I have been wanting to do a Stuka model for many years; the plans I drew up for one are dated 1994. So, after the last August Cloudbusters meet (on the 4th), I understood that the next Cloudbusters meet would be on Sunday, September 1st. AND, I was reminded that would be the anniversary of Germany’s invasion of Poland. What a better time to build a Stuka?
So, on the 19th, I started cutting balsa apart and gluing it back together – and I ordered a special t-shirt for the event. It turned out that the contest was actually to be held on August 31st, a day early, but I pushed on. On Friday night, I vacuformed the canopy and did final assembly of my Peanut Scale Junkers Ju-87D “Stuka” and we headed north to Flint with it yesterday morning.
At the field, I looked through my model box and found a short length of discarded motor that looked about right. I tied a second knot in it and loaded the Stuka. After a few test flights, I was very happy – the plane climbs out well and flies great. The rubber even locked the prop once and we were provided with a typical Stuka dive, but the pilot flew it right into the ground.
I’ve got the add many more details, but I should have a great Peanut for Muncie and the FAC Outdoor Champs next week. I will get more photos of the model loaded into a gallery later.
Here is the URL for the artist’s web site. He has some pretty sharp designs, and not only of aircraft. I got the shirt through his CafePress shop. He didn’t have the design on shirts, but I contacted him and in a couple days he told me I could order. Give him a look. http://www.mercenarygraphics.com/