Going All-Out With A Classic Balsa B-17-F – Part 1 For almost as long as there have been model airplane builders there has been the B-17. The first of them appeared in the late 1930’s. We aeromodelers as a group were around in significant numbers for only a decade or so before that. When the […]
Converting the 30in Rubber Powered Dumas Piper J-4 to Electric – Part 4 Before we actually get around to putting some covering on this model airplane, we need to talk about the process and materials I’m using…stuff many of you reading this may only have heard of, but never seen. So…I’m going to put on […]
A couple of weeks ago I got the following email message: Hi there, I recently bought a “Capitol Models Stinson Gullwing 54” Balsa model. I’m planning on building it and making a R/C flyer.It came with a giant blue print but no smaller detail instructions? Also some pieces are missing? I was wondering if you […]
Converting the 30 Rubber Powered Dumas Piper J-4 to Electric RC – Part 3 During our last session in the shop I finished building the basic structural components…wing panels, fuselage and tail surfaces…of the Dumas Piper J-4. This time we are going to fill in all those remaining details like mounting the motor, ESC , […]
Converting the 30 Rubber Powered Dumas Piper J-4 to Electric RC – Part 2 Last time I finished up with just enough work done on the fuselage to permit me to show you a trial mounting of one wing panel on the modified cabin assembly and the new 1/16″ plywood wing carry-through spar I designed for […]
Converting the 30 Rubber Powered Dumas Piper J-4 to Electric RC – Part 1 Last time I finished up with the construction of the TF 100″ span Stinson SR-9 and explained that I’ll be waiting for happier weather before you get to see flight photos. Right now it’s time for something a lot smaller, but no […]
It’s time to finish putting this airplane together ! As I write this, my Stinson SR-9 is actually finished…built…ready to go. It has been “out in public” at a static model show at the Seattle Museum of Flight, but I have not yet had the airplane anywhere near a flying field. It’s November outside. […]
Building Those Old Kits – Not Enough Information? On lots of the plans sheets that came with those old (stick-and-tissue, printwood, rubber powered and maybe sort-of-flyable) model airplane kits pretty much all you got was plans. Instructions that actually helped you figure out what came next were not always part of the deal. For a […]
Now we get to one of those places where “doing scale” starts to get a higher weird factor. I can guarantee you that the many hours you may spend doing what I’ll describe this time will never make your model airplane fly better. What a well done stitch-and-tape job will do is guarantee that your […]
Before we get started on this month’s installment of our Building the Stinson story, I want to invite any and all of you who are reading my rcmodel.com blogs to participate in deciding where they will be going next. I have been working on the big Top Flite/Great Planes Stinson SR-9 for over two years, and as […]