Before building an RC model plane I typically like to research the pilot for Christian connections and build a 1/48 scale model of his or her plane. The smaller plastic models usually contain amazing detail. The build helps me catch nuances, too.

Eddie Rickenbacker frequently called upon the name of the Lord when flying and later in life when he was stranded for 21 days in a raft with a B-17 crew. An article that he wrote appeared in the first edition of Guidepost magazine.

This plastic model was a Christmas gift and built by DML Models. It is a 1/48 scale model, but the box had been opened and the bust was not included in this model kit. It also contained photoetched parts. I made a trip to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, for close-up research. Camoflage was a new challenge for me on this build.

The cockpit has a shelf around the front which made instrument placement interesting. I stayed pretty close to production standards, including making masks from green Frog painters tape. One glitch was the decals. They required soaking in water for at least 30 minutes. Most of the bigger decals, like roundels, shattered when trying to remove them. The final roundels were used from another kit. However, the nomenclature on the rudder and the hat-in-the-ring logo remained largely intact.

Maybe, just maybe, I’ll build an RC version one day. If you have any suggestions let me know....Continue Reading

This week I did something radical. I rounded up four RC planes that I enjoyed and took them to my LHS to sell:
1. Ford Flivver 1/5 scale my first build from plans
2. DW Hobbies kit: Hansa Brandenburg w.29 in a 1920 Denmark Sea Rescue livery
3. DW Hobbies Kit: Griffin -- a well-worn flying "warmliner"
4. Parkzone Extra 300

All four of these would be welcome in most everyone's hangar. However, I made a life decision that jettisoned these.

I want to build, display, and fly RC scale models that stand for something. As a Christian, I would ideally want them to reflect a pilot who was a Christian. Anything merely historical or just cool to fly just won't make the cut for me right now. And there’s some things I’d love to build some day.

But I’m responding to a higher calling. I'd like to be known as flying planes with a purpose.

Over these past 8 years, I have many RC planes that have been game-changers for me. Being associated with a Piper PA-14 Family Cruiser that carries markings like Nate Saint is where it started. Spend much time in my blogs and you'll notice something different. I did too. Eliminating four planes may not sound like much, but after letting two go last year began the step. One is in a museum and the other is waiting on pickup from a guy in Texas.

What are you known for? Would it require you to focus on your own priorities and letting go?

To paint the camo on the RC Nobler with a P-40 look including hard edges, I chose to experiment with masks made of wet newsprint. Note that the plane already had a brown base coat on top and gray on the bottom.

1. Tested to see if the ink once drenched would come off. Nope. I used The Baptist Paper and I had already noticed when reading it that nothing came off on my fingers. Even when thoroughly dry, there were no after effects.

2. Placed newspaper over the plane in sections. I used a red ballpoint ink pen to draw camo lines on the newsprint. **My test using a Sharpie bled through! ** I constantly referred to a 3-view that seemed accurate.

3. I pulled off the sections and cut out the mask and numbered them. The hardest to get right was the section going across the wing, up the fuselage side, around the front of the canopy and down the other side.

4. The plane and masks were taken to the garage. I laid out my drop cloths and placed the plane on it. I also brought out a large bowl of water and a roll of paper towels.

5. The masks were laid out in order. I pushed the paper into the bowl, drenching the paper. I then spread out the masks where I thought they should go. This is more art than science.

6. I dabbed the area to be painted with about four paper towels. Any water that pooled on the masks was also dried.

7. After a thorough check, I sprayed light green coats every 10 minutes over the sections without the masks until the camo sections were fully covered.

8. Remove the newsprint masks 30 minutes after painting. Lay them out flat to dry for future use. Allow the plane to dry for at least two days.

Observations:
:: The green painters tape held even when wet.
:: Anticipate some overspray.
:: Touch-up can be made by spraying some paint into a plastic cup and lightly brushing over unwanted overspray.

