d be making.
I glued and screwed the simple box
together so the joints are all fairly airtight.
To attach the vacuum cleaner a
31mm hole was drilled in the front face,
which provided a push fit for the hose
attachment on my vacuum cleaner. The
The inner face - M3 bolts are countersunk so the frames can sit flush
together.
connection does not need to be really
tight as there will likely be more than
enough of a vacuum formed using a
small box for forming fairly thin materials
- a push fit is fine.
Clamp Frame
The next part you’ll need is a frame to
hold the plastic. The frame needs to
be in two parts so the plastic can be
clamped in between.
A simple flat plate would work well with
some sealing foam strip on the underside
of the lower one, but I made mine from
some 18mm right angle section aluminum
also from the DIY shop. It was joined very
simply with some flat right-angle brackets
AeroModeller 1011 - 11
How To

The basic set up with frames in position . The lower one is a sliding fit A later improvement to the lower lip of the Clamp Frame (shown inverted)
around the outer edge of the box. was to bend the edges out to make alignment with the box easier.

Carving a mould for the canopy/screen. The initial moulds made for the Falcon. At the rear the screen and spinner,
and in the foreground the handed back and front wing fairings.

and M3 countersunk bolts so that the
two frames can be clamped together. The
lower frame was made so that it is a sliding
fit around the outside of the box to form
some sort of a seal when forming. The box
and frame could be made from whatever
you have to hand really but mine, buying
new materials cost about £30.
A worthwhile later modification to the
lower aluminium frame was to bend the
lower lip so that rather than being 90
degrees it’s more like 70 degrees. This
makes things much easier when lining
the frame up over forming box and
allows a bit wriggle room as the frame

With vacuum cleaner attached and running, the frame containing the plastic First success - The Miles Falcon screen just after the moment when the
sheet can be held in one hand using a Molegrip, the heat gun in other. vacuum went ‘shhurrlop’! Note the canopy/screen is raised by a thick balsa
offset as this is where creases tend to happen.

12 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021

If you use too much heat with PETG it will go milky and even melt. Plasticard I found dificult to use without burning holes in it. It was probably
too thin at 0.25mm and the corners on the mould too sharp.

Moulding a front wing fairing; only the vertical section in the centre is Trial fitting the screen in place. Once you can make one, you can make many,
actually used. so start again if the first trimmed version isn’t fitting well.

meets the box.
There are plenty of free types of plastic
available to mould with, as any plastic
packaging that has been vacuum formed
once can usually be formed again, but for
starting off I would recommend getting
some flat sheet as it is much easier to
use. I bought 8 sheets of 0.3mm PETG
vacuum forming plastic 46cm x 36cm
for just over £10 from eBay, but there
are lots of sources out there for vacuum
forming plastic. PETG (Polyethylene
terephthalate glycol) is a thermoplastic
polyester which vacuum forms very
easily. As the plastic stretches as it’s
formed, the flat 0.3mm sheet produced
mouldings of around 0.1mm thickness
which is great for small models.
Plug Mould
The plug to mould the screen from
was made from some scrap balsa and
sanded to shape. The surface was
sealed with water-based laminating
resin to give a smooth surface. It’s worth
remembering that the vacuum forming
process will pick up quite subtle details
in the surface, including the wood grain
of unsealed balsa. As an alternative MDF
makes very good mould material and can
be sealed with thin cyanoacrylate, but
be aware of the dust you make and take
precautions such as wearing a face mask
and clearing up.
Vacuum Forming
So having made the basic items you
need it’s time to try vacuum forming.
Start by putting a suitably sized piece
of the PETG plastic between the two
frames and clamp them together. Bulldog
clips or small spring clamps work well,
just enough to hold the frames and
plastic together. I used a Molegrip as
a handle by clamping it onto the metal
frames as well, which made the whole
operation easier and enabled me to do
the forming part with one hand – the
other hand can wield the heat gun.
First, with the vacuum cleaner
attached to the forming box, turn it on
and leave it running. Then holding the
frame with its Molegrip handle I heated
the plastic sheet as evenly as I could
with the paint stripping heat gun. With
this plastic I noticed that as it heated up
it began to sag into small ripples, further
heating and the ripples disappeared and
it retightened, further heating and the
plastic took on more of general sag.
This is the point to move over to former
box and apply it so that the frame lines
up with the edges of the box and gently
allow it to drop. The vacuum will pull the
plastic sheet down and make a noise
like you’ve just sucked the family’s pet
AeroModeller 1011 - 13
How To
Trial fitting the rear wing fairing.
hamster up the Hoover (again!) The result
is that the plastic is pulled hard against
top face of the box forming itself around
your pattern in the process. The use
of a handle meant that I could keep the
heat gun pointed at the plastic while it is
being formed and even apply extra heat
to very tight curves.
As soon as the shape is formed it’s
pretty much done as it will cool down fast.
Turn the vacuum cleaner off, split the
frame and marvel at your new found skill.
Some of my early attempts took some
The finished Miles Falcon with static propeller. The vacuum formed screen and wing fairings are an excellent fit.
14 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
The spinner was just large enough to allow a small Garami free wheel to be
fitted inside.
coaxing out of the moulds, but some
baby powder on the moulds helped.
I did find that if too much heat is used
the PETG takes on a milky appearance,
not much use if you’re moulding a
canopy. If I formed the part when the
small ripples in the plastic sheet had
disappeared and before it sags too
much, and I didn’t get carried away with
heat gun as it formed, I didn’t have any
more problems.
Using this technique I produced not
just the screen for the Miles Falcon but
the wing fairings as well and even a
small spinner for the flying propeller. The
fairings were made in two parts from
patterns made from scrap balsa. The
balsa formed the shape of the fuselage
and wing as it was on the model; the
fairing part was added using some balsa
filler, which was sealed with water-based
laminating resin. Once they’d been cut to
shape they were painted and added to
the model using some canopy glue when
it had been covered.
Hints & Tips
Here’s some general points I’ve learnt
along the way:
• Moulds need to have a fine smooth
finish and be free from dirt or you’ll end
up with all that unwanted detail in the
part.
• Make sure your mould covers a
larger area than the actual part you
need, so any creases or faults end up
outside the actual part dimensions.
(Have an offset)
• When heating the plastic: first it
wrinkles, then stretches, then sags. For
small or shallow moulds the stretch
stage is fine but for more complicated
moulds then it needs to sag a little
before forming.
• The plastic will cool as it contacts the
mould. The method above allows heat
to applied while forming to counter
this. If you use a separate hot plate
to heat the
plastic you may
need a bit more
initial heat to
counter this.
• Too much heat and
the PETG will go milky or
worse you’ll burn a hole in it. (I
think you have to do that at least once
while you’re learning…)
• A little talcum powder makes a good
release agent.
• If you have a number of identical
parts to do (e.g. exhausts) you can
make 1 pattern, then imprint it into
some clay so you can cast a number
of copies using plaster and form from
those.
This is a very basic way of doing it but
with a little more effort more elaborate
devices can be made which will make
forming even easier.
The shape
of the forming
box can help with
forming too. Russ
Lister has made a
circular forming box,
which prevents creasing
when forming spinners and other
round parts. Russ’s former has the
added benefit that the hinged arm allows
the material frame to be positioned
over a small hotplate for heating and
then swung over straight onto vacuum
forming box, a much more repeatable
system than mine and great if you need
to produce items in quantity.
Vacuum forming is a great way to
make small details for scale models
and is now a vital part of my modeling
armoury; from cowling scoops, to
canopies, to wheels, to exhausts, to
fairings, to spinners, to… well you get
the idea. ■

Russ Lister’s circular vacuum former for making spinners without creasing. It features a folding arm one end of which, when extended, would be held over a
hotplate. (Photos by Russ Lister)

Initially the Miles Falcon had paper and carbon tissue trousers (UC leg covers) but after test flights these didn’t hold up and I vacuum formed replacements.
The balsa mould was made from two bits of 3/8” with the joining faces covered in masking tape before cyanoing together. The trouser can be shaped and
then when happy the two halves can be separated again by prising them apart along the masking tape line. I added an extra strip to the front to give an
overlap on the mouldings and the two halves were the vac formed. Once cut to shape they were joined with some plastic weld sold for plastic models.

AeroModeller 1011 - 15
Engine History
The Second British
“Glow-Plug Revolution”
Adrian C. Duncan considers the impact of the second wave of British glow engines from the late 1950’s
I
n an earlier article (AeroModeller
December 2017), I described the
initial British “glow-plug revolution”
which featured early attempts
to popularize glow-plug ignition
16 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
in Britain following its late 1947
introduction in America. Those efforts
met with relatively little success, with
British modellers sticking for the most
part with their beloved diesels. In the
present article, I’ll complete the tale by
recounting the circumstances under
which the glow-plug motor embarked
upon its subsequent renaissance in
Britain beginning in 1959.
The British made MERCO range of glow
engines were available in both stunt
and RC versions. Shown is the fixed
carb. MERCO 35 beloved of many CL
Aerobatics flyers.
 In a separate write-up (May 2019), I
examined the reasons why after a very
promising start the model diesel engine
failed to “catch on” in America during
the early post-WW2 years. In both of my
earlier articles I cited a major reason for
the widely differing receptions accorded
to the model diesel in Britain and
America as being the differing quality
of the “ambassador” models which
introduced diesel technology to the
respective modelling communities. The
excellent Mills 1.3 and a few others like
it encouraged a very positive early view
of the diesel among British modellers.
Continental countries also had first-class
ambassador diesels to encourage the
adoption of that technology. By contrast,
American enthusiasts were subjected to
the very negative impression of diesels
conveyed by such woeful offerings as
the infamous Gotham Hobby rendition of
the Deezil.
The positive experiences of British
modellers with their smaller-displacement
first-generation diesels quickly led
to a widespread and not-unfounded
perception that for the smaller and
medium sized models generally favoured
in Britain, the diesel was the ideal type
of powerplant. It was recognized that in
the larger displacement categories (over
3.5 cc) the glow-plug motor had certain
advantages, but economic conditions in
early post-WW2 Britain tended to favour
small and medium-sized models anyway.
The consequence was that British
model engine manufacturers focused
almost exclusively on diesel technology
in the small and medium-displacement
categories. A few purpose-built larger-
displacement glow-plug models did
appear over time, including those
from Nordec, Rowell, ETA, Yulon and
FROG, but the mainstream market was
dominated by smaller diesels.
A few British manufacturers such as
E.D., D-C Ltd., FROG, “K” and AMCO
developed glow-plug versions of
established mid-sized diesel models.
However, these invariably failed to
perform up to the levels established by
their diesel progenitors. Awareness of
this was widespread, encouraging a
continuing British view of the glow-plug
motor as generally inferior to its diesel
counterpart apart from its acknowledged
superiority for certain specialized The MERCO range successfully expanded in the 1960’s to include a 49 and 61. The editor’s father
David Boddington was a regular user of RC MERCOs in the late 1960’s including powering his Sopwith
applications such as control line speed Tabloid which was featured on TV in Salvage Hunters: The Restorers in 2020.

AeroModeller 1011 - 17
Engine History

The Nordec RG10 was the first
purpose built British glow-plug
motor and appeared in the first wave
at the end of the 1940’s.
In 1952 an American modeller had the
choice of many 049 ‘glos’ including the Cox
Space-Bug. By 1955 the second-generation
machined crankcase Cox Babe Bee was
available.

and Class B team racing. The practical results of the renewed

This perception persisted throughout
much of the 1950’s. The few British
glow-plug models which did appear
from time to time continued to be glow-
plug conversions of established diesel
designs, none of which matched their
diesel counterparts in performance
terms.
½ A “GLO” INFLUENCE
The chief factor that triggered the
beginning of a major shift in the British
view of the glow-plug motor was the
overwhelming success of the .049 cuin.
(0.81 cc) “½A” units in the American
market beginning in 1949. As time went
on, the widely reported performance
of some of these little powerplants
was such that British modellers were
prompted to look more closely at their
underlying technology. The advent
of engines like the Cox and Holland
.049 contest models as well as the
championship-winning Japanese O.S.
Max 15 of the mid-1950's contributed
to the commencement of a period of re-
appraisal of the glow-plug motor on the
part of British and Continental modellers
in terms of its broader applicability to the
smaller displacement categories which
they had hitherto seen as being largely
the preserve of the diesel.
British interest in glow-plug powerplants
were not long in appearing in the
marketplace. Examples of both American
and Japanese glow-plug units began
to trickle into Britain by one means or
another, giving a very good account of
themselves on the flying field for all to
see. In particular, the importation of the
Cox range by A. A. Hales began to meet
with growing sales success.
The increasing British acceptance of
glow-plug technology had its effect upon
the thinking of British manufacturers.
An early indication was the April 1959
introduction of the excellent British-made
MERCO 29 and 35 glow-plug models
which were initially aimed at the control-
This advert for stunt versions of the MERCO
line stunt market but later appeared in 29 and 35 appeared in October 1959 Model
RC form. Further attention was drawn Aircraft.
to the technology by the development
of the outstanding D-C Tornado 5 cc
twin-cylinder glow-plug model. Finally,
beginning in the latter half of 1959
a number of British manufacturers
entered the ½A glow-plug motor market
themselves in competition with the
American imports.
GB GLOW RENAISSANCE
All of this glow-plug activity among
British manufacturers made 1959 a The impressive D-C Tornado 5 cc twin-
pivotal year for the acceptance of glow- cylinder engine.

