Caudron G.3

This is a 1/6 scale radio controlled model that was my first scratch build, which included drawing the plans, from 1979.  It has an 88 inch wingspan and is powered by a K&B .61 glow engine.   I made 120 brass fittings and installed 72 working brass turnbuckles.  The engine cowling was made of fiberglass from a mold.  The plans were made from a small 5-view rendering and were drawn with an ink pen on three sheets of mylar, 3 ft. by 5 ft., and include isometric views of the fuselage and tail section.

The original full size airplane had wing warping for lateral control and I constructed the model with the same.  Using the most powerful servos of the 1970s, which were not very powerful, I thought it did not have an overabundance of control.  This was immediately confirmed moments after the G.3 left the ground on its maiden flight; the result was a plummeting straight into the ground.  Two weeks later I was on my way to the WWI RC Jamboree fly-in at Rhinebeck, NY with the rebuilt airplane that now had ailerons for lateral control.

I refurbished it in the winter of 2024-2025.