Chris O’Connor presented his Beechcraft T-34 Mentor.  Quarter-scale, 100” span, 48 lbs, GT-80 modified for Rim-fire small spark plugs, custom Robart gear, Jet-Tronics proportional electric brakes, two A123 battery packs, 14 servos, mode 1, built from a Mark Frankel kit.  (Mark Frankel & his T-34 have been Top Gun regulars since 1991.)The kit is a Glass fuselage and foam wings.

The tail is molded skin over foam for built-in corrugations.  Stits fabric and paint, a form of polyester - “easy to use.”   Panel lines are F & M Superfill epoxy feathered to trim tape.  Large markings are vinyl’s by Lettertech in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Smaller figures are dry transfers from ProMark.   Strobe lights, nav lights and landing lights.  A Jet-Tronics gear sequencer controls three air tanks, one for each landing gear plus brakes, two cylinders on each main.  

 Chris and his T-34 are headed for Top Gun, maybe next year.

“Aren’t you afraid to fly it?” someone asked ... “Mark has a defibrillator,” Chris replied.

Scott Russell described how the fiberglass spinner on his P-40 delaminated, causing vibration which destroyed the spinner in the air.

Cal Branton also described the overheating of an engine, also on a P-40, that caused the plastic spinner to melt in flight and flow backwards over the nose, stopping the engine and causing a crash. Lessons learned:  Inspect spinners regularly.

David Andersen discussed his latest esoteric idea ... a quarter-scale Saab 21, a WWII era twin-boom Swedish pusher fighter.  Still in the research stage.  Electric power, on-board engine sound.  This would be a team project with Roy Maynard and Jeff Micko.

This aircraft is an excellent flyer, so clean thru the air that a 1990's Reno formula one racer "Pusher Galore" was modeled after it!  Saab only build 64 of these from 1950 to 1952.  The 1/4 scale dimensions will be approx wingspan: 111" and a length of: 105".   The web-editor can't wait!

Kirk Hall & Cal Branton returned with the fuselage frame and landing gear of their half-scale Fokker Triplane, built from 1 of 8 kits by Glenn Torrance.  Being built for the Mid Atlantic Dawn Patrol event.  Span of the lowest wing will be 9 ½ feet.  The aircraft will be powered by a 3W 275cc engine.  Wheels are child’s bicycle wheels with bungee cord shocks.  This is a big project, “One of us will be dead before it is finished.”  The major effort in building the wings is the central box spar to which the ribs are then added.

Roy Maynard demonstrated the GZ Electric Retracts for his 1/3rd scale Heinkel 162 Salamander.  The gear uses a Maxon motor (not a Chinese knockoff) on 14 volts.  A programmer is provided with the unit.  Power is automatically disconnected when the receiver is off.  Electric proportional brakes are attached to the Robart wheels.

An active group discussion developed about the

Roy's GZ Electric Retracts

reliability of Down & Locked, LLC gear followed by an explanation of propor-tional brakes and how to program them.  Always research the reliability of new products in the R/C market before you buy.

Joe Niedermayr explained another one of his ingenious retract designs. Part of a Dornier 217 small enough to fit in a car without disassembly.  The twin strut design is pulled up with a fish line and lowered with a spring.  Over driving provides a lock in the down position.

AutoCAD, compatible software is available, called DraftSight from Dassault Systems  It will open and edit 2D .dwg files.