October 2012 Volume 2, Issue 4

Paul Del Gatto and Dick McCoy

Contrasts in Excellence

Double Plan Issue

2

3

October 2012 Volume 2, Issue 4

From the Editor

With this issue we complete the second year of the Half A Flyer. Regrettably, this is also the final issue.

The past two years have required much work from many people, but it has been a labor of love. Unfortunately, the requirements of our daily lives – family and work – must take priority over the fun stuff. And so it is with our journal.

Through correspondence I have gotten to know fellow modelers in the US, the UK, and Australia. Regardless of location or accent, we all share a common bond - love for model airplanes. Maybe the world would be a better place if more people could realize how alike we all are.

Of course, none of this would have been possible if not for you, our readers. Thanks for sharing in our adventure, and HAPPY FLYING! - Rich

On the Cover: Paul del Gatto launches one of his many free flight designs while Dick McCoy holds one of his tether cars.

IN THIS ISSUE Paul Del Gatto / Dick McCoy - Contrasts in Excellence by Rich Kacmarsky

From The Publisher’s Desk

E-Z Trainer Kit Review by Rich Kacmarsky

Across the Pond By Den Saxcoburg

What’s Happening Down Under by Warren Leadbeatter

Electric 1/2A is HERE! By Larry Renger

1/2A Toronto Contest By Paul Smith

Lil Com bat By Larry Rice

Our Readers Models

Page 4

Page 18

Page 12

Page 9

Page 8

Page 20

Page 11

Page 17

Page 15

4

Paul Del Gatto and Dick McCoy - Contrasts in Excellence By Rich Kacmarsky When I began to my research on the lives of Paul del Gatto and Dick McCoy, I was struck how these two model aviation legends experienced lives that were at times similar and at other times totally divergent. Both had a tremendous impact on model aviation. One lived nearly a century and the other never saw his 40th birthday. One published countless articles on model aircraft and the other was not all that interested in model airplanes.

There is not much written about the life of Paul del Gatto, perhaps because he spent all his time designing and building without seeking notoriety. My first exposure to the work of Paul del Gatto was as a 12-year old Boy Scout leafing through the pages of Boys Life magazine. Paul was a prolific designer and writer and his Boys Life articles included several Jetex powered free flight and glow engined control line designs. One of the latter, a .19 powered trainer named “The Fledgling” caught my eye. My attempt to build this plane back then

did not go well, but the design stuck with me all these years. My quest ended recently when, at the age of 63, I located the plans and built the model!

Paul’s creative mind not only designed aircraft, but also cars, boats, and even space ships. He created gliders, catapult launched aircraft, and planes powered by Jetex rocket motors, ignition and glow engines. He even created a 1955 rocket plane called the ‘Flying Balooney’, which had an internal balloon as a power source. Paul built scale ships and many one of its kind craft such as both powered and glider versions of a free flight autogyro.

Paul’s practical aviation experience began with his enlistment in the Army Air Force in World War II. He received a commission as a 2nd

Paul del Gatto and friend fire up a free flight

Paul with his sister and a friend

5

Lieutenant at Freeman Field, Indiana in 1944, and served as a B-24 'Liberator' Pilot-Instructor. Following the war, Paul studied aeronautical engineering and resumed his pre-war interest in model building. He began contributing to model magazines with a multitude of original and unique designs. He published in numerous US and overseas journals including Flying Models, Model Airplane News, Air Trails, and Popular Mechanics to name but a few. His tireless efforts almost guaranteed a new design with the PDG logo every month in at least one of these journals. His contributions included non-construction articles as well including such topics as rubber motors and airfoils. Although his designs covered a wide range of interests, Jetex designs seemed to occupy a special place in Paul’s heart. He wrote a major publication called "All About Jetex", which for many Jetex modelers the 'Bible' of Jetex building, flying, motor operation, and maintenance. In another booklet, "Jets and Models", he covered pulse-jets. It is not surprising that Paul’s talents would be recognized by the kit manufacturers of the day, and soon

