I spent the last three weeks building this Great Planes ElectriCub, just for the heck of it. I didn't really need another 3-ch small woody in my fleet, as I already have a good number of them, but I was in the mood to make some balsa dust and this kit kinda jumped out at me from my stack, and it just seemed like a good choice. Gotta admit, now that it's done I'm glad I went ahead and built it. It's only semi-scale, but that means I didn't have to spend a lot of time on all the scale details, like bungee gear and clear windows with cabin interior, and all that stuff. And it looks like it will be fun to fly. My old Fox 15BBRC is a good strong runner, and it's nice to have it back in service after too long waiting in the shelves for its turn.

AUW is 38oz, with a 59" span. I'm expecting some sporty performance. Maiden flight in the next few weeks, after things dry out and warm up a bit.

I had fun last month building a woody kit again (which appears to be a serious addiction for me, I must confess...), this time its another Bill Dean design called the Pirate, built from the Ben Buckle kit. Fun build, that followed all the usual conventions and produced a small, light park flyer with one of my PeeWee engines to pull it around. Looking forward to the maiden, once the weather dries out.

Build thread here.

I built an oldie this month... a Midwest Lil' Tri-Squire, with a Cox Golden Bee .049 and two channel control. What memories! My first one was built over 50 years ago, when I was still in high school, and it resulted in a flyaway on the third flight. Sad! I just had to do it again, this time with a modern, reliable radio. I feel redeemed!

Build thread here.

Four of us flew out to Weiser on Saturday for lunch. Calm winds, moderate temps, and good company! What a nice day, an early peek at the "almost here" spring weather...!

I just finished and flew the Guillow's Arrow which was buried in my kit stack for way too many years, and finally had it's turn on the building board.

1811-2000 10gm outrunner with Turnigy Plush 6A ESC on a Cox 4.5x2 grey prop and a 2s 250mah lipo battery. 3.7oz AUW, flies fantastic in light air conditions. Big gentle turns with rudder only using a 2.5gm servo mounted in the belly with exposed pull-pull threads to the rudder horns, and using throttle to control pitch. Covered in Modelspan and Jap tissue, with two coats of unthinned nitrate dope.

What a fun model, and cheap to build, too! It flies exactly like I expected it would. Nice gentle turns with rudder-only, and easy to control pitch for climb and descent with throttle. Hoping I can get it to spiral down if I encounter any serious lift!...Continue Reading

For my final project of 2022, I finished up the year with this cute little scalie, a Midwest Bebe Jodel D9. 40" span, 28oz AUW, OS10FP RNV, 3ch (rudder, elevator, throttle). Fun plane!

Build thread here.

Still waiting to get this new build up in the air, so I can see how well it performs! I have high expectations, judging from the few test glides I have been able to try out. It needs a good tow to altitude, so I can really wring it out. Nice project. Kudos to Tom Martin (TMRC) for another excellent design, and for yet another fine addition to an already replete line of scale Schweizer gliders for us scale junkies.

Build thread here.

For years I flew the socks off my ST Models DG1000, taking it everywhere... camping trips, aerotows (for lunchtime flying), picnics, road trips to visit family, you name it... until it got all tattered and worn out. Still in serviceable condition, and with some life still left in it, I gave it away in my moving sale before our move to Idaho last fall.

At some point years ago Tower Hobbies had a close-out sale on these, and I wisely grabbed a second kit at that time, as a back-up in case anything should happen to my active DG1000. I rarely do this. The only times I've ever bought a second kit of the same model was when the thought of not having one could not be tolerated. Such is the case with this lovely foamie electric glider. I put this one on par with the now classic E-flite Radian for good honest flying characteristics and for the ability to thermal easily in light lift. With the up-and-go electric motor stowed away in its compartment, the DG1000 looks like a glass scalie up there, too! So now that spring is here, I pulled out the backup kit and put it together. Ah... that's better.

I retired from Boeing last June, and moved out to Caldwell, Idaho in October. No sooner did I start meeting the guys at my new R/C club (Nampa Model Aviators), but that I ran into a guy who was selling a Sky Raider homebuilt, with a Rotax 503 DCDI engine. I've always been a big fan of the little Sky Raider, so I offered to buy it practically the same day I went and looked at it. What a nice turn-up!

Empty weight is 340lbs, and gross weight is 900lbs, so with its 50hp engine it can easily lift my portly frame skyward at well over a thousand feet per minute. It takes off at 40mph, climbs at 50mph, cruises at 70mph, and lands at 30mph. Not exactly a racer, but perfect for the kind of flying I plan on doing. Poking along at a thousand feet up and enjoying the view from up in the air is what it's all about for me. What a fabulous little flying machine. My biggest toy airplane yet!

