Joe Eiben’s DH.88

Control Line Scale

By Fred Cronenwett | [email protected]

As seen in the February 2024 issue of Model Aviation.

ONE OF THE MOST elegant designs from the 1930s was the de Havilland DH.88 Comet. Specifically created for the 1934 England-Australia MacRobertson Air Race, it included multiple features that were not typically found on full-scale aircraft at that time.

The full-scale aircraft had two engines, flaps, and retractable landing gear. The Comet G-ACSS Grosvenor House was the first one built and is still airworthy as part of the Shuttleworth collection in the U.K. Only five were built. The Shuttleworth collection is worth visiting because it has multiple aircraft that represent major milestones in aircraft design.

Joe Eiben’s scratch-built, 68-inch wingspan Profile Scale de Havilland DH.88 Comet features retracts, flaps, and electric power.

Joe Eiben’s Profile Scale model is electric powered and has features that you don’t see on the typical Profile Scale model, including retracts. The model was scratch-built using an enlarged copy of the three-view. The ready-to-fly, 68-inch wingspan model weighs 5 pounds, 6 ounces. The wing can be removed to make it easier to transport.

Using two Cobra 2826 electric motors with 10 × 6 propellers and two 60-amp ESCs, the model is powered with a single 3S 4,000 mAh LiPo battery. The Spektrum receiver and all of the electronics are hidden from view. The battery is inside of the fuselage, forward of the canopy, with an access hatch.

Note: When you power two motors with the same battery, you want to double the battery’s mAh so that you have enough capacity.

The custom-made retracts include a modification of the electric retract units. The yokes, hubs, and tires were scratch-built to work within the width of the profile nacelle. In Profile Scale, the maximum width of the fuselage is 1 inch, but the cowling part of the nacelle can be up to 1.5 inches wide, giving you more room to install the hardware and electronics.

All of the hardware on Joe’s DH.88 is hidden inside of the wing or fuselage.

The flying surfaces were covered with Hangar 9 UltraCote, the nacelles were painted with Rust-Oleum enamel paint, and the markings were created by Callie Graphics. Joe earned the High Static award at the 2023 Brodak Fly-In with this model.

Because the flaps on this model are inboard of the nacelles, you can’t see whether they are deployed or not while flying the model, so you just have to trust your electronic controls when you lower the flaps. You will notice, however, a trim change when the flaps are down.

The elevator pushrod is hidden inside of the fuselage, making for a cleaner installation of the hardware that is required to complete the model.

CL Scale Contests in the Midwest

East of the Mississippi River, there are contests held at Brodak in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania; in the St. Louis, Chicago, and Milwaukee metropolitan areas; and, of course, in Muncie, Indiana, with the Control Line (CL) Scale Nats. All of these contests have events you can enter so that you can fly with other pilots in the same categories.

If you are just getting started with flying a CL Scale model, attending a contest or fun-fly is a great way to get additional ideas on how to build and fly. You will want to choose your options and practice them before you come to a contest. If you need any help selecting options to use for official flights, send me an email to the address at the beginning of this column and I can make some suggestions based upon the model that you are flying.

After the CL Nats, you can fly in August at the Wisconsin CL Championship in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, and travel to Aurora, Illinois, during Labor Day weekend for the Midwest Regional C/L Championships. In September, there is the Broken Arrow CL Stunt & Scale Contest at Buder Park near St. Louis.

Another contest that is typically held in the September time frame is the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA) Scale Classic, but the CL Scale portion won’t be held this year. The Brodak Fly-In, held in June in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania, also has CL Scale.

Check to make sure that you have current information about the contest by looking in the AMA Sanctioned Event Calendar online or in this magazine before making any travel plans.

Broken Arrow CL Stunt & Scale Contest

The Lafayette Esquadrille has hosted this annual contest for more than 35 years. We fly at Buder Park in the St. Louis metropolitan area (Valley Park) and we have a fully paved asphalt circle that can support anything from a 1/2A model to the largest CL model on 65-foot lines.

In 2023, we had good attendance, with a group of pilots coming from the Tree Town Modelaires CL club in the Chicago area. The Broken Arrow has Fun, 1/2A, Profile, and Sport Scale classes.

Fred Krueger flew his Heinkel He 219 and Junior flier David Lamacz flew his Wilga 35 in 1/2A Scale. David helped launch other models and flew very well considering his young age.

Fred Krueger’s 1/2A Scale Heinkel He 219.

David Lamacz with his 1/2A Scale Wilga 35.

In Fun Scale, we had two entries. Peter Mazur flew his foam ARF Bearcat and I flew my Spitfire. Peter took first place in Fun Scale by a small margin.

With three in Profile Scale, Jeff Jensen flew his P-51, Maddy Rideout flew her F6F, and I flew my B-29. We had one entry in Sport Scale with Jeff’s T-28.

We have one-of-a-kind trophies that you get to choose from after you receive your award tab with the placing and event. Maddy selected the Flying Pig award. The Lamacz family chose the award with Scrat from the Ice Age movie eating a CL model. You never know what trophies club members are going to create for the contest.

Contest Calendar

The NASA Scale Classic for CL Scale will not be held in 2024; however, it will return in 2025. The Northwest Regionals will get the contest season started Memorial Day weekend in Roseburg, Oregon.

Because of the FAI F2 World Championships for Control Line Model Aircraft that will be hosted in Muncie in August, all of the events for the 2024 Nats were moved around. CL week for the Nats will be August 4-9, but CL Scale will be flown on July 11-14. Our F4B Scale team will travel to Romania to compete in the FAI F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft in 2024. These events include:

• Northwest Regionals: May 24-26, Roseburg, Oregon
• Brodak Fly-In: June 2024, Carmichaels, Pennsylvania
• AMA CL Scale Nats: July 11-14, Muncie, Indiana
• Wisconsin CL Championships: August 2024, Mukwonago, Wisconsin
• Midwest Reg ional C/L Championships: August 31-September 1, Aurora, Illinois
• Broken Arrow CL Stunt & Scale Contest: September 21-22, Buder Park, Valley Park, Missouri

Land softly!