Paul’s talents were being showcased in countless kits produced by all the major American manufacturers including Scientific, Comet, Jetco Enterprise, Berkeley, Telasco, and AMC. As one of the lucky few who make their passion their work, Paul also founded and ran the Timley Plans service that provided countless modelers with the means to translate their dreams into model aircraft Paul’s untimely death in 1964 at the early age of 38 left a void in the modeling world. One can take some small measure of comfort knowing he died doing what he loved having suffered a heart attack while sketching the layout for the artwork for a kit box. We will never know what designs might have come to fruition had he lived longer. Many of Paul’s designs are to be found on the

Paul launches a Jetex powered Bomarc missile

One of Paul’s glider designs take to the air

6

Internet and so in that respect, he continues to live on.

Flying Models concluded their heart-felt tribute to Paul with these words: "We will sincerely miss Paul's talents here at Flying Models, and to a still greater degree as a friend. We were proud to know this man. He was highly motivated toward all things aeronautical, creative, artistic, and full of laughter. May we express the sympathies of modelers from all lands to his family. This was a fine and clean-minded man, and by casting his teen-age children to this same high standard, he has fulfilled a high purpose here on earth." In contrast, Dick McCoy who was one of the early pioneers of model engine design and construction lived to the ripe old age of 98. And although there are few in the model airplane hobby who have not flown with a McCoy powerplant at one time or another, Dick’s special interest was in tether car racing. His early efforts focused on adapting the model aircraft engines of the time to suit the special needs of racecars. He

excelled at getting the most out of his engines, which set many speed records and made him popular with both flyers and car racers. Dick was never personally involved to any great degree with model aircraft. His relates his only venture into model planes came in 1939 when he built a free flight model powered by an Ohlsson 23 that according to Dick was a “disaster.’ From then on he focused solely on cars. Damon L. (Dick) McCoy was born on June 9th, 1907 in Orleans, Indiana. His family moved to Walnut, California in 1918 where Dick's father worked on a ranch, and then to Pomona, California where his Dad work as a bus driver. He graduated from high school in 1925 and then held a series of jobs, initially with the same bus company that his father drove for, and back to the bus company. Later he worked as a mechanic at his a gas station. In 1937 Dick started what would become a 20-year career at the H.W. Loud Machine Shop in Pomona Prior to this, Dick had been involved in model car racing. He noted the Atwood and Super Cyclone engines in use at the time were not designed

PDG designed Hawker Typhoon by the Enterprise Model Company

Dick Mc Coy – the early years

7

specifically for model car use and he felt he could do better. He begin experimenting with his own designs and by the end of 1941 had developed a winning .60 racing engine. Eventually Dick produced about 35 examples of his engine for other enthusiasts. WW2 interrupted Dick’s racing activities, however the success of Dick's pre-war efforts had not gone unnoticed. Fred Schott of the Duro-matic Products Company in Hollywood, California anticipated a big demand for Dick's race-winning engine when the war ended and signed an agreement with Dick to manufacture his engines and cars following the conclusion of hostilities in 1945. Duro-matic was soon turning out 250 engines per day, and became the premier manufacturer of racecars and engines. Dick’s business arrangement with Duro-matic proved to be a durable one, lasting for over 25 years and continuing through the mid-50's when the company was acquired by the Testor Manufacturing Corporation. Dick’s work eventually earned him 16 patents. He continued working as a design consultant until

1971 when the introduction of the Series 21 McCoy engines, which Dick thought were too heavy, ended this long-standing arrangement. Dick’s relationship with Duro-matic and Testors was on a pro rata basis for services provided including the use of his name. His full-time job until 1956 remained with the HW Loud Machine Works. After leaving Loud's, Dick ran a small precision engineering company called C&H Products which had been started in 1953 by his sons Carl and Harold. He kept the business running from 1956 to 1958 while his sons served in the US Navy. After the boys completed their Navy service the company eventually grew into one of the world's largest glow-plug manufacturing concerns along with manufacturing a variety of engine parts for others under contract and employing 8 workers. Employee Dan

