Canada's Famous Bush Planes by Unionville Hobby

Unionville Hobbies produces a fine line of classic built up model airplanes and I have owned several over the course of my model building life.

Noorduyn Norseman

40 Size finished in its Royal Canadian Mounted Police Air Division paint scheme (CF- MPL)* 

 When I purchased this model I was very disappointed with it. The cabin windows were fake stick on silver colored decals.

 I spent a lot of time studying the structural details around the cabin to find the least invasive way to cut out the sheeting for the windows without having to remove or alter the covering material.

 Eventually it was decided to cut out the openings with a sharp exact o knife and slide strips of thin model train window material between the covering and the balsa sheeting and fix them from shifting by a couple of drops of zap adhesive.

 Those small modifications transformed this model for me from an ugly little plane into one that is suddenly pleasing to the eye, especially from 30 feet away.

This image of me piloting the Norseman during a landing was taken by a miniature camera shooting through the new cabin windows.

* Norseman Mk V, Constructor's No. N29-40, Canadian Reg. CF-MPL.  Aircraft sold to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Feb. 11, 1949.  Paint scheme: Wings and tail surfaces, yellow, fuselage and undercarriage dark blue.
Subsequent owners (dates of sale):
   5/20/59 to Bradley Air Service, Carp, Ontario
   9/26/60 to Arnold E. Bradley, Chicoutimi, Quebec
   10/10/61 to Bradley Air Service, Carp, Ontario
   11/20/64 to Mattagami Skyways Co. Ltd., Moonbeam, Ontario
On May 5, 1965, MPL crashed at Cooper Lake (49/02N, 20/59W during a landing in a rainstorm.  The pilot and two passengers were killed.  Two other passengers were injured.
Note: Dates of sales obtained from DOT Canada and given to us by Bob Noorduyne.

60 Size Norseman
This trustworthy Norseman which he built about 25 years ago.
The model is from a Unionville Hobbies Norseman semi scale kit. Hank modified the plans to more closely resemble the full scale airplane. The color-scheme he chose is of a plane which is at the National Aircraft museum in Ottawa.
The Noorduyn Norseman is a Canadian single-engine bush plane designed to operate from unimproved surfaces. The partial streamlining of the landing gear, in the form of two small "wings" extending from the lower fuselage, is a distinctive feature of the design which makes it easily recognizable. Originally introduced in 1935, the Norseman remained in production for almost 25 years with over 900 produced. A number of examples remain in commercial and private use to this day. Norseman aircraft are known to have been registered and/or operated in 68 countries throughout the world and also have been based and flown in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
Watch a short video of the model flying at our field on June 16.

This model was constructed from a Unionville Hobbies kit more than 20 years ago and was modified by the builder to more closely resemble the original aircraft which is on display at the National Air Museum in Ottawa Canada

Those changes are principally confined to the tail surfaces and landing gear strut arrangement as well as the cowl shape

The wing panels are attached with bolts at the fuselage sides where the shear loads are reacted, the wing bending moments are carried by the wing struts, just like the full size airplane

The same model shown in the next video flying at 1/2 speed.




deHavilland Bever DHC 2

This old model airplane was rescued from mouse infestation and put back into service just for old times sake. The Enya 46 4 cycle engine's carburetor was badly seized and had to be heated with a blow torch just to get things moving again. The high aspect ratio wing is equipped with flaps which I was at first a little reluctant to deploy in the air because of their extreme deflection but after trying them we were happy to discover that they made a big improvement in the model's flying performance.  Especially in the takeoff and landing events.


E-Flite Electric Beaver

We were able to log the maiden for our new Beaver on the second day of flying for us this season (24th. May 2016). Summing up: we have to say that we were pleased with the way she performed and looking forward to many flights with this minimum fuss scale flyer.