Touch-and-Gos: Control Line Navy Carrier

Author Says Goodbye

Pete Klepsic’s Profile Scale B-25 performs a touch-and-go. WITH REGRET, I must announce that this is my last column as the "Control Line (CL) Navy Carrier" columnist for Model Aviation. My reasons are personal. I simply am not able to devote the time to the column that I feel I should. I hope that this column has been of some use to those who fly Carrier. Safe landings to you all.

John Brodak Memorial Fly-In 2022

The Brodak Fly-In returned June 13-18, 2022, in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania, as a memorial to John Brodak, who passed away in April 2020. Overall, the attendance was quite good. Carrier had 16 entries throughout four events: 15 Profile, Sportsman, AMA Profile, and AMA Classes I and II combined. Some fliers who have been regulars weren’t able to make the contest because of COVID or other family medical issues. Most of the fliers are CL Aerobatics (Stunt) contestants. They come and fly Carrier and help while they are at the circle, but they return to Stunt, which is physically separated by the topography of the site. The Brodak site has six circles; four are directly behind the house. There is a small valley between Stunt, Combat, and Racing circles, and the Carrier and Scale circles. As a result, most fliers come, fly, and go back across the valley. The full results for the fly-in are available on the Brodak website listed at the end of the column in "Sources." Because some of the fliers who primarily fly Carrier were missing, running the event was difficult this year. My wife, Linda, took care of the scoring and all other administrative chores. Tim and Kathy LaNore helped me throughout the contest. Bub Reese timed on the second day, and Gary Hull was there for the first day and helped out, although he did not fly. One group that I cannot praise enough is the team that set up the deck. The Brodak team, which included Bob Zambelli, a Stunt flier, did an absolutely great job. When I arrived Sunday, the deck was set up perfectly. The best news of the contest came at the awards ceremony on Saturday. John’s wife, Buzz, announced that she was continuing the fly-in tradition, so if you fly Carrier, you might want to mark your calendar. The Brodak Fly-In is held the week before Father’s Day. I have included a few photos of the action that were taken by Tim and Kathy.

Pete Klepsic’s B-25

Pete Klepsic is primarily a Scale modeler. His award-winning B-25 is available from Brodak Manufacturing as a kit. The full-scale B-25 is probably most famous for the Doolittle raid on Japan on April 18, 1942. This was a one-way mission with landings planned for China. However, the B-25 was tested for both carrier takeoffs and landings. The U.S. Navy/U.S. Marine Corps designation for the B-25H, the PBJ-1H, was modified for carrier operation and was successfully tested, but the Navy did not continue development. The tests, however, make the B-25 model eligible for bonus points in Carrier. Pete wanted to demonstrate taking off, touch-and-gos, and landing on the deck. Although the model is too large for AMA Carrier, Pete ably demonstrated that both the model and the pilot are up to the task. I have posted a link in "Sources" to a website that has more information on the carrier landing tests of the B-25.

MO-HO and Crow Flaps

I have finally completed the MO-HO crow-flap conversion. The original airplane had full-span differential flaps. I simply cut the original flap for the crow addition and converted the remaining flaps to normal operation. Because the model is electric, I use an RC transmitter at the handle, where the crow flaps are controlled via a servo. CL airplanes have to be trimmed to compensate for the weight and drag of the lines. With this setup, I put in some differential movement to compensate.

George Waters’ Guardian. In flight, the main flaps will be activated in standard fashion by dropping the hook. As the hook comes down, it will pull down the flaps and move the rudder to help point the aircraft’s nose to the outside of the circle. This is activated by a quick downward blip of the elevator. I simply reach out, grab the downline while the airplane is in level flight, and give it a quick pull. By keeping the handle and the airplane level, the action is almost unnoticeable. I have flown the crow-flap-equipped MO-HO just a couple of times. The crow flaps do have a slight affect on landing. The model’s standard flaps are large and seem to overpower the smaller crow flaps. More testing will be required, but my initial take is that for CL Carrier, their use is marginal, given the effort it takes to install them. If you are interested in the MO-HO, Model Airplane News still sells the plans. A link is provided in "Sources."