Dear Bud:

The PIPE Here again-and I've got the PLANS and instruction manual for the Proctor Eindecker kit, and as soon as I can get a real "modeler's workshop" of power tools purchased in the coming year's worth of time, I'll be able to actually BUILD "new" RC Scale models again!

I'm planning to purchase JUST the hardware for the kit, and NOT the kit itself, as I've got the idea to build the fuselage with COMPOSITE style fiberglass tubing (for the longerons) and WRAPPED carbon fiber tube for the verticals and crosspieces. All of the tubing will be purchased from CST Sales, and will DEFINITELY result in a model, with a fuselage built from the composite tube instead of that HEAVY 5/16" (about 8 mm) diameter MAPLE dowel that in the kit as furnished, that will be MUCH lighter than the kit builds up into!

Actually, MY Eindecker-the original pre-production "M.5K/MG" version, as shown in Windsock Datafile 91-is going to be E.5/15, the very FIRST individual fighter aircraft in aviation history to score a victory over an opponent on July 1, 1915, with Leutnant KURT WINTGENS at the joystick of E.5/15 that day, when he downed a Morane Parasol two seater. I CANNOT show a copy of one of the photos of E.5/15 I have scanned in my PC HERE, as that "max file size" of only 70 kilobytes is just TOO SMALL to properly show you a photo of the prototype I'm going to replicate in miniature-the allowed file size HAS been "bigger" in the past here at RCU, but it's been growing SMALLER every so often, as time has passed, and if that trend continues, soon it will be pointless to even attach an image to ANY post here at RCU...!

Sufice it to say, the E.5/15 has a MUCH shorter-than-the-E III-version wingspan that scales out to about 88 inches in true 1/4 scale, and also has a shorter 66 inch long fuselage...also notable, is the fact that the wing panels are NOT attached at mid-fuselage, but attach JUST below the upper fuselage longeron instead on the M.5K/MG Eindeckers as they first came out of the factory.

I've also got the Fokker E I scale drawigns from Windsock Datafile 91 scanned into my PC already, and will use THOSE to start making up the full blown construction plans for my M.5K/MG Giant Scale model. with scanned "inserts" from my set of the Proctor plans for things like landing gear details, etc. The plans themselves will be drawn up on DesignCAD 3000 here at home, and will use the photos of the E.5/15-as well as other relevant photos from the Datafile-as the main reference for my CAD drawn M.5K/MG planset.

At http://www.cstsales.com/catalog.htm , look for "Fiberglass-Solid and Hollow Rods" to see what I'll be using for longeron material. and "Carbon Rods & Tubes-Wrapped Tubes" for the crosspiece/vertical member material, that will be used in eventually building up my own M.5K/MG's fuselage...scale diameter seems to be about 1/4 inch in outside diameter for just about the whole fuselage structure.

These days, I'm just waiting to the return of my new MicroStar single stick owner built radio from its RF work at Radio South to REALLY get flyin' again this season...it's got FOUR receivers to be tuned to it once the Tx RF work is completed...and a new set of elevator surfaces, and installation of a new Saito FA-56 engine in my 1980's built model of Rhinebeck's Fleet Finch bipe will get IT flying again this summer under the control of my new MicroStar.

I've seen a "stock" Proctor E III Eindecker flown with 5 cylinder Saito radial power under the cowl at some recent Rhinebeck RC Jamborees, and that wing warping DOES work rather well...but I'd suggest getting a STRONG servo, preferably a digital one (or pair of them) to do the wing warping, as the servo(s) controlling the wing warping should have a high "standing" torque to resist the slipstream, AND the wing's structure itself, trying to oppose the control input to warp the wings for roll control. I'm seriously thinking of the Hitec 5945 digital servo for the wing warping on my M.5K/MG...it's got 153 in/oz torque for a 4.8 volt power setup.

Just about ANY of the Proctor models builds up into a NICE flying aircraft...the Balsa USA early era Scale models ALSO fly very nicely as a rule (still can't get over HOW realistically their MONSTER 1/3rd scale Pup flies!!!) but aren't meant to be quite as detailed "right out of the kit box" as the Proctor kits are.

I'd say "go for it", Bud...and that COMPOSITE tubing structure fuselage idea I've got in mind MIGHT save a bit of weight for you on YOUR E III, should you think about building your Proctor Fokker with it...and I can also tell you HOW to do those SWIRLS on the metal paneling, and the RIGHT way to to up that TOUGH-to-get-RIGHT upper longeron "ledge" just behind the cowl's rear edge to look authentic.

Just Email me if you've got any questions about that composite tubing idea-AND how to do the "swirls" on the cowl and metal paneling!

Yours Sincerely,

The PIPE!