Issue No.12

December 2011

VICTORIAN MODEL NEWS

Inside this issue

Ray Botten’s Stinson L-5 “Sentinel”.

3

Surrey Park Model Boat Club.

4-5

SC MODELS Laser Cutting Service.

6-7

ARF Yak 54 Rebuild.

8-9

Mid-week with the Northern Flying Group.

10-11

VICSCALE at Ballarat.

12-13

The Bendix Trophy.

14-16

Jim Brennan’s models.

17

Victorian Scale Championships 2011.

18

Twin Cities Float-fly 2011.

19

Noel Findlay’s DH 83 Foxmoth.

20

Alex Evans’ models.

21

For Sale.

22

VICSCALE

From the Editor. This issue marks two years of production for Victorian Model News and I want to thank those people whose messages of appreciation have inspired me to continue my efforts in bringing news of events and other happenings in our model world. My thanks also go to those who have offered contributions to the newsletter. It’s a time consuming exercise and while I attend many events I can’t get to all of them, so it always helps when someone pops up with a report and photos of a new model or a recent event. I recently had an e-mail through my inbox despairing at a perceived ascendancy of ARF scale models spelling the end of traditional scratch building. Another e-mail noted that most modellers have an ARF or two in their collection and suggested that ARF’s can be reworked, if you wish, to suit your individual needs. A third email pointed out that you always have options – if you don’t mind your model being a clone of many others then buy an ARF and enjoy your flying but if you want your own singular model and the satisfaction that goes with its creation and flight ....... It’s your choice!

Victorian Flying Scale Aircraft Association The Special Interest Group for Scale Modelling in Victoria. IF YOU LIKE TO FLY SCALE AIRCRAFT THEN VICSCALE IS THE PLACE TO BE. General Meetings are held bi-monthly on the first Thursday of the even months at the Field Naturalist Club of Victoria, 1 Gardenia Street, Blackburn. Visitors are always welcome and a highlight of meetings is the presentation of new models as they are constructed, and discussion on building techniques by members.

Noel Whitehead shows an early stage in the production of the plug for a fibreglass fuselage Macchi jet.

Scale events are held at various venues and are also listed in the VMAA calendar. Open to all members of the MAAA, VICSCALE events cater for both ARF’s and owner built models. VICSCALE members are always available to advise or assist you in your building project, explain the competition rules, or guide you through the flying schedule.

John Lamont.

This newsletter is published bi-monthly to feature scale building and flying, and modelling events in the State of Victoria, Australia. Contributing material and requests for inclusion on the distribution list may be forwarded to — John Lamont Unit 5, 1326 Main Road, Eltham, 3095 Ph: 03 9431 0044 E-mail: [email protected]

Ken Thomas’ Tupolev TB-3

VICSCALE FLYING PROGRAMME. December 4th

Scale Rally and Mini-comp

Nepean

On the Cover. Anthony Mott’s electric powered duration model “Tedium E” on its record breaking flight.

page 2

Victorian Model News

RAY BOTTEN’S

STINSON L-5 SENTINEL The Stinson L-5 "Sentinel" began life as the pre-war Stinson model 105. The model 105 was nicknamed "Voyager" and was built by the Stinson division of Consolidated Vultee. When World War II broke out, the Voyager was redesigned and then entered into service as a liaison aircraft. It also flew in the artillery spotter role and as an air ambulance. The later model Stinson L-5 Sentinels had their fuselages modified to accommodate one stretcher patient. The Stinson L-5 Sentinels were manufactured between October 1942 and September 1945. During this time a total of over 3,896 of these unarmed, two-seat aircraft were built for the United States armed forces, making it the second most widely used light observation aircraft of the war. Personnel in all service branches commonly referred to it as the "Flying Jeep".

The Stinson L-5 Sentinel was primarily constructed from steel tubing and plywood and was covered with doped cotton fabric. Capable of operating from forward unimproved airstrips, the Stinson L-5 "Sentinel" delivered information and needed supplies to the front line troops. On the return trip, it would evacuate the badly wounded soldiers to rear area field hospitals for medical attention.

The aircraft on which Ray has based his model is owned by Brad Hurley and is located at Lilydale airfield just outside Melbourne. I took this photo a couple of years back at an airshow at the field.

Ray’s model is 1/4 scale with a wingspan of 2.7m. Weight is 15kg and it’s powered by a Zenoah 45 swinging a 20x8 propeller. Model is fitted with flaps and the ailerons can also be drooped 15º for landing. Ray started off with a Vaillancourt plan but with some inaccuracies showing up he finally prepared his own drawings. Model has eight flights to date and Ray says that it’s a delight to fly.

The Sentinel model in flight.

After World War II, the L-5 was widely used by the Civil Air Patrol for search and rescue work. Today there are about 300 known examples left world wide and less than half are in flying condition. The RAAF operated one L-5 Sentinel, on loan from the USAAF. The aircraft was in service with the RAAF from 1944 to 1946.

Victorian Model News

page 3

Surrey Park Model Boat Club The original clubhouse with the new extension.

