RC Modeler's Yardstick

Yardstick

A model made completely of surplus yardsticks

 This model was so large that it makes the Quadra 40 engine on the nose resemble an 049.

RCModeler's Yardstick

Yardstick.

Plan 910.

Type Model RC Sport Trainer.
Wingspan 108in.Highwing.
Engine Glow Fox .60
Control 3 channels.
Designer George Thompson.
Magazine RCModeler Apr.1984.

The wing was made up of 2 - 6 foot panels joined at the center and supported by two struts made from tent poles. To watch it drone overhead you almost could image that it eclipsed the sun. Actually the model was designed to fly on a healthy sixty size glow engine. I flew this plane at first with an Eagle 61 Fox engine driving a Byron propeller speed reducing apparatus swinging an 18 X 6 inch propeller. This prop was much too small for this power setup; even at full speed the model would catch up to the engine and the thrust dropped off accordingly. The result was, after takeoff the planes altitude could not be increased to much more than a couple of wingspans above ground level.

I remember that first flight very well: how scared I was at the time frantically attempting to negotiate this big beast around the field. The flight ended when the engine power began to sag and the forced landing was made in the rough off the runway. The cause of the power loss was abundantly clear as soon as we approached the downed Yardstick. The high revolutions caused the screws holding the cylinder to the crankcase to loosen to the point that the members were on the verge of separating. The problem could have been solved with a bigger and higher pitch propeller but as I recall I couldn't bring myself to spend thirty dollars for a propeller that may have lasted no more than a flight or two.

One day while flying the model with the large Quadra 40 Gas Engine installed, it suffered a nasty accident when it was caught in a tail wind and hung vertically by the propeller. Foolishly I immediately reduced power, instead of trying to power out of the problem and it settled heavily onto its tail feathers. In the end this was the final straw for my old Yardstick, not worth repairing and too large to store in my limited hanger space.

Yardstick Plans

Get all the details by watching the video below.

The Night Witches

The Night Witches

Few people would connect broomsticks, witches, and crop-sprayers to a feared group of female Russian pilots. The women pilots were members of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment of World War II. Even today not many people know about these female pilots who did so much to support their male comrades by the accurate bombing of German troops.

These women were usually aged 17 to 26 years of age used to fly on night-time bombing missions. When approaching their target, they would idle their engines and glide into their bombing points.

Soviet Air Force officers Rufina Gasheva and Nataly Meklin decorated as Heroes of the Soviet Union for their service with the famed Night Witches unit during World War II

This largely silent approach gave off a “whooshing” sound as they went by, causing the Germans to liken it to the sound of the broomsticks of witches and thus arose the name of “Nachthexen’ – Night Witches!

These girl-pilots harassed the Germans to such an extent that they were both hated and feared by them. It was said that any German pilot who managed to bring down one of the planes of a Night Witch would automatically be awarded the Iron Cross. It is no wonder that these intrepid girl-pilots bore the name ‘Night Witches’ with pride!

Simulation of a typical 588th Night Bombing Mission.