Channel Description:

Latest Articles in this Channel:

01/10/09--16:00: Have a look at Dens Night Hawk (chan 3113981)

I've recently completed a Night Hawk.....have modified it a bit from standard....different fin shape and slight tweaks to the front fuselage profile and centre strut arrangement....oh and flexible leadouts.....I love these simple models and I know a lot of you feel the same way....for minimum effort you certainly get a big reward...thats a DC Super Merlin up front....30 years old and still going strong!






02/02/09--16:00: Whip Power Models now in stock (chan 3113981)

 

Please take a look at the new section which has designs available using a form of engine guaranteed to be 100% green and a whole lot of fun!

 




02/02/09--16:00: More Accessories Available (chan 3113981)

Due to popular demand I have added some more accessories.....Handles, Lines, Flexible Leadouts and more tanks are now available...please visit the Accessories section to see the additions......keep asking and I will do my best to meet your needs




03/01/09--16:00: The Gordons - Lil Bat & Zoomer (chan 3113981)

Heres some comments and pictures received from Colin and Grant Gordon...two of my Scots customers...thanks Colin looking forward to seeing your Phantom XV in due course and looks to me like congratulations are in order for Grant....well done and keep up the good work - Den

Hi Den

 

Just an update that we managed to fly the models today, Grant had his first shot of control line flying and was very excited. I used the technique of flying the Lil Bat and getting Grant to crawl along to meet me in the centre and hand the lines over to him.

 

I flew on 33 foot lines and was very happy with the flights .There was a little bit of wind, so I had to keep working at keeping the line tension. After a couple of flights Grant had really got to grips with the plane. It was funny to see him dizzy, we were also doing trimming flights with the Zoomer, and in short it was all a complete success.



 

 

 

My son Grant and myself have really enjoyed the building and flying of these kits, the Lil Bat turned out to be a good trainer as well as being a quick model to fly for the more experienced. I personally thought the quality of the wood and hardware were excellent, and the kits were built very easily. Grant only needed to be told what to do occasionally during the builds. My only criticism was maybe a wee bit more information is needed on the plans regarding line lengths and info on leadouts. All in all we had a great time in building and flying the kits, highly recommended. As for the progress of my Phantom XV, haven’t done a great deal more to it but will keep you posted.

 

Regards Colin & Grant

 




03/20/09--17:00: Perky now available (chan 3113981)

Perky kits are now available and can be found in the Sport/Trainers section.....this attractive alternative to the Phantom XV is proving very popular in various countries around the world and a postal contest is run by BHM to support them....great for club events too....who will be the first in the UK to show what a good British diesel can do I wonder?.....hmm where did I put that PAW CT 09!



Den




06/29/09--17:00: Sarpolus 1/2A's (chan 3113981)

I've been keen to try one of the Dick Sarpolus flat plate wing stunters since reading about them on the Barton Forum...they got rave reviews there and I know are very popular in the States where Dick is well respected...but could such a simple design really be aerobatic?.....well the answer is most definitely YES....but you do need a hot motor to do it.....heres my BHM 1/2 A Nobler



Has a dieselised Norvel 061 and flies like demon on 30ft lines.....Dick reccomends 35ft lines in his book and Larry at BHM says 40....I can believe it.....gotta say these kits are LOADS of fun for very little effort., see them in the 1/2A section....highly reccomended!!!

Bye for now

Den




06/30/09--17:00: Stunt Rockets arrive...and sell out fast! (chan 3113981)

One of Walt Musciano's most unusual designs is now available as a Black Hawk Models kit...



The 1951 Stunt Rocket just oozes that American 50's iconic look....a limited number have just arrived at a price that can not be repeated...they are going fast....dont miss out on a real opportunity to turn heads at your flying field!!

The first three kits have now sold.....I will try to get a couple more but it may be end of August at least before they arrive...if you are interested in reserving one please contact me.




