Jim Pepino is at it again. I truly believe that if this gentleman isn't drawing plans or taking photos or flying R/C or enlarging plans and packing up Foto-packets to ship out, he has got to be sleeping, because that's all the time there is left! Isn't retirement great Jim? During my recent difficulty Jim kept pumping the plans to me. During the course of moving my airplane stuff, which incidentally took three weeks, I ran across a Bridi BABY ACE, which I had acquired from a friend. The model needed a new wing panel, and I'm thinking I oughta restore it and put an OS fourstroke .90 in it. Well the very next day what do I get in the mail but a set of plans for a Baby Ace drawn by Jim Pepino, Scale Plans-Photo Service. These plans were in quarter scale. Jim drew these plans directly from the originals which were published in Mechanics Illustrated, back in the early fifties, I think. I believe I have that magazine filed away in my archives. Which issue was it Jim? This airplane is occasionally referred to as the Corbin BABY ACE, although it was designed by Paul Poberezny, President of the Experimental Aircraft Association and Mr. Corbin had nothing to do with it! He designed the Corbin Super Ace.

The fuselage is built of quarter square hard balsa longerons and uprights with necessary balsa formers. The pylon wing mounting for the parasol wing looks very substantial. Engine cowl can be purchased from Fiberglass Master Dept. HF, Route 1, Box 530, Goodview, VA 24095, Phone: 1-703-890-6017. Jim has a scale built-up landing gear shown on the plan which looks real neat and should work great. An OS Gemini Twin is shown, but displacement isn't given. I should think it would be the 160. The stab has adjustable incidence, neat, and fin and rudder are built-up. A slightly modified CB tail wheel assembly is used and looks scale. Oh yes, if the scale gear is not used, a 3/16 wire gear is shown.

Both wing panels are shown and spruce or hard balsa spars are used with shear webbing on both front and rear spars. Ribs are 1/8th balsa with ply ribs in strategic places. Ailerons are built-up and hinged at the top which Jim says is scale. A cable-pulley and horn aileron actuating system is employed. The wing is in three sections and the outboard panels mount to a stationary center section on a piece of quarter inch steel rod. Wing struts are hard wood, which can be purchased from Hobby-Lobby International, already formed to a streamlined shape. Steel fittings are attached to both ends and the struts on the airplane are very functional. The stab and elevator are built-up as per the fin and rudder, again a good place for my aluminum tubing method. One of these times I am going to make some drawings of this tubing method and publish them in High Flight. It is great and very light and can be used on Classic, Antique and Home-built model aircraft. I even used it on my Concept quarter scale Fleet Bipe.

Wing span of the Baby Ace is 90 inches and I would guess a weight of 12 to 15 pounds. At 15 pounds, the wing loading is slightly over 18.50 ounces. If you are interested, the set of scale plans can be purchased from Scale Plans-Photo Service, 1209 Madison Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27403, Phone: 1-919-292-5239, send order attention: Jim Pepino. A documentation photo packet can also be purchased, as can hundreds of other photo packets on just about any subject you can imagine, aircraft wise. Jim sent a copy of his 1987 catalog, which can be purchased at $3.00 from him.

While on the subject of plans and photo packets, I also received Bob Banka's catalog and he too has a fabulous documentation photo service plus copies of many, many drawings from Koko Fan magazine. You can get his catalog of hundreds of offerings by writing to Scale Model Research, 2234 Ticonderoga Way, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, Phone: 1-714-979-8058... send $2.00 for the catalog.

NOTE: If you do not wish to scratch-build a Baby Ace, you can purchase a kit of the Bridi version from Great Planes Model Mfg., P.O. Box 721, Urbana, Illinois 61801, Phone: 1-217-367-2069 (see their advertisement in this magazine).