Mark III Kwik-Fli
Mario Russo (Bloomfield, New Jersey; email mariorussocdt@
gmail.com) provided this photo of his wife, Helane, with his Mark
III Kwik-Fli aircraft that was scratch-built from plans to closely
replicate Phil Kraft’s 1967 original, which won the 1967 Pattern Nats
and Internats contests. Kwik-Fli was featured in—and graced the
cover of—the February 1968 issue of Model Airplane News.
Mario covered the aircraft with a silk and dope finish. It features
a vintage 1967 Enya III 60 BB TV engine and period wheels and
propeller.
WACO YMF- 5
Ron Lee (Acworth, Georgia; email: rlee91@bellsouth.net) scratch-built this 1/4-scale WACO YMF- 5. Built from Jim Pepino Scale
Plans and Photos plans, it has a 7.5-foot wingspan and weighs 27. 6
pounds. The YMF- 5 is powered by a Zenoah G- 38 gas engine.
Ron wrote: “I started this project about 10 years ago, but got
sidetracked by vintage cars (a 1972 Cutlass and 1980 Corvette). I
started back working on it a little over a year ago. To help keep me
motivated, I wrote a monthly project update for my club’s newsletter.
At the time the photo was taken, I had not flown the WACO yet. I’m
hoping it flies as well as my 1/5-scale Pica version of the WACO.
“This was my first large-scale scratch build. What an incredible
challenge and sense of accomplishment. If I hadn’t been building
model airplanes since I was 5 years old, I may not have been able to
pull it off.”
Stearman PT- 17
David Boudreau (Kankakee, Illinois; email: djbonnorth@yahoo.
com) built his Stearman PT- 17 from an Alien Aircraft kit. He stated
that this was one of the last kits produced by Alien Aircraft before its
models began being manufactured and sold by Sig Mfg. Co.
The Stearman is powered by a Turnigy 480 brushless 1,320 Kv
motor, a Plush 40-amp ESC, four SG90 micro servos, and a three-cell
1,300 mAh LiPo battery. The flying weight is 34 ounces.
David belongs to the Kankakee Valley Model Flyer Club in
Kankakee, Illinois.
Sikorsky CH-53A Sea Stallion
Jim Spice’s (Mesa, Arizona; email: coptercptn@gmail.com)
Sikorsky CH-53A Sea Stallion was started in 2008 as a Starwood
Helicopters fuselage kit. It took Jim, with some help from his
friends, approximately five years to get the helicopter in the
air. That was followed by one minor crash and one that nearly
destroyed the helicopter, but Jim says today it is back and better
than ever.
The 1/10-scale heli is powered by a Jakadofsky Pro turbine,
driving through a set of Len Mount mechanics. It has six 875mm
main blades and four 160mm tail blades using an OF rotor head
and tail gearbox. The model weighs 47 pounds, and is guided
by a Spektrum DX18QQ transmitter with an AR12120 receiver. A
bavarianDEMON 3SX controller is used for stabilization, and a set
of Robart Manufacturing electric retracts were built specifically for
the CH-53A.
Jim’s photo was taken outside of the blimp hangars that housed
the first CH-53A squadron (HMH-463) in Tustin, California, of which
he was a member. He noted that he was lucky to be able to take this
picture (and fly his helicopter) on this historic site because the base
and hangars were scheduled to be demolished.
70 Model Aviation APRIL 2017 www.ModelAviation.com
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