In my youth I used to travel to Surrey Park in Box hill to fly control line model aircraft with the Eastern Suburbs Model Aeroplane Club. Those days are long passed — the area where we flew is now covered by a baseball diamond and model aircraft are banned from the park. Adjacent to the park was a large and very deep water hole, the flooded remnants of a clay pit, used as a swimming pool by the locals and known as the Surrey Dive. While early folklore told of it being bottomless the hole was eventually filled to form a shallow lake which is now the home of the Surrey Park Model Boat Club. The club’s original red brick clubhouse has recently acquired a modern extension, built with funds from the Federal Government “Stimulus Package”, providing a spacious and comfortable centre for their activities.

The operating jetty and recovery dinghy.

Local council regulations do not allow the use of i.c. powered boats on the lake but electric and steam powered craft are welcomed and share the facility with racing yachts and vintage sailing boats. As is the case with model aircraft, many of the boats are of the ARF (Almost Ready to Float?) variety but modelling skills are still evident in the intricate construction of the many scratch built vessels with the degree of craftsmanship equalling that shown in the best of our aircraft models. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere when compared to the sometimes frenetic activity of some aircraft clubs as, with the exception of the limited time periods for the operation of fast electric boats, the craft travel around the lake in a sedate and controlled manner, generally observing the rules of the sea and the right-of-way of sail over power. With little chance of damage, other than by a rare sinking, the boats have a much longer lifespan than our model aircraft, possibly providing a lifetime of enjoyment from the time spent building.

Geoff Williams (left) with his scratch built fibreglass speed boat.

Like modellers the world over they are a friendly group and I can recommend spending an occasional sunny Sunday sitting by the lake at Surrey Park while being entertained by the model boating enthusiasts. For more information the club has a very comprehensive website at http://home.vicnet.net.au/~spmbc/ John Keiry (at left) and Martin Lui (at right) preparing their boats.

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Victorian Model News

Some of the fine detailing on the patrol boat.

Fairmile “D” patrol boat by A. Smithwick.

Sailing craft and electric power boats share the water.

Classical sailing vessels from a past era recreated in model form.

Ross McCrae’s “Challenger” paddle boat.

Victorian Model News

Claude Miller’s “Toulonaisse”

An Amsterdam tugboat by Harry van der Syl.

page 5

LASER CUTTING SERVICE

On my recent trip to Shepparton for the Mammoth Scale Rally I ran into Andrew Smallridge displaying the SC Models range of model aircraft and accessories. This prompted me to get back to work on my Yak rebuild and I arranged with Andrew to make the lengthy trip from Eltham to Bentleigh with my CAD drawing of the Yak fuselage parts to have them laser cut. This visit turned out to be of great interest to the extent that I decided, with Andrew’s agreement, to produce this article which I hope will be beneficial to modellers and also to Andrew Smallridge and Kevin Chiselett, the proprietors of SC Models.

Andrew at his desk beside the cutting machine. The laser cutting head operates in two planes similar to a CAD plotter and is extremely accurate in its positioning. The machine has an adjustable table to allow for the thickness of the material to be cut.

This is the CAD drawing of the replacement formers for my Yak. The .dwg drawing is then converted to the required .dxf format for insertion into the software package of the cutting machine.

SC Models has been in existence for a couple of years and commenced with an agency for the DURA-GRIT range of long life accessories for use with a DREMEL, or similar, power tool. The business has expanded over time to include Century Jets Retracts and South Herts Models glowswitches, plus a range of electric motors and LiPo batteries. Andrew travelled to the USA earlier this year and secured the Australian agency for the range of plans from well known scale designer Nick Ziroli. To complement the plan sales the company has invested in a laser cutter and is now able to provide a laser cut kit of parts for the Ziroli models. It should be noted that laser cutting is not confined to the Ziroli designs. Andrew also has the facilities to scan a plan, convert it to a CAD drawing and then, after inserting the drawing into the software included with the Chinese manufactured laser cutter, cut a kit of parts from balsa and plywood for any model.

Transferred to Andrew’s computer the various parts are easily positioned to make best use of the plywood or balsa sheet. The fine diameter (approx. 0.2mm) of the laser beam allows parts to be placed very close together thus minimising wastage.

The accompanying photographs show the procedure used to cut the parts for my Yak. The plywood parts all fitted together nicely with my only mistake being an error in assessing the original size of one broken piece. This has resulted in my model being a few millimetres shorter than the original and may mean the addition of a little more lead in the nose. I’ll find out when I fly it! SC Models have a website at www.scmodels.com.au that lists all of their products and Andrew Smallridge can be e-mailed at [email protected] or contacted on mob: 0417 378 753. The machine will accept sheets up to 900mm x 600mm. Power to the laser is controlled to suit the thickness and type of material and to minimise charring of the edges.

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Victorian Model News

Andrew sets the starting position of the cutting head to suit the sheet size and then it’s all automatic.

The laser in action cutting the 3mm plywood.

Cut parts with most of the waste material removed — and there’s not much waste!

