Saturday, April 15, 2006




This is the DeHavilland DH-6, designed by Walt Mooney. The plans are available from Peck Polymers in the Walt Mooney Bag of Peanuts. This is a peanut scale model designed for indoor flying. This one has flown very well at the Teaneck Armory, Teaneck, NJ. The wheels are an old set of Fulton Hungerford wheels that I purchased many years ago. The tissue is white Japanese tissue. I printed the linen color, and the makings, on an injet printer. I created the markings in a graphics program on the PC. The tissue was not water-shrunk or doped. The propeller is laminated basswood.
This is the Euler D-1. The plans were originally publishied in Model Builder magazine in the early 1980's. I built one then, and recently built this one. It was designed by Walt Mooney, and is a good flyer, although I find that biplanes are always difficult to trim. This one has flown at the Teaneck Armory, in Teaneck, NJ.



Saturday, October 29, 2005


A Fike E peanut scale model, built from a plan purchased from Peck-Polymers. This is a fantastic flyer. This one consistently does 50 seconds indoors at the Teaneck, NJ Armory. It has no dihedral, but is extemely stable. There is considerable washout in the wings.




A Satellite 320 free flight model. I recently built this from a Midwest kit that I purchased when I was a kid, back in the late '60s. The engine is a Norvel .049. The covering is silkspan, which was dyed with Tintex fabric dye, and finished with clear dope. This is probably the best covering job I have ever done. Silkspan is a nice material to work with. The fuselage (balsa sheet) is covered with Japanese tissue, and painted with Brodak colored dope.

I have not yet tested this under power, but it has a beautiful glide, and should be a real floater. The wing area is 320 square inches, which is a lot for an .049 engine.

The timer is a Texas Timers Micro I. The fuel tank is a Perfect brand wedge-type tank. The Norvel engine is equipped with a crankcase pressure tap, to pressureize the fuel tank.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Went to a flying session at the Teaneck Armory on 10/19/05. Flew my Fike E and a Peck-Polymers P-51 Mustang (peanut scale). The Mustang is a great airplane. To fly at the Armory, you need to join the Metropolitan Sport Squadron: http://www.rcsites.net/metsportsquadron/

Monday, December 06, 2004


The Flying Aces Moth, from a Peck-Polymers kit. This is easy to build and a great flyer. The plastic prop was too heavy, so I carved a balsa prop. Posted by Hello

This is the Debut, a kit by Easy Built Models. It is an excellent flyer. I have flown it outdoors, and indoors at the Teaneck Armory. The geodesic construction prevents warps. Posted by Hello

Thursday, December 02, 2004


A close-up of the Brooklyn Dodger. These solid rubber wheels turned out to be too heavy. I have since changed to wooden wheels, which are much lighter, and better. I plan to fly it at Barron Field in Wawayanda, NY. I made a few test flights there, but the wind picked up so I never got it trimmed. Maybe next year.Posted by Hello

This is an Brooklyn Dodger replica, powered by a Cox Tee-Dee .020. Built from a kit. Posted by Hello

The Lark. I had the plans from an old Jetco kit. This version is powered by a Cox .010 engine, and it can also be built as a rubber-powered model. I have flown it at a local football field. The .010 engine is incredibly powerful. After launch, the model climbs gradually for a second or two; then the engine leans out, the it goes into a vertical climb -- it goes up like a bottle rocket. It then settles into a flat, circular glide, and lands on the wheels. Awesome.
Posted by Hello
I made a second trip to the Teaneck Armory last week. Again, I saw some very cool models. I flew two freeflight models: a Peck-Polymers profile Stinson, and an embryo endurance model, the Debut kitted by Easy-Built Models. Both flew very well. I got some help from one of the guys there on trimming the Debut. He suggested shortening the motor. This gave me less turns, but more power (so it could climb higher) and less weight. Both models flew extremely well.


 Baby Biplane The plans for this were featured in Flying Models magazine a few years ago. It was originally designed for the K&B Infant ...