Scale Aviator International Magazine Issue 3 | Page 40

Large Model Association there for several years and got to know some very skilled builders and fliers. I made many good friends over the years. Planes I have built? Put it this way, I started with model airplanes when I was ten and I am now seventy-two. So, too many to count or even remember. At the moment, At this writing I am embedded in the construction of an 82” wingspan Horten 229 which, will be EDF powered (Electric Ducted Fan. Now this model has had some controversy as to its stability in real life. Let me diverse here from the P-47 to give you some history on the Horton; Northrop Grumman actualy built a Horton from the hThe fuselage all framed up from the laser cut blueprints using the same glue and paint as the parts provided by Arizona Models. Germans used. The Horton flying low could come http://www.arizonamodels.com across the English Channel undetected by radar. A full size prototype was captured at the end of the war and shipped to the US, so there is plenty of documentation and my model is built from the plans and kit by Wings on the Web http://www. wingsontheweb.com. The kit is designed by Gary Heathcoat who has flown the model so lets see what develops later. I also have a Berliner-Joyce OJ-2, for which I have an Evolution 9-cylinder radial engine for. It was designed to meet a United States Navy requirement for a lightweight observation biplane that could be used from catapults on light cruisers. I won’t be launching from a cruiser’s catapult,since this version will be ground based. Then there is the 108 inch wingspan PBY Catalina. This will have two RCV 58CD engines. The Catalina is another aircraft that has always fascinated me. I plan to complete all of these projects now that the big jug is flying. As you can see, I never just build hThe wing frames up just like the original Ziroli Plans P47, only a lot larger. The Sierra gear mounts are installed and the gear set in place for a test fit at this point of the construction. hThis one of the big gear sets made by Sierra Precision. The big tires and rims were also from Sierra Precision. http://www.sierragiant.com 40