Victorian Model News

Three shots of the basic assembly for the forward section of the Yak. The fine beam of the laser means that parts of the same dimension are cut with sufficient clearance to neatly slot together. The parts are an exact duplicate of the original construction and in 7 or 8 minutes the machine produced a set of parts that would have required at least a full day’s work on the saw and sander — and the pieces produced manually would not have been nearly as accurate.

page 7

Rebuilding my Yak 54

The new laser cut formers fitted together nicely and in this picture nothing has been glued, it’s held together with the keys and slots.

With the October newsletter completed and issued it was back to work on my Yak rebuild. The laser cut front end formers went together OK but I had a few discrepancies between the notches in the plywood fuselage sides and the keying pieces on the formers and on assembly a fair amount of upthrust was introduced. I had never really taken any note of the original thrust line but this didn’t seem right and may have been caused by errors in measurement. Regardless of the cause, or the possibility of the original having the same thrust angle, it still looked wrong and a bit of judicious cutting here and there straightened things up, although the rebuilt fuselage is now a few millimetres shorter than the original. The forward section of the fuselage was originally sheeted with large pieces of 2mm balsa which had been reeded on the inside to allow easy bending. I decided to use 3mm balsa and plank it in 6mm wide strips as I couldn’t reproduce the reeding and I find planking to be easier than wetting the sheet, fitting it to the fuselage, waiting for it to dry out and finally gluing it in place. The extra thickness allowed for final shaping and sanding without making the covering too thin and using C23 glue made for easy sanding. After rough sanding I used NORDSJO Fine Filler (ex Bunnings) to fill any gaps in the planking and to fair in the repaired sections of the fuselage sides before fine sanding.

New formers fitted to the fuselage sides. Looking good!

I found that Profilm matched the original covering colours and used that to cover the front section of the fuselage. The final result was satisfactory and while it doesn’t quite look like new it’s still very serviceable for a relatively small amount of work and minimal cost. I hope that this might inspire others to recover their broken ARF’s rather than throw them in the bin and buy another!

page 8

New front end glued in place with PVA and epoxy . The thrust line has been adjusted and it’s ready for planking.

Victorian Model News

Planking completed and rough sanded ready for gap filling and final sanding. Fuselage and cockpit re-covered with yellow, blue and black Profilm and trim stripes added. Motor box and firewall have been fuel proofed.

I found it easier to set up the motor mounts and throttle cable before planking the top of the fuselage The OS 91 four stroke re-fitted with the starting jack and DUBRO fuelling valve. The plastic motor mounts survived the crash and were re-used.

Underside planking with u/c mounting plate and showing the new planking spliced into the original sheeting. The canopy, damaged in the crash, has been replaced with the canopy salvaged and saved from my previous Yak.

The re-assembled Yak 54 — almost as good as new. A few cosmetic touches to the cowl and spats and it will be ready to fly again.

Victorian Model News

page 9

Mid-week with the Northern Flying Group

Gary Burge is a new starter learning to fly. It’s a novel way to work on a model!

In a recent discussion with fellow VFSAA member Jim Brennan he told me of his acquisition of a ARF model of the Waco SRE sold by SIG. It sounded interesting and we arranged to meet at the Northern field for some photos and a morning’s flying. As seems to be my good fortune lately at the State Field the weather was ideal and I spent a very enjoyable few hours meeting the Northern club members who frequent the field during the week when most workers are busy at their jobs. It was a typical midweek gathering with mainly retired guys, plus a few younger ones who can manage their work commitments, enjoying the sunshine and the relaxed atmosphere of a casual day at a fine flying site. I had a couple of flights with my Marathon, took a few photographs with my new Canon super camera and picked up some additional subscribers to the newsletter.

Gary’s aircraft is a World Models ARF of the Brazilian Paulistinha P-56 and is powered by a OS 46 two stroke. The Paulistinha P-56 seems to be a copy of the Piper J3 Cub fitted with a Super Cub cowl.

When the sun is shining and the wind is light it’s probably the best field close to the metropolitan area. The strip is long and wide, there is plenty of space for an outfield landing if the motor plays up, and the natives are very friendly.

The field has changed since it was first opened. A view of the pit area.

The reason for my visit. Jim Brennan’s Waco SRE in landing mode with flaps down, nose up, and settling nicely.

page 10

It’s a longish walk from the car park to the pits and the club has a couple of carts (ex Bunnings) to help with the transport of gear and models. This is John McCartin’s ARF Tiger, powered by a OS 55AX two stroke, perched on top of his flight gear.

Victorian Model News

Dete Hasse’s Blackhorse ARF Stinson Voyager powered by a Saito 40 four stroke.

The Stinson in flight and looking very realistic. Only the trailing aerial gives it away as a model.

Russel Stanley starting his Van RV-3. Scratch built model is 1.5m wingspan and powered by a OS 56 four stroke.

Frank Laguda was checking out the systems on his new L-39 Albatross jet.

Lunch time!

The excellent pilot figure in the L-39.

The storage bay next to the clubhouse is also a well equipped workshop.