18 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021

 The 1959 AeroModeller Annual included these
adverts from FROG and A-M/MERCO which
featured some new glow-plug engines among the
existing ranges of diesels.

an established American design.

plug ignition in Britain. The Editors of the
1959 "AeroModeller Annual" commented
specifically upon the fact that the
"attempted comeback of the glowplug
engine" had been a noteworthy point of
interest during the 1959 season.
Perhaps the defining initiative which
resulted from this renewed interest in
glow-plug motors was what may now
be seen as the 1959-1960 British ½A
glowplug “revolution” - actually, the
second British glow-plug revolution, in
which no fewer than four manufacturers
took part. International Model Aircraft
(IMA) got the ball rolling in July 1959 by
introducing the FROG .049 glow-plug
version of their established FROG 80
diesel. In September 1959 Allen-Mercury
released the A-M .049, which was simply
a badge-engineered copy of the well-
established American Wen-Mac .049
glow-plug motor. Davies-Charlton's
response came in late October 1959 with
the release of the 0.76 cc D-C Bantam,
which was to all intents and purposes a
bored-out glow-plug version of their well-
established 0.55 cc Dart diesel.
Now it's noteworthy that none of the
above three designs embodied any
original thinking whatsoever in their
conception. All three of them either
borrowed heavily from existing diesel
models already in production by their
respective manufacturers or (in the case
of the A-M) were nothing short of a
licensed badge-engineered rendition of
This undoubtedly reflects the fact that
when it came to manufacturing engines
at the kind of low unit production costs
that could be achieved by American
volume producers such as Cox and
Wen-Mac, the British makers with their
far smaller market couldn’t hope to
compete, hence looking for savings
elsewhere, such as sidestepping
development costs and minimizing
investments in new dies and tooling.
Unfortunately, previous experience
had shown that a simple conversion
from diesel to glow-plug ignition rarely
resulted in a comparable level of
performance. Both the FROG .049 and
the Bantam amply reinforced this lesson.
Although the FROG .049 was an easy-
starting and smooth-running engine,
it was a little on the bulky side for its
displacement. Moreover, its performance
as reported by Ron Warring and Peter
Chinn was substantially down on the
FROG 80 diesel on which it was based. It
fared very poorly in the marketplace, only
surviving in limited production until 1962.
It is quite a rare engine today.
The D-C Bantam received a glowing
accolade from tester Ron Warring in his
January 1960 report. However, it turned

The FROG .049

was a glow-plug
version of their The Allen-Mercury
established FROG 049 was a badge-
80 diesel. engineered copy
of the American
Wen-Mac .049.

AeroModeller 1011 - 19
Engine History
The DC Bantam
glow was based
on the Dart diesel
crankcase.
out that his performance figures were
grossly over-stated. It appears that he
tested a prototype model having a far
higher performance than the production
version but failed to acknowledge that
fact either then or later. Unfortunately,
his exaggeratedly-positive report led
many modellers to rush out to buy
Bantams, subsequently being extremely
disappointed at their unexpectedly low
levels of performance (I was one of
them!).
Despite this, the Bantam was
manufactured and sold in the tens of
thousands due to its remarkably low
price. Many examples survive today
in excellent condition. Moreover, I’ve
January 1960 AM featured reviews of the A-M, FROG and D-C Bantam 049s
by Ron Warring with the Bantam seemingly offering the best specific power
output of 0.07 BHP per cc.
20 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
confirmed through my own efforts
that it’s readily possible to modify a
Bantam to overcome some of its design
shortcomings, with remarkably positive
results.
The A-M .049 was a far stronger
performer than either the FROG or the
standard Bantam, as demonstrated in
test reports by Peter Chinn. However,
it was after all just a straight copy of
an American design - in fact, there
is considerable evidence to suggest
that many of its key components were
actually manufactured in America by
Wen-Mac. It also suffered from the
drawbacks of a very bulky, undependable
and completely unnecessary starter as
well as being inconveniently arranged
for beam mounting. It too met with little
marketplace success, consequently
being another very rare engine today.
The most rational of the four British ½A
glows didn’t make its appearance until
mid 1960. This was the KeilKraft Cobra
.049 manufactured by John Rodwell
Ltd. of Hornchurch in Essex. Unlike its
three competitors, the Cobra was an
all-original design. It was clearly based in
principle upon the highly successful Cox
reed-valve models from America - in fact,
it was widely believed at the time to be a
set of Cox working components grafted
onto a revised set of castings produced
in Britain. However, detailed examination
has confirmed that it was actually an
all-British production from the ground
up, merely looking to Cox for its design
inspiration.
This made the Cobra by far the most
original of the four British glow-plug
models of this period. It was quite
logically based upon one of the most
successful ½A glow-plug motors of its
day, hence having no diesel heritage
to overcome. However, it incorporated
a number of design changes which
brought it more into line with British
preferences of the period (sturdier
cylinder, beam mounting, ability to use a
tank of the modeller’s choosing, etc.).
The Cobra was a far stronger
performer than either the FROG .049 or
the Bantam, being more or less on par
with the A-M .049. It sold for £1 19s 6d
(£1.97), but was undercut by the Bantam
at only £1 14s 10d (£1.74). Coupled with
Ron Warring’s grossly inflated report on
the Bantam’s performance, this gave
the Bantam an instant sales edge, to
The January
1960 AM also
featured a visit
to Davies-
Charlton on
the Isle of Man,
possibly this
is where Ron
picked up his
exceptional
Bantam?
the detriment of sales of the superior
competing models from other makers,
including the Cobra.
This situation led to a major change in
the character of the British marketplace.
Previously there had been a general
acceptance of the idea that you got
what you paid for and that value and
price (two very different terms) were
therefore inter-related. The low cost of
the Bantam coupled with its misleadingly
inflated published performance figures
suggested that you could, and therefore
should, be able to receive high value at
a very low price. The two factors were
no longer seen as being in any way
connected.
British modellers derived no benefit
from the resulting switch to a price-
driven marketplace as opposed to a
value-driven one. This switch was to lead
to the abandonment of the modelling
field by a number of fine manufacturers.
The Cobra .049 was a notable example -
despite the engine’s general excellence,
the manufacturer was unable to make
any profit at the price at which he was
forced to sell to remain competitive. The
superb little A-S 55 diesel was another
highly regrettable casualty. Both of these
engines were worth far more than a
Bantam but could not be sold at a price
which made the provision of such high
value an economically-viable proposition.
Nevertheless, the British ½A
“revolution” did have the effect of making
far more British modellers comfortable
with glow-plug ignition than had formerly
been the case. From that point onwards,
the glow-plug motor continued to
The Keil Kraft Cobra
049 was an original
British designed and
manufactured 1/2A glow
engine which took some
of its design cues from
the Cox reed-valve range
but had the advantage of
beam mounting which was
customary in the UK.
advance in popularity among British
modellers. The rising popularity of R/C
also played a major role here.
For most of the participants, the British
½A “revolution” did not end well. The Adrian Duncan has tuned a D-C Bantam
to give sparkling performance, here seen
near-simultaneous appearance of so running full-cry at 17,000 rpm.
many different models aimed at the same
market niche had the effect of creating
an over-supply of such engines. This
coincided with the beginning of what
may be seen in hindsight as a steady
decline in the demand for model engines
in general and small engines in particular
which has continued down to the present
day. As a result, only the mega-cheap
D-C Bantam survived beyond 1962,
actually remaining Britain’s best-selling
model engine for some years despite
its highly unimpressive performance
credentials. It survived until 1971, when it
was replaced by the vastly superior D-C
Wasp. Ron Warring reviewed the Cobra 049 in
Overall, the British ½A glow- October 1960 AeroModeller and KeilKraft
plug “revolution” was a significant
took this full page advert to promote the
engine.
phenomenon which may be seen as
both the end of the beginning and the
beginning of the end for glow-plug
motors in Britain. However, that latter
end was to be a long time coming -
the glow-plug is still just about alive
today! I personally hope to continue
to experience the aroma of burning
nitro and methanol for years to come
(although I still prefer the magic aroma of
diesel fuel!)
You can read more from Adrian
Duncan on the history of model engines
on his excellent website
www.adriansmodelaeroengines.com ■ The last hurrah for the volume British 049
glow-plug motor was the D-C Wasp.
The Allbon-Saunders
55 was a well
engineered small
diesel that proved
too expensive for the
market.
AeroModeller 1011 - 21
How To

BETTER
BOXES
Leading Indoor Scale Modeller Richard Crossley on design, storage and
transport solutions for your delicate models

and storing them has now become a dusty and damaged. I must have got the

M
y collection of indoor
flying models has grown serious problem at home. We do have a hang of trimming models too over the
at a steady rate over few large cupboards, and the inevitable years, therefore there are probably more
the years. I’ve always loft space, but this is no longer viable, ‘survivors’ than there used to be - all
got a model on the go and the models are suffering - getting adding to the problem. It was clear that I

The inspiration for space-saving packaging

came from Ken McDonough’s system used on
his CO2 powered airliner fleet. Ken’s models
are snugly packed into hardboard boxes. Each
box is labelled and painted in the same French
blue shade. Note the built-in storage for spare
CO2 bulbs etc. These also act as baffles to
stop the model moving in the box.

22 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021

 Ken McDonough painted the cover of
February 1959 AeroModeller to accompany
Although removable wings would be tricky to fit to a single-bay biplane, they are quite practical on a both his 3-view and 40” span flying model of
2-bay biplane like this Farman F70 as the rigging need not be disturbed. Here, Ken has used a tongue the B.E.2E.
and box system in the upper wings, and locating dowels in the lower wings.

needed a better storage solution.
Many years ago, I inherited a collection
of superbly boxed models from my
dear friend David Deadman when he
passed away in 2004. This collection
was part of the late Ken McDonough’s
between-the-wars fleet of flying scale
airliners - Ken was a superb model
maker as well as being a talented
aviation artist - among his paintings are
a number that were produced for Airfix
box artwork in the 1960’s. Ken’s models
were passed on to Dave when he died
in 2002. The models themselves are
superbly built masterpieces, and all of
them have detachable wings, allowing
the dismantled airframes to fit snugly
into surprisingly compact bespoke boxes
- each one with its own label for easy
recognition.
The smaller Peanut and Pistachio sized
models are not a problem to store, often
a suitably sized box can be found for
these. Some of my more recent indoor
‘open’ scale models are built larger
and lighter, and it’s with these models
that I’m taking my inspiration from Ken,
employing removable wings and tailor-
made boxes.
DETACHABLE WINGS
My favourite method for making
detachable wing panels relies on carbon
rod sliding within aluminium tube. I use
small neodymium magnets to hold the
panels in place.
Here is my method:
When I have chosen an ideal place
for the wing to detach, which is usually
along a panel line on a scale model, I
add an extra wing rib at that position.
Its then a pretty easy task, with the wing
being built as normal (apart from the
extra rib). Once the position for the tubes
and rods has been chosen, the ribs are
pierced with a sharpened cocktail stick
or drill, the tubes and rods are then slid
into place, and fixed with a tiny dot of

My 1/20th Scale Nakajima B5N2 Kate is a fairly large indoor model at 31”
wing span. The wing break line on the model replicates the original folding
wing break on the full-size aircraft. You can see the 1mm diameter carbon
rods fitted in the uncovered outer wing panels. The carbon rods are a slide-
fit in the aluminium tubes in the inner wing panels.
The removable wing panels of the Kate reduces the span from 31” down to a
handy 14”. It is preferable to make the wings detach outboard of the landing
gear if they are mounted on the wings.

