Click here to download a scale drawing of the MD 520N.

KEEPIN’ AN EYE ON THE “BAD BOYS!”
If you’ve ever watched the popular reality TV program “Cops,” then you know as soon as that “eye-in-the-sky” police helicopter spots the bad guys, its all over but the crying! With their super-high-intensity spotlights and electronic night-vision surveillance systems, police helicopters have revolutionized law enforcement’s ability to find and apprehend bad boys on the run. Several police departments across the country are now using the turbine-powered MD 520N for their flying squad cars. It’s a fast, agile and lightweight all-purpose helicopter. Equipped with a fully articulated, five-bladed main rotor and a NOTAR (no tail-rotor), anti-torque control system, the MD 520N boosts both increased ground safety and improved flight performance. With its 450hp 250-C20R Rolls-Royce engine and high payload-to-empty-weight ratio, it’s an ideal choice for airborne law enforcement. When you need to rapidly deploy S.W.A.T. units, the MD 520N excels at the task.

PODCASTS click on the links below to listen to interviews from the the Great Planes E-Fest Interview with Frank Noll Interview with John Redman

By Gary Droppo   (see photos below)   Over approximately 15 years, I have periodically re-visited a design I started back in the days when virtually all “sport” or “fun-fly” planes were kit-built .40 glow-engined planes, such as the famous Florio 40. My undertaking was unimaginatively called MOD-1, 2 …up to my current MOD-7.                                                                             [...]

 By Curtis Mattikow   (See photos below)    I keep a close eye on what comes out of the turbine jet factories nowadays, and I have to say, the bar keeps getting raised on the completeness, quality and prefabrication fronts each time I see a new one. FeiBao is not a new company, they have [...]

By Greg Tracey   See photos below    Temora is a small town that is about 300 miles southwest of Sydney in the state of New South Wales. Temora was once a WW II elementary flight training school and it is now home to a world-class collection of flying piston and jet warbirds. The collection [...]

Click HERE to download the review of RealFlight G4. Below are some additional screen captures of RealFlight G4.5 that did not make it into the magazine.  

By Chris Batcheller   Why fiberglass landing gear? They’re tough, easy to make and won’t permanently deform as a result of a hard landing. The same technique can also be used to make high-tech, carbon-fiber landing gear, but you will have to experiment with the number of plys (layers of cloth) to use. The fiberglass [...]

22nd Annual London Bridge Seaplane Classic Photos and story by Rick Mattie What better way to enjoy the cooler temps in Lake Havasu City, AZ than an annual Float Fly event? The Desert Hawks R/C Club hosted their 22nd annual event called the London Bridge Seaplane Classic. This is a prime annual event that is [...]

  By Pat Tritle   (See step by step with pictures below)   When I began flying electric-powered models in 1996, the selection of “off the shelf” propellers for electric power systems was limited to a scant few. The 8×4 and 9×5 Slimprops, and the Aeronaut 6.5×4 and 10×8 were about the only dedicated electric [...]

  We have had a very impressive laser cut wood kit out for review and we’re finally ready for some test flights. The review plane is a 54-inch span WW1 SE-5a biplane designed by Peter Rake and manufactured by Manzano Laser Works. Watch for a review in a future issue of Model Airplane News coming soon.   [...]

Q. You have a fantastic magazine; your articles always seem to answer many of my model aircraft questions. But one question that seems to come up quite often in our flying group is the proper long-term storage of Li-poly batteries; everyone has a different idea on how we should store them over the winter. Is [...]