Written by CF (04/2020); Reformatted by JS (04/2020)
AMA# 35529
Chuck Felton with his cardboard Emeraude control line model. (Photo source: Chuck Felton)
My name is Chuck Felton and for most of my life I have been enjoying the wonderful hobby of building and flying control line model aircraft. I started building and flying balsa control line model kits in 1950 when I was 12 years old. As you can see below, my “Air Force” kept me busy.
Chuck’s “Air Force.” (Photo source: Chuck Felton)
I continued my hobby until 1955 when it came to an abrupt halt. In March of 1955, while a senior at Towanda High School in Towanda, PA, I was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) and sent to the state TB sanatorium [Cresson Sanatorium] at Cresson, PA for treatment. I spent sixteen months there recovering my health. The first twelve months were spent in the sanatorium ward where complete bed rest was the order of the day and I wore pajamas, bathrobe, and slippers the entire year. So, what does this have to do with model airplanes? While in the ward, I became good friends with another patient named Jack who was about my age and also was a control line modeler. Mostly to break the monotony of our situation, Jack and I collaborated to pull off a scheme which was rather unique. We soon hatched a plan to build a small control line motorized model and fly it on the grass lawn outside the ward building. Anything for a laugh when stuck in the ward! I talked my folks into bringing the model airplane kit and supplies we needed, and Jack and I set to work putting it together. We didn’t ask permission to fly the model because we knew the answer would be a resounding, “No.” After all, we were there to rest. But, considering our circumstances, what was the worst they could do to us?
We managed to keep our nefarious activities from the staff, but all the patients soon learned what we were up to. It was summer by the time the model was completed and ready for first flight. We chose a calm sunny day and waited until the nurses were between rounds to slip out of the building and set up the model on the newly cut grass lawn, a perfect flying field. There was a gallery of men on the porches cheering me on as I flew the model. I got three good flights in before the high-pitched scream of the small engine gave us away. Of course, we were soon shut down by the nurses, who tried to act stern but who also gave the impression of being highly amused by the whole episode. It must have been quite an unusual sight with all of us out there in our pajamas, robes, and slippers. And it might have been the only time anyone ever flew a model airplane on the sanatorium grounds. Another little known history-making flight! I was discharged from the TB sanatorium in 1956. Then college, my job working as a structural engineer at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, CA, and marriage with a son and daughter curtailed my hobby until 1974 when my modeling activities took a major turn. That’s when I met a fellow modeler named Bob Miller who introduced me to the concept of using 1/8” corrugated cardboard as a model-building material. Bob built three RC cardboard models which R/C Modeler magazine wanted to publish as construction articles. I wrote those construction articles with Bob and inked the drawings. In the process, I became hooked on using cardboard for my own control line designs. Since then I have used cardboard exclusively for all my models. Over the years my cardboard designs have been published as construction articles in various magazines. Modelers often see one of my latest cardboard design articles and write me to ask if there are plans available for other cardboard designs as well. So, I thought it might be time to put this info on the web where interested modelers can see the variety of cardboard designs which are available, both RC and CL. My website is at the following link: http://www.feltondesignanddata.com/. I was always interested in building scale models and continued that tradition with all my cardboard designs. Cardboard does have some building limitations, but you can see by my 60” wingspan Boulton Paul Defiant that it can produce good scale-like appearance.
The models shown above are simple in construction and inexpensive, as they use 1/8” corrugated cardboard as the primary building material. This reduces both building time and cost. The designs make use of cardboard’s unique features in that it can be used in large sections and folded. For instance, the wing is built of 2 large pieces of cardboard with cardboard ribs and a single spar. The fuselage is mostly cardboard with little internal bracing required, leaving lots of room for equipment. The result is a low-cost, fast-building model that has good scale appearance and can still take plenty of punishment at the flying field. Try one of these designs or design your own. Either way, I believe you will find it to be great fun.
Magazine
Issue
Airplane
RC Modeler RC Modeler RC Modeler Model Airplane News Model Aviation Model Airplane News
Jan. 1975 Mar. 1977 Apr. 1976 Aug. 1977 Oct. 1977 Oct. 1978
Plan #
Cardboard 500 Fun-Tu Heath Parasol Curtiss Robin
Type Span (inches) RC RC 48.5 RC fsp08772 CL
Length (inches) 44.4
Engine Size 2 - 19s 29-40
Douglas M-2 Junkers D.1
CL fsp10783 CL
29-40 30-40
44.5 Model Airplane News Model Airplane News Model Aviation Model Airplane News Model Aviation Flying Models Model Aviation Model Builder Flying Models Model Aviation Model Builder Model Aviation Flying Models Model Aviation Flying Models Flying Models Aviation Modeller International Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Model Aviation Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Aviation Modeller International Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models
Apr. 1979
SE5A
fsp04792 CL
30-40
Feb. 1980
BF 109
fsp02803 CL
48.5
30-40
Oct. 1982 FW 190 Sept. 1983 Dewoitine 520
CL fsp09831 CL
50-60 30-40
Sept. 1986 Nov. 1987 Mar. 1988 Oct. 1988 May. 1989
KI-61 Hien Spad XIII Heinkel 100 Hurricane Cub Super Cruiser Sept. 1989 P-51 Mustang Dec. 1989 Yak 9 July 1995 PT19 June 1997 Macchi C202 Feb. 2004 Lagg 3 Mar. 2004 Spitfire Dec. 2005 Curtiss JN-4 Jenny July 2006 Moth Minor
CF-763 10881 CF-802
CL CL CL CL CL
30-40 30-40 30-40 30-40 30-40
12892 CD027 CD219 CD268
CL CL CL CL CL CL CL
45.5
30-40 30-40 40-50 40-50 40-50 40-50 40-50
N/A
CL
50-60
May 2007
Caudron Cyclone May 2008 Piper Saratoga Oct. 2008 Douglas Destroyer Feb. 2010 Piper Pawnee Sept. 2010 Ki-84 Hayate Jan. 2011 Pilatus Porter Apr. 2011 Caudron Simoun Jan. 2012 Mew Gull Jan. 2012 Defiant
CD312
CL
40-50
CD342 CD354
CL CL
40-50
CD386 1046 CD409 CD415
CL CL CL CL
40-50 40-50 40-50 40-50
CD431 N/A
CL CL
40-50 40-50
May 2012
CD439
CL
40-50
CD444
CL
40-50
CD453 CD457
CL CL
43.5
40-50 40-50
Cessna L-19 Bird Dog Sept. 2012 Dalotel DM165 Feb. 2013 Ambrosini 207 July 2013 Cessna Flying Models Flying Models Model Aviation
Caravan Dec. 2013 Messerschmitt M20b May 2014 Gardan Minicab Sept. 2014 Arado 396 Trainer
CD463
CL
40-50
CD467
CL
40-50
1081
CL
40-50
Plans can be ordered direct from the magazines, who own the rights to the plans. The following links will take you to their plan sites:
Model Airplane News: Go to https://www.airagestore.com/. Click on the Plans button and then search for "FELTON" in the search box on the left side of the page, or enter the plan number directly.
Model Aviation, RC Modeler, Model Builder: The AMA Plans Service website includes plans which appeared in Model Aviation, RC Modeler, and Model Builder magazines. Go to https://www.modelaircraft.org/ama-plan-service and click on the individual links for the three of these magazines.
Flying Models: Although the magazine went out of business in mid-2014, their plans are still available at the following website: https://store.flying-models.com/catalog/
This page is a text transcription of the original document, made automatically and may contain errors. .