Hey, why not build one of these?!

An easy to build, all sheet model by Dave Thornberg.
From the pages of Model Builder magazine.

In the News

Ray Bazzurto on the cover of the current issue of Antique Flyer, the SAM 27 newsletter

Welcome aboard

We welcome Tom Ryan, a new follower of the MAC blog.

Tom is a pilot with a pretty neat blog of his own:

The Building Board

Dave K Wins Another One

Winners of the 2010 "G" Challenge were announced yesterday. In the words of contest director Howard Littman, "Dave Krinard flew away with the flying prize" with his Guillows 500 Series FW-190. This was Dave's first entry in the annual postal contest since 2007, when he won first prize overall with his 500 Series Hellcat.



If you're not familiar with the "G" Challenge, the object is to build a Guillows model from a designated series of kits. Builders are required to use kit wood, but pieces may be cut or sanded to save weight, provided the outlines remain intact. This year, prizes were given for flying, speed dash, and appearance. For more information see the Guillows "G" Challenge Yahoo Group.

How To Build Your Own Airplane

I found this video on another blog, The Building Board, and thought it was worth re-posting here. This is about constructing a full scale airplane, but many of the same principles apply to model building.

Field Trip

Sunday was mostly a bust because of the wind, but we did manage a few flights. There's a picture below of Jerry & Phobi with Heinkel and Jimmie Allen yellowjacket, and of a beautiful bi-plane that someone is sure to identify.

Some of us headed over to Schellville to enjoy the open day and an opportunity to browse the hangar - pics below.

The military plane at the bottom is a Broussard MH 1521. We agreed that it would make a great build. George has subsequently obtained a plan for a peanut version from Bill Hannan, and we think it would make the perfect scale contest build to kick off the 2011 season.

Copies will be available soon - please let us know if you'd like a copy.

Ahh, the good ole days

Pre-sanded balsa, what a luxury!

What's new?

You never know what you'll see at MAC, but there's always a good chance to see some new models, gadgets, plans, and maybe a new face or two. Seen at our last indoor meeting:

Tom brought a new model for the Bostonian contest. The all-red pusher prop driven Bostonian is one of Tom's own designs. The color is hot, but I think this plane is really cool.

One of our friends from SAM 27 attended his first MAC meeting last month. He flew this micro R/C Prairie Bird and I think he learned some things about free flight, too. Welcome!

Not your average Prairie Bird.

A work in progress. Haoyang has covered all of this biplane except the fuselage. The parts are not attached yet, just set up temporarily for this picture.

Mike showed us the fuselage of a Grumman F7F Tigercat he is building.

Haoyang and Daniel studied a plan.

When you build from plans, there aren't always a lot of instructions. Figuring out what the designer intended may be part of the fun, but I'm grateful for other modelers who are ready to help -- at club meetings, online, or via email. Thanks, guys!

FROG Delta 16

I posted a picture of Mike flying his FROG Delta 16 last month and remembered that model from my first outdoor MAC meeting in 2006. That was before we started this blog, so my pictures from that day were never posted... until now. Here is Mike on May 14, 2006, in the field behind the St. Vincent's gym in Marinwood (we moved our outdoor sessions to Lakeville in 2007).



Mike built his Delta 16 from plans which are available to download free from the House of Frog website. The video below shows the model flying in 2006. I guess it isn't easy to trim a flying wing, but Mike is doing okay. (Tom: "The glide is superb." Mike: "Yeah.")