I flew my Blackhorse Fairchild 24 Argus yesterday. GREAT MODEL. Available from Motion R/C when they have them in stock, build thread here.

First flight today on my newly finished HKM Topaz electric sailplane... wow! What a nice machine! This thing's got legs! Wide speed range, from quick and flat on the run between thermals, to slow and tight in the lift. I have three flight modes-- thermal (drooped flaps and ailerons), cruise (cleaned up), and landing (flaps on the throttle stick). The motor is on-off, with a two-position switch. 123" span, 56 oz AUW, 350watt 2830/1200, 3s2200mah lipo.

There is a certain freedom to flying a high-performing glider like this one. You can chew up large tracts of sky without losing much altitude, and when you encounter lift you can slow it way down and climb in leaps. It is a non-stop pleasure to fly. Glad I put this one on my list of must-haves!

So I had this nice pair of Flyzone Beaver floats, with no plane to put them on, and got all inspired to pull down my dusty old 53" Easy Built Pilatus Porter kit from the stack. The kit is cheap, but builds up into a rather nice model, really. It is meant for electric power, but I thought it would be more fun to have at least one glow engine powered floatplane in my fleet of water birds, so I tossed the cheap vac-formed cowl in the trash and made a proper flat-plate mount for my OS10FP. I have a half-dozen of these engines, and they all run great. Not a lot of power, but reliable. I like that.

Today, however, I decided to maiden the Pilatus off the grass runway, with the optional wire landing gear I made for it. No sense letting a perfectly good model sit on the shelf and wait for the float-fly to come along. The little OS10FP was a bit reluctant to pull the Pilatus off the dripping wet sod, but once clear of the ground it climbed out nicely. I wonder if it will have enough power for water flying with the floats. If it needs a bigger engine, I have a Magnum .15 that will drop right in the same mount, with some minor hole relocations. Anyway, the OS10FP is a good match for this 32oz model, and I flew around for most of the flight at partial throttle. Loops were effortless, the stall was tame as a lazy house cat, and the landings were floaty and easy. I will need to move the mains forward another inch, though, as I couldn't keep the Pilatus from tipping on...Continue Reading

I finally had a chance to take my new 50" Quaker Flash out to the field today and perform a maiden flight. The brand new engine started right up without too much fuss (Thunder Tiger GP07 on 25% fuel and 6x3 prop), and the Quaker flew right out of my hand and climbed skyward like it was headed home. Needed a little bit of trim, and the control throws were a bit more than I needed, but it flew just great! I'm pleased! It was breezy and cold this afternoon, with not much thermal activity, but I could tell from the way it glided around with the throttle back that this one will be a nice thermaller. Spring is almost here now. I will be flying this one a lot in the coming months!

Build thread here.

I decided last month to build something that I could hang my much loved OS FS-20 four-stroke engine on. It's a great running little engine that deserves to be flown, so after a search through the piles of plans on Outerzone, I settled on a 150%-enlarged version of Joost Bakker's "Bugaboo" free-flight sport design from the early '90s. I got the whole thing built in just under a month, and flew it for the first time yesterday. What a fun little machine! And, it's the perfect choice for the diminuitive OS engine. Great match-up, I'd say! Build thread here.

Maiden flight:

February 22, 2020 (1 min 16 sec)

Here's my list of build threads on RCG:

Ben Buckle Pirate 34" span:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...ith-PeeWee-020

Midwest Lil' Tri-Squire 40" span:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...Lil-Tri-Squire

Airsail Sky Roamer A1 towline glider:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...line-glider%21

Midwest Bebe Jodel D9 40" span:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...-Bebe-Jodel-D9

TMRC Schweizer 2-32 sailplane:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...-32-beta-build

Joost Bakker 66" (150% enlarged) Bugaboo:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...150-size-oldie

Dick Twomey 103" Leprechaun:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...-blimpy-gasbag

Herb Clukey 50" Quaker Flash:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...lash-50in-span

Black Horse 94" Fairchild 24W Argus:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...Saito-180-glow

Jack Hiner 134" Schweizer TG-3:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...zer-TG-3-build

Steve Moskal 120" Schweizer 1-26E glider:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...er-1-26E-build

Astro Flight 49" Velie Monocoupe:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...uilding-Velies!