Frank flew this Hangar 9 ARF Sundowner. Model is 2.0m span and electric powered.

Victorian Model News

page 11

VICSCALE at BALLARAT A sunny day at Ballarat brought out a good entry for this Sportscale Gary broke a bracing cable on the Nieuport when the model ground event although, as is now usually the case, the ARF’s well outnum- looped on take off and had a severe crash with the 109 when he lost control on a landing approach, breaking the port wing and bered the owner built models. damaging the fuselage. Steve was unfortunate to lose radio conWith eleven ARF’s and four scale models it was going to be a long tact with his model at a fairly low altitude and could not resume day if three rounds were to be flown but mishaps to a few models control in time to prevent the crash which effectively destroyed the and a quick follow on as models completed their schedule enabled model. the three rounds to be completed. Roger Carrigg, with his well proven P-39, won the scale section The brisk and gusty north wind made flying a challenge, particularly narrowly from Noel Findlay as the Gipsy Moth struggled in the on the landing approach as the turbulence created by the rapidly windy conditions. David Law was the winner in the ARF section growing plantation along the northern boundary took affect on the from Noel Whitehead with Matt Werner a close third. The top four slow and low aircraft. Despite the wind and the limitations imposed places were keenly fought with David’s third flight clinching the win. by the crop surrounding the strips most managed to handle the conditions well and the only accidents were to Gary Sunderland’s (We found another nice little tearoom at Gordon on the way home to enjoy our scones, jam and cream with Isabelle and David AnderMe109 and Nieuport and Steve Malcman’s Katana. son.) ARF RESULTS CONTESTANT

MODEL

RND 1

RND 2

RND 3

TOTAL

D. LAW

SUKHOI Su26

2389.5

2394

2552.3

2473.1

1

N. WHITEHEAD

RV-4

2383.5

2217

2397.8

2390.6

2

M. WERNER

MX2

2389.5

2358

2314.5

2373.8

3

R. CARRIGG

SHOESTRING

2295

2167.5

2342.3

2318.6

4

N. KATSIKARIS

EDGE 540

1968

2097

1888.5

2032.5

5

G. WEEKS

CESSNA 152

2059.5

1966.5

1995.8

2027.6

6

P. EVANS

TUCANO

1690.5

1840.5

1626.8

1765.5

7

J. BRENNAN

WACO SRE

1734

1579.5

DNF

1656.8

8

M. ROWAN

PIPER PAWNEE

1585.5

1653

1483.5

1619.3

9

S. MALCMAN

KATANA

2346

DNF

DNF

1173

10

1657.5

DNF

DNF

828.8

11

G.SUNDERLAND Me 109

Roger Carrigg battles the turbulence as he makes a landing approach with his P-39 Airacobra that was the winner in the scale section of the competition. SCALE RESULTS CONTESTANT

MODEL

RND 1

RND 2

RND 3

TOTAL

R. CARRIGG

AIRACOBRA

2210

1885

1779

2047.5 1

N. FINDLAY

GIPSY MOTH

1958

2093

1992

2042.5 2

G. GEDYE

CORBY STARLET

1429.5

1660.5

1420.5

1545

3

1764

DNF

DNF

882

4

G. SUNDERLAND NIEUPORT 27

page 12

David Law prepares to take off with his winning ARF Sukhoi Su26

Victorian Model News

Competing models lined up in the pits.

Gavin Gedye’s Corby Starlet in flight — needs a pilot under that big canopy!

Noel Findlay’s slow flying Gipsy Moth did not handle the turbulence well.

Noel Whitehead’s Van RV-4 on take-off.

Victorian Model News

Gary Sunderland starting his Nieuport 26 with Ian Lamont assisting.

Matt Werner preparing to take off with his very large MX2.

Glen Weeks with his Cessna 152 on a landing approach.

Max Rowan’s Piper Pawnee was underpowered in the windy conditions with a 0.56 four stroke.

page 13

The Bendix Trophy In 1931 Cliff Henderson decided that the United States needed an annual cross country air race to promote and encourage the achievements of the US aviation community. The emphasis would be placed on reliability and endurance as well as speed. To this end Cliff Henderson managed to persuade businessman, Vincent Bendix, to back his ideas and the Bendix Transcontinental Trophy Race was born. During the "Golden Age of Aviation" (mid-1920's to the late 1930's) the Bendix Race attracted many of America's most innovative and daring aviators, many of whom would win many aviation records over the years. After the war the event became a military event and for most people it lost it's pioneering appeal that had made it so popular in the early years. Up until the early 1930's, the race was completely male dominated and the races were seen as no place for women. Admittedly, it was mainly the male pilots who kept women from competing. The tragic death of Florence Klingensmith at the Frank Phillips Trophy Races in Chicago flying her Gee Bee racer lead to Henderson ruling women out of the 1934 finals. However, women could not be kept from competing for long and the ban was lifted in 1935 following increasing pressure from America's increasingly talented top female pilots. The only question left was, "were women up to the stresses and endurance demanded by the race?".

