RC F-106 Sites (Read 1,969 times)

Hi Pat,
That's the model I'm building. It was originally designed as a ducted fan model. For those that don't know, a ducted fan (d/f) propulsion system consists of a shroud, a fan mounted on the engine, and a thrust tube. The engine is specially tuned for high RPM, around 22K, depending on the engine/fan combination. A tuned pipe is used on the engine to maximize the power output. The fan blew air at high veloicity through the thrust tube and out the back, giving thrust. The engine/pipe combination has to be set up correctly to run right. The amount of thrust was determined by the efficency of the engine/fan/pipe combination and air temp. On hot days, when the air was "thin", performance was marginal. It's kind of a Mickey Mouse power system, but it's all there was if you wanted to fly a jet. However, designed right some models, mostly Bob Violett's Vipers, could do over 200 MPH. When turbines became available, many jet modelers switched, as you had none of the problems associated with d/f. Just light the fire and go fly. The only guys using d/f now are the one's that can't afford, or don't want to invest in a turbine model. They're philosophy is, all models eventually come home in a garbage bag, so why spend all that money.
The Usher model is the only 106 model available right now. It's more of a semi kit: you get a f/g fuse, f/g leading edges, plywood parts and a set of foam wings. A lot is left to your imagination and experience, like the speed brake set up, n/g door set up, retracts, etc. A big problem is the fin. The kit comes with the fin molded as part of the rear fuse section, but the fin is so big that it has "ripples" in it from the lack of internal support. What a couple of us have done is cut the f/g fin off and replace it with a sheeted foam core fin that is solid.
There's four 106's that I know about: Rich Fong's, which has crashed. He had photo's of his on the old site, a fellow in Fla that crashed on landing, a fellow in Pa who has flown his and is now painting it, and mine. From a modelling point of view, it's not popular because it's never seen combat, and there aren't a lot of color bright color schemes-ADC gray is a pretty boring color. The F-86, MiG-15, F-4, F-100, etc are much more iin demand because they present better on the ground and in the air.
Cost wise, you can get a 106 in the air for around $5000, which is the low end of the cost spectrum for a scale turbine model. A Bob Violett (www.bvmjets.com) F-100 will cost around $15-18,000 to get in the air!
BRG,
Jon

"From a modelling point of view, it's not popular because it's never seen combat, and there aren't a lot of color bright color schemes-ADC gray is a pretty boring color."

Really? My dad and I have been modeling for years and I've never heard the one about never being in combat and as far as colors go, come on! Pick any FIS that flew the Six and you will find some great color schemes! Gotta do better than those reasons.

Mark