07/21/09--17:00: Walt Musciano...An American view (chan 3113981)

I asked Rich Kacmarsky to comment on why Walt Musciano and his designs are so important to our American cousins....here is his reply

 

I guess I've been building models since I was old enough to stick a pin into a tube of Ambroid glue.  My first control liner was actually the old plastic Wen Mac SBD Dauntless dive bomber.  It was a great looking airplane, although the weight and anemic engine made it necessary to apply a fair amount or whipping to get it airborn.  That was followed by a Cox PT-19 which flew pretty well.  After both of those airplanes gave up the ghost, the engines were used on a series of Scientific hollow logs - The Little Mercury, the Little Devil, and my all time favorite, the Golden Hawk.  These were followed by a series of larger planes through High School when girls became more interesting.  I entered the U.S. Navy in 1969 for a two year tour and actually did a bit of flying on the helo pad at the Naval Hospital in the Phillipines where I served as a Hospital Corpsman (medic).  The two years became a 27 year career that saw me become a Registered Nurse and Commissioned Officer.  I retired in 1996 with the rank of Commander.  After settling down in civilian life I re-discovered model aviation and joined the local flying club, the Lansing Area Flying Aces for the sole purpose of doing their Web page.  I am now the club President.  It just goes to show that model aviation is a chronic condition that may go into remission from time to time, but is never totally cured!

 

I was wondering how best to explain the impact of Walt Musciano and his 1/2 A 'Hollow Log' designs on the American model aviation community when I hit upon an inspiration.  As I type this I have before me a 1961 issue of American Modeler magazine, opened to the two page ad for the Scientific Model Airplane Company of Newark, New Jersey.  Being a 'Baby Boomer' born in 1949, I grew up looking at these ads and dreaming of the planes that were illustrated - no less than 68 on the two pages!  The vast majority of these were Walt Musciano Hollow log designs, so called because the fuselages were pre-shaped from a single piece of balsa.  Walt correctly assumed that these 18 inch wingspan models would bring airplane modeling to the masses because of their reasonable price (most sold for less than $2.00) and simple but durable construction.  Walt and the Scientific Model Airplane Company literally changed the face of model aviation in the USA.  Like many kids, I built several of Walt's planes on the kitchen table (which is why Walt called them 'table top' designs) and gained my first flying experiences piloting one of these little gems. 



 

Fast forward to 2006 and I discovered a company called Black Hawk Models was reproducing many of these kits.  Like many of us who are a bit greyer but no less passionate about model aircraft, I began to re-live the flights of my youth with these great little airplanes.  Even better, there were contests being held on both coasts featuring these designs exclusively.  Being in Michigan which is in the middle of the country, a group of us decided to host a contest of our own.  The event was a great success and the topper was that Mr. Musciano honoured us with his presence!  At 86 years young, he is still an avid designer and writer.  Walter and I have since become good friends and correspond regularly.  For me it is an amazing experience to be on a first name basis with a man who I idolized as a boy.

 

Many of us are now introducing our grandchildren to flying using Walter's designs.  Considering the facts that: Walt has been building model aircraft for 75 years; that he has been designing them for 61 years; and that a third generation of American modelers is now enjoying model aviation using his designs, his contribution and his iconic status cannot be overstated.

 

Perhaps Walt put it best when I asked for his thoughts regarding control line flying. He responded, “It’s a hobby for everybody – Fathers, Sons, and Grandfathers – everybody! Control line is really marvellous and should be paramount in the eyes of everyone. It’s how youngsters learn. A kid couldn’t build and learn to fly R/C on his own, but control line is different. It gives a kid something he can feel in his hand, and that’s the secret. That’s the way to go. Anyone can learn. It’s why I did so many beginners’ models. You can fly control line on a dead end street – something you can’t do with R/C or FF. In addition, kits (then and now) can be produced that are within the reach of every kid’s pocketbook

 

Rich Kacmarsky

 