Furthermore, it is the supreme test of the pilot’s skill in pre-flight planning and preparation and in-flight navigation. It was with these thoughts in mind that the late Vincent Bendix, manufacturer of aviation accessories, created the great race which bears his name. For many years before the Bendix was established, civilian air racing had centred in the cross-country type of event. These were generally worked out on a handicap basis, taking into account the speed, power and range of the competing planes. But with the coming of the Bendix, these lesser races passed from the picture. For the Bendix was an all-out race for speed. No limitations were placed on the design or power of the airplanes, nor on the route which a pilot might choose to follow to accomplish his mission, As a consequence, this big race has always attracted the nation’s most colourful flyers and the fastest airplanes. James H. Doolittle, who has left his imprint on so many of aviation’s annals, inaugurated the Bendix back in 1931 by flying from Los Angeles to Cleveland in 9 hours, 10 minutes and 21 seconds to win at an average speed of 223.058 miles per hour. This was shortly after Doolittle had retired from the Army Air Corps with the rank of major. While in the Air Corps he had established himself as the Army’s top-ranking speed pilot. Naturally that reputation followed him into civilian life, and he lost no time in proving his right to it. Doolittle flew the only specially built racing plane entered in that first Bendix race.

Each year in early September the aviation world was thrilled by the roar of planes competing in the Bendix Trophy Race and this is now only a memory. Military jet planes last vied for the title of fastestcross-country and propeller-driven craft and their civilian pilots, flew their last race in 1949.

It was a small airplane by today’s standards, a bi-plane of just 21foot span and 1,580 pounds’ weight. This was the Laird Super Solution. It was powered by the air-cooled Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. engine of 510 horsepower. Actually, this racer was a refined version of the Laird Solution which won the first Thompson Trophy Race So, as we close our books on another colourful episode in the on- the year before. For winning the race he collected a purse of $5,000 going drama of flight, we see in retrospect, a story of great flyers plus an additional $2,500 for the cross-country record. and great airplanes which have characterized the Bendix classic through the years. Proponents of cross-country air racing have long claimed for it the distinction of being the most practical of all the forms of the highspeed game. Only in these long-range grinds, they contend, do you encounter flying conditions comparable to what an airplane in everyday service must face. Such a contest is a basic problem of getting from one point of the country to another in the shortest possible time, which is, after all, the fundamental purpose of the airplane.

page 14

Jimmy Doolittle’s Laird Super Solution.

Victorian Model News

Of the eight planes starting in this race, six finished within the estab- In fact, in that ‘32 event they finished in one-two-three order with lished time limit. Aside from the winning Laird, all of the finishing James Haizlip, Wedell and Roscoe Turner capturing those respecplanes were commercial model Lockheed Orion's and Altair's. Har- tive positions. old Johnson made the best time of this group, coming in one hour and four minutes behind Doolittle.

Jimmy Doolittle 1931

Doug Davis 1934

Wedell Williams Racer.

Turner won the trophy in ‘33 and Doug Davis flew Wedell’s own “Miss Patterson” to victory in ‘34. Wedell planes also took second money in both of these races and were the only entries to finish within the allotted time.

Benny Howard 1935

Louise Thaden 1936

Frank Fuller Jnr. 1937 & 1939

Jaquie Cochrane 1938

Paul Mantz 1946, 1947, 1948

Joe De Bona 1949

The Bendix on occasion brought unusual distinction to the designer and builder of a racing airplane as well as to its pilot. This was particularly true in the case of James R. Wedell. Although this designerpilot who built his own racing planes in a small hangar at Patterson, Louisiana, never won the big race himself, his airplanes figured prominently in it for a number of years. For instance, the three racers which he built for the 1932 races, each in turn won the Bendix.

Victorian Model News

This transcontinental dash was not always a Los Angeles to Cleveland affair, for on two occasions the National Air Races were terminated at the West Coast metropolis. That was in 1933 and again in 1936. In these years New York served as the starting point and the race was thus fully transcontinental in nature. The east to west crossing of the nation was considered much more difficult in those days because of prevailing head winds. Up-and-coming Roscoe Turner scored the first major victory of his long and colourful career in air racing when he won that ‘33 event. His time of 11 hours and 30 minutes was an east-west record and evidence of the gruelling type of flying found in the Bendix of that time. It was reliable Jimmy Wedell who placed second to Roscoe. This was the race in which Russell Boardman lost his life when his big Gee Bee racer crashed on take-off after refuelling at Indianapolis. The other east to west race, that of 1936, was strictly a “ladies’ day” affair and the slowest of all the Bendix contests. Louise Thaden with Blanche Noyes as her co-pilot flew a stock model Beechcraft biplane into the winner’s circle in less than 5 minutes under 15 hours. Laura Ingalls followed with a Lockheed Orion and Amelia Earhart took fifth position with her Lockheed Electra. Strangely enough, only commercial planes finished this race, with all of the special racers being forced out along the route. Even a big Douglas DC-2 finished in the money.

