The Scamp was my second plane, and the one that nearly put me off model planes for life! I had completely failed to get the Middle Phase 2 to fly, and had realised that I needed a plane with a propeller on it so I could actually take off and fly around for more than 20 seconds! I looked through some model plane magazines and came to these conclusions:
In retrospect I'm glad I decided to go for electric powered flight. However, at the time, electric planes were in their infancy, and there weren't many around. In the end I settled on the Scamp from Galaxy Models.
It took me a long time to build the Scamp, as it is completely built from a
balsa kit. Compared to modern planes, this thing was built like a brick.
It had a geared Speed 400 motor which weighed half-a-ton. It had a bunch
of NiCad batteries which weighed another half-ton. It had a cast-iron
undercarriage, and I put a full-sized receiver and servos in it!
I'm surprised it flew at all, but it did, probably because it has a giant propellor on the front. This was my first ever flight with a radio-controlled powered plane. I took it to the field, gave it full throttle and lobbed it. It flew up, then zoomed off down-wind towards the end of the field. I fought the sticks trying to bring it back, and eventually managed to crash land vaguely near me, breaking the prop.
The next flight was quite short, and I made the mistake of trying to fly in a field with teenagers in it. After a few minutes of "Can I have a go?" I crashed it, breaking the fin off.
The third flight was a total disaster
The third flight was a total disaster. I sent it up, and after one high-altitude circuit, pulled right back on the stick to see what would happen. I anticipated a loop. I got complete structural failure! There was a loud crack, most of the model fell to earth faster than anything I've ever seen fall before, followed a full 20 seconds later by a fluttering and tumbling right wing. Every single component on board was destroyed. The radio, the motor, the receiver, the servos, the lot! Nothing survived. The wing spar had snapped where it joins the fuselage.
After this expensive incident, I gave up model planes for years. In retrospect, the plane was too heavy, probably my building skills weren't that good, and maybe it wasn't designed to do loops.
The odd thing is, you can still buy this plane! I saw an advert for it in Q&EFI in March 2005, which I've scanned in and placed on this page. Hmmm... the advert shows a glow-powered version, with a much smaller propellor. I bet that's what it was designed to be originally, and the electric version was just a conversion. Did they really build the electric version and try it out? And if they did, why didn't they photograph it for the advert??? We will never know.
Anyway, If you want to get into RC plane flying, take my advice and buy a Graupner Tipsy instead.
Scamp technical details:
| Type: | Electric park-flyer |
| Manufacturer: | Galaxy Models |
| Kit type: | Balsa kit |
| Wing span: | 40 inches |
| Controls: | Throttle, rudder, elevator |
| Rating: | Avoid! |