Dick Mc Coy and fellow tether car racers

Damon L. (Dick) McCoy

8

Neuenschwander recalls that, "All three of them were great to work for, and Dick had a twinkle in his eye when something worked 'just right.' They gave me my first real job in the path of my manufacturing career." Dan eventually went to work for Northrop Grumman Corp. after getting his start with the McCoys. Dick established his own machine shop at home and remained active into his 90's, finally passing away on December 30th, 2005 at 98 years of age. He was married to his wife Fern for over 63 years. They has three children, 9 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren! From The Publisher’s Desk Over the past two years I have been very proud to produce Half A Flyer, a magazine that has covered aspects of the control line world that have not been covered by any other magazine. While most magazines concentrate on contest fliers and aircraft, we have tried to bring the everyday sport flier to light. Of the over 80,000 control line fliers in the United States, the vast majority of them are Sport fliers who have no desire to do the stunt pattern over and over again. These are fliers who do not go the local flying sites, join the AMA or join flying clubs. They fly at local open spaces, back yards and dead end streets.

Thanks to Richard Kacmarsky, our Editor, I feel that we have put out an excellent product with interesting

articles about the great men of modeling. Larry Renger has added his expertise and experience, Den Saxcoberg has provided an in-depth coverage of British aero-modeling, and Warren Leadbeatter has told us about the fliers down under. We can not adequately thank those who added articles that entertained and educated us: George Ellison, Ray Stone, Lou Buffardi, Paul Gibeault, David Nyce, and Dick Sarpolus. When all is said and done the main driving force in creating this fine magazine has been our Editor, Richard Kacmarsky. Richard has given us the lead stories and added articles on model building. This Magazine has been the product of a fine editor, excellent modeler and a really great person. We all are sad to see Richard go but I want to be the first to say “Thank You for All of Your Work”.

Lastly, I want to thank the Advertisers who helped us buy the ink; Cox International, the Brodak Manufacturing and Distributing Company, Balsa USA, Maxwell Hobbies, and Boone’s Hobbies. ONE LAST THOUGHT ON CONTROL LINE: Over the years I have looked for a way to save control line and the answer has always been right in front of us. If you think about what made control line great in the 50’s and 60’s, the answer is simple; Leroy Cox. Before Cox made his plastic ready to fly models there were few youngsters who had ever heard of control line. Cox models were in toy stores, hobby stores, advertised in comic books, boy’s magazines, and hobby magazines. It does not matter

9

if a youngster learned to fly the model or even owned one; he learned what control line was. So there is your answer. Ready to fly planes placed where kids can see them and buy them at a reasonable price.

On the plus side the hobby is growing as more seniors retire and think about the fun of building and flying models. Remember to support your local hobby stores, manufacturers and flying clubs, because without your support this wonderful hobby may simply fade away.

Well, as the magazine winds down and they shut the lights off and the security guard locks the gate, I want to say that we could not have done this without all of you, the readers. A magazine may have the best personnel in the world but without you, the reader, it is of little value. So in a broad sense, you are the reason that Half A Flyer magazine was written, printed and sent out … so I want to take this time to thank you, the reader, for your part in this endeavor. I know that I will enjoy many hours re-reading the eight issues that we were able to put out. Larry R. Rice Publisher Half A Flyer Magazine

E-Z Trainer Kit Review By Rich Kacmarsky In 1956 Walt Musciano designed the E-Z Trainer for the Scientific Model Airplane Company with the intention of producing a simple to build, easy to fly, and quickly repairable aircraft that would serve as a good introduction to control line flying. Fifty-three years later, his design and his objectives are still being met by the Blackhawk Models version of the E-Z Trainer. The BHM E-Z Trainer duplicates the plane depicted in the original Scientific kit plans. In the original Scientific kit, the plans did not match the wood in the box due to modifications made after production started. Most notably this involved lengthening the fuselage and moving the firewall forward of the leading edge by ½ inch. As a result, the BHM fuselage is about an inch and a half shorter than the original and mounts the firewall directly to the wing leading edge as in the original design. The rudder is also about ½ an inch taller than the original kit wood. The

