This Month's Models.....Nice plans by Florent Baecke. Thanks, Florent!

Clodhopper...Although the Wakefield champ Korda has been built time and time again, we never, never ever see Jim Cahill's Clodhopper replicated. Wonder why? Of course, it's that planked fuselage that John Valls exalts in his cleverly sentimental story, "The First Out-of-Sight Flight." It's a fitting tribute to an unusually sophisticated model design, and we hope that the new FAC category, Half-Scale Wakefield, will encourage some of our scale model builders to resurrect this old timer. Questions and controversy can be anticipated, judging from the fussing that has accompanied the Dime Scale category. Nevertheless, the model deserves its place under the sun whether a particular version is judged legal or not. Let's build it, fly it, enjoy it, and perhaps make the changes, if any, that are deemed necessary. But let's get it built, legal or not, and fuss later! It won the Wakefield trophy with a 10:54 flight; let's see what it will do in half-size. Go to Plan

Of course, the planked fuselage needs very special attention; we don't see that very often, and it could determine success or failure if we don't insist on the lightest balsa available, 4-lb. Contest Grade. Any tips gained from experience will be promptly passed on to other modelers in future Windy Sock issues. Florent cites November 1937 Air Trails as a reference but it is not available at the time of this writing. However, we did Google an old Aeromodeller plan that is probably reliable but the printing is illegible. It does show a side view of the fuselage, however, that exhibits the markings, a nice touch that trumpets its origin to one and all. We like that and hope to see it carried out in Half-Scale. (See below)

B.A.T. Monoplane...Florent has also presented us with his version of the late Al Backstrom's B.A.T. Monoplane. We Googled for color scheme information but were not successful. It is very probable, however, that it did not display any particular color or markings, being a sport version of a guided flying bomb, hence its designation "British Aerial Torpedo." Your editor's very similar Cessna I performs OK on two strands of 1/8" rubber and a 6-inch Peck plastic prop, but the rear half of the fuselage was uncovered. The under-cambered wing suggests that the stabilizer be mounted so that the angle of incidence is easily adjusted; at least that has been your editor's experience with such designs. Go to Plan

Thanks, Florent, for two nice plans that point to successful flying!