AeroModeller 1011 - 23
How To

material available in 3 thickness’s - 3mm,

5mm and 10mm. It’s easy to cut with a
modelling knife and it bonds well with
PVA glue. It will also help insulate a
model from damp and heat - foam board
is available readily online or in art and
craft shops. I use the 5mm variety for my
boxes.
Start by plotting the base. Sit the
model on a piece of foam board and plot
a rectangle - leave 10 to 20mm clear
space all around the model. Decide
where the separate wing panels will sit
within the box - often under or beside
the fuselage. The tailplane span will often
dictate the width of the box. You can
then go on to work out the height of the
box. Assembly is a quick process, I use
white glue in conjunction with masking
tape, the tape supports the joint so there
is no need to wait for the glue to dry
before proceeding with the next joint.
This is a close up of the wing panel of my Polikarpov I-16, showing the 1mm carbon rods fitted in the
outer panel, and the aluminium tubes to the inner panel. The rods and tubes are fixed with cyano. The taped edges also reinforce the box.
When fitting, make sure they run parallel or you will have difficulty engaging the rods in the tubes. Note The lids are made like a shallow inverted
box and are a slide fit.
that Rib R4 has been duplicated - the only structural change compared to a one piece wing required,
apart from fitting the rods and tubes. The wing is cut in two only after removing from the building
board and sanding. You can just make out the tiny magnets, recessed into the rib. Tailor-made boxes are not only
great for storage, they also make
cyano. The wing is only dissected after good for larger or heavier models), and a transportation of the models much more
final sanding has been done. balsa tongue and box method. practical. It’s important to ensure the
A couple of alternative methods I model will not move about within the
have used before are 3/32” dia. bamboo BESPOKE BOXES box, so foam board baffles are glued
skewers sliding into rolled paper tubes Foam board is perfect for constructing in strategic positions. If you make the
(these work in the same way and are boxes. This is a light, rigid laminated baffles the same height as the fuselage

My indoor electric powered Consolidated Coronado in its box ‘hangar’. This is a complex and If the models are free to rattle about, they can still
fragile model, so a box is essential for transportation. Note the foam board partitions and supports be damaged in a box. These foam board supports
keeping the airframe in place. These also provide storage for batteries and the take-off dolly. with pins and thin rubber bands will stop movement.
I used them on the inboard nacelles, and the rear
24 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021 fuselage.
My 36” span Boeing YB-9 features a realistic printed end-rib graphic - just a bit of fun, but it looks convincing. Note the two slots in the rib - I used a twin
tongue and box set up on this model.

you can use pins as anchors for thin Extra compartments can be made to your documentation in a pouch under the
rubber bands to hold the model down. hold propellers, spare rubber motors, lid, keeping everything together. n
I also make slots in blocks of foam and batteries, and trimming aids and notes. If
fix to the base to locate the wheels. it’s a competition model, you can even fit

The 26” span Piper Tri-Pacer has delicate whip aerials on the detachable wing panels. To
prevent damage the wing panels slide into foam board partitions within the box so they
can’t move about.

AeroModeller 1011 - 25
 Aeromodelling Science
PROPELLER ‘BLUFF
BODY’ CORRECTION
Supercool the man behind Supercool Racing Propellers considers the effect of the cowling
when designing high performance props
I
n the beginning was the Windmill.
This was a rather badly designed
propeller, which required the wind
to make it rotate. Then came the
Wakefield, a type of model containing
a rubber motor, which spun the propeller
Andrew Davies’ F3D in plan view. Prop does
not look too small in diameter here, flow is well
represented by Figure 1.
FIG. 1.
Streamlines for flow past a nose with no cowling. Propeller diameter is large compared
to bluff body.
26 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
thus inducing flight. The diameter of the
propeller was very large compared to the
diameter of the rubber motor, while the
rotation speed of the propeller was low.
Peace reigned on the flying fields of yore.
This halcyon period was not to last.
Oops, the propeller tip only just makes it
higher than the engine! The cowl is a massive
obstruction with the prop in this position. If no
correction is applied, then the blade angle will be
too high.
Before very long modellers started bolting
engines to the propellers, and models to
the engines. The rot had started, there
was to be no turning back. The saintly
Mills 0.75 held back the tide, turning
moderately sized propellers at gentle
RPM. But then the real disaster struck:
the Cox PeeWee 020 engine arrived,
turning 27000 RPM on tiny 3" diameter
propellers. How could this be? Where
would it lead?
At the present time (the year 2021),
there are engines turning 33000 RPM
on propellers only 6.5" diameter, with
flight speeds near 200 MPH and power
absorption near 4HP. All well and good
perhaps, but that radius of propeller is
less than the height of the engine! One
wonders how the propeller slipstream is
to find its way past the cowling. From now
on in this tract, the cowling becomes the
dreaded "bluff body".
Bluff Body
So, to the propeller design pantheon
of problems (Reynolds number, Mach
number, blade profile and twist, tip-loss) is
added the "bluff body" effect. One tends
to think that the free-stream arrives nicely
at the propeller disc, with the same speed
uniformly over the whole disc. That is
to say, that the flow streamlines into the
prop disc are parallel. This is a reasonable
assumption. Indeed, propeller theory
argues that the inflow to the disc is NOT
increased by the action of the propeller.
Rather, that the action of the propeller
is to create a pressure increase at the
disc which decays by speeding up the
slipstream behind the disc.
However, by the same process that
makes the airflow ahead of a wing section
deflect up from some multiple of chord
lengths to meet the section, so the
presence of the cowling, fuselage, and FIG. 2.
wing, all influence the airflow ahead of the
prop disc. This is the source of the "bluff
body effect".
In Figure 1, the divergence of the
inflow stream around the spinner and
front fuselage is apparent. The figure
is actually for an axi-symmetric shape
(tubular): the flow shown is 2-dimensional
only on the paper. The streamline plot,
to a reasonable accuracy, is for the flow
around F2A and F3D nose sections
WHERE THERE IS NO COWLING.
Again referring to Figure 1, the Streamlines for flow around a radial cowling. Propeller diameter is small compared to bluff body.
flow areas where most of the thrust
is generated are marked in red. The
adjacent table shows a quantity "Vratio". FIG. 3.
This is the amount by which the axial
inflow speed is reduced ahead of the
disc. In designing a prop, we assume that
this reduced speed is used in calculating
the aerodynamic forces acting on the
blade elements. In the red areas, the
reduction in speed is only of the order
1%. This can be considered negligible.
However, down by the spinner radius,
the slow-down is of the order 10%. This is
only negligible in the sense that the thrust
and power absorption in that region is
Streamlines for an optimistic “average” bluff body, having combined properties of both
small. Without correction to the reduced Figures 1 and 2.
speed of the inflow, the blade angle will
be too high.
In Figure 2, a crude attempt is made marked deflection of the streamlines. in for the free-stream left uncorrected will
to include the effect of a radial cowling the red area, the critical area. The axial be way too high, thereby crippling the
on the inflow speed. Again, this flow is inflow speed to the blade elements is performance of the prop.
axi-symmetric, which is the true case for there reduced by something like 15%. Now this is extreme. The prop diameter
a radial engine cowl (Sea Fury, FW190 This is disastrous. Indeed, it is disastrous is only slightly greater than the diameter
etc). Note that this time there is a very over the whole disc. The pitch calculated of the cowl. The latter is a radial cowl,

The scale prop on a radial powered Gee Bee racer is only just beyond the cowl.

AeroModeller 1011 - 27
 Aeromodelling Science
Andrew Heath’s F2A in three projections. The difficulty of finding an “average” shape for the bluff body streamlines is apparent.
blocking off most of the inflow. To be fair,
I have witnessed in Giant Scale Pylon
racing in the USA a GeeBee R2 (massive
radial cowl) matching speed with a Brown
B2 (inline engine). This seemed unlikely at
the time, but provided there is enough of
the prop tip out past the cowl radius, then
credibility is restored.
In Figure 3, the diameter of the radial
cowl is reduced. The amount of reduction
is a guess. In F2A and F3D the cowling is
part radial and part in-line when viewed
from the front. The propeller is thus
constantly switching inflow speed during
each rotation. At one point of rotation, the
flow is blocked by the engine cowling,
Figure 2, then unblocked as per Figure 1,
no cowling.
As the prop pitch is fixed, the blade
angle will always be wrong. However, the
best we can hope for is that there exists
some average pitch that works best during
each rotation. Figure 3 is my guess for the
average inflow speed which works best.
Again, considering Figure 3, the axial
inflow speed in the red area is reduced
some 6%. In terms of setting the blade
angle, this is a lot! F2A and F3D engines
are very sensitive to load. If the prop pitch
is too high, these engines will not come
up on pipe.
The "bluff-body" correction is applied
to the free-stream inflow speed when
designing the propeller. The correction is
needed when prop diameters are small
compared to the depth of the cowling.
The Forward Shadow…
If all this remains a puzzle, think this way.
The cowl, fuselage and wing all cast a
28 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
"shadow" forward of the prop disc. This
"shadow" acts to reduce the axial inflow
speed to the prop disc. The fatter the
cowl, the greater the shadow, the lower
must be made the pitch.
You may be wondering how these
diagrams were determined. They were
calculated from a branch of Physics
called Fluid Mechanics. My reference
book is by L. M. Milne-Thompson,
"Theoretical Hydrodynamics". Fourth
Edition 1960. This can be a really tough
subject to study. The folks I have met
who studied this
subject, to a man,
stated that they did
not understand a
word. Neither did
I. But without the
pressure of looming
examinations, I
came to understand
that this is a really
excellent field of
study, based on
very simple and
comprehensible
E.R.Jones Engineering 1991 publication
principles. On of the PDAP design program (Propeller
my web-site at Design and Analysis Program.
Supercoolprops.
com there are examples which may help
develop understanding.
Back in the 1930's, in the USA radial
engines were in the preponderance. NACA
engineer Fred E. Weick carried out a
study on the subject "Body and Propeller
Interference". This was published in his
book "Aircraft Propeller Design", 1930,
McGraw-Hill Book Company. This book was process”
something of a propeller bible to engineers
of that time. It is worth a read. A second
book, also well known to engineering
students of that period, published during
WW2, was Wilbur C. Nelson's "Airplane
Propeller Principles",1944, John Wiley and
Sons. These pair make good companions
for study.
Back in 1991, E.R.Jones Engineering
published the PDAP design program
(Propeller Design and Analysis Program
version 1). The documentation for this
code included a section “5.4 Flow Velocity
at the Propeller Plane”. This included the
2-source method
for calculating
the stream-lines
around the aircraft
nose (a rotationally
symmetric body),
thereby allowing for
a correction to the
inflow velocity.
This is Jones
summation: “Finally,
once a good fit to
the equivalent body
has been obtained
by adjusting the
location and strengths
of the sources, the
x-velocity (axial) of flow at the propeller
plane can be computed. The radial
velocity component is neglected, and
the circumferential velocity is zero for a
symmetrical body.”
“The effects of any errors by using this
method are probably negligible compared
to other uncertainties in the design
Here! here! (The Author) ■
Time Takes It's Toll by Dennis Lee Gerber

The effects of
Wind and Rain on
Vintage Aircraft
"Time Takes It's Toll" is not just another Aviation
photo book. Most books show shiny refurbished
examples housed in indoor museums. This
book features hundreds of photos of aircraft
that have been parked outside for years out in
the elements exposed to the hot sun, wind and
rain. They take on a character and beautiful
patina that is stunningly amazing in all their
faded glory. This book also features some one
off examples of aircraft that are the last ones
is in existence. It includes propeller and jet
engine aircraft and some vintage helicopters.
Aircraft enthusiasts and modellers alike will
enjoy "Time Takes It's Toll", a very unique book
with some truly amazing photographs along
with descriptions of each aircraft.

358 pages and thousands of amazing photos

Purchase at pocketmags: Just

https://pocketmags.com/modellers-reference-library-magazine £13.99

Your purchase can be read on any of the following platforms Requires: iPad and iPhone devices running iOS 10.0 or above, Android should be:
Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or above , Kindle Fire (Gen 3) or above, Windows 8 tablets,
Windows 8.1 Phones, and PC and Macs with a html5 compatible browser.
 FREE Plan

MISS BARNSTORMER
Built in many versions at various sizes, DB’s classic is now in FF form or suitable for miniRC. Andrew
Boddington describes the Barnstormer family of planes and details this month’s Free Plan of Miss
Barnstormer designed by his father the late David Boddington

version to the Mega 120" Barnstormer. involvement with the magazines and

I
n his introduction to the Miss
Barnstormer plan when first published
in Model Flyer October 2001, my
Dad wrote the following introductory
paragraph.
“Originally designed in the 1960's,
the Barnstormer basic configuration
has been modified and developed
over the intervening years. The parasol
wing model has been constructed in
sizes from the indoor micro (24" span)
One modeller produced a low wing
'Understormer' version and there have
been at least three sizes of the two-
wing 'Bistormer' planned, or kitted.
Models have been flown off water, with
skis - and one 'special' carried two
small, .09ci powered models under the
wings, which were released in flight.
However, all of these many variants were
radio controlled, mainly because of my
kitting - so I thought that it was about
time to introduce a free flight variant.”
In the past I have been reluctant
to focus too much on my archive of
information about Dad for fear of boring
the readership, but given the warm
response to the biographies of other
leading modellers I thought now might be
a good time to look at one aspect of DB’s
modelling life. So here is a retrospective

Miss Barnstormer, this

month’s Free Plan, has
a distinguished heritage
and many siblings.

