Rich Uravitch’s Blog
Top Gun: An unbelievable photo finish
At an event as long-standing and prestigious as Top Gun, you would expect to see a field of excellently executed model aircraft, with many of them falling into the “outstanding” category. These entries go far beyond the definition of “models,” more accurately, they are scale replicas. At this year’s Top Gun, one interesting thing to [...]
Coming soon to a pond, lake, or smooth grass patch near your home
One of the really fun aspects of R/C is seaplane flying. Whether its adapting a set of conventional floats to your land-based model or building a “dedicated” seaplane, float flying opens up a whole new world to the R/C enthusiast. Coming in the January 2012 issue of MAN is my new “PS-36″ which is easy [...]
Seagull Models PC-6 Porter becomes AU-23 Peacemaker
I recently mentioned that I had a Seagull Models PC-6 Turbo Porter in the paint shop with the plan of converting it to a Fairchild AU-23 Peacemaker. Well, it’s out of the shop and back in the air and looks like this! The gun blast/tracer path was done with PhotoShop. The conversion, beyond the paint [...]
Debut of the Super Jug!
Got some sneak preview photos from my buddy Sean Curry. He was on hand for the taxi tests and initial flights a a spectacular mew P-47 Thunderbolt model. The first to be completed of the four being built is by another buddy, Frank Tiano, originator of well known scale events like Top Gun, Florida Jets, Monster [...]
Seagull Pilatus Porter PC-6
Just a quick note……I just flew the new Pilatus Porter from Seagull Models. You can power it with either glow or electric, I chose the latter with a package from Horizon Hobby designed for the Porter built around the e-Flite Power 46 motor. All I can say is it is one of the pure fun [...]
Monster OV-10 Bronco
When we ran a number of photos of my 109″ “monster” Bronco in the Ultimate Electrics M.A.N. special issue, I was amazed at the interest level from readers. Although powering it with electrics (Hacker A60′s, Opto 99 ESC’s, and 2 12S 5000mAh Li-po packs) was fairly pricey at the time, it was something I just [...]
E-flite Habu 32 Review Preview!
Well I’ve finished my review for the Habu 32 for MAN and it is all set for the October 2011 issue. As you can see it is a great looking EDF and I have added my flight review of it. See below. If you are looking to step up from foamie EDFs, this one is [...]
Sensational Sopwith
Just got some images from my buddy Mike Gross, former clubmate in the L.I. Skyhawks, about his newest project, a 1/3rd scale Sopwith Camel. Mike started with a Mick Reeves kit from the U.K. and modified the structure to make it more scale-like. It’s loaded with extra detailing like scale prop and rotary engine, but some [...]
E-Flite Habu 32, 1st Flights
Got 4 flights on the Habu over the Memorial Day weekend. Nice flyer; very quick and precise, still fine tuning and getting the landing approach speed and attitude sorted out. Looks like the model is going to be a lot of fun!!
Appropriate story for Memorial Day
I received an email with the following message this week and wanted to share it here. True Story…(2005) Luke AFB is west of Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by civilization that complains about the noise from the base and its planes, forgetting that it was there long before they were. A certain lieutenant colonel [...]
Coming attraction, E-Flite Habu 32 Flight Test
I just got the new Habu 32 EDF jet from EFlite and will be presenting my findings on the pages of Model Airplane News. First impression? Impressively high quality components, very slippery looking and attractively priced. Way more than a step up from the smaller foamies!
Gianluca DeMarchi’s MB-339 at TG2011
Some scale R/C models, depending the level of competition, or specific event, just seem to stand out and an invite you to look closer. In many cases, the closer you look, the more you see and the more you are amazed. Time was when the drawing card was the level of detail lavished on the cockpit, [...]
A View from the Table
As many of you know, I help out the annual Top Gun Scale Invitational in my duties as the Craftsmanship Judge. I have a unique point of view and get to see “all” the Expert, Team and Masters planes up close and personal! I can tell you that this year’s crop of aircraft was the highest quality yet. [...]
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