home

Let us watch your model in the making, from when you open the kit to air-borne! Don't feel you have to chronicle every step, unless you want to. Just send an occasional picture or two and an explanatory note and we can catch up with your progress from time to time on this page. It will only appear when there's something to report and we can keep as many projects going as you wish. I must reserve the right to select and crop pictures, though, otherwise the page will take too long to download. 

The Sig SomethinExtra is quite a popular aircraft here in the US these days. In the first of the three pictures below, you can see what the nose and engine compartment looked like just before I cut it off to add a new engine and a built-up cowling. The next picture shows the pucker stage of this modification. The nose was cut off even with the firewall to provide a nice flat base for the new wooden cowling. 

The last picture is the final result. It made a drastic improvement in the appearance of the aircraft and the new engine, a Thunder Tiger Pro-46 has made a significant improvement over the old worn-out 15-year-old SuperTigre BullRing .46 engine originally installed. I really love the way this aircraft flies. It weighs 4 pounds 13 ounces and will hover in a 5 mph breeze. With the new engine it will go from a hover to a fast vertical climb with ease.

An interesting and attractive modification, don't you think?

Frank is editor of RCezine, a great web-based model flight mag which you will find at http://www.rcezine.com 

A month or so ago, Ian promised he would report on his next major building project. Here is his first contribution:

Just to recap, I am building the Top-Flite 65" P51-D Mustang. 

I opened the box yesterday and pulled out some wood, deciding to start with the tailplane. I plan to follow the instructions as far as possible. The aircraft will have operating flaps and retracting undercarriage, although the inner doors will not be part of this due to the complex nature of the door retract mechanism, cost of parts to effect this and final weight of the model.

If any ModelFlight readers have built this model and can give hints and tips or pitfalls to watch out for, then I would be most grateful to know. The aircraft will be finished as Miss Marilyn II as shown on the opening screen of ModelFlight #37 (see below). I will give regular updates on the construction of the major components.

If you have any helpful advice for Ian, contact him on ian@inelson.freeserve.co.uk 

This is Ian's late-lamented Mustang "Miss Marilyn II" as she appeared on ModelFlight #37. This model was built from a Cambrian kit. I love the look of this 'plane and particularly look forward to reading Ian's account of the finishing of the new version in due course.