the Gee Bee Archives - The Gee Bee.com

Those Flyin’ Ryans – The Ryan ST

The Ryan ST went on to become the first low wing primary trainer for the United States military and many foreign nations as well.

Featuring Press Release photos from the Len Wieczorek collection

T. Claude Ryan gained substantial name recognition when Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic in 1927 in his Ryan Mailplane-based “Spirit of St. Louis”. In 1934, he formed the Ryan Aeronautical Company and introduced a sleek low winged, metal-fuselaged, sport and training aircraft that would revolutionize the industry. The Ryan S-T went on to become the first low wing primary trainer for the United States military and many foreign nations as well. One of the most beautiful designs of aviation’s golden age, the Ryan ST remains a coveted classic aircraft today.

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The Final Flight of the MAC-1

Designer Howell “Pete” Miller shares his story of the final flight of the MAC-1

Military Aircraft Corporation test pilot Earl Ortman and the MAC-1. Note the large elevator trim tabs.

The story attached is as transcribed from a tape recorded conversation between Mr. Howell (Pete) Miller, Ron Harrison and Tom Nallen on January 28, 1978. The events described are those concerned with and related to the last flight of the MAC-1 aircraft.

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Build A Simplified Folded Depron Foam Float

Read how to build the float including the unique pivoting mount

32in span Puss Moth on Folded Depron Floats

View/Purchase Folded Depron Float Plan

Recently, I met a few guys who fly free flight models off the water in Southern Vermont. They spoke of 2 minute flights with rubber powered models on floats. One of them, Jim Woolnough, had developed a spring loaded pivoting float that enabled his rubber models to ROW consistently at less than max winds.

I had to know more and give this a try.

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Final Build Update – 24in Miles M.18

Final assembly and details. Landing gear, noseplug & prop assemblies. We’re ready to fly!

View/Purchase Miles M.18 24in Wingspan Plan

Hi all, it’s a new year. Hope your 2021 is going well so far.

Things slowed down a bit over the holidays, but our modelers have finished their Miles M.18 models and they’re ready to fly. In this update, we’ll touch on details, final assembly, noseplug assembly and specifications. This will be our last build update.

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Build Update #3 – 24in Miles M.18

Tissue covering & markings, Cowling and Landing Gear installation – we’re closing in on finishing this model!

Tissue covered M.18 fuselage with markings applied

Well, it’s been about a month since we’ve started building our 24inch wingspan Miles M.18 rubber powered flying scale models. Already, we’ve got a couple of ships nearly ready for that first test glide.

Our modelers continue to improvise a bit as they go, and as always it’s interesting to watch this play out.

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Build Update #2 – 24in Miles M.18

Wing construction, Fuselage construction Part 2 and the first Trial Assembly

Completed M.18 wing with dihedral added to outer panels

Another two weeks have passed (4 weeks total) and the builders are making good progress. All three are experienced modelers and are making minor modifications from the plan as they proceed. Such is the attraction of scratch building – the builder has the freedom to inject their own preferences into the build.

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Build Update #1 – 24in Miles M.18

Join in on the build and/or share positive thoughts via the Comment Forum.

24in Miles M.18 under construction. Get plan here

It’s been two weeks since we announced this online build and we’ve got 3 folks building the 24in wingspan Miles M.18 Mk2 free flight rubber scale model. Two modelers are on the East Coast and one in the Pacific Northwest. All have completed the tail framework, one has constructed the wing and two have made solid progress on fuselage construction. We’ll share some to-date pics along with some of the techniques employed so far.

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