Here are the flying model kits and plans we know of:

• • K & A Models is offering a Speed-400 sized electric OV-10A model, described on page 135 of the November 1999 issue of Model Aviation magazine. Construction is all built-up with many vacuum-formed parts (cowls, cargo door, turtledecks) and has a clear canopy with raised frame lines. This model is designed for two 6V S-400 motors with a 1700 mAH battery and three mini- or micro-servos. The wing uses a NACA 2412 airfoil. This plane has a 42.5 inch wingspan, 335 in² wing area, 16-18 oz/ft²wing loading, flying weight 38-42 oz. Look for kit number 10133. There was a review of this by Terry McGill in the February 2000 E-Zone online magazine, which is pretty much the source for electric model info. The review is posted here. Terry has given your webmaster a fair bit of advice on his own similar scratch-designed OV-10 model. Check it out!
• • Hobby Hangar offers fellow Indian River Kontrol Society member Rich Uravitch’s design for .25 size engines, with a wingspan of 51 inches. This is a fairly well-known model (the design having initially appeared as an article in Model Aviation magazine) Reports are that this airplane flies well as designed, but it is somewhat heavy for electric power without going on a significant diet. It is not exact scale, but it doesn’t look too bad either… this could have some possibilities for neat detailing.
• • Palmer Plans offers a 96 inch wingspan (1/5 scale) exact-scale OV-10A, details are at the URL HERE All balsa/plywood construction, “Plans were derived, unmodified, from factory drawings.” Wing area is 1670.4 square inches, weight is just under 16 lbs., wing loading is 22 oz./sq.ft., and it’s designed to be powered by counter-rotating Saito FA-80’s or .91’s. The wingtips and booms are removable, so it’s 47 in. wide for transport. Details are provided to build it as a D model. Retracts and fiberglass parts are available from other suppliers. Plans consist of four 36 x 72 in. sheets, and cost $74 (sold direct only.)Also available from Palmer are scale details of the cockpit interior on a 35×66 in. sheet, which includes templates & details of ejection seats, pilot’s instrument panel, left & right consoles, joy stick, observers consoles, & many illustrations from the Natops Flight Manual (Navair O1-6GCB-1.) There is also a booklet having numerous illustrations, photos, & text (excerpted from the Flight Manual) of all elements required to build a quality scale interior. The cockpit detail drawings and booklet is $35.00. Tell Dan we sent ya!
• • Jerome Sigur writes of another set of plans: I’ve had some really old plans (30 yrs. old) by Frank Capan for a few years but put off building it due to the fact that everything needed to be redesigned for todays R/C. It’s gonna be about 855-900 sq inches (depending on what will fit in my truck). I’m basically using the old plans for outline. Got the booms framed up so far. Dunno about power yet, either .45 two strokes or .70 four strokes. Thanks Jerry, keep us updated! These plans are available from Model Airplane News’s plans service (http://www.rcstore.com) as plan number FSP09681 for about $25.
• • Bob Rogers writes of a set of Control-Line plans: I have a set of scale plans copyrighted 1964. It is for control line and a pair of .049 to .09 engines. They were put out by Hobby Helpers, who are long out of business. If anyone would be interested in a copy, I could get them copied and mailed out. Just have them call me. Bob Rogers, 217-832-7055

Hopefully all those pictures that people had mentioned on the E-Flight list will reappear soon, now that there is a Bronco site for them to live on. So folks, send them in if you have any, and also tell us a little bit about the model. Like full-scale planes, most models have a bit of a story to be told!

Now… on to the pictures!

The next series of pictures are of an impressive 1:4.5 scale Bronco project by Mark Schimmer of Germany. Mark says the following about this impressive project:
Hi Mike, Your quest for contributions touches me. I own an R/C model of a Bronco which might be one of the “upper class” cases. My Bronco is slightly above 1:4 scale, with a wingspan of nearly 3 meters (almost 10 ft). It is powered by two Zenoah ZG 38 motors with 3 bladed props. The landing gear is scale and made by Karl Heinz Beckup, who is an expert in fabricating aluminum scale gears here in Germany. He has really done a fine job! The main gear even folds while retracting (by compressed air), thus saving space in the outboard hulls.
The buildup is strictly conventional plywood, with an epoxy nosecone and tailcone. It has all the 4 flaps. For weight reasons I dropped the sponsons. Weight? The thing weighs almost 20 kg fully loaded, which is a problem in the old continent, ’cause everything flying above 20 kg is considered to be a real airplane here, unmanned or not. If one breaks that barrier, he is faced with numerous problems: insurance, etc. Even the actual flight is a burden: every flight has to be announced to the local state department of aviation (loosely translated). After that a member of the dept. has to be present to monitor the flight (if it fits to his time schedule!). Needless to say that you only can fly from special ‘model airfields’ with noise regs that allow bigger (and noisier) aircraft to fly. Terrible. It’s sure worth staying below these 20 kg. *I did*. This is also the reason for the plane not being *exactly* quarter scale. I would be interested in hearing from you if the US has similar restrictions (I suppose not).

