I am writing this series of articles on the construction of a 1/2A Texaco R/C model for the benefit of our members who have never built an Old Timer model and would like to do so. I will be photographing the project at every step to make it as clear as I can what is entailed in this process.
It's been a few years since I have been able to focus on building a new model. We prepared our home on Westview Drive in Napa for sale and built a new one on the land formerly occupied by my wife's father's home, which had burned down a few years ago. Preparing our old home for sale meant turning my model room back into a bedroom and moving a lot of our furniture into storage to aid in showing the house. We also had almost two years of construction to supervise and then moving in and finishing the house while maintaining the SAM International web site as well as our own SAM 27 web site. As a result, I have accumulated far more time in front of the computer than the building board.
I have never been mistaken for a “Master Modeler” or “Meticulous Craftsman” so I will not be wowing you with exceptional craftsmanship. I have, however; built planes that work and have been competitive so you will see each step that I take and learn some of the techniques (and mistakes) that I make. My hope is that I inspire you to build a 1/2A Texaco model for R/C and enjoy the process and join me in flying this popular OT R/C event.
I am building a model of Chester Lanzo's Airborn scaled to 292 square inches of wing area. The plans I use are CAD drawn by Jim O'Reilly. I am using a partial kit from Bob Holman Plans that is composed of sheets of balsa and plywood laser cut to the patterns of all the curved surfaces used in building the model. I am supplying the sheet and stick balsa necessary to build the model. Laser cut kits are the very best parts you can use to build with. They have a precision that is not easily duplicated by hand and are better than Pattern-cut kits, in my estimation. I have seen several Airborn's built from this kit fly and, like all Airborns, of any size, flies very well and is very competitive. The techniques for building the fuselage and wing are identical to building a full-sized Old Timer. I plan to re-build my Playboy Senior later and, if this project goes well, will document that project as well.
Before I begin any project, I review the plans and parts to get an understanding of the relationships between the parts and various structures of the model. (I do not possess the ability to “think” in 3 dimensions as my friend Ed Hamler does. I attribute his skill to his long years of training as an engineer. So