30 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021

David Toyer with the original Barnstormer (with no number identifier as it was Geoff Thompson of the Nene Valley AeroModellers with the Barnstormer 72
the first) was published in September 1969 RCM&E. I remember this model well which at the time seemed a large model.
in its dark red finish and the ugliest looking doll with a painted face as pilot!

of the original Barnstormer and follow
up designs which were part of my
childhood.
Barnstormer
Much as Dad wouldn’t let a good design
go to waste and produced many different
size Barnstormers, the name was also
repurposed! The original Barnstormer
model with 52” wingspan was designed
in the late 1960’s when Dad and his
brother Charles were also running full-
size air-displays as the ‘Barnstormers
Flying Circus’ the name Barnstormer
and Barnstorming being taken from the
1920’s when ex-WWI pilots went around
the country giving aerobatic flying
displays and air experience flights. As an
aside… when the first episode of ‘Monty
Python’s Flying Circus’ was broadcast
on the BBC TV with little fanfare in
1969, Dad and Charles watched as they
thought it might contain some flying…!
The first Barnstormer was designed
to be reminiscent of parasol winged
aircraft of the late 1920’s and early
1930’s, an era when aeroplanes were
full of character, and to be an easy to
fly single-channel alternative to the
Super Sixty, Tyro, etc cabin models. The
proto-type model was built by Dad’s
good friend David Toyer who in 1969 was
just returning to his boy-hood hobby of
aeromodelling and learning to fly single-
channel RC. The model was powered by
an ED Racer 2.5cc diesel without throttle
control, and having recently talked
with David Toyer about this and other
Barnstormers he remembered that the
Elmic escapement and RC receiver were
mounted on a vertical plywood board to
allow reasonably quick transfer of the
equipment between different models.
No building servos in to models 50 years
ago, you couldn’t afford that!
Go Large
Dad was obviously on a roll as in
quick succession he drew up a Big
Barnstormer at 96”, the Barnstormer
Baby for radial mount Cox 049 and
again single-channel built by David Toyer
which was published in January 1971
RCM&E, and the 72” span Barnstormer
72 for ‘multi’ built by Geoff Thompson
and published in May 1971 RCM&E. The
plans of the Barnstormer 72 (RC1118)

The Barnstormer 63 was kitted by DB Models and this and many of the others are still available as Plan Packs from www.dbsportandscale.com

AeroModeller 1011 - 31
 FREE Plan

of the Barnstormer.
essful twin engine configuration
The Sea-Stormer was not a succ

and even the original 59” as an X-list plan
(RC1039) are still available from Sarik
Hobbies www.sarikhobbies.com
Flicking through Dad’s RCM&E ‘Sport
& Single’ columns of 1971 shows that
the Barnstormer was at the heart of
much of his modelling activities with
Geoff’s .40ci powered Barnstormer 72
being fitted with a 120 ft length nylon
fishing line attached to a curtain rail
hook screwed into the nose of an RC
glider. An aerotow was attempted with
release being via a piece of burning
dethermalizer fuse near the nose of the
glider! Initial flights proved challenging
as they tried to watch two models
separated at a distance and control the
glider so that it remained aligned with

The later Twin Tub was closer to the original Barnstormer layout and would It is that man again! It was David Toyer who built the proto-type of the
happily fly on a single engine. biplane Bi-Stormer.

The Mighty Barnstormer was purpose designed and built to act as the mothership to the two Nimble parasite models.

32 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021

the tug Barnstormer, all this while waiting
for the random burn through of the fuse.
Later they fitted servo releases on both
the tug and glider, increased the power of
the Barnstormer to a .61ci and learnt to
minimise controlling of the glider on tow
to give much more successful flights.
I look back in awe at my father’s
work rate in the early 1970’s; as well
as organising full-size air-displays,
and contributing RCM&E articles and
plans, he also had his DB Models kitting
business – at the time it was not unusual
for me to earn extra pocket money by
making up the bags of screws, clevises,
horns etc. for inclusion in the kits. Thus,
it is no surprise that another size of
Barnstormer should join the range of kits,
this one with 63” wingspan. While these
days high street copy shops can photo
reduce or enlarge plans to suit while you
wait, no such service were available for
most of DB’s designing career. So, each
of these Barnstormer versions needed a
completely new draughting.
The Mark One was Dad’s modernised version
of the Barnstormer 63.
Add an Engine…
Another early 70’s variation of the
Barnstormer was to float-plane version
with hull for fuselage and twin engine
mounted on the wing – the Sea-Stormer.
Talking with David Toyer we can
The Twin Tub lends itself to all manner of
finishes!
AeroModeller 1011 - 33
 FREE PLAN
MISS BARNSTORMER
FF/RC @50%
PLAN 695 IN
AEROMODELLER 1011
AUGUST 2021
 FREE Plan
remember Dad test floating the Sea-
Stormer in the outdoor paddling pool
near the river Nene in Wellingborough,
but we can’t recall it flying? David
thinks that the triangular cross section
hulled fuselage had problems where
the stringers met at the rear which
introduced an incidence change; thus
the Sea-Stormer never made it into the
public sphere. However, the lessons
learnt were incorporated in the Twin
Tub which was closer to being a twin-
engine wing mounted version of the
Barnstormer, and had an undercarriage
for flying from land.
Add a Wing…
Inevitably another variation of the
Barnstormer was the biplane Bi-Stormer
in both 63” and 72” span versions which
didn’t require so much redesigning as
some versions! The Bi-Stormers have
masses of wing area and will happily
cruise round the sky at low speed
without problem. Again, these designs
were kitted by DB Models, and many of
the Barnstormers, Bi-Stormers and Twin
Tub mentioned are still available as Plan
Packs from Richard Bristow who is the
current owner of DB Sport and Scale
www.dbsportandscale.com
Larger Still…
The largest Barnstormer I remember
drawn up by Dad was the 90” span
Mighty Barnstormer (although at least
36 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
one modeller has gone larger than this)
Again it was David Toyer that built the
proto-type which was powered by a
Super Tigre 60 engine, nylon covered
and painted finish, 4 channel RC for the
main controls and then an additional 5th
servo for a special option.
From the start the Mighty Barnstormer
was built to allow the attachment
underwing of two other smaller RC
models, the ‘Nimbles’. These parasites
were powered by Enya 09s and had 3
channel RC, finished in red Solarfilm for
the port side model, and green for the
starboard. Vertical Formica tip plates
on the Nimble located in slots on the
underside of the Mighty Barnstormer and
piano wire pins controlled from a central
servo were the release mechanism.
These days you would undoubtedly
use electric motors on the Nimbles, but
back then the procedure was to start
the Nimbles engines in situ and set the
throttles to idle, then start the Mighty
Barnstormer. Early test flights were tense
in case there were problems from the
three separate radio sets being so close
together (this was on 27MHz when there
were only 6 spots available!), but this did
not occur.
The combination of course needed
three pilots and was displayed at the
Sywell Expo and local fetes during 1973.
Everything went smoothly although
occasionally the engine on one of
the Nimbles would cut before release
meaning that it was an extended glide
only. The other small anomaly is that
despite the pin having been removed
from the holding plate a Nimble would
not ‘un-stick’ for a few seconds, which
Dad put down to an odd vernturi
‘sucking’ effect between the wings of the
Mighty Barnstormer and the Nimble, but
despite the asymmetric configuration the
Mighty Barnstormer would continue to fly
in a stable and controllable manner until
the Nimble parted company.
Other Versions
I left home after attending university in
the early 80’s so I wasn’t living day-
to-day with Dad’s latest designs after
that point, so while researching this
article I managed to surprise myself
that there was one modern version
of the Barnstormer I had forgotten
about. The Mark One was published
in November 1992 RCM&E and is an
enclosed cockpit, sleeker version of the
Barnstormer 63; it is still a parasol layout
but to my mind it is not as handsome as
the classic layout.
Other modellers have taken the
Barnstormer and its siblings to their
hearts and there is at least one who
has produced a low wing version (an
Understormer?!) although I can’t find a
photo. You’ll see from the photos I have
found that the Twin Tub is a popular
canvas to produce a ‘Fantasy Scale’ type
model of one’s choosing. ■
MISS BARNSTORMER
David Boddington’s 39” wingspan sports parasol model for engines around 0.5cc, suitable for FF or miniRC
I
was lucky to inherit Dad’s original
Miss Barnstormer which is 20 years
old. He built his as Free Flight and it
was first powered by a replica Kalper
diesel (the engine is long gone) and
lockdown gave me the chance to get the
model out and decide what to do with it.
I decided that a Boddo Mini-Mills 0.5cc
diesel with RC throttle would be fitting
power, and together with Rudder control
would allow a guided Free Flight control,
suitable for a model of this type.
Converting a built small model from
FF to RC is not difficult but working out
control runs and positioning of servos
took a bit of head scratching. If you
decide on an RC version from the start,
you will find it easier by planning ahead;
I suggest you make a removable top
hatch between F1 to F3 and use this for
radio access to keep the weight forward.
For my conversion I made access to
the fuselage through a lower hatch
running from F2 to F4, with the throttle
servo placed between F2 and F3. The
plan shown trim tab and lower rudder
were removed from the fin and glued
The Boddo Mills 0.5cc with RC throttle is a tall engine but has the right feel for
this model. A tube was carefully positioned from F1 to F2 for the control pushrod.
together to produce a full-length rudder
for RC work. Control is via a snake to
the servo placed just inside the front of
the cockpit. A hole was made in F2 for
the battery pack to be as far forward
as possible, and this, together with the
heavier engine, meant I could remove
one of the nose weights to get the
correct Balance Point.
Improvements
The advantages of coming back to a
well flown design after 20 years is that I
can tell you what works and what needs
changing! Dad’s original wing fixing of
18swg piano wire cabanes into plywood
or Tufnol wing fittings have not stood
the test of time; two of them have had
the holes pulled open. I remedied this by
bending 16swg two wires to fit the under
rib profile and carefully soldered them
in place to the cabanes to give wing
seating and extend out for wing retaining
rubber bands. I suggest you go with this
arrangement from the beginning.
Another tip is to 1/8” sheet between
F2 and F3 as this is where one naturally
I retained the banded on tailplane of the original FF model and ran a snake
cable to the full length rudder for control.
holds the model when flick starting the
engine; I found the cross piece shown
on plan had cracked. I’d also consider
putting beech bearer under the engine
mountain plate if you think you will be
swopping engines around.
You’ll find a reproduced page of the
photo instructions to help you with
your build. Do be aware that the plan
is reproduced at 50% size – you need
to double it (200%) to get to the 39”
wingspan intended, but you could
probably enlarge anywhere between
170% and 230% to meet your own
power requirements without needing to
alter the structure significantly.
I’ll leave the final paragraphs on Miss
Barnstormer to Dad from his original
article.
Original Article
Of course, you could modify it to a
biplane version by adding a lower wing,
or up the power and fit one or two
channels of RC. Although the prototype
model flew with replica Kalper 0.32cc
and Mills 0.4cc diesels, you could use
AeroModeller 1011 - 37
 FREE Plan
any suitable engine up to the Cox Babe
Bee capacity - just remember the old
trick of reversing the propeller to tame
the motor if you have too much power.
Construction
Hopefully, the plan drawing and
38 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
photographs will tell you all you need
to know. I imagine that this is a model
which will be built by the traditionalist
aeromodeller with a reasonable
knowledge of construction. The fuselage
is a standard 'build two sides and join
with formers and crosspieces'; the wing
panels are constructed directly over the
plan, as are the tailsurfaces. Select your
balsawood carefully, you don't have
to go to the imitation oak, remember
that light models fly much better than
heavy ones. To this extent, you can
opt for a lightweight tissue or Polyester
Because of the difficulties associated with fitting radio in a finished FF model I As shown on the plan the cabanes end in wires which locate in wing plate
decided the front of cockpit would be a reasonable position for the rudder servo. holes. I don’t think this is as durable a solution, so I’ve adapted the model.
I could perhaps have mounted the servo in the tail but my traditional modellers
eye never thinks it looks right!