The kit components are nicely packaged

10

remaining components are the same as in the 1956 kit. In addition to the factors that made the original Scientific kit a winner for creating new pilots, the BHM kit includes a number of innovations that provide additional benefits. These include a handle and lines, an adjustable pushrod that simplifies setting the elevator to neutral, and slightly thicker wood for the tail feathers to make a sturdier plane for training new pilots. A complete hardware package, pre-formed wire components, detailed building and flying instructions, decals, and a set of wheels round out the kit. The wood is cleanly cut and the components are neatly packaged in plastic bags that make the initial parts inventory a snap for new modelers. All the builder needs to add is sandpaper, a few straight pins, glue, and paint to complete the plane, and an engine and fuel to fly it. Assembly of the 11 pre-cut wood components is straightforward and requires only some finish sanding. I used thin CA on my test kit and completed the basic airframe in 2 hours. Much of this time was devoted to embedding the tip weight

into the wing instead of simply gluing it to the underside. The elevator was hinged using the traditional over / under cloth hinge method. Thin gauge music wire was used for the leadouts instead of the kit supplied Dacron line material as a personal preference. I kept finishing to a minimum to keep the weight down and to approximate the level to which a newcomer would complete a first plane. I applied 3 thinned coats of clear dope with sanding between each coat followed by a light application of Top Flite® silver LustreKoat® paint. The canopy was painted with black dope. I have always thought that the natural metal Lockheed F-104 Starfighter in modern Luftwaffe markings looked great. Because of this and the jet-like appearance of the plane, I applied some German markings that I had lying around to the wings and fuselage along with some checkerboard sheet to the rudder and a few press-on numbers. I also marked the ailerons and wing walks

A control handle and lines are included

Assembled and ready for paint

11

with black trim tape. The gear was mounted along with a Cox Baby Bee swinging a 6x4 prop. Flight tests on 35-foot lines confirmed the good flight characteristics of the design. My first flights were hand launched without the landing gear and showed the need for some additional nose weight. Fitting the landing gear solved this problem nicely. The plane handled well despite a bit of wind and had a decent, albeit short glide when the engine quit. Feedback from the Kalamazoo group also gave a big “thumbs up” for the plane with all of their novice pilots completing their solo flights by the end of the camp. The durability and reparability of the E-Z Trainer design were also demonstrated during these flights. In conclusion, if you are looking for a project plane to use in teaching the basics of control line aircraft construction and flight, or just a fun little plane to have handy for the days where time or space are limited, the BHM E-Z Trainer provides the complete package.

Due to family issues and moving Den was not able to send in a full article for the magazine. However he did send a couple of letters that included the following information:

Here is a picture of an electric conversion of Black Hawk Models Skyrocket, built and flown locally by Bob Roulier, one of my aeromodelling buddies. It has throttle control via a cheap radio. The motors are 18 gram E-Powered BL1806s turning GWS type 6x3 props at 1650 revs per volt. The motors pull about 5.5 Amps (total) at 13,000 rpm. The ECSs are Hobbywing 10As and the radio is a HK GT-2 -2 channel from Hobbyking. The battery is a Tipple 500mA 3 cell LiPo. The all up weight is about 280 grams. The plane flew beautifully on 35’ lines.

Completed plane ready for flight in Luftwaffe markings

12

Lee Mirfin (owner of the perky and Phantom XV shown below) has been to the British Nationals and sent me this: “Looks like your models will be in the mags. Two different editors spotted them and they spent awhile taking pics from every angle and asked several questions about the planes. So keep a lookout for them in the Natts update.”

Lee is using a Norvel 15 converted to Diesel by Andy Wotowicz in Canada.

I want to thank every one involved with Half A Flyer magazine, it has been a pleasure and an honour to be able to participate in this magazine. I have enjoyed reading each issue and have looked forward to the next one.

Ta Ta for Now and all the best from Great Britain.

