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Does anyone know...?
Does anyone know if Jim Martin (Jersey Jim), creator and flyer of the Banshee, ever campaigned the Banshee in the pattern circuit?
I saw Jim fly an exhibition flight at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in 1970 or 71. WOW! He was way ahead of his time. I did not think that a model airplane could fly that fast, or perform an entirely new maneuver that I had never seen before - serrated knife edge with the wingtip less than three feet off of the concrete ramp. The model seemed to have unlimited vertical, even back then. That Webra .61 Blackhead sure was howling and was using a muffler, no tuned pipe. Needless to say, Jersey Jim became my new hero in model pilots. To say that I was impressed would be gross understatement. It was obvious that Mr. Martin had the flying skill to do very well in pattern, but I don't recall any of his pattern participation being mentioned in the magazines. His model was painted a beautiful grey with black accents. I had trouble tracking it back then, so I'm pretty sure I couldn't track it today. Can you imagine how a Banshee would look in glaring yellow? My most visible color is yellow, so that is how I would have to finish it, but not with paint. Anyway I was just wondering if anyone had seen that model fly in the flesh and if they would care to expound upon it. TIA |
RE: Does anyone know...?
He did more than campaign it. He won the Nats D pattern event with it around 70 or 71 as memory serves, using an Hirtenberger (HP) with standard muffler no less. Pipes weren't in vogue yet. He was the first real pattern pro I observed and thought the flying was amazing. Jim still flies exceptionally well now, except the larger SA jobs.
MattK PS- The prototype I saw fly was painted silver with black. How the guy saw the model well enough to fly it that way at that speed is beyond me ORIGINAL: Artisan Does anyone know if Jim Martin (Jersey Jim), creator and flyer of the Banshee, ever campaigned the Banshee in the pattern circuit? I saw Jim fly an exhibition flight at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in 1970 or 71. WOW! He was way ahead of his time. I did not think that a model airplane could fly that fast, or perform an entirely new maneuver that I had never seen before - serrated knife edge with the wingtip less than three feet off of the concrete ramp. The model seemed to have unlimited vertical, even back then. That Webra .61 Blackhead sure was howling and was using a muffler, no tuned pipe. Needless to say, Jersey Jim became my new hero in model pilots. To say that I was impressed would be gross understatement. It was obvious that Mr. Martin had the flying skill to do very well in pattern, but I don't recall any of his pattern participation being mentioned in the magazines. His model was painted a beautiful grey with black accents. I had trouble tracking it back then, so I'm pretty sure I couldn't track it today. Can you imagine how a Banshee would look in glaring yellow? My most visible color is yellow, so that is how I would have to finish it, but not with paint. Anyway I was just wondering if anyone had seen that model fly in the flesh and if they would care to expound upon it. TIA |
RE: Does anyone know...?
Just for the record, Jim Martin and the Banshee placed 3rd at the 1971 US Nationals and 11th at the 1973 World F3A Championships ( Gorizia, Italy)
As stated the model used an HP 61 (no pipe), Pro Line radio and Rhom Air retracts. A guy in my Club had one back then which flew well the only problem being occasional aileron flutter. The plans showed inset ailerons driven by torque rods. Rhom Air used to sell these especially for the Banshee. Today you would obviously use a seperate small servo for each aileron. |
RE: Does anyone know...?
ORIGINAL: RFJ Just for the record, Jim Martin and the Banshee placed 3rd at the 1971 US Nationals and 11th at the 1973 World F3A Championships ( Gorizia, Italy) As stated the model used an HP 61 (no pipe), Pro Line radio and Rhom Air retracts. A guy in my Club had one back then which flew well the only problem being occasional aileron flutter. The plans showed inset ailerons driven by torque rods. Rhom Air used to sell these especially for the Banshee. Today you would obviously use a seperate small servo for each aileron. ---------------- Thanks, guys. The correction of him using an HP.61 is noted. That would explain the high rpm I heard the engine producing. Someone told me that he was using a Webra .61 Blackhead set up for 25% nitromethane. That may have been an earlier iteration, or just a mistake. |
RE: Does anyone know...?
Thought you'd like to see the BANSHEE kit at this link:
http://www.eurekaaircraft.com/airplanes/banshee.htm When I saw your' thread topic, I recalled the LINK under THINGS catagory on the SPA website, hope you'll enjoy seeing this. I enjoyed seeing Jersey Jim fly this one at the 1971 USA Team Selection in Huntsville, AL. Best Wishes, Bruce Underwood Guntersville, AL SPA # 15 |
RE: Does anyone know...?
Those are some really nice photos of the Banshee. Hmm, I wonder who the next person to join the AMA was (#10,000)?
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RE: Does anyone know...?
hi i like very much to fly fast rc planes, but i prefer them to be pattern planes. what engine should i instal to this plane and does it need retracts if so mechanical or air thanks. is this plane really fast?
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RE: Does anyone know...?
I had two Banshees back in the early 70's, One scratch, the other J&J kit. Ran Webra Blackheads w/ flow-thru muffler & Rhom-airs.
Yes, it was fast. And very smooth. |
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