Biggest, Baddest RC Models Of All!

by Francis Michael with photos by Palmer Johnson

One of the most realistic WWII fighters on the flight line was this mammoth P-47 built from a set of Don Smith plans by Manny Huysentruyt of Wake Forest, NC. The 122-inch model weighed 72 pounds but flew like a full-scale bird. The engine made the most authentic sound! Manny won Best WWII, which was awarded by Futaba, and he most certainly deserved it!

Well, this was the third event hosted by the Imperial RC Club of Lakeland, Florida and orchestrated by Frank Tiano that I’ve attended. I must tell you that this one had an entirely different flavor, or atmosphere, from either of his other two events-Florida Jets and Top Gun. Monster Planes was not held in Lakeland but at another airport about 30 miles to the east of Lakeland in Lake Wales. The event was scheduled for three days, October 17-19, 2008; it was quite heavily attended on Friday and Saturday, but come Sunday morning, I'll guess that only 20 pilots remained to entertain the spectators. Kind of disappointing, but understandable: it was a baseball playoff weekend, and the state's largest car show was being held just 25 minutes away!

Left: Jim Record brought this really cool-looking 33% scale Gee Bee R2 and delighted everyone with its performance and grace. I would not have believed that such a stubby airplane could fly so smoothly! It has a 93-inch span and weighs just 36 pounds. Above: spectators were encouraged to inspect the models up close and personal during a break in the action each day.
Such a close view gave many a real appreciation for the care and pride lavished on these giant flyers.

Frank Tiano, the man who is always seeking to widen the envelope.

I spoke with Frank Tiano at length, asking him many questions but three major ones: Why this event? Would he continue? Did he have any disappointments? He answered that after many years of turning models away from his events because they were too heavy or did not have the appropriate AMA waiver, he wanted an event in which those heavier models could cohabit with "legal" ones. The "way" proved to be in the insurance. AMA policy is that overweight or non-waivered models may not fly at AMA-sanctioned events; therefore, no insurance coverage for the plane's pilot. Mr. Tiano simply purchased an insurance
policy that duplicated AMA coverage-in fact, it doubled the liability coverage-and went on about his business.

Nice to see Futaba’s Frank Noll flying Bob Gonzalez’s big red Waco and several other aircraft.

The event turned out to be a success, and from what I could see and hear, it stimulated a lot of modelers into revisiting some old projects they put away long ago because of concerns that they might be too heavy to be allowed to fly. Setting the weight minimum at 35 pounds seemed pretty smart to me because it offered more pilots a chance to get acquainted with one another and presented lots more for the spectators to see. There were dozens of big warbirds in the 100-inch category, and what a blast it was to see them perform-sometimes, five or six at a time chasing one another around the sky.

I'm told that Scott Prossen is a relative newcomer to the scale scene and that he has progressed quite rapidly. He had a tent full of airplanes, including the red and white Byron T-28 and the big, 95-inch, 42-pound Yak and flew the stuffing out of both.

CARRYING ON THE WARBIRD TRADITION
From what I'm told, there aren't too many scale guys under the age of 50 doing much anymore. Dino DiGiorgio is an exception. This young man runs a part-time kit business, travels whenever he can to be part of scale events and literally will and can fly the wings off anything! At Monster Planes, he aided quite a few with setting up control-surface trims and balancing warbirds that weren't flying as well as they could have. Here’s Dino, on the right, with his friend Wayne Fussell, the builder of the Dauntless in the foreground. Dino's dad started the SBD project but passed away before its completion. Wayne finished it, and Dino put on quite a display with it and with his recently kitted ME-109 as well. The SBD weighs in at 44 pounds and uses a GT-80 for power. The 109 also weighs 44 pounds, and it uses a DA-85 turning a 27x10 prop. Dino's company is Aero Accessories..

I considered several of the models to be "monster" size, meaning they had spans of over 12 feet and weighed more than 75 pounds. And, by the way, some of the engines these guys use are awesome! I saw big radials and even a huge 4-cylinder in a 1/2-scale Gee Bee! As far as continuing the event goes, I was told that it was already a "go" for October 2009, although perhaps a week earlier to avoid conflicting with other events in the area. From my conversations, I imagine that the site will remain the same.

As for disappointments, Frank had only two! He was disappointed by the absence of one of his dearest colleagues, Ali Machinchy, from England, who planned to bring three associate pilots, his huge C-17 jet transport and a container full of monster airplanes. In a nutshell, the shipping company dropped the ball by not getting the container to Ali for loading in a timely manner that would ensure it arrived Stateside in time for the show.

Frank's other disappointment was that so few pilots stayed through Sunday; understandably, most used the day to travel home. I chatted with Futaba's Frank Noll, and that was his opinion, too. He said that unless there are competitions, most events have limited activity on Sunday because of travel time. I stuck my two cents in and suggested that Frank consider making it a Friday and Saturday event with flying until 1 p.m. on Sunday and allowing guys who arrived early to fly on Thursday. He’s actually thinking about it!

MPUSA seemed to have more P-47s than any other aircraft type. This one belongs to Doug Smith and was built from a Meister Scale kit. Doug powers it with a Q-100 and uses the Futaba 14MZ radio. All but a dozen or so pilots were on the new 2.4GHz band, and Futaba and JR users were split right down the middle!