I bent up a couple of 16swg wire runners to support the wing and retain the rubber The finished wing supports are in keeping with the design and less likely to
bands. By using aluminium foil as a heat shield for the covering I could bind and cause problems.
solder the runners to the cabanes while checking everything was aligned.

Supershrink film covering or, as I did, go

for the additional toughness of Solartex -
which also necessitated some ballast in
the nose to obtain the correct balance.

Miss Flighty
I carried out test glides followed by a low
power flight, aiming for left hand power,
right on the glide. Trimming was relatively
sensitive in bank and turn (I fitted an ali
trim tab on the starboard wing) and the
final drawing shows an increase of wing
dihedral to make 'Miss Barnstormer'
a little less fussy. The wing and strut
mounting works well, the wing being
knocked off in contact with the ground.
Whether you decide to fly the model
free flight, or with miniRC (keep rudder
and elevator movements very small) we
Yet another one! A photo from 30 years ago of the editor’s daughter Jenny with Grandad’s 29” span
hope you enjoy the experience! ■ Micro Barnstormer designed for microRC and indoor flying with a Cox TD010 at the Model Engineer
Exhibition at Olympia.

AeroModeller 1011 - 39
 Summer Fun!
PAPER PLANE
CHALLENGE!
Steve Midson, the master of alternative material small models, provides a couple of A4 paper designs
for sharing with your kids or grandkids, face-to-face or over Zoom, during the summer holidays
T
hese designs arose last year
when my son who works at a
school in the wilds of Norway
asked, “We would like to
make some model aircraft
but due to the virus we are unable to
obtain materials.” What materials have
you got? “Photocopier paper, paper
clips, and glue stick!” Also, my work with
youth groups (www.midairmodels.co.uk)
had raised the question, “How can my
Scout Troop make model aircraft over
Zoom online conferencing?” The problem
40 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
here is getting materials to each scout
working at home.
Both had tried making fliers by
folding up paper with limited success
and wanted something better. Time to
engage brain!
The answer to both was to create a
design on A4 photocopier paper which
uses 'Pritt Stick' or similar to hold the
folds flat, plus paper clips for nose
weights – all things people typically
already have to hand. The T shaped
body keeps it straight without the need
The initial scoring/grooving along the chain lines makes folding much more accurate.
for a wood insert. Two designs were
created; the A4 'Flyr' - a Norwegian word
for flight - and an A4 Glider with a choice
of 'airliner' or 'glider’ cockpit.
The blank designs and the following
instructions can be scanned and sent to
makers for them to print out, make, and
enjoy, possibly with you making one at
the same time with them via Zoom. Both
designs have been a success with the
Norwegian kids having made 60 so far!
FREE PLAN – A4 PAPER PLANES BY STEVE MIDSON
PLAN 696 IN AEROMODELLER 1011 AUGUST 2021

AeroModeller 1011 - 41
FREE PLAN – A4 PAPER PLANES BY STEVE MIDSON
PLAN 696 IN AEROMODELLER 1011 AUGUST 2021

Two paper clips

required as nose weight
projecting by 1.5cm and
then covered by Head.

42 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021

Summer Fun!
MAKING INSTRUCTIONS
This model is designed to be made
from an A4 sheet of 80 GSM paper.
Pritt Stick type glues are suggested.
Customising one’s model is popular
but use only 'dry' colouring, any wet
distorts the paper, and avoid the
hatched areas where the glue goes.
The following instructions are for
the A4 Glider; the Flyr is similar but
simpler with no separate fin.
1: BEFORE CUTTING OUT, use a
straight edge or ruler, and an empty
fine ball-point pen or 'blunt' thin knife,
to 'score' EXACTLY along all 9 fold
lines – that is to make a small groove
that ensures a neat, straight, fold.
It is a good idea to practice on a
piece of scrap paper first – push
too hard and you cut the paper, too
softly and it does not fold easily and
straight.
2: Start by CUTTING OUT roughly,
well away from the marked lines – all
the way round.
Then cut EXACTLY along the hard
lines including up to the fold lines at
the wing and tailplane (4 places).
Also cut out the fin and 2 reinforcing
pieces, but not the 'cockpits' yet.
Be careful not to fold or kink the
paper when cutting out.
3: BEND All fold lines AWAY from you
(making hills). Some of these will be
bent the other way, shortly.
4: Without any glue, bend the Wing
Reinforcing piece in half, apply glue
to the marked area, fold and press
down on a flat surface, leave ready
for use later.
5: Open up the plane folds, then
keeping it all flat, without any glue,
fold right over the marked area on the
first wing. Open up, apply glue, fold
it back over and press down on a flat
surface.
Repeat for the other wing, and also
the 2 halves of the tailplane.
It is important that the wings and
tailplane are flat and not twisted.
6 – Without any glue, fold the whole
plane in half. THEN fold the left-hand
wing, side and tailplane back to
leave the marked area for the glue
exposed. It is important that you do
not get glue on the top of the body.
Put glue on the marked area, then
fold the left side back again press
down on a flat surface to keep the
body straight.
7: Open Up to a T section the top of
the body, wings and the tailplane.
8: Bend the Wing Reinforcing piece
in the middle (you should be able to
see the centre marks), into a shallow
Vee. Bend the wings up to a shallow
Vee, with the tips about 1 cm above These paper planes are an opportunity to share
your hobby with a youngster wherever they may
the centre. live. The A4 Glider has a choice of finishing as an
airliner or glider.
This is called the Dihedral and makes
the plane fly straight and level.
Then glue the reinforcement in place
at the front of the wing with the centre
marks in line with body centre fold.
9: Repeat for the Tailplane reinforcing
piece, BUT the Tailplane should be
flat and straight.
10: Put glue on the marked areas of
the Fin. Place one side on underneath The Flyr has bird like lines which may be more
attractive to some children. It requires two paper
rear of the body (the arrow points clips protruding forward and then covered by the
forward) then fold over the other side ‘head’.
and press both together FLAT. Check
there are no twists
11: Push a paper clip on the front.
Then colour your selected cockpit
design, cut out, apply glue and place
OVER the paper clip - both sides, and
press together.
BEFORE FLYING
■ Check that the wings, tailplane and
fin are flat and not twisted, correct by The outline of the paper plane is first cut roughly
gentle bending. at a distance from the thick line. This makes it
easier for a second more exact cut. A glue stick is
■ Hold the plane near the front and used on the hatched areas in the order given in the
push it forward as if it was going instructions.
down a runway – Do Not Throw!
■ If it flies straight – enjoy flying
again.
■ If it flies up then dives, check that
the tailplane is not twisted. You can
bend the back of the tailplane (the
elevators) down a bit to lift the back
of the plane in flight and stop the
The wing and tailplane reinforcements on the top
climb. front surfaces help strengthen the model. The
■ Similarly, any turn can be corrected cockpit of choice is added after the paper clip.
by checking the wings for twists and
adjusting the 'rudder' – the back of
the fin.
■ If you have made the model using
a heavier paper you may have to add
more nose weight to correct the flight.
■ Aim for a long straight glide. Pick
your plane up at the front, not the
wing tip! And check for twists after
each flight. Have fun! ■
AeroModeller 1011 - 43
Aeromodelling History

1961 WORLD FREE

FLIGHT CHAMPS
RE-VISITED
Martin Dilly shares some never before seen photos from the September 1961 World Champs in Germany

aving recently bought a film also the first year I’d been to a World for £4.50 and later sold for £16 via an

H and slide scanner I trawled

through one of the drawers
containing about fifty years-
worth of slides and prints to
decide where to begin. Right at the back
were a couple of yellow Kodachrome
boxes marked ‘Leutkirch ‘61’. That
year I’d bought my first Leica and was
Free-Flight Championships, so they
looked like a good start and I thought
AeroModeller readers might like to see
what free-flight was like 60 years ago
with pictures that have not previously
been published.
A bit of background first. My own car
ad in AeroModeller; not an ideal vehicle
for a thousand mile drive to Vienna, so
a Croydon clubmate, Ron Martin, very
kindly lent me his Morris Minor van. Thus
equipped, a non-modelling colleague and
I set off and arrived at Boulogne late in
the evening. Half an hour down the road
then was a 1932 Morris Cowley bought in the dark, on a downhill right hander, a

British glider team, from left: Barry Halford, Graham Freeston and Geoff Dallimer,
with team manager Sid Smeed kneeling. UHU-sponsored timekeepers were attached
to the team all day.
 The commemorative bronze plaque from the
Leutkirch Championships. (From Model Aircraft
November 1961)

car parked on the other side of the road

turned its headlights on, temporarily
dazzling me. Recalling that in France we
needed to stay on the righthand side of
the road I got it slightly wrong and hit
a bridge parapet, knocking six feet of
concrete into the river below, but luckily
not following it. Long before seat belts
became compulsory, I’d pushed the
steering wheel to a roughly horizontal
position with my now somewhat bruised
chest. Apart from that, we’d survived.
I had taken out some travel cover, so
we managed to hire a replacement car, a
rather whizzy Panhard PL 17, which was
an aluminium-bodied front-wheel drive
car powered by an 850 cc air-cooled
flat twin-cylinder engine, a tweaked
version of which raced at Le Mans. We weather stayed calm for the three days flight line from which every flight must
thus arrived at Leutkirch in south-west of the contest but the temperature was start. As a result the whole upwind side
Germany, in some style. often well over 30 degrees. Contest of the small field was covered by the
organisation at that time was rather teams of 22 nations, and when a model
Leutkirch Flying Site different from today; teams could fly was spotted in good air there was usually
The flying site was a smallish private from wherever they wanted and were a bit of a stampede to launch under it. At
airfield, all grass, and with quite a lot allocated timekeepers that stayed with Leutkirch there seemed little attempt at
of forest surrounding it. Luckily the them for the contest, so there was no crowd control, so spectators and flyers

Impact results; French river bridge 1, Morris

Minor van nil.

Barry Halford flew F1A on the British team.

As well as extensive coverage in AeroModeller (by Ron Moulton?) Model Aircraft magazine had a report
from Doug McHard who took these photos of Len Lortz glider with fishing rod fuselage and turned
brass nose.

AeroModeller 1011 - 45
Aeromodelling History

Some idea of the cluttered flying field as Zapaschniy lights the fuse DT of a Soviet teammate’s glider.

wandered all over the field, making glider
towing quite challenging at times.
In view of the very low windspeeds
there were times when glider flyers were
seen towing in opposite directions; 1961
was long before the advent of circle
towhooks, so once you’d started to tow
you just had to keep running till you
felt the air was right for a launch. It has
always surprised me that in the UK the
advent of circle towing resulted in several
people giving up glider flying on the
grounds that it took too much energy;
in fact the opposite was true, in that

Doug McHard took

this photo of John
O’Donnell on the
British Wakefield
team with what
he described as a
‘typical “boxy” job’.
Frank Zaic with an early walkie-talkie;
he would have been covering the World
Champs for a US magazine and his
yearbook.

Sokolov’s Wakefield used an aluminium

motor tube and a rear half with reed
longerons.