Cheers, Mark

[To answer his question, there is a weight limit of 55 pounds (24.95 kg) imposed by the Academy of Model Aeronautics on all model aircraft flown in the US. The AMA is “the” model aviation organization in the US and represents the interests of modelers to the government, promotes model aviation to the public, provides supplemental liability insurance, sanctions competitions, etc. This weight limit is not legally binding, however… I believe you have to have VERY large aircraft (something big enough to carry a person) before needing official governmental approval to fly. However, to be a member of most R/C clubs or fly at the majority of club-operated and public flying sites, one must have AMA membership (mostly for the $1 million insurance coverage in case of an accident.) Flying a model over 55 lbs. requires a special AMA waiver in order to not be in violation of the AMA safety code, which would make one ineligible for insurance coverage should an incident occur.] Here is a brief description of the model:
Wingspan: 295 cm (166 in)
Weight: 18 kilograms (39.7 lbs)
Height: over 43 inches
Motors: two Titan ZG 38 S with three bladed props
Gear: scale aluminum retracting landing gear (pneumatic)

Control system includes 16 servos, and it is finished in the colors of the Indonesian Air Force (technically that would make it an OV-10F… which are basically OV-10As.) It was designed and built as a “skeleton” by someone else, and Mark finished it (electric, motors, skin, paint and so on.)

Group: MOD020 Description:
The next series of pictures come from Morgan Brown. This OV-10A model was built from Frank Capan plans (Plan Number FSP09681, available from Model Airplane News magazine.) The plans are for a 68 inch wingspan model, but Morgan enlarged them 100% to 136 inches. The plans are about 10 years old. Morgan initially built two booms using balsa and birch plywood the length of the booms, with engine and landing gear the boom weighed 20 lbs!! He redesigned the booms using 1/4 x 3/8 spruce for both sides, with 1 inch triangle on the top and bottom. Plywood was then used on the inside from the firewall to the wing trailing edge. There is 1/4 inch balsa on the sides and plywood on the the outside from the firewall to midwing. 1/2 inch balsa was used top and bottom to get the shape. This redesigned boom with engine and gear weighs 13 lbs. Says Morgan, “This darn design requires a lot of sanding. Believe it or not I roughed it out with a belt sander and I’ve still got a lot of sanding to do.” This is a prototype to see if it will be good performer. The wing will be styrofoam with 1/8 sheeting. Kerry Sterner cut the two five-foot foam wing panels. The leading edge will be 1/2 x 1 inch sitka spruce inlaid in the leading edge of the wing. There will be 2.5 in. square spruce top and bottom, with 3/8 inch dowels between the 1/2 inch spars. (This would look like a ladder if it was exposed.)
As for getting this beast in the car: “I had to do a lot of thinking to make this so it could be transported. The stabilizer can be removed, there are 3 nylon screws on each vertical fin. The center section will be removed, and the booms the same way.”

It will be powered by 2 G-62s, and have Likes electrical gear with 6 inch tires on the mains and a 5 inch tire on the nose. Morgan has purchased some large scale glider spoilers to be adapted for use in the Bronco. He is using a separate receiver and battery for the rear servos (2 servos on the elevator, 2 on the rudder.) The front receiver and battery will control the flaps, ailerons, and engines. The plane is sport scale only. Morgan says that the next one will be a lot closer to scale. This model will be painted like the CDF’s red, white & black scheme. “If you know where I can get a military pilot for the cockpit, let me know. The next one will drop a radio-controlled skydiver and have a water drop installation. I will send pictures periodically to keep you updated. We hope to fly in the spring.”

Sounds great – we’re all looking forward to it!! Now, let’s see the pictures.