This is a challenge to many companies to begin providing an electric option. There are scads of plans, kits, and short-kits all aimed at fuel-based IC engines. Even though guys like me are mastering the electric conversions, it's a scratchbuild experiment every time.

1. My first build-from-plans took a year to complete largely because I was trying to figure out a viable electronic system within the balsa and ply framework. It was only when I figured out the hatch that the electronics version came together. (1/5 scale Ford Flivver)
2. My first conversion from an already built plane to electric ended up having to cut the nose off and making a cowl held on by magnets.Only when I figured out the motor mount did the project get completed. (Direct Connect F-18 converted to F-15b)
3. Building three models that were designed expressly for electrics was a revelation. I learned a great deal from those model designers, including how to build a sturdier fuselage that wasn't tail-heavy. (Dancing Wings Albatros D3, for instance.)

Companies like Horizon Hobby hasve churned out many foam-built ARF's that are in the electronic genre, so companies have mastered how to do this in foam. Now, I think there needs to be a balsa-building renaissance in which an extra plan sheet should show how the motor>ESC>lipo>servo system fits in a well-designed plane.

Heard a preacher this week say, “Your life is like a runway. How long it is, is more important than what it’s made of.”

It got me thinking about runways and life.

The club to which I belonged had a terrible fabric runway. Weeds grew up through the holes and gaps. It baked in the sun every day and grew more brittle over time.

Yet, I left the club because their fabric runway was too short for my scale model planes. As long as I flew a smallish foamy with a 3’ wingspan, I was good. But then I built larger planes with 6’ WS and got a screamin’ 90+ mph prop jet and that club’s runway just bothered me. If wheels didn’t touch down at the runway edge, it never could stop at the other end. And so I left.

I think what the preacher was getting at was that if we settle for short runways in life, it limits us to doing smaller things in life. Being stoned, ignoring God’s ways, and hanging around ill-tempered people is a short runway. Things with easy on ramps often don’t matter.

Bigger runways take more time, but they offer more opportunities. Checking out truths in the Bible and praying to Jesus develops a really long runway that’ll put the right plane in the right trajectory down the right eternal runway. And when holes pop up, you’ll have quality help to repent and get back on the center line.

When I started electrics, I became numb from reading about it. I got lost in the myriad of technical options. While reading gave me a general vocabulary to understand certain terms, I still couldn’t put together a workable system. Everything was too abstract.

Finally, I focused on building one plane. My hobby shop helped me know all the essentials needed for that one plane. It was concrete and no longer abstract.

That may sound simplistic, but once you have a working electric system, it’s a lot easier to apply it to others. All the parts are in your one plane—prop>motor>ESC>Rx>lipo>servos paired to your Tx. The learning point is to know their ratings based on the size, weight, and purpose of that one plane.

If you do not have access to a hobby shop, you can find dealers of electric systems online. I can recommend BuddyRC because they were recommended by my hobby shop when it no longer supported building planes and they keep giving me good recommendations for electric systems.

I’ve found the same applies to other learning opportunities in my life. The biggest is in faith trusting Jesus first, rather than trying to read everything on Christianity and hoping I’ll figure it out on my own. By living for Jesus, I can now apply the Bible to my real life situations.

Reading abstract technical details will come alive when you have a concrete example to which it can apply.

How did you get started in model-making?

Today I found this 53+ year old photo of my models. When I was in the first grade, I told my Dad I wanted to be a dentist just like him. So, he brought home my first models because he wanted to help with my hand-eye coordination.

I really liked all kinds of models so I began buying them with allowance and then with various jobs. My biggest purchase was a Cox PT-19 plastic Control Line model. I flew it until the fuselage couldn’t be repaired. I built a balsa profile P-51 CL, but got into high school where church —and the Jesus movement of the early 70s—changed me forever. I eventually surrendered to missions and ministry. Now as an adult I’m using models as a way to witness..

The point is that adults, particularly parents, have a key influence on their children for models and for faith. Paul wrote the fathers in Ephesus “to bring [children] up in the training snd admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4 NKJV) .