April 2009

 

 




07/22/09--17:00: Golden Hawk Kit Review (chan 3113981)

 

Some of you will have seen the short version of this in BMFA News...here is Jims full version

Black Hawk Models Golden Hawk Kit Review

 

 

By Jim Elsegood

 

The Golden Hawk from Black Hawk Models is an 18” wingspan, .049 powered control line trainer/sports model with an all sheet wing and tail and a hollow block fuselage. This classic design by Walt Musciano originally kitted by Scientific Models has no doubt encouraged many budding young pilots in the US to give control line flying a try

 

Part 1: The Build

 

The kit came mail order from Den’s Model Supplies, unwrapping the parcel revealed a box that is rather plain and basic compared to the packaging of many modern R/C models but at least this keeps the cost down. Once inside the box you can see exactly where your money has gone, it’s packed full.

 



 

The balsa was well selected and each piece was of the correct grade, all parts are accurately cut with no crushed edges. There is also a fair amount of pre-shaping and hollowing done to the block fuselage. The hardware pack is excellent, including, bellcrank and horn, a selection of small screws, two turned hardwood pilots, a pair of sensibly sized wheels and even a pair of small wheel collets! All wire is pre-formed and a nice touch is that it’s packed in cardboard so as not to damage any of the balsa parts. The instruction leaflet supplied briefly covers each stage of construction and there is also a 3 view drawing to help identify where everything goes.

 

Construction is straightforward to anyone who has built a C/L model before, and even a complete novice should finish up with a model that will fly. All parts go together well and the model rapidly builds up. I started with the wing, this comes in two parts, the larger front portion which is pre-shaped with a taper to the rear where the second smaller part attaches rather like a fixed flap. A quick sand to shape up the leading edge and you have a basic aerofoil, round off the tips and it’s done. The tail is straight forward but I had not come across the hinge method before, it uses a cloth strip glued to the underside of the tail and runs full width across it’s span. I did wonder how stiff this would turn out should the hinge become accidentally coated in glue/dope/paint/fuelproofer? To avoid this I decided to draw a line top and bottom, along the centre of the cloth strip using a wax crayon before joining all the parts together.

 

The wing, tail and engine bulkhead were all added to the fuselage using slow set epoxy, these being critical joints that I didn’t want fuel seepage to weaken. It’s probably easier to give the fuselage block a final ‘shape up’ before you make a start with the glue. Also I sanded the front face of fuselage before fitting the ply bulkhead to give a small amount of engine offset to the outside of the flying circle, this is not essential, it’s just a personal preference of mine. Once dry, adding the rest of the bits from the box soon completes the basic airframe.

 

Next, came a bit of a play around with the hardware, I offered up the engine (Cox .049 Bee) and drilled the mounting holes, watch this as they have to be good and firm, the U/C is trapped between the radial mount of the engine and the bulkhead so these screws are doing two jobs! After a dry run fitting the engine I removed the screws and just bled a small amount of cyano into the screw holes to firm up the threads.

 

The bellcrank mounts onto a small turned hardwood boss which plugs into the underside of the wing, I liked this, it’s neat and strong but it would be better if the boss were pre-drilled during manufacture as it would be easy for a novice using a hand drill to make a mess of, and it does do a very important job.

The only thing I found that could be confusing was that there was no mention in the instructions of using a tip weight, although there was a 1” washer provided which I assumed was for this purpose.

 

The engine cowling is made from a sheet of 1/64^th ply, looking on the Black Hawk website it appears as though many builders choose not to use this item, however my feeling is that the cowl really ads to the look of the model. There is no template for cutting out the cowl and I didn’t think I could copy the shape shown on the assembly drawings, so I ended up with a best guess, a combination of looks, strength and still being able to get to the mounting screws. The cowl was added to the fuselage using 5 min epoxy, I couldn’t work out how to clamp it up while it was drying so I just held it until the epoxy cured (a job you need more than two hands for as you only get one go at it.)

