Model Airplane News - The #1 resource for RC plane and helicopter enthusiasts featuring news, videos, product releases and tech tips.

Recently at a flying field, I overheard a few club members talking about implementing a total ban on helicopters. We aren’t talking about restrictions on flight times, or relegating helicopters to the side of the field, or even asking them to keep to the flight pattern; they wanted a NO HELICOPTERS ALLOWED rule.

Why can’t helicopter and airplane pilots just get along? A few years ago, helicopter pilots were invited to the Top Gun Scale Invitational that we cover every year. These machines were museum-quality scale gunships and civilian choppers with handmade rotor heads and intricate landing gear, and they flew in a very realistic manner — no 3D moves here! Yet, as much as you could see the mutual respect for craftsmanship between the heli and plane pilots, they were two very distinct groups … the helicopter pilots held their event a quarter mile away (same field, a landing strip for full-size aircraft) and, during the flight portion of the event, pilots on both sides complained about the other “flying over their airspace” or “too high into the traffic pattern.” There weren’t any mishaps, but that was the first–and last!–time helicopters were in attendance.

If mature scale enthusiasts can’t get along at the same event, I wonder if there’s any hope for the rest of us sport and 3D pilots. It’s unfortunate if helicopter pilots aren’t welcome at flying fields because, in large part, they represent the new generation and are a growing segment of the hobby. On the other hand, helicopters do make me more nervous than prop planes, and I woudn’t want to have to fly a pattern around them. What’s the solution? Tell us what you think.

Model Airplane News - The #1 resource for RC plane and helicopter enthusiasts featuring news, videos, product releases and tech tips.

Model Airplane News - The #1 resource for RC plane and helicopter enthusiasts featuring news, videos, product releases and tech tips.

For the Florio Flyer 60 I am using Savox servos and these are looking like a real good value considering their performance and price tags. These are mid size servos and I am using coreless and brushless motor servos with metal gears for precise control.

As mentioned before we are installing the elevator and rudder servos in the tail. These areas are marked in the fuselage to form the recessed wells for the servos to set in. I also had to add some 1/8 inch sheeting to extend the tail doublers in the servo atachment areas.

It’s a pretty easy mod. I used 3/8 inch square hardwood servo mounting rails glued to the inside of the fuselage side doublers. This makes the wells 1/4 inch deep so the servo mount tabs are more or less flush with the outside of the fuselage.

 Here you see the recessed treatment of the servo while still being completely exposed for easy linkage setup and adjustment. This top view shows how you have to stagger the servo up and down the vertical so they do not touch each other inside the fuselage. Once this is all installed, you can finish the top and bottom fuselage cross-grain sheeting to seal up the structure.

With the servos in place, you can now install the tail feathers! Here the horizontal stabilizer has been slide into place and aligned with the centerline of the fuselage.

Once you square up the vertical fin and glue it in place, you can complete the aft fuselage sheeting on the top and bottom. The servo leads require 12 inch extensions to reach the receiver. Be sure to secure the connections with some tape or heat shrink tubing.

For throttle, I used the mini Savox 1350 digital servo mounted next to the internal radio switch.

The servo roundup for the Florio Flyer 60 is:

Savox SC-1258TG Digital Super Speed Titanium Gear Servo for Rudder

Savox SH-1350 Digital Super Torque Mini  Servo for Throttle

2 Savox SC-0252MG  Digital Metal GearServo for Ailerons

Savox SB-2272MG ) Digital Brushless Metal Gear Servo for Elevator (Lightning Speed)

Model Airplane News - The #1 resource for RC plane and helicopter enthusiasts featuring news, videos, product releases and tech tips.

Gary and Brian Prince, from North Canton, Ohio, will be bringing a Meister P-47 called “Zombie” and a CARF Corsair for this year’s Top Gun event. Gary will be flying the P-47 at Top Gun this year, and Dino Di Giorgio will be flying our new Corsair in the Unrestricted Class. The P-47 was built from a Meister Scale all wood kit and is covered with a combination of Flight Metal and Meister Aerofoil aluminum. The landing gear is from Century Jet Models and converted to electric drive by Down & Locked.

The engine is a 3W 80 and the radio is a JR 12X. The static scale propeller is handmade and the flying prop is a Biela 26×10. The engine cowl cooling flaps are operational and the detailed dummy R-2800 radial engine was also hand built. Gary’s Thunderbolt has two 1st Place finishes at Westerville Ohio, two 2nd Place finishes at Toledo Ohio, and an award from the 2011 Monster Planes event in Lakeland Florida.

Model Airplane News - The #1 resource for RC plane and helicopter enthusiasts featuring news, videos, product releases and tech tips.

Model Airplane News - The #1 resource for RC plane and helicopter enthusiasts featuring news, videos, product releases and tech tips.

Say hello to the MAN gang at the 2012 WRAM show!

Only 3 days till the 2012 WRAM show. The WRAM show has moved to the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Seacaucus, New Jersey! Be sure to stop by the MAN booth and say hi! We can’t wait to get to the event and see all the new products and the amazing model airplanes that will be in the scale competition! Be there or be square February 24 – 26.

Stop by the booth and say hi!

Go to www.wram.org for more info.

Model Airplane News - The #1 resource for RC plane and helicopter enthusiasts featuring news, videos, product releases and tech tips.