46 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021

Zapaschni of USSR winds as jet speed record
holder and F1B flyer Ivannikov holds. Leutkirch
was hot!
there was no longer the need to keep
running to prevent the towline falling off
the model. It’s interesting to note that
the AeroModeller’s report mentions that
a glider flown by the US team’s Len
Lortz used a fishing rod as a fuselage,
so presumably that was one of the first
uses of rod blanks, which later became
almost universal for F1As. Several teams
From the left: George Reich, second placer Kosinski of Poland and Alinari of Italy who placed third.
Italy’s Alessandro Alinari placed third flying this
Wakefield with DT timer mounted under the nose,
a long spine above the fuselage and a forward-
mounted fin.
including the Soviets, were still using
fuse DTs, which added pressure on flyers
not to spend too long on tow.
Changing Techniques and Rules
I don’t recall any sort of thermal
indicators in use, so there were no
Mylar streamers, no fluffies, no bubble
machines and no thermistors. Most
Wakefield winner George Reich is chaired by US
team manager Herb Kothe (left) and F1C flyer
Dub McCormick.
glider flyers usually tried to float the
model off the top of the line but some
of the Soviets had developed a zoom
launch to gain a few metres of height. In
F1C 1961 was the first year the engine
run was dropped from 15 seconds to 10
but in F1B Wakefield the motor weight
was still 50 grams, with Pirelli the rubber
of choice for most flyers.
AeroModeller 1011 - 47
Aeromodelling History
I won’t attempt a recap on most of
the contest, which is well reported in
the November 1961 AeroModeller in an
eight-page article with photos. I don’t
know if eyesight was better then, but
there’s a lot of information there as it’s
set in what looks like 6 point type, while
today’s magazine seems to use 10pt.
In those days the magazine reports
would include full individual and team
results and are now a vital resource for
researching our sport’s history.
One technique that was soon put a
stop to by the rules was the use of ‘pilot’
models, launched well upwind of a team
in the hope of marking a thermal; the
only snag was that it marked the good air
for everybody else as well, leading to a
Second-placer Ernö Frigyes gets his F1C away.
rush of teams trying to launch into it, like
bees round a honeypot.
Eastern Europe Teams
In F1C the standout team were the Gyula Simon used a Kriszma K8 engine to
Hungarians and this was a trend that help him win Hungary’s F1C team gold medal.
started with their first appearance at a
World Championships in 1958; for four
consecutive F1C Championships the
same three, Gyula Simon, Ernö Frigyes
and Andras Meczner, won the team
prize and the latter two became future
World Champions. Frigyes used one of
the Moki engines designed by György
Benedek (see the article in the March
2021 AeroModeller) and later Hungarian Italy’s Giovanni Guerra and Vittorio Pecorari
teams all used this engine; this was head back from an F1C retrieve.
before the rules required straight fuel,
Peter Buskell proxy flew New Zealander
John Sheppard’s model in to 4th place.
(From MA November 1961)
F1C winner Fritz Schneeberger with Cox
TD 15 powered model. (From AM November
1961)
Anglo-Soviet cigarette exchange, as British
Team Manager Sid Smeed dubiously
inspects a Russian papirossa consisting of
70% cardboard tube.
Silvio Lanfranchi protects Henry J Nicholls’ head from the sun while Tony Britain’s Pete Muller proxy flew this high thrustline F1C for New Zealand’s
Young waits to fly F1C. John Henry.

and after getting to know the Hungarians did achieve a very

I supplied them with nitromethane at later respectable fourth,
Championships, as it was hard to obtain the year following
in Hungary then. Their team uniform then Sheppard’s shared
consisted of blue dungarees, doubtless win at the 1960 event
seen as a suitably proletarian attire for a at Cranfield. The
Warsaw Pact nation’s team. 1961 Championships
The 1961 Championships saw for were the first of what
the first time a team from the USSR, was to become the
with one E. Verbitski placing sixth. The current two year
British power team, George French, cycle, alternating
Ray Monks and Tony Young, finished with the Euro
a respectable fifth overall, but the rest Champs.
of the British flyers didn’t distinguish After the Leutkirch
themselves, being more used to flying in Championships I
much more turbulent air than the Central was at every World
European conditions found at Leutkirch. Champs and most
Britain’s Peter Buskell, proxy-flying of the European
New Zealander John Sheppard’s F1C, ones for the next 45

The USSR’s Anatoli Averianov

won F1A after a
four-way fly-off.

years, either as a spectator, British team

The results table from October 1961 MA.
manager or as proxy for a New Zealand
glider flyer until that ended in 1980.
Once I even made the British team. For
those of us who regard FAI free-flight
as the ultimate in model flying it brings
the satisfaction of competing with the
world’s best, visiting places often away
from the usual tourist trail and making
international friendships that cross
political barriers and often last a lifetime.
It’s been a privilege. ■

AeroModeller 1011 - 49
 Free Flight Scale
SCALE MATTERS
Bill Dennis on his and others’ FF scale builds
FOKKER DII
I cannot remember the last time
Andrew Hewitt built a scale model with
any dihedral; we’ve seen Eindeckers,
Moranes high and mid wing, Fokker
DVIII, Halberstadt and now this Fokker
DII. Andrew does not employ the
common trick of letting the wings rise
up in flight and sometimes it works,
sometimes not. The Morane Parasol
mostly flew very sedately in calm
weather but occasionally would just slide
in sideways.
This new model is 36” span for a Mills
75 and weighs 16oz. I also did one of
these at the same size but there the
similarity ends because while mine was
a very basic effort with no detailing (and
a little dihedral!), this is a proper job and
50 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
is absolutely gorgeous. If it follows his
usual technique, that convincing cowling
is skilfully-painted balsa. The colours in
the main views have been distorted by
the camera but the closeups are much
more representative and I can’t wait to
see this one fly.
RICHARD CROSSLEY’S
LOCKDOWN MODELS
Richard has been busy over the last year
and should be well-armed when activities
resume. He has kindly sent some
pictures of his projects and a few details.
My favourite is the Curtiss R6 Racer
for rubber power at 19”. The quality
of finish is self-evident. Then we have
an undecorated Nakajima Kate at 1/20
scale and 31” span. We are familiar
Andrew Hewitt’s
Fokker DII is a
magnificent effort.
No dihedral but if
anyone can get it to
go, he can; he has
plenty of experience!
(Photos by Andrew
Hewitt)
with Richard’s atmospheric pilots and
crew. The array of aerials is attached by
magnets.
The Zero is a Peanut and the fuselage,
unusually these days, is carved from
foam and the blades fabricated from
yoghurt pots. The very convincing
weathered finish was achieved with
Tamiya acrylics.
The Polikarpov I-153 is 22” and
intended for a Voodoo 25 electric unit.
Also in the group shot you will see a
Peanut clipped-wing Cub which, at
this stage, weighs a remarkable 6.5g.
This one will be featured in a future
AeroModeller while the plans for the
others will be available in the future from
www.atomicworkshop.co.uk
EARL STAHL STINSON
I recently re-joined SAM 35 after many
years and was casting around for an
event in which I could take part. A
bewildering number of classes are on
offer, some of which may be dormant
but remain on the list. One which always
seems to take place is the Earl Stahl
contest which is run at the Old Warden
Scale Weekend, this year on 24-25 July.
Earl Stahl designed a great many
models, around forty of them appearing
in the 1940s in Model Airplane News.
I gather the effort of drawing, writing
and building to keep up became a little
wearing and was certainly not financially
worthwhile. Apparently he got no reader
feedback at all and for some decades
assumed that his designs had had
little or no impact. Happily he came to
realise how wrong he was. The range of
subjects was impressive and up-to-date,
including a Blackburn Skua and Defiant.
Accuracy was as good as he could
achieve, given the information available,
with only tail areas increased to achieve
reliable flight.
Stahl’s plans are instantly recognisable
in style, being clear and simple. There is
little detail and many areas are left for the
builder to suit himself but the structures
are mostly well thought-out and build
easily into very practical models. Wings
are typically multi-spar, like a Senator
but without the tricky dihedral breaks.
The models are very light with excellent
performance.
I had built one Stahl design before; the
Curtiss SOC Seagull; a very attractive
model but one-piece, with the wings
stuck on the side. Inevitably the model
became two pieces (minimum) in pretty
short order. I was also given a couple of
Stahl-designed models built by the late
John Godden; a Stinson Voyager and a
Skyfarer. Both looked candidates to hook
a thermal and John had fitted timers to
release tethered lumps of lead from the
nose as a DT. I can’t imagine what would
have happened but I’m pretty certain the
models would have descended one way
or another.
This time I chose the Stinson 0-49,
sometimes known as the Vultee Vigilant.
I had built the Jim Bridgwood design
for diesel but despite the perfect layout
I was never able to get consistent
performance from it, almost certainly
due to the enormous moveable rudder.
I should have used the small tab shown
on the plan but I knew better. I changed
very little on this second version except
for beefing up the cabin area which
is hopelessly weak. I hear that John
Godden also built one of these and had
to re-create the cabin after every flight.
John had also used knock-off wings, as
shall I. The model as designed may be
fine in the vast open spaces and calm
weather in California but it would not
fare well if flown into the garden furniture
display in the middle of Old Warden.
I was impressed by the structure of
the tail surfaces. Normally, in models of
this size, they would be flat plate, with

Update from another scale modelling Hewitt… Richard’s McHard Gladiator is Pete Fardell’s latest is this Avro Baby floatplane. The effective finish is
now ready for flight trials. (Photo by Richard Hewitt) “XTRAColour RFC doped natural fabric” which forms a perfect base for
some oil stains and weathering. (Photo by Pete Fardell)

Richard Crossley has been busy building and is hoping to get to Nijmegen The superb finish on Richard Crossley’s Curtiss R6 is evident. Hopefully it will
this year to fly some of these beauties. (Photo by Richard Crosley) not need any downthrust; always a problem with close-fitting spinners.

AeroModeller 1011 - 51
 Free Flight Scale
A characteristic of Richard Crossley’s models is the atmospheric pilots and crew. This is his Nakajima Kate.
little sticks just butt-jointed together. No
wonder they warp. The simple expedient
of glueing 1/16” sq top and bottom of
the ribs stiffens things up dramatically.
It looks better too when sanded to a
symmetrical section, even though in this
52 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
case the plan shows the tailplane fitting
into a space that isn’t there. I counted
over 60 parts in the tail but it is now
covered and has stayed totally flat, as
have the fin and rudder.
The wngs are covered with Modelspan
which I find gives less of the warping I
get with Esaki. Water shrinking has only a
small effect; much less than I remember
from when it was the standard material
to use. Then again, remaining stocks
will be over 50 years old and may have
Richard Crossley’s Peanut
Zero has a carved foam
fuselage – unusual now but
all the rage some years ago.
Very effective weathering.
experienced humid conditions and be
pre-shrunk! Only the fuselage is covered
first with mylar to protect the tissue from
lubricant.
The cabin glazing took some time but
was easier than expected. I attached the
roof in separate panels which, despite
every edge being curved, somehow
went on without problem, although I
did include a non-scale central spine.
The results look better than the straight
lines shown on the plan The joins were
covered with painted masking tape
strips. Only when admiring the result did
I realise there should be some bracing
struts inside the front screen.
Those in the know will recognise that
the colour scheme, as used by Stahl, is
spurious but it is attractive and so I went
with it.
Some scale models can become rather
a chore but this one was enjoyable from
beginning to end, possibly because it
very quickly becomes a recognisable
shape. It should go well. I had hoped to
include a DT but it is not easy to arrange
so I shall rely on a tracker and trust in the
O’Donnell ‘seven mile thermal rule’.
Most of Earl Stahl design plans can
be found easily with an online search –
some are also available as kits. Plans
published by Model Builder (often
reprints from 1940’s Air Trails plans) can
be found on the AMA site https://plans.
modelaircraft.org/
LUTON MINOR
The very nice Luton Minor is by Julian
Hatch in Canada. The origin of the model
is a plan by Dave Livesay with a few
modifications including widening the
fuselage and attending to the wingtip
shape. Spacers were moved to make
more solid anchorages for struts and UC.
The span is 20” and weight a creditable
20g for what will be an indoor model.
Any scale model is enhanced by using
struts of correct thickness, as seen here.
I recall my big 1/8 Sopwith Triplane
where the original Sopwith factory
drawings showed the full-size struts to
be only 7/8” thick.
ARMSTRONG WHITWORTH FK3
This one is now ready to go, with just
a few minor things to add. Originally I
built the lifting tailplane as per plan but it
warped like a Pringle so I replaced it with
a ‘1/32 core’ version. A 50% increase in
weight was the price I paid.
The AW logo on the nose was
fashioned artistically out of bent
copper wire. Only Armstrong Whitworth
would make what looks like a cast iron
nameplate from a steam engine to go
on an aircraft. I also like the ‘streamline’
rounded nose allied with the rear cockpit
enclosure which looks like it would act
as a drogue parachute air brake. Finish is
cream cellulose and Flair PC10 enamel.
The final weight is 11oz which equates
to 4 oz/sq ft; by far the lightest I have
achieved.
Because the PC10 comes out matt
and is susceptible to fuel stains, I

Plenty of wing and tail area on the Crossley Polikarpov biplane. Richard’s Peanut clipped wing Cub plan will feature in a future AeroModeller.

Bare bones of the Stahl Stinson, Vultee Vigilant. The rear peg has been The Stinson has a perfect layout for rubber. Apparently the only Vigilant to
moved forward for improved balance. wear this scheme was Earl Stahl’s model but it is attractive!

