What did you fly today?

[boomer108]

That is awesome davegee!

[f4u ausie]

Yes very niiiice Dave great. Pics of some very historical craft

[Elbee]

Very nice reminder and thanks, Dave.

[davegee]

Today, October 14, and every year, is special to me. Today marks the 78th anniversary of the first powered manned flight through the speed of sound, courtesy of Chuck Yeager. In honor of the event, although my Freewing F/A-18C was not ready to fly today, I took out my FMS F-86H, which (the real one) wasn't built for mach flight, but could do so if you pointed the nose down on the real thing. It was fairly chilly, but very light winds today so it flew great. I recorded my 30th flight on the model since I bought it back in July.

I'll attach a couple other pics taken several years ago at the NASM in Washington, DC. I was on the restoration team for their real lunar module (LM-2) that could have flown in space but had its flight cancelled in the rush to get to the moon before 1970, per John F. Kennedy's edict.

At the same time, they had the Glamorous Glennis X-1 rocket plane on the floor next to us, for restoration work and I got to have the NASM photographer snap a pic of me with it, and I took some shots of the cockpit. Pretty cramped in there for ol' Chuck! In one of the pics you can see the hatch lying on a table. There is a inner handle that had to be pushed down by the pilot inside to lock it. If you've seen the movie The Right Stuff, he had broken some ribs and couldn't use his right hand to pull the handle locked. That's where the broom handle came in so he could lever a section of it with his left hand and arm to close it securely without anyone being the wiser!

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Davegee-Elbee,

I heard that Chris Wolfe (RC GEEK) is working with Motion on new projects. His experience and background with scale aircraft may bring some nice models in the future. Just rumors no official confirmation that I'm aware of.
Elbee, a P-51B with all the whistles would be a must have.
Best Regards, Rex

I'm heartened that they signed Chris Wolff for future projects. Considering all the spectacular stuff he's come up in the past for his own airplanes, having him work on some new warbirds would really be great. I'll keep my fingers crossed he comes up with something many of will want to buy.

Cheers

Davegee

[jetfool]

Davegee-Elbee,

I heard that Chris Wolfe (RC GEEK) is working with Motion on new projects. His experience and background with scale aircraft may bring some nice models in the future. Just rumors no official confirmation that I'm aware of.
Elbee, a P-51B with all the whistles would be a must have.
Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Congrats on the 100th flight.

Quite an accomplishment or would be for me.

I get your "hobby malaise" feeling.

Good to take a break now and then and like f4u ausie, I can't imagine you not chiming in or posting a build.

I don't know about any new scale aircraft releases from any manufacturer.

It would be nice to have something new, fresh, and exciting from someone.


I'd like a P-51 B with the Malcolm Hood in 1600-1700mm, but figure I'll have to build that from scratch.

Similarly to jetfool, I have a Brian Taylor kit (Tempest short kit) if things get too dull building foamies .

Hang in there, Dave, we've all been there, heck I was thinking about 3D printing a submarine.

Best, Steve

Thanks, Steve. I value your comments, along with Craig and Rex, too. For the moment, I have been happy with the new FMS F-86F, and Freewing F9F-8 Courgar. Both excellent kits, and they fly very well. They still take a beating on our runway, but it is what it is. I wouldn't know what to do with a Smooth runway to fly from!

I recently lost my nearly 9 year old Spittie, "went down in the Channel, mate!" It had a long standing stress tear in the fuselage just behind the motor that I patched for years, but I think after this latest repair, it was just worn out and went in. Saved the printed and handpainted pilot, though! It was worth every penny I paid for it back then, and I certainly got my money's worth. No regrets.

Regarding the FMS 1700mm P-51D, I had one of those, their P-47D bubbletop, and their Corsair in Korean War markings for several years. My P-51 right after takeoff and climbing out at full power, all of a sudden the entire motor and spinning prop departed the airplane like a cannonball, leaving the rest of the airframe to crash unceremoniously on the ground a few seconds later. I had flown it so often for a long tiime, I couldn't be too put out by this spectacular demise. The plastic motor mount just failed at that point.

I think that P-51 is still available as a Red Tail, but I do remember it was sluggish at almost 6000 feet MSL operating out of our Denver field. I probably wouldn't get another one because of that, but it whets the appetite thinking what they "might" come up with that we might like for our next projects, as modelers.

Cheers

Davegee

[Elbee]

jetfool

She'd be a top-notch build, but I'd do the same for the P-51B or P-47D.

To me, there is a lot to be said for the muscly look of the turtledeck WW2 aircraft.

