The Douglas TBD-1 Devastator was introduced into naval service in 1937 and was probably the best of its day. It performed well in the early days of WWII but was literally "Devastated" at the Battle of Midway. According to Wikepedia, 41 of them were launched from carriers but only four made it back home. The rest, slow and clumsy, were easy prey for the Zeros that came up to meet them. The futility of their mission was further underscored with the faulty torpedoes that they launched. None of the torpedoes hit their target because, for one thing, they could not be set to travel at the necessary depth, moving instead at a depth too deep to hit the target. But even if they had hit, they probably would not have exploded. It took a year for the Navy to fix the problems. But their action did set the stage for spectacular successes scored by the SBD-1 Dauntless dive bombers that followed them. The enemy was in vulnerable disarray due to the Devastators, and the dive bombers "fatally damaged" three of the four Japanese carriers in the strike force. The Navy immediately withdrew the Devastators from service; there were only 39 left. The picture on the cover will provide a great pre-WWII color scheme for those with historic interests.
Go to Plan

Bill Hannan's Up-Shot helicopter should be a fun model to fly and easy to build. In giving us permission to use his plan, Bill added,"The response to that design has been remarkable, with some clubs actually having held contest events for variations on the theme.We flew a couple of them during our trips to France, and presented them to friends there." Thanks, Bill! Go to Plan

Be sure to take seriously Bill's tips about the bending sequence of the rotor shaft. It took your editor four attempts to get it right. When all else fails, read the directions! And his note #4 means what it says. The rotor sets up quite a vibration when the counterweight wire is straight, but it runs very smoothly with the bend. See the picture below.

Flight testing was a unique experience. With about 150 turns, Upshot goes up to our cathedral ceiling in a tight spiral. I expected torque to make it rotate on its axis like a spinning top but it makes circling turns instead. Exciting for the grandkids when they visit but a more professional, straight up, gentle lift off is preferable. Let's work on it, OK? The model is a snap to build and deserves further experimentation.