This pilot subject was really small 1/10 scale. I’ve had better results with a 1/5 scale. However I tried to tackle it.

:: Know your colors in advance. For this project the red, yellow, green, white scheme dictated the pilot colors. My model follows the Castrol Aviation flight suits of their stunt pilots.

:: Lightly sand the face and any shiny surfaces like the helmet. Look for plastic burrs that must be removed and sanded.

:: Use a primer paint. I used Mission Models acrylics. The white paint took four coats. Use light coats. I gave up trying to make a perfectly smooth model.

:: Most all is hand painted with a single fine point brush. I only used masking tape in the lines around the visor and across the back of the helmet. The edges of the lenses should be black. The center should barely have some lens color. I used some red here.

:: Use a protective coat of Dullcoat for the clothes and face. Use a gloss coat for the helmet.

:: On bigger models, fill the sunglasses with clear epoxy.

The pilot is to go with a Super Kaos 60, which used colors for symbolic purposes inspired by Ephesians chapter 1 in the Bible.

It kills me to see posts from guys wishing their wives bought into our RC plane hobby.

Here are some ideas that work for me, maybe you, too.

1. I back off and try really hard to bring her along. For instance, she’s my videographer.

2. We work together on the annual budget, so there’s no surprises. She knows well in advance what I plan to do, build, fly, buy, etc

3. Storing multiple models has been our biggest concern. I can’t believe I’ve built a dozen planes and bought seven others. Hanging them in our garage has been a good compromise.

What works? I’m open to your suggestions!

For Christmas this year my daughter gave me an assortment of hobby blades and three new hobby knives. My old X-acto knife was really worn after seven years of usage.

The best gift is on time, meets a need, and shows thoughtfulness by the giver.

To tie this all back to Christmas let me add that God sent Jesus when the time was right in human history. God was thoughtful to work a plan to meet our inability to save ourselves. Jesus is the ultimate gift for humanity.

When my daughter gave me the gift she wrapped it nicely and handed it to me. I trusted her to give me a nice gift, so I reached out and took it. I was glad that I did.

God offered me eternal life through Jesus when I was 7 years old. However, I had to receive it. I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins and then I surrendered my life into His eternal care that started at that moment.

If you would like to receive God’s good gift like I did, PM me.

Crash a foamy plane and some glue might be the trick to get back in the sky. Crash a balsa plane and it can be done, but it might take a little longer. During the year, our happiness sometimes takes hits, but through God's mercy, we can be up and back at living for Him. Some things take longer than others to heal.

Recently, a social media friend on a flying site from overseas posted that he was a terrible person and couldn't make friends. Then he said something that led several of us to believe he was going to commit suicide. I didn't have any contact info and felt helpless! Several of us posted encouragement and I gave him the 988 Suicide Prevention Hotline for the U.S. and the one for his country. However, I could only contact him via Messenger and offer to talk. Some two days passed and he wrote me apologizing for his childish behavior after being kicked out of a forum.

The Christmas season is a time when many suicides are not just threatened, but carried out. And the sad thing is that, according to the CDC, self-harm is increasingly being done by older adults in rural areas. When I told this to my brother, he shared with me the title of a training course he took at work that basically said that today we have to directly ask the question, "Are you about to commit suicide"? We no longer can beat around the bush. The direct approach works best today.

At a cousin's birthday party, I was introduced to an ER physician who had interviewed hundreds of...Continue Reading

Yesterday, I renewed my FAA UAS registration, paid my $5, and noted this registration was good for 3 years unlike the first registration in 2017. I also registered my RC planes (UAS drones). Because I registered previously, the FAA had an automated reminder for me. I received one earlier, but chose to respond to the one that was sent 30 days in advance of the license expiring.

Change is tough for me, as it is for others, too. Working through this new process, I saw this like the way Peter & Jesus paid their temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27 and 22:15-22) and Jesus advising us to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s (Mark 12:17). The Apostle Paul also recommended that Christians pay their taxes (Romans 13:1-7).