Best. LB

[jetfool]

Elbee,
I have many nitro Eng. and fly them sometimes but the ease of electric operation going to the field for an evening/afternoon has made flying more enjoyable, no mess.
Your nib OS would probably sell for good money, but I/d keep it if it were mine. Love the smell of nitro running.
I like the tempest/ typhoon also. Would like to build the BT 72" Typhoon for my Saito 150 4-stroke but waiting for the tariff situation to settle before buying from Sarik in England.
Getting ready to start my Phantom mod./repaint this fall after our flying season ends so the George is slow coming, cutting parts and designing flaps/retract mts. on plans.
Hope you decide to do yours, would be a good change of pace. If built lite you can use the smaller servos from Motion, Etc. with ball bearings/metal gears that don't cost a fortune and seam powerful in most EDF jets.

Best Regards, Rex

[Elbee]

Elbee,
Speaking about the BT plans my George will use an FMS P-47 motor and prop + the retracts. With modern electric motors and electric retracts these older BT scale planes are fun to scale out and can be built lite with glass and polyacrylic finishing. Hope you build your Tempest. With your 3D skills a masterpiece would be born.
Best Regards, Rex

Very kind words, Rex.

We will see what the future holds.

I have always loved the looks of the Hawker Tempest and Typhoons.

I had in mind an OS .61 FSR ABC when I bought all the original stuff.

I added the new short kit last year, so it is a the very least 'on my mind'.

It would be fun to add the 3DP tech to the balsa build.

I would go electric as well.

What do I do with the NIB OS .61 FSR ABC from 1985+/-?

Good problem to have.

Looking forward to seeing pics of your BT build, you should start a build thread.

Best, LB

[jetfool]

Elbee,
Speaking about the BT plans my George will use an FMS P-47 motor and prop + the retracts. With modern electric motors and electric retracts these older BT scale planes are fun to scale out and can be built lite with glass and polyacrylic finishing. Hope you build your Tempest. With your 3D skills a masterpiece would be born.
Best Regards, Rex

[Elbee]

Today, I completed the 100th successful flight of my E Flite 1.5 M P-51D.

I'm hoping something new and appealing will be coming down the line from Motion or Anybody that I'd like to buy one of their new models. I have been very active in this hobby for 25 years, and am slowly moving away from the hobby, unless something new revitalizes it. We'll see. It's been a great run, anyway, for me.

Cheers

Davegee

Congrats on the 100th flight.

Quite an accomplishment or would be for me.

I get your "hobby malaise" feeling.

Good to take a break now and then and like f4u ausie, I can't imagine you not chiming in or posting a build.

I don't know about any new scale aircraft releases from any manufacturer.

It would be nice to have something new, fresh, and exciting from someone.


I'd like a P-51 B with the Malcolm Hood in 1600-1700mm, but figure I'll have to build that from scratch.

Similarly to jetfool, I have a Brian Taylor kit (Tempest short kit) if things get too dull building foamies .

Hang in there, Dave, we've all been there, heck I was thinking about 3D printing a submarine.

Best, Steve

[davegee]

Congratulations on the 100th flight. The plane still looks great. Hoping like you that something new comes out soon, Hellcat, SBD, P-51 anything. I have been slowly building a Brian Taylor Japanese 64" George and cutting parts for a BT ME-109F 61", both will be electric. It's nice building with wood again.
I hope you don't leave the R/C sport

Best Regards, Rex

Thanks, Rex. I hope like you and many others do that they come up with something really cool that will get me back on the bandwagon. I like planes like the SR-71 and others that they have come out with, but it's just not practical on our short and very rough runway. The prop planes work best for me up here, anyway. But even those suffer from the rough conditions of our field. At 100 flights, my P-51 was really pretty worn out. My FMS F-86 and Freewing F9F Cougar can operate out of this field, alhough it is a challenge.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that they are working on something that will really be a great addition to our RC fleets!

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Great job Dave and as always. Great story to go with it!!! Mine has similar maybe few more flights.. finally converted it to spectrum.. just waiting for a retract.. needs new paint.. red tail ime sure.... They have talked bout a new single prop bird... But the tarrifs may change that..... I'm liking the jets.. but could b cohersed into a f6f or p47. 1600..

B safe have fun and if U quit. Keep in contact with the team

Hi F4u aussie: I totally agree with you. A really good F6F Hellcat or bubbletop P-47 would put me in the groove again. I'm just worried that guys like you and me might be gradually swept away as younger modelers with different interests start to flex their power and influence in the hobby. Nothing wrong with that, but I hope our generation of modelers can still have a voice to get some of our favorite models produced before we are too old and few to justify the cost of building them.

