If you're not into digital photography or scanning pictures, why not send me some photos by regular mail?  It's not too pricey; a batch of five or six photos costs $1.00 airmail postage from the USA, for example. My home address is on the home page.

All pictures on this page are thumbnails - click on the picture for an enlarged view

The model is Top Flite's Gold Edition Mustang kit, which Simon bought new in 1995. He says there has been a considerable number of years pass with it hanging in his lounge as a 'hangar queen', due to financial and time restraints. It is Simon's first attempt at a stand-off scale model. He was keen to do all the scale details to this model, but decided it was too small, so he stopped surface detailing after adding panel lines via the drafting tape and thinned filler method. It is now 98% finished, needing only to be balanced and the engine to be installed.

wingspan - 65" wing area - 734 sq in (47·4 dm2) fuselage length - 56·6" radio - Futaba FF7 (PCM) 7 Futaba servos - throttle, ailerons, rudder, elevator, 1 each for flaps on a 'Y' lead, and 1 HD for retracts (mechanical) engine - ASP75, with Top Flite supplied 'Pitts' style muffler in cowl. prop - 12 x 6 or 12 x 8 fuel tank - 20 oz covering - entire airframe is covered in lightweight tissue, thinned dope. paint - Century 21 aluminium base with thinned car paint for colours, finished with matt clear. accessories - Robart strut covers, Robart scale main gear, tyres and wheels, and tail wheel, Top Flite scale spinner and static prop. pilot - rubber 1/7th scale WWII pilot bust colours - similar to JJ Landers plane from the 8th Air Force, decals "Big Beautiful Doll" as supplied (with apologies to the purists!)

Simon is really keen to talk to as many people as possible who have had any experience with this ship, good or bad, and to give him an idea of things to watch for in flight, slow speed handling, tip stall tendencies, etc., so if you can help him, please contact him through his e-mail address below. He is adamant she will be flown this year, so I hope Simon will let us know of his progress. 

Simon_Nadler@wilsonandhorton.co.nz 

Left to right, there's a Bell 47G 11 by Brian Bickley, Joe Howard's Bell 47B 1, then Joe's Bell 47G and a view of its beautifully detailed cockpit.

Kent is of the view that the loss of control was down to reduced reception of the receiver. He recalls that his "ground check appeared o.k. with a slightly shorter range and intermittent rare glitches. This is what you get when you fly with a receiver that you might possibly suspect of being faulty." The picture on the right shows the engine having been pulled out from beneath mother earth. The firewall was three inches below the floor level, but the engine still runs after a darn good clean-up.

says DERICK VELIZ of his Twister and Impress models.

Derick comes from Guatemala and is an architect now working in Aston, Massachusetts, USA. 

dveliz@omr-architects.com 

Send us a picture of your aero model

Large or small, kit, scratch built or ARTF, rotary or fixed-wing, it matters not - and they don't have to be perfect, either. If you like it, let's see it! 

Just use the e-mail facility at the foot of any ModelFlight page or send details and pictures by regular mail.