Done.

My Super Kaos 60 build needed a dummy motor to keep it more like the original VECO .61 engine from the early 1970s. The challenge was to make it fit above the 730kv motor. This is how to make a dummy engine out of balsa.

1. Look closely at your model’s plans and take some measurements. Note the number of cooling fins down the sides and across the top.

2. Study your model RC plane. How much of the dummy engine needs to be seen, particularly from the side poking above the top.

3. Start with the cylinder.
:: The fins on the plan drawing are 3/32" inch thick X 1 3/4" wide for the large fins and 1.25" inches for the "inside" narrower fins.
:: The top is thicker (1/4" with a 3/32" section right below it.) Make that disk 1/32" wider to sand to fit.
:: Count how many fins you'll need across the top. Plan on them spaced out from the screws on the plans. Make some holes and test your screws.
:: Make the spark plug top out of metal pieces or use a hand drill as a lathe and make your own.
:: Run a long straight pin (T-pin) into the center of each disk of similar size. Sand these with a lathe or as I did, just make a curved motion until all the outsides are smooth. When the large and small pins are sanded, slide the large 1/4" top cyclinder disk into place and alternate disks while gluing them together. Make sure the bottom of the cylinder has two of the smaller 3/32" disks.

4. Make the platform.
:: Measure from...Continue Reading

Here is my 1/48 scale Piper Cherokee PA-28. It was produced in 1990(?) by Academy Minicraft. Vintage.

The plastic model was made to match my RC foamy 1.3 Piper Cherokee by Horizon. Both were done to honor Clint Clifton who was killed January 2023 flying his plane.

Some changes:
:: The hood was glued in place.
:: Weight was added under the hood, but I could never get it to stand with its nose wheel in the ground.
:: The balance stick made a good antennae and I cut a new clear sprue standing stick. It fit in the hole in the fuselage.
:: I cut out the rear windows.

The model has deep modeling lines. This made the masking with even Tamiya yellow tape burnished into the panel lines very difficult to get right. In fact, I had to do the right side of the rear rudder twice. It was very difficult to mask.

The front right window had a modeling gap with the hood. I truly think the hood was not expected to be on the plane. I had to add a thin styrene strip to make the gap close.

The decals were too thin and broke during application. This created a need to use slightly different N-numbers. I ended up having to coat them with Micro Sol to provide a stronger surface.

I decided to use Quick Shine as a replacement for Pledge (Future). It is thin. Gloss paint stayed glossy, but satin finishes never became truly glossy.

The interior was okay, but the interior windows seemed to fog a bit after gluing on the bottom wing, which had the seats glued into the center...Continue Reading

RC Builders have lots of reasons to build planes. My first build from plans was a Ford Flivver 1/5 scale electric conversion.

When I was setting it up at the flying field, a member said, “I haven’t seen Monokote on a plane in years.” It just rubbed me wrong. After a year, that’s all I got.

Just like correcting mistakes in a build, I had a change of heart right then. I no longer build for the approval of others. Non-builders cannot appreciate the expertise, creative problem-solving, and expense put into a build.

Finally, as a Christian, I’m building to honor God. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 CSB).

After making the rounds to two print shops, I learned that few printers will make a cheapo paper-based print of 50 year-old plans that measure 36" X 55" in size.

Last night, I made my own "tiled" plans for the Super Kaos wing. The original kit, which I bought this summer, does not have plans that include drawings of the ribs. So, I downloaded the PDF plans from Outerzone and made my own. I used that drawing as a base to make the wing. In PowerPoint, once you have a "cut and paste" of an image, you can copy it and scoot it around to put other parts of the diagram into the "window" from which you can print.

Here's how you can make your own plans by printing out sections on your own printer. This is called tiling.

