Canard Sticks
Joe Mariencheck (email: jmariencheck@comcast.net) and his
cousin, Danny Johnson, found plans for their Canard Sticks online.
The 60-inch wingspan airplanes use 40-size electric motors with
60-amp ESCs and 4S 4,000 mAh batteries. Danny and Joe both made
modifications with the radio gear installation.
Neither aircraft has rudder control per the plans. Danny modified
the rudders from the original stick style and added a movable motor
mount for yaw control, with little impact on flight. Joe took a more
traditional approach with the rudder design.
Danny uses Spektrum for control, while Joe uses Futaba. Both
airplanes are covered with MonoKote.
Joe noted that the first flights were smooth. “Neither of us had
really flown canard airplanes before, so it was pretty exciting to see
them in the air. They both drew a lot attention on the flightline.”
Joe and Danny are members of the Memphis Prop Busters RC club.
Mysterion
Bill Bryan (Hamilton, Ohio; email: bbbryanohio@gmail.com) built
the Al Clark-designed Mysterion that was featured in the January
2015 issue of Model Aviation, with plans supplied through the AMA
Plans Service. “After flying 40- to 60-size glow aircraft for years, I
wanted to build an easy-to-transport electric aircraft that would do
all the maneuvers I had been used to.”
Bill described the building process as challenging enough to make
it interesting and satisfying. He used the same electronics, spinner,
and propeller as shown in the article. He finished the airplane with
UltraCote and graphics patterns from Kirby’s Kustom Graphics.
“Flying is a pleasure!” Bill noted. “Great tracking, good control
at all speeds, and landing on grass is quite easy. It is just what I was
looking for.”
Bill is a member of the Greater Cincinnati Radio Control Club.
Reaction 54
Mike Mauk (email: michael-mauk@comcast.net) built a Reaction
54 jet from a Bruce Tharpe Engineering (BTE) kit, covered it with
UltraCote, and powered it with a King Tech 100G turbine that starts
and runs on diesel. The air retracts are by Robart Manufacturing.
Stock-built with a fully sheeted wing, the Reaction 54 uses eight
channels of a Spektrum AR9110 receiver with Hitec HS 5645 MG
servos on all flight controls. The jet weighs 18 pounds dry.
“This is my first jet,” Mike wrote. “[It’s] a great plane to get your
turbine waiver on … I was able to do the trim flight and the waiver
qualification without a problem on the first two flights of the plane.
“BTE produces the best kit I’ve ever built in over 40 years of
building!”
60-Size Electric Airplane
Marty Meyer (New Rochelle, New York) wrote:
“Although I am quickly approaching the age of 89, I still enjoy
designing, building, and flying radio-controlled model planes. I have
enclosed a photo of my latest design, which I have flown.”
Marty’s 60-size electric airplane has a 55-inch wingspan with
a 578-square-inch wing area and is all-wood construction with
UltraCote covering. The airfoil is fully symmetrical, and Marty wrote
that it performs great Pattern maneuvers.
The flying weight, with two three-cell 4,000 mAh LiPo battery
packs in series, is 7 pounds, 2 ounces. Marty uses a 60-size E-flite
outrunner motor with a 14 x 10 electric propeller.
73 Model Aviation JULY 2016
www.ModelAviation.com