Gathering of Turkeys Pensacola 2009

Here are some pictures taken during 3 days of great flying. Bob Erpelding

1961 DeBolt Sonic Cruiser

Hi Guys,

I built a Sonic Cruiser from a DeBolt Kit back in the early sixties. I flew the Sonic Cruiser with two escapements, one for rudder and a quick blip for motor control. It was powered with a Veco 35 with a flapper plate on the exhaust stack for motor control. I became pretty good at flying. I was able to make touch and goes. Most guys flew a model this size with reeds; two channels per reed servo. Flyers would ask me if I was flying with six channels and I would respond with "only one". By the way the escapements were powered with twisted rubber bands.

I found the plans and the original aluminum landing gear so I decided to build the Sonic Cruiser with full house controls using a Spektrum Radio and a Tower ABC 46 glow engine.

Things to do included fixing the dings from building, a complete sanding, and the biggy; how should I cover and decorated the Cruiser?

Never a dull moment in my workshop.

Enjoy The Photos,

Bucky

High Flying Bucky Walter

Here's Bucky Walter back in 1944 with his first gas model, the Buccaneer B Special. Power was O&R 23

And look at him today!

2009 SAM Champs- Eldorado Dry Lake

Gil Morris launching the Bullet

Bob Edelstein with a pylon model on the Henderson lake bed

These Photos of this year's SAM Champs courtesy of Eut Tileston

Twin Pushers

Twin Pusher mass launch at 2009 SAM Champs (Henderson, Nevada) filmed by Eut Tileston

FS-48 Surpass Diesel Conversion & Etherless Fuel

Slyph Wing attachment

This is one way I did it. Now I would clip at the rear and use a magnet at the front. Eut  SAM Hall of Fame