1. Create a file in a program like Publisher or PowerPoint that has a ruler .jpg that is sized perfectly and I mean exactly. This requires printing out a couple of sheets and measuring against a real ruler. My project used PowerPoint.
2. Make sure the print that you're wanting to make is sized correctly with the plans. Each Super Kaos wing is 29.25" long and the chord is more than 11" at the widest point and tapers quit a bit to the tip.
3. Import the PDF or make a screenshot of the plan. This needs to be a high resolution effort. Once you get the sizing correct, within "crop," you can move the image around without re-sizing.
4. Start with one end of the wing and crop it to fit the plan...Continue Reading

The young man was trying to sell his grandfather's model kits. Bud Nosen, Joe Bridi, and several other quality kits were for sale. We agreed up on a price and meeting time. He was a half-hour late, which had my wife edgy to get it and go. I was buying the Super Kaos 60, a kit that was 50 years old this year. It had been featured in RC Modeler Mag back in July 1973. The man said that the kit was intact and described how his grandfather would swap and buy these around the nation at shows. The box was open, so I opened it and looked through it. I didn't see any ribs, but the box was deep enough that I assumed they'd be in a sheet underneath. All the metal hardware, including LG was included. The stapled instruction sheets and the plans were in very good shape. The clear canopy was dusty, but obviously in great shape. The box was dusty, but not moldy and nothing smelled like cigarettes or mildew. I paid the guy and we departed.

I went through the box piece by piece once I got home. I laid out the plans and began putting pieces where they were to go. It quickly struck me that not only were the 28 ribs missing, but so was everything dedicated to building the wings. No leading edge sticks, no spars, no dowel rods, no sheeting, no false ribs, and none of the 28 cap strips. See accompanying photo.

To his credit, when the young man was contacted, he volunteered to scour the kit collection and I sent him photos of what was missing and outlined the plans where the pieces were...Continue Reading

When you build and fly scale RC planes, you get to know the pilots and their machines. Since I am recovering from a shattered tibia, it's given me an opportunity to read God is My Co-Pilot by Col. Robert L. Scott.

Scott just casually listed WW2 hero after hero as buddies he flew with, learned from, or taught as an instructor. I was disappointed that with a title evoking the name of God that it wasn't more of an overtly Christian book. However, he did keep it clean and evoked divine providence more than once.

When I got the book, I had no idea it would give me an insight into a pilot that flew supplies to the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Scott was one of those brave souls who ferried supplies from India to China over the "Hump" of 18,000' mountain ranges. I had read Flying Tiger books that lauded these transport pilots, but Scott put you in the cockpit of planes that were screaming at their limits and flying by instruments, but often that not, on dead-reckoning. I had him locked in the "transport" box, but through a grant by Chenault, Scott became a fighter pilot with his own shark-mouthed P-40. (One humorous account was his number one 10. On approach to an airfield, he said, "One-Zero." Thinkig it was a smart-alek Japanese Zero pilot, the Flying Tigers were rousted until the clarification ould be made. Scott changed his number to seven.)

James Howard and Merian C. Cooper have become the focus of two of my RC modeling build projects....Continue Reading

Yesterday, I was carrying a heavy box to the car and missed the bottom step out front of my house. I drove my tibia up through cartilage into my femur, shattering not just the bone, but my ability to build or fly for a bit.

Surgery is being planned next Wednesday to initiate me into the Plate & Screw Club. Clanging my crutches down a flight of stairs to get some workbench time is only a bit easier than dragging my bad, immobilized leg back up powered by my quivering quad on my good leg.

So, I’m turning to reading (God is My Co-Pilot by Col. Robert L Scott) and hope to get some time on the RealFlight simulator. If you know anyone in drama, discourage them from saying, “Break a leg,” before a performance. Let’s just say I fully understand why they put down horses suffering from breakage.

I was captivated by the use of cardboard shipped in flat packs that could become inexpensive drones.
As I pray for peace in the Ukraine, I think the Aussies have a good tool.

Ukaine News: Stealthy Cardboard Drones Ukraine's Strategy to Decimate Russian Forces (3 min 42 sec)