First the Curtiss Hawk II. It's actually the export version of the XF11C-2, powered by a Wright 1820 Cyclone engine of 710 hp. Two of them were sold to Nazi Germany upon the urging and influence of Ernst Udet, the WWI ace second only to the Red Baron. He had witnessed Al Williams put on dive bombing demonstrations in his Curtiss Gulfhawk at the US National Air Races, and was impressed enough to do the same back home. Apparently this led to development of the Stuka as a dive bomber, but its success didn't last very long. Its poor flight performance made it very vulnerable when it met defensive fighters of superior performance as WWII progressed.

An interesting aside about Ernst Udet: Although the highest ranking ace after von Richtofen, he had difficulty pulling the trigger in his first combat and almost was shot down himself. While he froze on the trigger, his French foe, in a Caudron, did not, and Udet was wounded along his cheek. Another close call came when he became one of the first pilots to use a parachute, on June 29, 1918. Upon bailing out, his chute was snagged by the top of the rudder, which he broke off in time to save himself. His parachute opened at 250 feet. In WWII, he committed suicide on November 17, 1941. He was given a hero's funeral. Cause of death was attributed to the crash of an airplane he was testing.

The construction plan comes from Claude Powell, and it's an unusually good one by Doug and Sandy Wilkey. Thanks to all! The coloring and markings are given in detail and are probably reliable. There is a website that gives a different color scheme for the Udet plane; it went through various changes but we like the Wilkey design better. For two color plates showing the insignias, marking and colors of the various nations that bought the export version, go to Google and ask for "RS Models." It's in German but very well done. Although its wingspan of 15" makes it look like Dime Scale, the construction details rule against it. Besides, there is enough here to make a first-class FAC Rubber Scale entry. Prop and power are not shown; a 6" plastic prop and four strands of 3/32" rubber would be a good start. It might be desirable to reduce the prop size to 5-1/2" or even 5" to improve the glide. Even with freewheeling , the high drag of the design plus the larger prop could effectively kill the glide. Just our opinion.
Plan 1

The Bleriot Canard also comes to us from Claude Powell and again, "Thanks, Claude." This time it's from August 1973 Model Builder magazine, by W. C. Young. Right off the bat, we had to look twice. Is Mr. Bleriot sitting backwards or is there some sort of explanation? No, it's true; he's facing the wrong way. (OOPS! A second look says maybe not. Editorial apology is due....Joe) The correct (left) and incorrect (right) positions are shown below. If Mr. Young is watching, we extend our sympathy to him; it's also difficult for your editor to keep the direction of flight correct when it comes to a canard.

The author lauds the stability of the design, "....a canard is almost stall proof." His model was built with five-pound balsa throughout and covered with "white tissue from Micro-X. Products." Power was ".080" Pirelli of 12" length, using 1,200 turns on each flight." In regard to trimming for flight, he says in effect, no problem, "....as the aircraft is very forgiving. Stab tilt and wing washout to get correct powered glide trim. Vertical and side thrust were used to control the power burst. Best time to date is 1:18.....weight five grams, ready ro fly but minus rubber. I hope you have as much fun with your Bleriot as I did with mine." The prop shown measures slightly more than 6 inches; that seems excessive. Before enlargement of the plan it measures 4-1/2", which seems more reasonable. Note that it is our usual right-hand prop. You wind it up in a counter-clockwise direction looking at it from the rear. This is the same direction as with a tractor-type prop, where you wind in a clockwise direction looking at it from the front. Perhaps this explanation is overkill, but ye editor has always had a problem keeping the relationship between tractor and pusher props straight in his own mind.
Plan