 

At this point I would say this kit can truly be built ‘on the kitchen table’ there is no need for sawing, filing, hammering or soldering. The basic model only takes a couple of evenings to build and the whole thing was ready for finishing within a week. Tissue is not included in the kit but I would recommend covering the model before painting. My personal preference is to use coloured tissue as I can ad colour and strength in one go. The pilots were painted up and given silk scarves (I was going for the 1930’s flying school look) and the cockpit wind shields were added, I could not work out how to stick these on without making a dreadful mess, finally I decided to push the screens into two slits cut in the top of the fuselage and held with epoxy.

 

The model was now getting close to being ready to fly and only needed the engine and hardware adding. It was now that I discovered a problem, the undercarriage legs have tapered fairings fitted, these are balsa held on with cloth strips. After fitting the engine and U/C, I discovered that the position of the bellcrank would foul the U/C fairings. A quick email to Larry Rice at Black Hawk Models revealed that he had recently moved the bellcrank position in the kit to take advantage of the thicker portion of the wing, touching the U/C fairings had been an oversight and the bellcrank would revert to it’s original position in future kits. For me this was not a problem as the original bellcrank was over 2 inches long, I just cut it down and re-drilled the leadout holes.

 

For reference the finished model weighed 5½ oz, CG was ½ in behind the LE and the Cox was fitted with a 6x4 prop.

 

 

 

Part 2 Flying

 

And so to the flying field…

 

Waiting for a good day took ages, at times I never thought one would come, every time it was dry enough the wind would be far too strong and the Golden Hawk isn’t an all weather model, by March things were much better. A quick check of everything needed, some freshly charged batteries and a run-up of the motor at home to find a good setting and we were ready.

 

The field I fly from gets pretty churned up over the Winter so we chose to hand launch, I was using 25ft lines made from braided fishing line for this small model, the last thing I needed was for the model to come in on me because of long or heavy lines. The spring start on the Cox works well and after a prime and a couple of flicks the motor was soon screaming and we were up in the air.

 

First impression is “wow its light on the lines”, although there was good line tension at all times, even at high angles (that large tip weight, engine and rudder offset all doing their job) there isn’t much feedback at the handle, the model doesn’t really groove and I didn’t feel I could take my eye off it for a second, part of that is probably down to me being out of practice having not flown since last autumn. The next thing you notice is that on short lines its feels really quick, I was using hot pull-start buggy fuel and that tank that ran empty in a flash at home now seems to go on forever.

 

I settled down, tried not to trip over my own feet and watched the pilot’s scarves blowing in the slipstream, at least on short lines you can admire your creation. The landing was shall we say ‘ugly’. The motor slowed and died rather than sped-up and cut, so the glide was nonexistent, the ground coming up to meet the model very quickly followed by a cartwheel landing as a finishing touch, no damage though and I dare say the model could stand countless flights like this.

 

Once your head has stopped spinning and you’ve got your breath back you realize how much fun the Golden Hawk is and it’s hard not to fill up the tank and go again. On a good day the model would be fine on 30ft lines and there is adjustment on the bellcrank to give less throw just to steady things up a little. Black Hawk Models have many similar Musciano designs in their range and I can see how after a few sessions like this it would be tempting to build another, perhaps a biplane?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




08/02/09--17:00: SIG Spad reviewed in August Aeromodeller...10% off for September (chan 3113981)

Mike Parry reviewed the BHM SIG Spad in the August AMI/Aeromodeler....by popular demand the Biplane Bonaza Special Offer is continued for September with 10% off biplane kits...



 

 




09/23/09--17:00: DMS appointed UK Agent for Cox International (chan 3113981)

I’m pleased to announce that Dens Model Supplies has been appointed a UK agent for Cox International…. here is their statement about the current situation.