Den Saxcoberg

by Warren Leadbeatter MAAA:14782 Gidday from Australia. Well, I am informed that this is to be the last issue of Half A Flyer for a while so I just thought I better put pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard as it were) one more time to sign off. As I mentioned in a previous issue, 1/2A modelling is pretty well limited to free flight models here these days. There are a small few (like maybe 5 people) who fly Mouse racing in Queensland, which is probably the only real 1/2A control line event still flown here. Those who fly 1/2A Combat and 1/2A Team Race aren’t flying 1/2A even though they call it that because they are using modern 1.5cc diesel engines. There are also some who fly just for fun and get the old Cox 049 out now and again for a bit of fun. Other forms of control line are alive and well here. For example at the recent 2012 FAI Control Line World Championships held in Pazardzik Bulgaria, Australia sent a full team of

13

pilots contesting all of the four disciplines. i.e. F2A – Speed, F2B – Aerobatics, F2C – Team Racing and F2D – Combat. Our three F2A speed flyers, Andy Kerr (NSW), Ric Justic (NSW) and Murray Wilson (Vic.) all performed well with speeds up around the 280km/h mark. That’s 174 mph. Andy did a personal best of 284km/h which put him into 27th place and not too much slower than the winners at 302 km/h from Spain.

In F2B Aerobatics or pilots were Russell Bond and Peter Anglberger both from South Australia. Peter unfortunately wrote off his Yatsenko model in the first round due to some very bad luck with a wind squall but continued flying Russell’s back up model. Both pilots did well and finished 36th and 55th in the middle of the field which is where the Aussies normally finish in F2B so they did us proud. The next Event F2C Team Racing is Australia’s specialty with the winners of the last few World Championships coming from Oz. We had four teams,

reigning World Champions and World Record holders, Rob Fitzgerald (SA) and Mark Ellins (Vic), previous World Champion Grant Potter and his father Geoff Potter from NSW, a new team made up by Murray Wilson (vic) and Mark Poshkens (SA) and finally Trevor Letchford and Steve Walton from WA. In a hotly contested event three Aussie teams made it to the semi finals and two made it to the final only to be defeated by the Russian team by 3 seconds leaving the Aussies to pick up Silver and Bronze.

F2A RtoL Ric, Andy and Murray

F2B Russell Bond at the World Champs!

F2C RtoL Grant, Mark E, Rob, Murray, Mark P, Steve and Graham Wilson Team Manager.

14

In F2D Combat the Australian team consisted of Bruce Bellis (WA), Michael Comisky (NSW) and Tom Linwood (NSW) all of whom have been to world championships before. Both Mick and Bruce were unfortunately knocked out in the qualifying rounds but young Tom went on to the fifth round before being beaten by some bad luck by way of a loose glow plug. Tom was considering giving up flying after this year but the bug has got him and he has vowed to continue on and compete in the next World Champs in 2014. Tom incidentally, is the son of my old school friend Andrew who taught me to fly when we were in High School. We used to build combat models and dream of competing in huge competitions. Well it looks like Andrew got to live his childhood dream by competing at the highest level with his son Tom. With the talent of these two young guys pictured above, Australian aero modelling is in good hands for future competition and the world level.

Look out for these guys, you will be hearing more about them in the future I can assure you. The guys who compete don’t do it on their own either, several wives, girlfriends, children, supporters and team managers also make up the team. Without their support they could not do this sport that they love and we all have so much fun doing. So on that note I will bid you all farewell for now and hope to catch up with you sometime in the future. Thanks to Half A Flyer Magazine and I hope you have enjoyed my small amount of input I have been able to provide. ☺

Tom Linwood (left) and Murray Wilson (right)

Aussie Team

15

Electric 1/2A is HERE! By Larry Renger This article is about how to build and equip a true 1/2A size stunter that will turn a clean pattern with the capability of top level competition. The combination will fly at any level the pilot is able to perform.

