While re-reading the Oldtimer column in the September 2008 issue of Flying Models the picture of Tom McCoy holding his King Air compressed air model caught my interest. It looks like a very nicely proportioned airplane which would convert to (what else) r/c electric.

Does anybody know where to find plans for it? The article indicates Mr McCoy 'streamlined' the King Bird model from Burd Model Company and created the King AIR model.
Any help is appreciated.

The AMA Plans Service has the plan.

If you want a REAL challenge, build it as per plan, c/a motor and all! SFA had an extensive thread on how to build the motor, and large "beverage" cans make the perfect, light-weight tank.

Thanks for the point in the right direction guys. However not quite sure I have the wherewithall to build the c/a business. Maybe just hook up a air hose from the garage compressor and fly it u/c!!

Not that hard, actually. My mentor built a number of them with nothing more than a 3/8 drill and some K&S stock, including the shutoffs, etc. There is a long winter coming up.......

It's soldering up the pressure tank that shivers me spine....and pressurizing it for the first time..

actually the tanks are joined via Loctite red or long cure epoxy. A number of guys are using pop bottles.

I've built a number of motors and I'm close to a flyable version.

SAM had their first CA event in a few years recently.

Free fuel, a pleasant purr and lots of experimenting, what more can you ask?
bill

Okay, I'll say it then: large aluminum beer cans, they are light and strong. They can take up to 200+ psi, even though it IS a bit unnerving to inflate it the first time; the end bells come out with quite a bang. Cover it with a bath towel if it makes you that nervous!

Start with an Air Hogs airplane to get your feet wet, then check out the info on building your own. This is one of the great things about this hobby, there are virtually no limits to how one pursues it, and what the little sideroads hold...

[QUOTE=scrubs]actually the tanks are joined via Loctite red or long cure epoxy. QUOTE)

Seriously? GLUE the tank together??

Yup, have a look at it: if they glue 747s together, why are you concerned with 2 beer cans? In my experience, IF the tank blows, it is NOT at the glue seam!

Running over to SFA....back in a few minutes....or however long it takes...

I just returned from SAM Champs 2009 at Boulder City, Nevada where they had a much talked about CA event.

Frankly, it was a big disappointment. Not only were the models ugly or homely at best, but they didn't fly very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=504-5jHGe4o

EXCEPT ! One guy who had a smaller, scale model and I'm fairly certain won the big prize. Unfortunately, he was on the other side of the group and I didn't get a video of his flight. He made the tank and motor himself, it fit into a scale Piper Cub kind of scale model with a wing span of about 36" or less. He pumped it up with a portable 12V electric pump used for air mattresses or inner tubes, using the batteries in the unit. When he put the cowl on, you couldn't see the motor or the tank. He won hands down.

Check with SAM to find out more. The guy that was a leader in all this had a Black Sheep Squadren shirt so you might check their website as well. He kept saying the plans for the motor was on Pg. 133 of the Pond catalog, but I thought it was the John Pond Catalog and that was the wrong one.

Arthur

Here us a photo of the compressed air models at the 2009 SAM Champs. The fellow with the small DH Beaver won the event easily. Made his own motor and tank. Photo by Karl Gies. Jack

The guy with the Beaver is John Morrill. The Pond book mentioned is the Bert Pond compressed air book. I think John is selling copies of the book.

- Norm

When I was a kid in the early to mid 70s someone sold a catalog of very old airplane models. Seems to me,(best I can remember) is that they were replicas of the old Ideal Aeroplane company, or at least that type of model (Scale, twin pushers, etc). There was also a reprint of plans and instructions on the building an operation of a 2 cylinder compressed air motor. I vaguely remember that the materials list included fishing rod ferrules. I had a copy, but it's long gone. Anybody familiar with this book/catalog?
Cash