Guillows sheetwood flying models - the Zip nocals.

[simpleflyer]

Made some progress on the C-118. Horizontal tail attached and wing dihedral formed.

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Wing and fuselage joined together.

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[simpleflyer]

Oh, I don't know. It appears to me that "ZIP" models and 'root-canals' are doing OK.

http://www.lyonaeec-zh.com/p2.htm

The C-118 is coming along OK. Nacelles are attached.

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Wanting to make a test flight, we added some BBs into the nose and temporary line loop to the wing tip.

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[simpleflyer]

Late afternoon test flight went well.

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[Scott]

She looks great on that test flight,Al.

[simpleflyer]

Thank you, Scott.

Here's a couple more pix of the C-118.

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[Scott]

Good pics Al,with that blue sky background.

[simpleflyer]

Yes, Scott, we have been have quite a few nice cool days with a blue sky background. Norma had to bring a car load of stuff for her friends in a small neighboring town. I agreed to accompany her and help her make the delivery if we could do some sightseeing on the return trip. I wanted to visit Lane Airpark which is the local airport about two mile from where we live. So on the return trip, we made a stop there. The airport owner and main activity on the airport is Lane Aviation. http://laneav.com/ They are very friendly folk and allow me to wander about the airport as long as I keep out of the way of the airplanes and the workers. This is the main office and hangar for visiting aircraft.

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Next is the parking ramp with the office/hangar to the left and the fueling facility to the right and a single 5,000 foot runway is behind of us out of the picture.

Lane_10-24-13b.JPG

These are two of their maintenance and storage hangars. The white rounded roofed one is probably their original hangar.

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[simpleflyer]

In the white hangar we found this Air Tractor 401B.

Lane_10-24-13e.JPG

Next to the white hangar are two additional newer hangars.

Lane_10-24-13d.JPG

In the first hangar were three turbine powered Air Tractors.

Lane_10-24-13f.JPG

[simpleflyer]

In the last hangar was solitary Air Tractor undergoing an annual inspection.

Lane_10-24-13g.JPG

If the look of the Air Tractors seems familiar, think "Dusty" from the Walt Disney movie "Planes" After our little tour of their facility we went by the office to let them know that we were leaving and to thank them for their courtesy.

Preparing to leave the parking lot, we grabbed this quick shot of our profile P-51 with the Lane hangar as the background.

Lane_10-24-13hSm.JPG

An excellent conclusion to a fine fall day.

[Scott]

That airport looks like a great place to spend some time.I like the Crop Duster pics,
especially the one with the radial engine.Neat pic of your P-51 in flight too.

[simpleflyer]

....I like the Crop Duster pics, especially the one with the radial engine.

Air Tractor still sells an radial powered ag-plane, it is marketed as the Air Tractor 401B.

http://www.airtractor.com/aircraft/401b

Since you like radial powered ag-planes. Here are a few more. These were spotted at Esler Field in central Louisiana in 1965.

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The first two you will recognize as B-17s, the third picture are PV2 Lockheed Harpoons. The were outfitted with dispensing booms for the application of Mirex by aircraft. This was a program by the USDA to try and control the invasion of Fire Ants in the Gulf states at that time.

[simpleflyer]

(continuation of previous message)

In 1972, the 'heavies' returned. This time they were Martin 404s along with the Harpoons.

Martin404_N40405_72m.JPG

Martin404_2b3592_72brM.jpg

PV2_72-0916_N7251C_72_m.JPG

If you look closely at the wing tips of the aircraft, you will notice that the larger booms of the 1966 aircraft have been replaced by shorter tubes on the wing tips. This was an attempt to reduce the concentration of Mirex being applied. It was discovered that the Mirex was migrating into the food chain and by the end of the 1970s, the aerial application of Mirex was abandoned.

[simpleflyer]

The new Guillows 4500 series has reached our local Hobby Lobby and they are priced at $8.99 less tax. This s competitive with the Lyonaeec 'root canal' models, so we bought one as a Christmas present for myself. Since we bought this one on our own dime we will post an evaluation of the kit here. Kittyfritters has been telling me that the 4500 series were coming for some time, so we curious of how they would be presented in the reissue.



Our first reaction of the kit was 'sticker shock'. The F6F was first kitted in 1957 and the MSRP was 29 cents. The reissue kit sells for $8.99 at Hobby Lobby and we have seen them listed higher on the internet. Wow!!!!!

Based on the current cost of materials and processes it seems to be a fairly priced kit. But I would prefer a simpler and more austere kit for my type of model airplane building and flying.

[simpleflyer]

Contents of the 1957 issue of the F6F.



Contents of the current kit.

[John G Jedinak]

Interesting...I too picked up one at Hobby Lobby the other day. With the weekly discount coupon, it was really an affordable price. I'm about half way done. I can tell you attempting to apply the wing covering is a real challenge.