The model in question was started as a Brodak Baby Flite Streak kit. Andy Borgogna, our local electric wizard, wanted to test some small e-power systems. He built the model, didn’t like how the wing was coming out and rebuilt the wing with one more rib bay on each side. At that point, he gave the model to me, and due to equipment problems, I splattered it. During the rebuild, I added working flaps and a much larger horizontal tail and elevator to counter the pitching moment of the flaps. Locally, we have been modifying Flite Streaks with larger tail feathers, and getting competitive stunters. After fiddling with several motors and such, plus flap/elevator ratios, handle spacing, and balance point, the result is a totally competitive model. At this

point I am prepared to reveal all the details and save y’all a LOT of time. The model has been well described above, and easily duplicated from the Brodak kit. I am attaching a drawing of the new tail feathers, but you can style them any way you please as long as the areas are duplicated. The photos should let you see how everything is arranged. I put Velcro on the bottom of the battery and top of the wing for basic location, then rubber band it down for insurance. The lines, are currently 15lb test “Power Pro”, a brand of Spectra fiber. The equipment used is as follows:

Motor: Hacker A20-34 from rsmdistribution.com (among other sources)

Battery: Turigy Nano-Tech 850 mAh, 3s from hobbyking.com

Timer: KR available from rsmdistribution.com

ESC : 20 Amp, anybody’s will do

Prop: APC electric 6x5.5 set to turn at 12,500 rpm

The Flite-E

The flap/elevator bellcrank linkage

16

Lines/Handle: 42’ Spectra 15 lb test on a RSM Ultimate 1/2A handle with 1.5” line spacing

The wing and flaps are symmetrical, with a flap length of 9”. The remaining flap length is adjustable trim tabs. Flap/elevator throw ratio is 1:1 (2” bellcrank, use the inner hole to drive the flaps). Balance point is 1.5” behind the leading edge. The all up weight is 9.65 ounces. Wing area, with flaps, is 163 sq.in. The original is covered with Polyspan and finished with non-tautining Butyrate dope. use a minimal finish, just to keep fingerprints off the wood. One unusual feature is how I did the tail surfaces. The stabilizer and elevator are made in 4 pieces, with Polyspan laminated between 1/32” panels to form the hinge. So far it has shown no signs of degradation and is both a sealed hinge-line and has very free movement. I cut the two each elevator and stab pieces out and sanded a chamfer into the hinge areas of each part. Then I sprayed one stabilizer piece with 77 spray cement. An oversize piece of Polyspan was smoothed onto this. The matching elevator piece was bonded on with very little gap. Then, again using the spray cement, the top pieces were bonded on with great

The lines and handle

Flite-E tail feathers

17

care to keep all of it aligned. The Polyspan was then trimmed from the outline and the parts finished in a normal manner. No visible hinge, and greatly improved warp resistance for the parts. Since the wing was already done, I used figure-8 sewn hinges on the flaps, and then taped over the hinge gap. If I were building one for competition, instead of power system evaluation, I would add variable leadout position and a tipweight box for complete ability to fine tune the model. Also, I would lengthen the nose and tail moments 1//2”, which would eliminate the need for noseweight, and probably allow a bit more elevator throw compared to the flaps. But, what the heck, this model is a VERY successful starting point for competitive 1/2A electric stunt.

1/2A Scale Toronto Contest

By Paul Smith

Attached are photos from the 1/2A Scale Toronto contest.

Close-up of laminated elevator hinge

Editor’s Note: The second part of the Zippie article was unavailable at the time of printing. We hope you enjoyed the Flite-E article in its place

Keith Morgan's Bristol Beaufighter

Paul Smith's XF5F Skyrocket

Rob Pringle's Cutlass

18

19

20

Sam’s Stuff Autogiro Den Saxcoberg’s Stiletto

Thomas Mercer's PT-19 Brian Bennett's Glo Bug

Rich Kacmarsky’s Giant Stuntmaster Dennis Kern's Baby Fireball

Our Readers’ Models We at Black Hawk Models are always proud to show what our customers have done with our kits. Each issue we will feature some great craftsmanship!

If you would like to see your handiwork displayed in this magazine or on the Black Hawk Models website, e-mail your photos to LarryTheRedBaron@aol.com

21

NOTICE This is the final issue of Half A Flyer Please do NOT send any payments for 2013 issues as it will be refunded You may order Volume 1 and/or Volume 2 issues in complete sets only as PDF for $8.00 each set or Printed for $20.00 each set Order through:

Black Hawk Models 300 East Arbor Street #42 Long Beach, Ca. 90805

22

23

24