# Giant B-29 Model!



## pez (Aug 26, 2008)

My friend Mac Hodges campaigns his 20-foot, "100lb+" B-29 and Bell X-1 models to R/C events around the US. I build and fly aerobatic R/C planes, but nothing on this scale, lol. Mac and a small rotating crew maintain the bird between shows.






Dan Stevens built the B-29 and this Bell X-1, both to scale, from scratch. He pilots the X-1.





Big!​

Launch!​

X-1 dropped.​



Dan loops and rolls the X-1 in a glide, then at the last moment pulls the nose up and lights the rocket motor. It zooms a few hundred feet up and he lands it- a crowd pleaser!





Then comes the aerobatics! This giant model has programed throttles for differential thrust (and a smoke system), and Mac puts it through a thorough routine.



A nice inverted pass.​



Lots of other models at this event- about 3 miles from my home...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBYwgwpk_4s"]Here's a vid of the B-29 show.[/ame] 

I shot these with my old Minolta A-1 DiMAGE last year.  The vid is someone elses.​


----------



## Crazydad (Aug 26, 2008)

Very cool! I love the Corsairs, always has been one of my favorite planes. Great pictures, especially the inverted pass.


----------



## Ripskip (Aug 26, 2008)

great photos!! i have been to the Weak Signals show in Toledo, OH in the past and the detail of those things are mind blowing.  I have flown R/C for a number of years, and just finished my first kit - a great planes Cap 232.  It took me a long time to build the KIT, never mind from scratch!!


----------



## cszakolczai (Aug 26, 2008)

I am in love with the corsair's.  The B-29 is awesome as well, especially how it drops off the X-1.


----------



## iflynething (Sep 2, 2008)

That man is amazing. I fly too. Helis and planes.

Did you go to The Nall?

~Michael~


----------



## dl4449 (Sep 2, 2008)

+1 for the corsair's
Troy


----------



## MissMia (Sep 2, 2008)

+2 for the corsairs, only because my grandfather flew them. That B-29 model is great! Love the X-1 too. That would be a blast to see. Thanks for sharing.


----------



## pez (Sep 2, 2008)

iflynething said:


> That man is amazing. I fly too. Helis and planes.
> 
> Did you go to The Nall?
> 
> ~Michael~


 
Glad you all enjoyed the pics. 
I didn't make it to Joe Nall this year.  But Mac is bringing the B-29 to the GA Warbird Fly-In at the GMA field here in Ball Ground this weekend!


----------



## Hawaii Five-O (Sep 2, 2008)

wow thats awesome! The X-1 is one of my favorites.


----------



## pez (Sep 3, 2008)

Addendum- I just received this announcement from Mac Hodges:



> Greetings From Hodges Hobbies;
> 
> It's a sad day for me as I write this email to inform you that my best friend, Dan Stevens, passed away this afternoon. His battle with cancer is now over. I knew this day was coming but that hasn't made it any easier. My thoughts and sympathy are with Nancy, Dani, Bill, John, and Mike.
> Dan and I go back a long way. I first met Dan about 1979 when I came down from Atlanta, where I was living at the time, to attend a fun fly contest that Pop Curtis, another dear friend, was putting on down at Veterans Park. Pop told me there was a guy named Dan Stevens from Albany that won every contest he entered. Pop said Dan had just won a contest that had a bomb drop by flying over at 3 feet of altitude and, doing a roll, put the bomb in the middle of a 3 foot circle. Pop said he was one great pilot but that he was "just so damned caustic". And those of you that knew Dan can probably see where Pop got that opinion. I moved back to the farm in late 1979 and Dan and I started running into each other quite a bit at local contests. I think it was because of a mutual respect for each other's flying skills that he and I hit it off and we became good friends. We started going to fun fly contests together in the 80s and have been traveling to various events all over ever since. It was during one of these trips with the old B-29 that Dan came up with the idea for the X-1. When we got home he got busy and soon we had a X-1 to test fly. And when the original B-29 folded a wing at Joe Nall in 2001, Dan built the current B-29 in 6 months. Dan said he had an X-1 sitting around that needed a ride. Dan could build anything from just a three view. He was the best builder I have ever known. And he was a fast builder, he didn't sit around and think about what he needed to do, he knew what needed to be done and did it. Born in 1935, Dan loved airplanes and started building models at an early age. He was a crew member with the Thunderbirds during his tenure in the Air Force. We called him "Mr. Airplane" because he knew more about building, finding the cg on complicated planes, or anything you wanted to know. He could identify any WW 2 era military plane. Not only could he identify it but he could tell you all about it! His knowledge of warbirds never ceased to amaze me. As did his knowledge of most anything. Dan was well read and it showed. Dan was a smart guy with loads of common sense and always had the most practical answer to any problem or situation.
> Back when the competition funflys were going strong, Dan designed the Stick-It which was kitted and became so popular most people called any fun fly plane like that a "Stick-It". Dan probably did more to popularize the Lanier Stinger in this area than anyone else. Most of us can fondly picture Dan flying a Stinger at local fly-ins, doing a tight pitchout to a perfect landing. Dan also loved airplanes that were different as was demonstrated by his unusual German warbirds.


 
Dan was one of the two best R/C pilots (the other being Mac) and the best builder I ever met. I guess the show won't be coming here this year at all...


----------