One of two Sopwith Pups at MPUSA was this darker version flown by Doug Pierce of Holly Hills, FL. This shows how much an airplane’s appearance can be altered just by changing the color scheme. It looks entirely different from the light tan one flown by Rick Cawley, yet both are from Balsa USA kits.

Malcolm Kay flew this Super Stearman powered by a
Moki 250 radial. The monster weighs 53 pounds, spans 110 inches and features a really slick racecar-type finish.

BIG EVENT, RELAXED MOOD
I left Monster Planes with the feeling that it's sure to grow into something worthwhile. It proved that big jets, big warbirds and big civilian airplanes can all attend the same event and be exciting in their own ways. I have not seen such a high level of camaraderie and enthusiasm among pilots in a long time. Dozens of participants told me that this was the most laid-back event Frank Tiano has ever put on. On Friday night, there was free pizza for the pilots and their crews, an open bar at Saturday's awards dinner, a cool auction, very nice awards presented on behalf of the sponsors and no flying restrictions, other than those relating to safety.

Merlyn Graves came down to the Sunshine State with a trailer full of prop jobs, including, but not limited to, the one shown here. His huge KI-100 is the radial-engine version of the popular Japanese "Tony." He also brought a twin is a Bristol Blenheim light bomber and a clipped-wing Corsair built from a set of Ziroli plans.

I learned that 74 pilots and 103 aircraft were there. I saw and spoke to some of the better-known pilots such as Brian O’Meara, Dino DiGiorgio, Bob Levine, Mike Hapsas, Shani Studnik, Merlyn Graves and Arnie Marcus, and I also noted that there were many new faces I hope to see again. I will make an effort to get to know them better at the next Monster Planes.

FLYING EXHIBITIONS DAZZLE THE CROWD
At Saturday's brief, noontime air show, BVM's Bob Violett and Bob Fiorenze put on a demo with a pair of electric jets that blew my mind. And BVM's chief pilot, Dustin Buescher, flew a turbine-powered, 200mph Ultra Bandit to show a couple of thousand spectators and participants exactly what a big jet can do. Its flight envelope is incredible, to say the least. The JR-sponsored Combat Team was fun to watch, too, and the kids loved it! Futaba held daily clinics hosted by Frank Noll for guys using Futaba's 12- and 14-channel radios. By the way, Frank Noll probably flew 10 different airplanes belonging to six different guys. I had no idea how great a pilot he is. And speaking of radios, almost every pilot flew on the new 2.4GHz band, divided pretty much equally between Futaba and JR users. I chatted with the impound guys, and they said that only about a dozen or so were flying on 72!

Joe Denicola (white shirt), fielded a pair of really well done warbirds. Both the gray, loaded for bear, Skyraider (above) and the pretty blue Douglas Dauntless are built from Ziroli plans and fly with JR equipment. Joe has a DA-85 in the Raider and a GT-80 in the 8-year-old Douglas SBD.

Richard Feroldi accepts the Best WWI Aircraft award from Frank Tiano at the awards dinner and auction. Rich flew the amazing Airco DH-2 with pusher engine-a model that's a dozen years old!

The epitome of scale modelers and their devotion to the sport and their friendship is no better displayed than by Mike Hapsas, a fireman from South Florida and his Miami-based bud, Dr. Shani Studnik. Their trailer was packed with some of the most incredible models on display. The P-38 (left) was a combined effort
of the two, and it won the Critics’ Choice Runner-Up award. In the air, I thought it was the most impressive prop-driven aircraft at the event. Of all the jets, Shani’s BVM F-100 was perhaps the most fun to watch. That man can fly! He also flew a light gray Air World Grumman Cougar, but the F-100 (right) got all the attention. It earned one of those Outstanding Achievement awards as well.

The winner of the Critics’ Choice award was this absolutely beautiful—if you can call a Skyraider “beautiful” A1-H built by Tom Smith. Tom is a Top Gun veteran and has won several awards with this airplane. Powered by a DA-85, this Ziroli design weighs 45 pounds. The attractive, accurate color scheme duplicates the aircraft Richard Drury flew in the Vietnam conflict. Mr. Drury’s book, “My Secret War,” is quite a read for aviation enthusiasts!

Announcer Sam Wright.

I don't have any firm count of how many sorties they flew at Monster Planes-hundreds, I guess-but I only heard about one frequency problem. Frank Tiano confirmed that a fellow from Miami with a BAE Hawk on channel 35 had a few glitches. The sponsor board showed that the event was supported by several "biggies" in the industry, and their flags and banners were everywhere (reminiscent of a NASCAR event).

All in all, I had a great time and can report that every person I spoke with had nothing but complimentary things to say. I hope to be able to cover it again in 2009. I know it's getting more and more difficult for some modelers to travel to more than one or two events a year; for some of you, this one might be worth considering, especially now that so many are so juiced up to bring stuff we haven't seen before! Maybe we ought to ask Jordan Epps how he's able to do it! I see that dude everywhere!

Links
FTE Inc., www.franktiano.com, (863) 607-6611