Astro Flight 69" Porterfield Collegiate:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...eld-Collegiate

Ken Willard 40" Breathless:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...ard-Breathless

Bill Dean 90" (300% enlarged) Cadet glider:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...glider-for-TBD

Bill Dean 64" (200% enlarged) Competitor:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...200-Competitor

Jerry Stoloff 44" Spearhead Jr:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...riginal-kit%21

Easy Built 50" Stinson 105:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...ck-built-model

Jasco 72" Thermic 72 glider:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...ving-Nostalgia

Jetco 50" Thermic 50 w/ TD020:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...-020-power-pod

Goldberg Hi-Thrust Viking electric:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...ng-w-outrunner

Guillow's 17" DeHavilland Chipmunk:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...ric-conversion

Astro Flight 100" ASW-15 glider:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...uild-thread%21

E-stars 30" Pou-Du-Ciel (Flying Flea):
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...ing-Flea-build

World Models 130" Hall Cherokee glider:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...herokee-II-ARF

Senior Telemaster ARF:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...Telemaster-ARF

Maiden flight today on my new micro-model... a Sig 29er with the Flyzone radio and motor and Tactic TR1424 brick. Flies for a good ten minutes on a 160mah 1s lipostick. AUW is 1.8oz, covered in Jap tissue with one coat of nitrate dope. It was fun to build, although the brick and pushrods were a bit of a fiddle (my hands are too fat!). I'll have to be careful not to lose this one in strong lift come summer....!

Here's some vid of a short hop I did for the camera...

November 3, 2019 (1 min 1 sec)

After seven long months of dabbling (with a few healthy marathon building surges thrown in there), I finally finished my latest project-- a 1949 Dick Twomey Leprechaun. Span is a mere 103", which is deceptive, as the wing is huge, with a root chord width of nearly 20 inches! In fact, it came in at the same weight as my Sailaire, with the same wing area (just under 11.5sqft). It flies like a Sailaire, too! Slow and majestic, more like a big parachute than a glider. Penetration is nothing to brag about, but it can spin nice and tight in small thermals, and climbs out well in anything that even slightly looks like rising air. I built an engine pod for it, too, for those days out at the power field, where there is limited room for a hi-start. Build thread here.

[Editorial note: The Leprechaun has lately become a popular model, as seen in these forums and on You Tube. Most guys are transmogrifying them into something almost unrecognizable, by omitting the wing and stab pylons, flattening the wings, and even adding ailerons. I do not consider these models "Leprechauns". A few guys are starting to call them a "Leprechaun 2", or "Lep 2", which is fine with me. Everyone should be able to build whatever appeals to them, with no regard for fidelity protocols. Just be clear that mods have been made, and a rebranding is in order. Mine is a true Dick Twomey Leprechaun, with a few structural mods to enhance strength and utility, but for profiles and centerlines, it is 100% authentic Leprechaun.]

I just finished refurbing this old 84" Powerhouse old timer that I got as an "attic rescue" project on a trade. It didn't look like it had ever been flown, but I didn't care much for the color scheme, so I stripped it down to the bare wood, went through the entire structure looking for any damage or failed glue joints, made a bolt-down wing retention, and covered it with Hobby King film. All-up weight is 5lbs 10oz, with a Magnum XL52 RFS four-stroke engine in the nose. The CG came out spot-on, and it flies as smooth as butter on hot toast. The flare goes on forever on landing, and I'm sure that on a good day the Powerhouse will thermal like a glider. Fun toy!

My latest creation is this twice-size Keil Kraft Competitor, an oldie rubber-power model that I converted to electric. Build thread here

Maiden flight video:

IMG 1812 (0 min 44 sec)

I found this tattered old model at the local swap meet, obviously salvaged from a long spell of languishing in someone's attic for way too long. But I looked it over and could see that it had potential, so I handed the guy twenty bucks and took it home.

Last week, I stripped it down to the bare wood, repaired a few things, and re-covered it in Hobby King film, mounted my K&B28 Sportster, and installed a few spare servos and receiver. In just a few days, I had a practically new-looking airplane! I took it to the field today and put in a few good flights. After such a long wait, I'm sure it felt good for this old girl to get some air under her wings! 66oz AUW, Trexler wheels, spiderwire pull-pull cables, 2 oz fuel tank squeezed under a new hatch with magnet hold-downs.

Flies straight and true, and the K&B28 is more than enough power. What a rewarding and fun project!

Here's the maiden, from my first outing this morning:

SUNP0011 (1 min 26 sec)