By Jim Deutsch, EAA 506735
The inspiration to build a scale model of my full-scale 1962 Debonair was inevitable as I have been building models since I was 11 years old. My main passion is aerobatic aircraft and competing in that modeling genre. I used to build scale models back in the ’70s. So I thought, “Why not?”
I found a Top Flite kit of a V–tail Bonanza and decided to modify it to conform to the dimensions of my Debonair. I wanted it to look just like the big one. I had to duplicate the corrugations on the control surfaces and did that by hand. The rivets are drops of glue applied one at a time. All the details such as antennae are carved out of balsa. The entire airframe is covered in fiberglass and then was primed before the color was sprayed on. The lights work and the landing gear retracts and has sequential doors. The engine is a .75 cubic inch glow motor with a custom-machined exhaust to come out the scale location.
It took me about four years to complete but I worked on it only about one day a week after the airframe was completed. I have not flown it yet. I want to enjoy looking at it in case it crashes!
