MAAA Wingspan

28 When we first heard about the 2.4 metre B-25 coming from Seagull, Greg and I were both excited. A large twin engine WWII model that promised to fly really well. Based on a B-25J built in Kansas in 1944, Executive Sweet, it never saw wartime action but was used as a crew trainer Stateside. It was then used for VIP transport and later featured in several Hollywood films including Catch-22. The model comes extensively prefabricated in balsa, ply and fibreglass and is covered in Ultracote film. Having said that, there are still many hours of work for the proud new owner to do, to get this model airborne. Horns need to be fitted, servos installed, pushrods adjusted and attached, included JP electric retracts mounted, engines installed, fuel tanks plumbed and more. None of this is complex and the instructions are good, but you should allow 20-30 hours to get it ready to fly. Greg did the planning and then the assembly and chose to use OS 22GT petrol engines. We thought these would fit nicely and provide plenty of power and reliability. Greg custommade the mufflers as he is a skilled sort of guy, but Bisson aftermarket mufflers would also work well. As the accompanying pics show, the final result was very neat. The airflow through the cowl and engine pod is excellent and after a few test flights the scale radial dummy engines that came with the model were fitted and engine temps haven’t changed. Greg has used 16 x 8 two blade props and 15 x 8 three blade props so far and is happier with the 16 x 8. Maybe 15 x 6 three blade will be the go for performance and scale looks. RC guidance is provided with a Spektrum iX20 transmitter talking to a Spektrum AR20310T receiver that provides power management and great telemetry. Fully fuelled, the model has a take-off weight of close to 13kg and the OS 22GT engines provide plenty of power for very scale like flying. It is not a 3D aerobatic machine but has great authority and presence in the sky. The model comes with scale pilots and a lot of scale detail and looks great in the air. We chose the version that includes JP electric retracts and gear door sequencer and this works very nicely. With flaps deployed, the B-25 lands in a very stable and slow manner with only a small amount of down elevator compensation required. The suggested CG position is near on perfect and Greg was able to achieve this by using the location of the ignition LiPO battery. Landing lights are included in the model and Greg wired them in with an Evolution electronic kill switch so that when the engine is on, the landing lights are on. Hit the kill switch and the lights and engine go off, telling you in a very clear visual manner which position the kill switch is in. For a well detailed World War II giant scale twin engine model you will be hard pressed to find anything better than this Seagull B-25 Mitchell. product review: Seagull Models B-25 Mitchell Giant Scale ARF model WING SPAN AUGUST ARTICLE BY MIKE O’REILLY The B-25 with the Spektrum iX20 used for control