This is an old 42" Sterling Hellcat that was finished a little over a year ago. It's basically built out straight of the box with a few minor upgrades...
I hate messing with the clear canopies for various reasons, so I replaced that with balsa. I added some material to the bottom half of the cowl area for a more scale outline as well. I added a 1 1/4"x 1/8" strip accross the trailing edge which made it real easy to also incorporate an outboard trim tab. This also gives roughly 52 more square inches in wing area which sure doesn't hurt this design. A tip weight box was built in too. The kit L/G doors were scrapped and new ones designed and built from scratch. I redid the maple engine mounts and ran them all the way back to the wing L/E, and also drilled them out to save a hint of weight.
As you look at the model, only the blue, orange and grey is paint. All the other markings were made in vinyl to my design and specs by my buddy Robb Kaiser at his business, Blown Concepts, in Plymouth, MN. The panel lines were done with a fine line silver paint pen. The scheme, Minneapolis and the E on the tail is roughly accurate for the Minneapolis Naval Reserve circa 1957. The AMA number on the outboard wing was purposely made to look like it belongs in the military scheme, and that's where the airplane number "48" was derived from too, the last two digits of my AMA number, sneaky!
The name "Cattin' Around" is intended as a play on words tying Hellcat and Control Line together.
Power is an excellent running O.S..40LA-S with a 10-6 Tornado 3-blade prop and a 4oz tank. The plane flies really well, within reason, for what it is, just an old Sterling Hellcat.
Topic: Sterling Hellcat... (Read 1929 times)