Louise Thaden’s Beechcraft 17S

page 15

The 1936 race was not the only Bendix in which the ladies starred. Amelia Earhart was the first of her sex to participate, taking fifth position with a Lockheed Vega in 1935. Then the famous Jacqueline Cochran entered the picture with a third place in 1937. Jackie’s big year, however, came in 1938 when she won the contest under adverse weather conditions and against red-hot competition. She flew a civilian equivalent of the Seversky P-35. Again in the postwar races of 1946 and 1948 Miss Cochran proved her ability at the longrange game when she took a second and a third place in her P-51.

Unfortunately, the “Mulligan” was completely destroyed in a crash landing which almost cost the lives of Benny and his co-pilot wife, Maxine, in the 1936 Bendix race. The first man to repeat a Bendix victory was Frank Fuller, Jr. This sports man pilot got his name on the trophy in 1937 and 1939. Like Jackie Cochran, Fuller was well off in his own right and flew airplanes for the fun of it. He found the Bendix a real adventure. Fuller, too, flew a Seversky P-35. His 1939 time of 7 hours, 14 minutes and 19 seconds was the best of the pre-war records, an average speed of 282.098 mph. During the war years of 1940 to 1945 there was no air racing. But those years produced the airplanes which were to be featured in the postwar Bendix. With surplus fighter planes available at less money than would be required to build a suitable airplane, the Bendix was assured of plenty of hot entries for its resumption in 1946. In fact, that race stands as the one having the greatest number of participants. Twenty-two racers actually made the starting line-up and seventeen finished. Of these, the majority were Lockheed P-38s. But the P-51 demonstrated its superiority when the four in the race took the first four places.

Jackie Cochrane with her Seversky P-35.

The only airplane ever designed for the specific purpose of winning the Bendix Trophy was Ben Howard’s “Mister Mulligan.” That was back in 1935. Although Howard had won his fame as a pylon duster, his job as a transport pilot for United Airlines forbade his participation in closed-course competition. So Ben made an all-out bid for the Bendix. With the aid of Gordon Israel he developed an airplane which was to introduce a new technique in transcontinental racing. “Mr. Muilligan” was designed to fly the course nonstop and at high altitude. Neither of these practices had been followed before that time. They were definitely a forward step in long-distance flying and they brought victory to Howard and co-pilot Israel.

Paul Mantz, the Hollywood stunt flyer, took home the Bendix Trophy that year with the remarkable time of 4 hours, 43 minutes and 14 seconds or 435.5 mph. Mantz is undoubtedly the all-time master of cross-country air racing, for he went on to repeat his Bendix victory again in ‘47 and ‘48. In addition, he has broken more long-distance speed records than you can shake a stick at. His remarkable work with the P-51 is an outstanding page of Bendix history.

Paul Mantz’s P-51.

The last Bendix Trophy Race was flown in 1962. Captain Bob Sowers piloted an Air Force B-58 Hustler from Los Angles to New York in just 2 hours 56 seconds and won the race. This was quite a contrast to the first race in 1931 when Jimmy Doolittle in his Laird Super Solution flew from Los Angles to Cleveland in 9 hours 10 minutes, or to Louise Thaden's 1936 win from New York to Los Angles in her Staggerwing Beechcraft C-17R with a time of 14 hours 55 minutes. Ben Howard with the Howard DGA-6 “Mr. Mulligan”.

The post-war races were notable for their close finishes. Mantz nosed out Jackie Cochran by a few seconds less than 10 minutes, in ‘46, beat Joe De Bona by a mere 1 minute and 18 seconds in ‘47 and edged out Linton Carney by 1 minute, 9 seconds in ‘48.Then too, in that 1948 contest Jacqueline Cochran followed Carney in by only 10 seconds and Ed Lunken trailed her by 2 minutes and 39 seconds - a whirlwind finish. These pilots all flew P-51s.

This was the closest of all Bendix races. Roscoe Turner flying his powerful Wedell-Williams, which was actually a faster airplane, had to make refuelling stops. He also flew at the then conventional lower altitudes. Yet he finished just 23 seconds behind Ben Howard. “Mister Mulligan” was a fine aeroplane, for it not only won the Bendix but also the Thompson Trophy for Harold Neumann in a type of race for which it was not particularly well suited. It was a high-wing cabin Fittingly, the last of the races for propeller-driven airplanes in 1949 monoplane, the direct ancestor of the Howard DGA-8, four-place closed with an all-time record speed. Joe De Bona, flying for movie actor James Stewart, made the run in 4 hours, 16 minutes and 17 commercial airplane of later years. seconds at a speed of 470.136 mph.

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Victorian Model News

Jim Brennan’s Models When Jim rang me in mid October to enquire about the VFSAA event scheduled for Ballarat I took the opportunity to ask about progress on his Piper Pacer that has been under construction for some time. Jim filled me in on the current status of the model and offered to send photos. In the course of further discussion it turned out that apart from working on the Pacer he had also purchased a ARF model of the Waco SRE sold by SIG Mfg.

Jim’s Piper Pacer has now been covered and is almost ready for painting. Cabin detail still to be fitted.