On February 6/2009, at 16:00 hrs MST, Estes Industries (the owner of Cox Hobbies) effectively shut down their "Cox" division, affecting the supply of all their vintage Cox products. Finished is everything that is associated with gas-powered engines and flying.

Cox International, were in a position to acquire the remaining Cox inventory, including many engines and parts, as well as tooling, dies, moulds and machinery. At present, there is sufficient supply on hand in our facilities to supply the world market for some time.

 Also, we are in the process of setting up manufacturing to continue production of some more popular parts and accessories, all with original Cox tooling and partially with former Cox OEM suppliers. Although the number of items we plan to manufacture is limited at present, we will look at what else is viable down the road.

All I would add is that current prices reflect the initial state of worldwide supply and demand…they wont last forever!!

Den




10/07/09--17:00: Kits for Cox Sure Start arrive (chan 3113981)

Please have a look in the 1/2A section at the newly arrived PS 3900 PT 19 kit that is specifically designed for the Cox Sure Start engine.....offers a great way to have a go at 1/2A flying without breaking the bank!




10/29/09--17:00: Vintage CL Kits arrive (chan 3113981)

After considerable development Black Hawk Models have released their Tethered Trainer kit....an elegant design from the early days of Control Line flying....the model illustrated was built by Gabriele Macri of Italy and is powered by a O & R 0.23....Gabriele reports that the Tethered Trainer is a delight to fly on 52 ft lines and that because of its slow, relaxed flying characteristics he can do powered touch and go's easily!

 




03/20/10--17:00: Richard Arnolds Giant King Pin (chan 3113981)

Just received this from Richard .... says it all really!!

Den

Heres my finished Giant King Pin, slightly modified undercarriage and closed cockpit but otherwise standard

I have had a lot of pleasure making the kit, just needs fuel proofing and an engine and i'm away, i've found a club locally that does control line flying, roll on summer.

 

 

I flew control line 35 years ago as a boy, this is a real nostalgia trip, thanks for a great website, I visit often and am sure I will be buying from you again.

 

Regards

Richard Arnold

 




09/25/10--17:00: New Sport Stunt Kits (chan 3113981)

Some time ago, Larry Rice at BHM told me that he was going to kit some American Slow Combat designs from about 40 years ago....these were originally flown with Fox 35's or similar ...... so not very powerful engines ...... the wing area is not much bigger than a Peacemaker ..... ideal as a sport stunter with a modern 2.5cc Diesel or 19 to 25 Glow ....... fully laser cut, a good hardware package......quick and simple to build.....and an attractive price.....check out the new sport stunt section for further details.

 




12/12/10--16:00: Cox Mufflers Available (chan 3113981)

Many of you have asked for Cox Mufflers and I have finally managed to track a few genuine Cox items down......now available in the Cox Spares Section




08/17/11--17:00: RC Engines available (chan 3113981)

I am now stocking the RC Flyer engine which has a throttle, its great value at £25, to see more visit the engines section. You will also find a link to a review of the throttle operation and other Cox products. 




11/12/11--16:00: Sharface with Sure Start (chan 3113981)

Lee Damms has built a great Sharkface and powered it with a Sure Start, heres what he had to say:-

 

 

 

 

Hi Den

Sharky went to the field today all I can say is brilliant, looks windy but my hair is rather thin these days it was about 8mph and the Sure Start was certainly powerful enough considering I tend to build heavy, block balsa in the nose as per plan but then 1/16" ply going back to where the wing finishes. There are only 3 internal formers and the fuselage was brush painted with flair spectrum light blue and the wings and tailplane were covered with some scrap yellow solartex I had. The downthrust gave the lads at the field a giggle but it was per plan and it needs it, take her up in large circles and you're ok she's perfectly balanced with the Sure Start and the glide is long (more circling to loose height), she can really climb.

Regards

Lee




11/26/11--20:48: Article 0 (chan 3113981)




11/26/11--20:48: Article 1 (chan 3113981)