AeroModeller 1011 - 53
 Free Flight Scale
Julian Hatch has built this very neat Luton Minor. The key to its appearance is the very fine struts.
(Photos by Julian Hatch)
applied a spray coat of Deluxe Materials
Aerokote. This is supplied as gloss but
you can also get a matting agent, which
comes with four recipes for the degree
of shine. WW1 aircraft, at least the ones
we see nowadays, are really quite shiny
so I used the semi-matt. While I was at
it I used the same mixture on my recent
Piper Super Cruiser, mainly to seal in
all the transfers, and that looks pretty
convincing too. Adding the matting agent
to the resin significantly increases the
volume and the amount of catalyst must
remain at 10%
Now it was time to check the CG. This
54 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
aeroplane has a lot of stagger and this
has to be taken into account. I always
set both wings at the same angle which
makes things easier. On the side view
I put the CG for each wing at 30% and
join the two points with a line. Because
of the identical incidence and wing
area top and bottom, my theory is that
the actual balance point needs to be
located at the halfway point. It seems
to work. With different incidences and
areas, you have to adjust. In this case
it was evident that as the paint went
on, the CG migrated inexorably aft and
is now borderline. I will not be adding
There is a wide variety of Earl Stahl designs
to choose from and they make practical
small flying models. This is the Luscombe 10
from September 1946 MAN.
Two views of your columnist’s Armstrong Whitworth FK3, modified from the The streamlined front end of the FK3. Apologies are due for the under-sized
Elsegood plan, although the over-wide wing cutouts were overlooked! roundel.

noseweight; if action needs to be taken

then I will build a lighter tailplane –
maybe something like Earl Stahl would
have made!

REX OLDRIDGE RIP

I was sorry to hear of the passing of Rex
Oldridge. Rex was a regular at scale
contests in the 70s and those there
will remember his fine-flying McHard
Albatros DVa. Thereafter he became
interested in vintage events of all types
and I have included a picture of Rex with
his Stahl Defiant at Old Warden. ■

AeroModeller 1011 - 55
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 Readers’ Builds
LOCKDOWN
BUILDS
RELEASED!
Without belittling the physical and emotional impact of the pandemic, many modellers have risen to
the challenge of making the best of the situation by building and fettling their models…
T
his summer the skies over
Old Warden, Buckminster,
the rest of the UK and
beyond should be black
with new models built over
the last year and a half. The beauty
of traditional aeromodelling is its all-
encompassing nature with indoor and
58 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
outdoor components, creativity and
diligence – there is always something to
do whatever the circumstances! Thanks
to all the AeroModeller readers who have
shared their latest builds which have got
them through the dark days of enforced
pandemic isolation.
Champion!
Chris Marsh has been busy with
his build of the 111 inch wingspan
elliptically dihedralled Fillon Champion
from March/April 1947 AeroModeller,
which he describes as “one of the most
curvaceous models to grace a cover of
AeroModeller.
Chris Marsh has made
a wonderful job of this
complex curved wing glider.
A kit of parts to the original
plan is available from Belair
www.belairdigital.co.uk

Emmanuel Fillon with his Champion glider
visited the Eaton Bray Sportsdrome from
France in August 1946.
The original Champion had a span of 9’ 3”
yet only weighed 38½ oz including ballast.
Laurie Bagley’s delightful cut-away graced
the supporting article.
Adrian Culf will be making the most of the long summer days to fly his latest seven of 22 builds and counting.
“I have kept my Fillon Champion
as close as possible to the FF spec,
however, it was necessary to hide some
away some radio guidance as we do not
have any FF flying sites on the Isle of
Wight!”
The designer Emmanuel Fillon was
the Wakefield Winner of 1938, and the
European Glider Champion using this
aptly named model in 1946. The article
with the plan describes Fillon’s ‘chubby
friendliness’ which I’m not sure I’d get
away with these days! A real builder’s
model with looks to reward all that hard
work.
Profusion
I can only think that Adrian Culf has a
large house in Ottawa, Canada or is
highly organized with how he stores his
models! We’ve previously shown some
of his lockdown builds and this was an
update he sent earlier this year.
“As we progress into a third wave
of the dreaded lurgy (COVID-19), my
pandemic lockdown building continues,
with an additional seven for a total of
22, so far. A picture of the group of
seven attached: Modela Itoh 62-160
CO2, Dumas P-26 Peashooter, Bv 141
(Lidberg plan), Peck Druine Turbulent
peanut scale to honour the late Bill
Hannan and including the late HRH
Prince Philip as pilot, Peck Miles M-18,
Andrew Moorhouse Comper Swift, and
Peck Lobet Ganagobie to round out the
peanuts. The snow has almost all melted
here now so flying days are ahead.”
Long Range Weatherman
Mark Harper has taken the time for
shielding to complete the Clubman
Weatherman which was a free plan in
April 2015.
AeroModeller 1011 - 59
 Readers’ Builds
“How our lives have changes over the
last year!
“Here we are in our 3rd National
Lockdown and although the most
important thing is to keep fit and well by
sticking to the rules, the effects of the
reduced ability to fly our models and
meet up with our flying buddies certainly
takes its toll!
“I liked the photos of the last
"Lockdown Builds", especially the
beautiful Thunderbird by Norm Kirton.
The article spurred me on to send the
following.
“I really can’t believe that it was back in
2016 that I bought a kit for the “Clubman
Class” profile Weatherman model from
Belair Kits at an Old Warden meeting.
I was fully intending to start building it
straight away and have it ready to fly in
the 2017 competition season. However,
due to other events and projects this
sadly never happened, and the kit lay in
its box untouched for several years.
“In 2019 I finally got around to starting
the kit and after finishing the main
components, fabricating the fuel tank
and assembling the airframe, the project
stalled.
“Early in 2020 I took pity on the model
and applied a glass cloth finish (applied
with Deluxe Materials “Eze-Kote”
laminating and finishing resin). This was
my first time using the “Eze-Kote” system
and it all went very smoothly. Years ago,
my son and I flew Mini-Goodyear team
racers and I always finished them in the
more usual glass cloth and epoxy resin
method. The “Eze-Kote” system is much
easier to apply as it is a one-pack system,
less wasteful and it has no strong odour,
so it is very user friendly, but I think the
final surface finish is not quite as hard as
the epoxy system. The final paint scheme
was carried out using brush applied
enamel paints.
“All that was needed to complete the
model was to add the control system,
bolt on the engine, install the fuel tank
and undercarriage, but I again got
distracted (building two indoor hand
launched gliders for a club event) and
the model got put to one side. Then the
dreadful Covid 19 pandemic arrived and
all our lives had to change dramatically.
“I made a decision that whilst being
confined to the house (apart from
essential activities) I would finish of my
60 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
collection of part completed models, Mark Harper’s Weatherman has finally
been completed thanks to the time indoors
so I returned to the Weatherman. The required by the lockdown.
engine used was a brand-new ASP 15
(complete with silencer) as specified in
the original SAM 35 rules for this class.
This engine will not be as fast as some of
the more powerful ones now allowed in
the updated rules, but at least I should be
able to keep up with it!
“Now all that remains is to await the
end of the Covid 19 pandemic and carry
out a maiden flight.”
Another Thunderbird
David Baxter was another reader who
spotted Norm Kirton’s model and got in
touch.
“I thought I was seeing double when
I opened the February 2021 AM and
saw a photo of the Thunderbird model.
A frugal David Baxter dusted off his
You may be interested to see my recent Thunderbird plan to build a new version –
rendition of this iconic design, which I hopefully with better control linkages!
built using the plan from the kit which
was my Christmas present in 1960! The
plan being the only thing remaining from
my original model which was reduced to
matchwood when the up line parted from
the model. This resulted in a beautifully
square dive into terra firma from about
6' altitude and thereafter I was known
as "Upline" by my aeromodelling school
chums. Best wishes, and thanks for
keeping AeroModeller going! David
The Mercury was 36” span and had a
Baxter.” bulkier fuselage than the sleek Senator. The
design was kitted by Worcraft which didn’t
last as a company.
Senator’s Predecessor
Thanks to Peter Sanders for sharing
one of his many lockdown builds which
wasn’t quite what I thought at first
glance.
“I’ve just finished the Mercury designed
by Albert Hatfull. A nice change from
the usual KK models. Yes, it was the
Senator's forerunner. It was probably too Roger Cooper has made a fine job with the
big for the average schoolboy’s kit bag, Jim Fullarton designed Ascender. Good to
see many Redfin diesels are the basis of the
making cycling to the flying field difficult. lockdown builds.
The Ace, Senator, Competitor etc were
all around 30" wingspan. It never caught
on.”
Canardly Wait!
Roger Cooper has built the Jim Fullarton
designed Ascender canard from July
1951 AM and even managed to do the
classic ‘which way round does it fly?’
with the undercarriage!
Bob Ryan has adapted the FF Li’l Plank for
2 function RC by adding a tailplane. Has yet
to be flown…
 “A couple of shots of the Ascender,
just finished. You might notice at least
one variation from original – the UC is
now two at the front and one at the back,
whereas the original was the other way
round. This was a mistake I made being
misled by the plan layout. The finished
model weighs in at 400gram which is
slightly less than expected. Just need a
bit of freedom from lockdown and some
fine weather to see if it will actually fly!”
Li’l lockdown Projects
Bob Ryan has been adding RC to good
effect in a couple models; one originally
FF and the other more normally a CL.
“Like many people I have done all the
decorating I could possibly manage in
the last 10 months. (Having decorated
the hall for the second time because my
good lady decided she didn’t like the
colour.) Finally, all the odd jobs done I
was looking for something different to
build. I also had a Redfin 0.5cc diesel
engine looking for a model. Thumbing
through some old AeroModeller mags I
came across the Li’l Plank design in the
December 2018 issue. The Li’l Plank
really is different but I couldn’t work out
how to fit it with rudder and elevator
RC. (With my dodgy legs FF is not really
practical until I get a new hip).
“Looking through the loft I found some
parts of old wrecked models and one had
two very small servos that worked fine.
It turned out that they would fit in the
Bob Ryan’s latest model is inspired by classic CL designs such as the Phantom, but instead of two
control lines it has a single tether line and a servo on the elevator.
Li’l Plank’s fuselage. I planned to add an
elevator to the model a bit like an early
CL combat model.
“I built the model and fuselage more or
less as the plan but I did increase the size
of the fin in order to give a more effective
Rudder. As you can see I have included a
horizontal stabilizer to mount the elevator
too. I have had to add 15 grams within
the nose to get the CofG well forward. If
I built another one, I would enlarge the
fuselage by about 10mm in width and
maybe 15mm longer nose.
“The radio is a Futaba R6203 Rx with
the case removed, 2 Ripmax SD100
servos and 280mha single cell LiPo
battery, no switch. All up weight is 174
grams ready to fly. Obviously I can’t
test it until after lockdown. It could be
a challenge to trim but can’t wait all the
same.
“Here are a few images of my latest
project. The principal of the design
is a “Round The Pole” model with
the performance of a CL model. The
idea was inspired by a conversation
with Manny Williamson who is the
manager of the Nation Flying Centre at
Buckminster. They have made a tethered
car track; tethered cars were my very
first modelling experience at Mote Park
in Maidstone in 1959. (The track is
still there). My question to Manny was
“Why can’t we have tethered aircraft
as well? Manny is now arranging a for
a special pylon to be made for aircraft
to be used on the tethered car track. In
the meantime, I have made a couple of
portable pylons for use at our local flying
field.
“The model is designed around a
Redfin 0.61 (1cc) and single servo to
operate the elevator. Just a cheap short-
range receiver is used as range is not an
issue. The wing and tail are simply lifted
from a line drawing of a Spitfire. The
fuselage was designed to fit the engine
and RC gear. I simply called it the R.T.P
Racer. The initial flights were done on
35 foot lines. After some initial problems
with launch I found the best method was
to R.O.G. and start down wind. The first
flights were very short due to the small
size of the tank supplied with the engine.
I have now made a much larger tank so it
flies for about 3.5 minutes.
“I am slightly disabled due to my rather
dodgy right leg, so control line isn’t really
possible for me. I thought this system
may make this type of flying accessible
to people who would not be able to do
CL flying.
“As the system and model seem to
be working well, I am now designing
a slightly larger version. In addition to
RC elevator control it will also have a
RC release mechanism so the pilot can
launch it without assistance and another
prototype is for electric RC, so you can
launch and land at will with the aid of an
ESC.” ■
The RTP pylon needs no electric supply with a
diesel! The base on this pylon is designed to be
restrained in the earth.
AeroModeller 1011 - 61
How To

DIY WATERSLIDE
TRANSFERS AND
DECALS
Chris Ottewell explains how to make your own graphics to finish your model
and has a go at saving some ancient transfers

Making Your Own
A long time ago, when AeroModeller
was in suspended animation, I wrote an
article for another magazine on making
your own waterslide transfers. As more
and more people seem to be asking
“where can I get that logo etc. for my
model?” or “remind me how you made
those decals” I thought it a subject worth
covering again.
As long as you have a PC and a
suitable colour printer this can be a very
simple and cost-effective solution in
lots of situations. There is however one
limitation you will need to work around;
that is, no one makes a home printer
which prints in white – the assumption is
always that you will be printing on white
paper! The partial solution to this is that
you can buy waterslide transfer paper
with either a clear or white background,
so pick the most appropriate for your
situation. This also means that very
occasionally you might need to make
a two-part transfer with part on a clear
background and part on white.
So how do you do it?