The Waco, seen only in adverts, appealed to him and proved on arrival to be a very nicely constructed aircraft but with some features that were not to Jim’s liking he made a few modifications that have produced a very neat scale model. The flat plate elevators and rudder were stripped, tapered and recovered. A single elevator horn was installed internally and the rudder control converted to a pull-pull system. The rigging wires and attachment brackets were replaced and the turnbuckles reduced to near scale size. The servo mountings were modified to conceal the servos inside the structure and the thin fibreglass cowl is internally reinforced. The model is fitted with a Enya 80 four stroke motor instead of the recommended 1.20 and flies well on this power plant.

Inspection covers and vent holes on the underside of the wing add to the realism. A very respectable scale model, the Sig Waco SRE as it finished up after Jim’s modifications.

Flap and aileron servos have been concealed and the rigging wires, attachment brackets and turnbuckles reduced to near scale size. With recessed blind nuts replacing the strut attachment hex nuts it all cleans up very nicely.

Victorian Model News

The model is covered with Solartex, providing a neat fairing between fin and fuselage. The tailplane incidence is adjustable via a jacking screw arrangement, as for the full size aircraft, but can only be varied on the ground.

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Victorian Scale Championships 2011 F4C RESULTS CONTESTANT

ARF RESULTS MODEL

STATIC

RND 1

RND 2

TOTAL

CONTESTANT

MODEL

RND 1

RND 2

TOTAL

D. LAW

PITTS S2

2880

2238

2343

5171

1

D. LAW

PC–9

2588

2619

2604

1

N. WHITEHEAD

CORSAIR

2067

2055

2351

4270

2

P. BAILEY

EXTRA 300

2546

2476.5

2512

2

G. SUNDERLAND

PFALZ D.XII

2295

1872

1863

4163

3

N. WHITEHEAD

RV-4

2354

2527.5

2441

3

R. DICKSON

BV 155

1915

1842

2026

3849

4

M. BAILEY

EXTRA 300

2384

2452.5

2418

4

G. GEDYE

STARLET

1912

1517

1784

3563

5

G. WHITE

EXTRA 300

2241

2434.5

2338

5

S. MALCMAN

CESSNA 182

2116

2374.5

2245

6

G. LEPP

CESSNA 150

2115

2356.5

2236

7

P. WINTER

YAK 54

2065

2320.5

2193

8

G. WEEKS

EDGE 540

2389.5

1945

2168

9

T. GRIEGER

GEE BEE

1998

2262

2130

10

J. FINNOCCHIARO

SPARROW HAWK

1932

2122.5

2027

11

LARGE SCALE RESULTS CONTESTANT

MODEL

STATIC

RND 1

RND 2

TOTAL

N. FINDLAY

GIPSY MOTH 2562

2318

2365

4904

1

R. DICKSON

TA 152

1915

2231

2201

4131

2

G. SUNDERLAND

N’PORT 27

2427.5

1675

792

3661

3

B. WHELLAN

GIPSY MOTH

SORRY!

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1760

My Shepparton Mammoth report in the last issue wrongly identified a red and white GeeBee ”Y” Sportster as owned and flown by Robert Shoebridge. Doug Radford corrected me and sent a few shots of Robert’s GeeBee “Z” “Spirit of Springfield” which I now reproduce below.

Victorian Model News

TWIN CITIES

FLOAT-FLY 2011 With the drought over and the Murray River back to normal flow the Hume Weir is full and the Twin Cities Floatplane event was back to its former venue in October. David Balfour sent these photos of a few of the models flown at the event.

De Havilland Beaver by TC member Tim Nolan.

The busy scene on the bank of the Hume Weir.

Peter Graeber’s electric powered Sikorsky S-43 made its first off water flights and is seen here getting up onto the step.

Ken Anderson flew this 1/4 scale Anderson Kingfisher by UK designer Dennis Tapsfield. The Kingfisher is a popular model among float flyers, .

Victorian Model News

The ever popular J3 Cub is a favourite subject for float flying. This one is by Phil Pope from NSW.

I don’t have any details on this one but it’s an interesting aircraft with what look to be pusher electric motors.

page 19

Noel Findlay’s Noel Findlay’s

Noel is almost ready to test fly his Fox Moth which will be his entry at the 2012 World Scale Championship in Spain. He will join David Law flying his Pitts S2 and Noel Whitehead flying a PAC CT-4 as the Australian team to this event.

DH 83 “Fox Moth”

This has caused some head scratching as they must work smoothly without any friction or binding. I have spent about 4 weeks of nights trying to get the 3 mechanisms to work without a twisting motion. As I started to run out of ideas I took the wing out to our Sunday Morning Flying Session to see if anybody had any ideas. Some suggestions were thrown around, not all of them helpful I might add, but a very good one came from Matt. He suggested that I tie both ends together with bell cranks. Wow I had been looking at this for 4 weeks and he came up with the

As you will see by the photos the wings are now covered and all the stitching and rib tapes have been doped into position. I usually use three coats of brushed on clear nitrate dope [full strength thinned 50%] followed by two coats of sprayed on silver butyrate dope but as the wings on the Moth are quite thin I opted for only two brushed on coats of nitrate dope and three of sprayed on silver butyrate, the butyrate is non shrinking and gives a nice finish without warping the wings .

