The next set of plans is also of a real airplane. That is, two wings and a round engine. BERT HALL, IMAA 1466, D. P. Systems in Houston, Texas has drawn a plan that rivals his SBD-5 "Dauntless". This one is the Curtiss "HELL-DIVER" SBC-3, in one fifth scale with a wing span of 85 inches. Believe you me it is one excellent set of plans. It comes in four sheets, not a blue print, but black lines on heavy white paper similar to what you would get in a Sig kit or any other quality kit. These plans are rolled and the paper is heavy enough to withstand a lot of workshop abuse!

The fuselage is built on a top and bottom center crutch with one-piece bulkheads slipped on and blocked and held in place then glued and stabilizing stringers are added and the whole fuselage is sheeted with 3/32 balsa. Bert writes that one of his customers is putting BOB HOLMAN retracts in his HELL-DIVER, but not being familiar with them I can not comment! The landing gear on this model is ala Grumman Wildcat style and could get pretty hefty if you build your own unless you know your geometry.

There is a Q-40 shown on the drawing, but I think that I would install a Q-50. Bert didn't say anything about weight but I'd guess somewhere between 20 and 25 pounds. The canopy on the HELL-DIVER is four sliding sections and would be very easy to build up and be made to work. You could even rig the tail hook to work if your wanted to. Also the Navy color scheme of this era was very striking, so you could really drive the photographers nuts. The cowling is pretty straight forward and could be built up, but I am sure Bert will get someone to mold a fiberglass one in the future, possibly even a canopy. Since this model has one piece bulkheads, there is also a top view of the fuselage to guide you. The empennage is built of balsa and the fin and stab are sheet covered with fabric on the rudder and elevator.

I stated that this set of plans was four sheets, I was wrong, there are five. The fuselage and bulkheads cover two sheets and sheet three covers the top wing center section and the left side of the stab and elevator and a fuselage bulkhead, along with cabane strut attachment drawings. Sheet four has the right and left lower wing panels, which are constructed conventionally of balsa and sheeted with 1/16 sheet. Ailerons are full span and torque rod actuated and would work very nicely with either de-hinge or the new GC hinges. There is also a side view of the model and a very good rigging and interplane strut drawing.

Sheet number five contains the two top wing outboard panels which are constructed similarly to the lower wing with a sharply swept leading edge and tapered full span ailerons. Makes you think of the Aeromaster bipe. I once had one that had full span ailerons on both wings. All I had to do was think about a roll and it had done three of them. One of the club members remarked that they weren't rolls, it was a horizontal spin. Bert doesn't say so but I think all control surfaces are fabric covered. Also on sheet five is bulkhead F-5 and flying wire attachment drawing, and a front view of the fixed gear with spring loaded shock struts, similar to oerol struts. Wheels are five and three quarters inch in diameter. Servos are shown in each upper wing panel to operate the ailerons. I believe I would use two Futaba S-34's or some make similar and mount them in the root of the lower wing panels and use struts to the upper wing ailerons along with a "Y" harness. I do NOT think one S-34 would handle these full span ailerons!

These are an excellent set of plans of a very pretty airplane. The black lines on heavy white paper are neat and unusual. There was one small thing that was very minor, that sort of frustrated me. The fuselage drawing is on two of these heavy sheets and trying to spread them on the floor and keep them out got me. I wound up with my OS Pegasus engine holding one end and a couple of ash trays and a flower pot holding the other end. I suspect the reason for the short sheets is the cost of the paper, but it does make a beautiful plan. Once tacked down to a bench and flattened out, all your troubles disappear anyway, so this would only bother the reviewer!