Chris Ottewell used the method described to produce the

logos to enliven the cowl on his Jiant Jabberwock.

62 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021

The logos were scanned and laid out for printing on an A4 Chris put together this file of images to produce transfers for a scale Avro Avian built by
sheet. You can also find many logos and graphics online Ken Sheppard. If you have access to software used by a graphic designer you can clean
ready for sizing and printing. So how do you do it? up scanned images before sizing them for your needs.

First buy the transfer paper. It is readily
available from eBay or sometimes from
local craft shops, but do make sure you
have the waterslide variety and NOT the
sort to iron onto your tee shirt (although
you could buy both and do your own
matching shirt!) The paper I use requires
an Inkjet colour printer to produce the
image. You will also need a “rattle can” of
clear automotive lacquer from your local
car accessory shop.
Now find whatever you want to turn
into a transfer and save it on your
computer. You might find it online, scan
it in or take it from a photograph or even
design it yourself, but once you have
it you can put it into a document and
simply scale it to the required size(s) by
“pulling” the corner of the image. You
can do this using Microsoft Word or
Powerpoint or any other similar software
with graphics capability.
As the paper is typically A4 or similar
size, make sure you fill the sheet with
plenty of copies or versions of what you
want to produce, this will save waste,
allow you to make mistakes when
applying them and give you some spares.
I always do a test print on plain paper
next, just to make sure it prints as I
expect it to. Once you are happy, it’s time
to print the real thing. Make sure you
know which side of the paper your printer
will print on! Usually but not always, this
is the underside as you place it in the tray
(put a small cross on one side of your test
sheet paper to check). Next, go to the
print settings. The transfer paper is shiny
so with most printers you will get best
results by selecting the “paper type” as
“glossy photo paper” but you might have
to experiment a bit to see what works
best for you.
Once you’ve got that right and printed
the transfers, let them dry for a while.
Then pop them on a board in a suitable
place for you to spray them with the clear
automotive lacquer. After about three thin
coats of this they should be ready for
use.
I always let the lacquer harden
overnight, just to be on the safe side.
Now you can simply cut them out
and apply them just like commercial

Craft shops and online suppliers are a source of A4 Transfer Paper often Once the water-slide images have been applied and allowed to dry an
aimed at decorating cups, plates etc. When ordering the paper consider appropriate clear protective coat is applied.
whether you require white and/or clear background.

AeroModeller 1011 - 63
How To
The old water-slide transfers were mounted on a board, lacquer sprayed,
and allowed to dry.
waterslide transfers. Once they are on the
model and have completely dried out, it’s
a good idea to protect them with a coat
of lacquer, varnish, fuel proofer or even
dope as appropriate to your model, but
you may want to try a test piece first if
using dope.
It is also worth noting that they seem to
last well as some I have made have now
been “in use” on models and elsewhere
for over 7 years and still look as good as
new.
So that’s all there is to it! If you haven’t
done it before, give it a try.
New Life for Vintage Transfers?
When I proposed this article to the Editor,
he said “Great idea, and while you are
at it see if you can figure out how to
save old ones!” He must have meant it
because shortly afterwards a selection of
old or classic transfers turned up in the
post!
They looked old and one or two looked
discoloured, but there was no evidence of
cracking or other physical deterioration.
At first it seemed simple, then I realised
that many of the old transfers were
made so that the actual transfer area
was probably the only part of the sheet
with the water-based glue on it. So, this
meant that if I simply sprayed the old
transfer sheets with a couple of coats
of automotive lacquer as I originally
intended, I might end up with a large area
of clear material around the intended
transfer simply not sticking down!
So, I cut out most of the transfers close
to the coloured edge. Then I mounted
them all on a sheet of paper using spray
mount and attached the sheet of paper to
64 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
The disastrous final results! Those on the left were untreated and totally
disintegrated but even those in the centre and right with lacquer spray broke up.
a board before giving it a couple of coats
of clear lacquer as previously described.
It’s essential that you do this, or the small
old transfers will simply be blown about
by the spray like autumn leaves and
wrecked!
As I had three US Airforce “Star and
Bar” decals, I only used one as described
above. A second one was not trimmed
back but was lacquered and the third one
not treated at all. I thought that MIGHT
show if my ideas were correct. Similarly,
I had a set of numerals and took half of
them to be left alone and the other half
lacquered.
With everything lacquered that was
going to be, I locked the workshop and
left them overnight to harden off.
Results
Next day I found a white board to
mount them on. I was confident that at
least some of them would be successfully
fixed, so it seemed a shame not to be
using the classic Keil Kraft and Veron
ones on appropriate vintage models, but
sacrifices have to be made in the interest
of our readers!
Sadly my confidence was misplaced
and the results were very disappointing.
Unsurprisingly, the untreated transfers
simply cracked and came apart when
put in the water-bath. What I could save
is pictured on the left; I’m really glad that
mess isn’t on a model.
In the centre you can see the ones that
I simply sprayed with lacquer without
cutting back to the original transfer. They
also broke up in the water-bath, but into
larger pieces.
Finally, on the right of the board you
can see the ones which were cut out
then lacquered. I had expected these to
be pretty good – they weren’t. A couple
were OK but they all remained fragile and
difficult to handle. I was surprised to find
that the fragility was NOT down to poor
handling, but that they were falling apart
in the water-bath in a similar manner to
the untreated ones, just in bigger pieces!
Hopefully you can see this with the
“ONKS” logo (no I have no idea either! -
Actually MONKS the old Wellingborough
MAC. The Editor) photograph where it is
clearly cracking apart despite just being
popped into the water and not handled.
Disappointingly I have to conclude
by saying that this is not a viable way
of rescuing old transfers as regardless
of what you do by way of more or less
lacquer, cutting out or not, they seem to
fall apart from the back 9 times out of 10!
The best solution every time is to
scan them and produce new replicas as
described in the first part of this article.
That said, if you’ve come up with your
own successful method of saving old
transfers which works, please do write
and tell us how it’s done! ■
The 60+ years old MONKS Wellingborough
MAC transfer broke up in the water (right)
despite being lacquered. Do you know
of a way to save old transfers other than
scanning?
 Traditional and Electric CL/FF/RC

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Buyers Guide

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 To Finish
Tail End Charlie
Another pot pourri of aeromodelling miscellany…
Easy Peasy
Thanks to David Foster and
Adrian Culf who told me
where Chris Coote could find
the Yeoman (AKA Frogflite)
Bird Dog plan online. Here it
is for anyone else who wants
it at Paul and Ralph Bradley’s
Model Airplane Hangout
www.parmodels.com select
Downloadable Plans, Hales
Frogflite series. And it’s also
worth noting that the whole
Keil Kraft EeZeBilt range can
be found on there as well.
Chris C and I were
wondering what thickness
balsa these were all made
from? They were certainly
thinner than 1/16th but thicker
than 1/32nd? I thought it
might be 1/24th and Chris
C reckoned 1/20th but does
anyone actually know?
Perhaps someone has an old
kit and can measure it?
Achtung Spitfire
Barry Fletcher shared some
pictures from his friend Hugh
Sirrs who lives in the London
area; the one in Ontario that
is! He’s taken the excellent
Guillow’s rubber powered
Spitfire kit to a new level with
his cunning freewheel which
is more or less totally hidden
in the spinner. When added
to his excellent build it results
1 2
1: The site www.parmodels.com has downloadable files for the all sheet Cessna Bird Dog. 2: This Guillow’s Spitfire has a freewheel built into the spinner.
3: British born Bob Hope appeared in X-Acto adverts in the US. 4: Can anyone help Chris with information on the UCTKAM 2.5cc diesel?
66 AeroModeller 1011 - August 2021
in a very fine model indeed.
Like many things in the model
world, the most skilled part
of his work is hidden away,
in this case in the spinner! I
hope you can see enough
from the drawing to judge
how cunning this is.
Famous Flyers (Part
Umpteen!)
Dave Hipperson tells me that
“Richard Branson turned up
on Port Meadow one evening
when we we're flying Andy
Crisp's event there. (We
always had a special evening
event on the Saturday prior to
the Sunday’s main classes.)
He wasn't recognised for
ages. He just stood about
watching.
At the time he had a place
nearby -I think he had literally
wandered out of his garden
to have a look at what we
we're doing. Thankfully
everyone kept their heads
and their distance as there
is nothing so dispiriting than
to be recognised when you
really don't want to be. Sadly
Dennis Davitt had to break
cover eventually and ask
him if he could see his way
to buying an airfield for us!
There's always one that lets
the side down. There is no
record of his answer.”
Even our
esteemed Editor
has joined in
with this now,
sending me an
X-Acto advert
from the June
1947 edition of
Model Airplane
News showing
Bob Hope no
less busily
working away
on a model
“airplane”!
UCTKAM
2.5cc Diesel Fly The
I know I said that lockdown World
eBay boredom purchases Our little engine has now
were now out – BUT I’ve completed its trip to Australia
never seen one of these and should be in North
before and a cheeky low America by the time you read
bid secured it. It gives a this. The full OZ story will
satisfying burst of power follow soon. It’s not too late
when exhaust primed and to enter especially if you are
flicked, but I have yet to settle in South America or South
down and actually try to run Africa as we have yet to hear
it properly. It has a peripheral from participants in these
jet fuel system with a regions.
conventional needle valve and You can contact me
spray bar feeding it. Does with anecdotes, stories,
anyone know if the orientation information, comments
of the spray bar holes is corrections and complaints
important in this installation? direct at chrisottewell@
And if it is how should they be anworld.com or by post via
aligned? the usual editorial address. ■
By Chris Ottewell
3 4
SQUADRON
BOOKS
AIRCRAFT IN ACTION - SOFT COVER
1200 Fairey Firefly in action
1204 Early MiG Fighters in action
1224 F-84 Thunderjet In Action
10211 P-51 Mustang in Action
10216 F6F Hellcat in Action
10219 B-17 Flying Fortress in Action
10220 F4U Corsair in Action
10221 B-25 Mitchell in Action
10222 P-38 Lightning in Action
10225 TBF/TBM Avenger in Action
10227 B-29 Superfortress in Action
10228 B-24 Liberator in Action
10235 SB2C Helldriver in Action
10236 SBD Dauntless in Action
10238 A-20 Havoc in Action
10241 F-105 Thunderchief in Action
10242 A-26/B-26 Invader in Action
10243 Messerschmitt BF 109 in Action
10246 A-1 Skyraider in Action
10248 CH-47 Chinook in Action
10249 UH-1 Huey in Action
10263 UH-60 Blackhawk in Action

WALK AROUND SERIES - SOFT COVER

5549 OV-1 Mowhawk Walk Around
25043 Messerschmitt Bf 109G Walk Around
25056 Spitfire (Merlin) Walk Around

WALK AROUND SERIES - HARD COVER

65043 Messerschmitt Bf 109G Walk Around
65056 Spitfire (Merlin) Walk Around
65070 Heinkel HE 111 Walk Around

WWW.DOOLITTLEMEDIA.COM
ALSO AVIALABLE FROM DOOLITTLE MEDIA

E. enquiries@doolittlemedia.com T. +44 (0) 1525 222573

Doolittle Media Ltd., Doolittle Granary, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe, Beds, LU6 1QX
Some of our kits now available through
Micron Radio Control
Baby Biwinger
13” span, float kit available separately

50” Dallaire Sportster

54” span 1/2A or electric Texaco

1913 Eastborn Monoplane

1:12 scale, 28” span fine scale model for electric or CO2
dummy engine kit available separately
The Limey
20” span RC Ebenezer
Offering over 90 original retro & vintage RC and FF model
airplane kits plus many unique laser cut accessories, building
jigs, tools organisers and glue caddies

Benny Howard DGA3 “Pete”

1:12 scale, 20” span “foamy” great for indoor pylon racing The Hun
19” span RC Ebenezer