Some people don’t like building wings, I dislike building them as it becomes boring and repetitive - when you get one side finished you have to do the same again. As I build biplanes does that mean that it’s four times as boring or am I twice as stupid? On the wings alone I used four metres of silk (actually five but I wont go into that one!).

All major components are now done but there is still a lot of fine detailing to finish, this will be worked on after the test flights have The covering is Bems silk and this is applied wet over the wing taken place, so after some engine running on the bench it will be framework and doped on, but be careful as when it dries it does time to commit aviation. shrink so make sure that your framework has no large unsupported areas or you will pay the penalty. The good thing about Bems silk is Noel. that it costs only about $5/metre and is 1220 mm in width.

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Victorian Model News

Alex Evans’ Models Alex is a member of SEMAC in south-east Melbourne and passed on these photos of his recent projects. Another modeller returning late to his lifelong interest, Alex migrated to Australia in 1985 after 22 years with the Israeli Air Force and resumed the hobby in 2001.

Cessna 337 Skymaster, 2m wingspan and weighing just under 7kg. AX4130/16 motors with 6S 5000mAh battery pack.

With an obvious interest in multi-engined types Alex has taken the safer path with electric power, reducing the possibility of having to try asymmetric flying on one motor. His latest creation, the Hawkeye E2C, is believed to be the worlds first successful flying model of the type. Alex’s current project is a B-24 Liberator to 1/16 scale with a wingspan of 2.16m which will, naturally, be fitted with four electric motors.

Alex with his electric Piper J3 Cub. Model is 1/6 scale at 1.8m wingspan and weighs 3.8kg. Motor is a AXI 4120/10 running on a 5S 4000 mAh battery pack.

An early model by Alex, his Boeing V-22 Osprey has a conventional wing and motor arrangement instead of the original VTO tilting rotors. Model is 2m span, has the same motors and battery packs as the Cessna and also weighs less than 7kg.

Victorian Model News

Alex’s latest creation is a model of the Grumman E-2C Hawkeye. Pics show the early construction and the completed aircraft. Model is powered by 2 x 4250– 600 Turnigy motors with 5S 4000mAh battery packs.

page 21

FOR SALE

CA-25 WINJEEL 3.1m wingspan with 80cc SOLO petrol engine, all servos and receiver. Fibreglass fuselage with a sliding canopy, wings are foam core in three sections. Good surface detail with rivets and panel lines. Includes a geared starter.

$1600 Contact ROB POPELIER Home: 03 5821-5817 Bus: 03 5821-7444

FOR SALE 48cc DZY twin cyl. petrol engine. NIB……… $350 98cc BRISON single cyl. petrol engine…….. $800 with electronic ignition. NIB. 62cc ZENOAH single cyl. petrol engine……. $650 with recoil starter. NIB. 54cc SOLO single cyl. petrol engine……….. $175 approx. 4hrs run time.

CM PRO ARF P-40E WARHAWK kit ………… $280 73” span to suit 140 engine, f’glass fuselage, US Army camouflage. ROBART RB 150B air retracts…………………. $320 New, suit I/5 scale Corsair. ROBART RB 620 air retracts…………………... $320 New, suit Midwest AT-6 Texan or similar.

2 x OS FX160 two stroke engines…………… $300 each c/w mufflers. NIB. JLT 1400 GAS TURBINE (14lbs thrust)……. $980 c/w JLT accessory pack upgrade JLT TCU control unit computer JLT bullet starter JLT owners manual fuel and header tanks, plumbing, valves, connectors all mounted on a platform and only test run twice.

page 22

Contact

GRAHAM GODDEN Ph: 9560-1863 Mob: 0408369440

Victorian Model News

Sams ? Barrie Reaby sent me these samples of 5min. Epoxy and CA glue purchased at Sams. I had never heard of Sams but it seems that they are one of those “wholesale warehouse” retailers that sell at bottom of the market prices. The glue packages sell for $2 each, which is certainly cheap, and Barrie says that they work well. You just have to look on the net to find your nearest Sams store. Barrie also recommends a cyanoacrylate adhesive, called MitreBond, that claims to join almost any material from plastic to metal. Check it out at www. mitrebond.com.au (When I say that $2 is cheap — I can remember my early modelling days when I could buy everything required to build a complete model for 10 shillings , which you might remember is equivalent to $1. It’s all relative!)

Flying Field Co-ordinates. A few more northern field locations forwarded by Tim Ingham of the Warringah club in NSW.. Warringah RCS

33º 42' 45.72" S

151º 14' 24.91" E

Central Coast RC

33º 10' 48.74" S

151º 32' 41.03" E

Foster Great Lakes MAC

32º 14' 03.63" S

152º 32' 21.26" E

Victorian Model News

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Victorian Model News