I might have told this story somewhere in a previous entry, but if not, there is a humorous story that goes with the pilot of that Hun Hunter from Texas. The pilot, Henry Brown, had about 14 air kills and 14 ground kills during his time before he was captured by the Germans. He was a real nemesis and by that time of the war, I'm sure inexperienced German pilots that flew against Americans probably were watching for him and try to survive by tucking tail and running instead of trying to fight him. I think in October 1944, Brown voluntarily landed his airplane next to his commander's plane who had to make a forced landing in a field. He probably hoped to grab his commander and squeeze him in the cockpit with him and fly to safety (this was done on a number of times by other pilots! ) He ended up getting stuck in the mud and they were soon rounded up by the Germans and off to one of the stalags.

Enter my friend, Bill Getz. Bill had finished his 31 mission combat tour flying B-24s. He wanted to stay in the fight, though, since his brother, a medical doctor on the front lines with Patton, was fighting over there. The Scouting Forces were just starting, recruiting former bomber pilots willing to check out in new P-51Ds and fly ahead of the bomber streams, radioing back to report important info like weather ahead over the target, enemy fighters, flak,etc.

You might notice that the call letters on the fuselage are WR*Z. When Bill got his new plane in October 1944 to start his work with the Scouts, Brown had just recently been captured. Oddly enough, Bill's new plane had the same markings as Brown's plane (which was no longer) had. Bill found on some of his combat sorties, keeping in mind he and the other Scouts were not trained as fighter pilots but were bomber pilots flying fighters, he noticed that on several occasions, when he encountered a German fighter, they would suddenly break off their attack and quickly leave the area. Bill got to thinking that maybe, they saw those call letters and not knowing that Brown was now in a German POW camp, thought Bill was Brown, and they wanted nothing to do with him!

Bill got in contact with Henry Brown after the war and they had some laughs over it.

Brown's nickname among his fighter buddies was "Baby" probably because he looked like a little kid, even though he as 21 years old! I like that he and my mom shared the same birthday of January 25, 1923. Bill Getz passed away in 2023 at the age of 99.

Cheers


Davegee

[f4u ausie]

Great job Dave and as always. Great story to go with it!!! Mine has similar maybe few more flights.. finally converted it to spectrum.. just waiting for a retract.. needs new paint.. red tail ime sure.... They have talked bout a new single prop bird... But the tarrifs may change that..... I'm liking the jets.. but could b cohersed into a f6f or p47. 1600..

B safe have fun and if U quit. Keep in contact with the team

[jetfool]

Congratulations on the 100th flight. The plane still looks great. Hoping like you that something new comes out soon, Hellcat, SBD, P-51 anything. I have been slowly building a Brian Taylor Japanese 64" George and cutting parts for a BT ME-109F 61", both will be electric. It's nice building with wood again.
I hope you don't leave the R/C sport

Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Today, I completed the 100th successful flight of my E Flite 1.5 M P-51D. I decided with the very rough treatment it has gotten through the years on our runway, it is worn out enough to hang up in the rafters in the garage in retirement. My other P-51D just made it out to the East coast this week to a collector for his private display. He wrote a book on the pilot of LOU IV, and his forebears who go back to the Confederate general in the Civil War, Thomas J. Jackson. Fascinating history. The pilot of LOU IV was killed on a dive bombing mission in northern France in the summer of 1944. He was the great grandson of Jackson, a West Point graduate and brave airman and commander of the 361st Fighter Group "Yellow Jackets" out of England during that war.

The pilot of the plane retired today was Captain Henry Brown, one of the top USAAF aces in the war until he was forced down and captured by the Germans for the duration of the war.

I'm hoping something new and appealing will be coming down the line from Motion or Anybody that I'd like to buy one of their new models. I have been very active in this hobby for 25 years, and am slowly moving away from the hobby, unless something new revitalizes it. We'll see. It's been a great run, anyway, for me.

Cheers

Davegee

[F106DeltaDart]

F106DeltaDart

Love the Typhoon, I have a short kit of Brian Taylor's .60 sized model that needs my attention (bucket list).

I want the B-1B badly, just can't seem to fit one in yet. So awesomely cool, Sir.

Best, LB

Very cool! A .60 size model would be the perfect size for one. The B-1B flies quite nicely, the Version 2 with the new gyro was really the trick.

[Elbee]

F106DeltaDart

Love the Typhoon, I have a short kit of Brian Taylor's .60 sized model that needs my attention (bucket list).

I want the B-1B badly, just can't seem to fit one in yet. So awesomely cool, Sir.

Best, LB

[f4u ausie]

The b1 is so interesting. Had bad vibes early... Great pics overall