Flying Models - Barnstormers

Brodak Hellcat by Troy Bolin

This Brodak Hellcat from Mr. Bolin is ready for duty. Troy says, "The Brodak Hellcat is powered with an O.S. 40LA R/C with a three line bell crank for throttle control. The entire airplane is covered with MonoKote film as well as LustreKote spray as well as a clear coat to seal in the decals and finish." Troy reports that the Hellcat is a very fun control line plane. We're sure this Hellcat will keep the Zeros at bay!

Electric Mossy by Bob Caso

Bob Caso has been busy with RAF twins and sends us this update on his work. "My original Mosquito was the feature construction article in the December 2007 Flying Models and flew on a pair of speed 400’s and had no landing gear. It was such a good, honest airplane, even at this size, I had to build a bells and whistles model. More than once, I would fry a can motor and the model would come limping home and land perfectly with no spin tendencies or other bad habits, even without rudder control. I felt that I could do a heavier, all out model and still have a great airplane, the only challenge being fitting all the extra equipment. I designed my own twin leg LG, actuated by small pneumatic gear door cylinders, made molds for the nacelles and strengthened the wing to accommodate the extra power and loadings. I also glassed the fuselage and wing with .75 oz glass and Polycrylic, painted the markings and did a ¾ cockpit. The weight went from 26 to 39 ounces but you would never know it – it’s still a great flying, no bad habits airplane."

Top Flite Contender by Larry Kruse

Larry has been busy in the work shop and sends us this beautiful and popular plane from fun flights past. Larry writes, "This is my latest kit build from Top Flite. I always wanted to build the original Dave Platt-designed Top Flite Contender, but being fresh out of college when it was first kitted in 1969, I missed my opportunity and put my money into something foolish--like rent and car payments. When the Contender was re-issued as a Gold Edition kit, the longing came back and I just had to spring for it. It was finished just in time for our local club's annual building contest, where it was fortunate enough to place first in a field of 12 airplanes. The only modifications to the kit were extending the rudder for functionality and looks, and sheeting the rear turtle deck to facilitate handling without damaging the covering every time I picked it up. The engine is an OS .46 AX two-stroke, liberated from a Sig Somethin' Extra I had been flying for a couple of seasons. The radio is a Futaba 6EX 2.4 MHz using all six channels for the usual functions, plus the center section flap and an on-board volt meter. The plane is covered with UltraCote White and Flame Red, a color scheme ripped right off the box cover. The panel striping was done with 1/16" 3M Scotchcal automotive tape and all decals are from the kit. The plane balanced perfectly within the prescribed weight parameters at a bit over 6 lbs."

Nobler, Fireball, and Super G Sharks by Bob Fenske

Bob Fenske sends in a trio of C/L models he has built for ½ A. "I've always been interested in taking full size plans and reducing them to 1/2 size - and building what turns out to be 1/2 A control line models. The 1/2 A Fireball was built from reduced plans of the original. I built the full size one first. The 1/2 A Nobler was built from plans I enlarged found on the Internet. As you can see, I got carried away on the Sharks and decided to build a solid model also. Way back in 1953, while in the USAF I converted Speedi-bilt models to control line and powered them with the K&B Infant engine. They flew great, and I've just sent off an order to Ron Anderson for some of his wonderful reproductions. Fooling around is such great fun!"

Flying Models Barnstormers welcomes your submissions! Readers of Flying Models are invited to submit pictures (no more than three) and a brief description of their model (no more than 300 words). Images should be at least 1024 pixels across. Please send your submissions to Associate Editor Jim Wiggin for consideration. We look forward to your contributions!