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1:5 Scale Model A-10
On the eve of the world championship of remote-control flight, an American financier, a three-star general, a jet engineer and the Air Forces most powerful civilian have come together in Thailand to build the perfect fighting planeat 1:5 scale If a sodden rice paddy feels soft and forgiving underfoot, it is not a merciful place to set down an airplane at 200 mph. And thats only one of Mike Selbys reasons to look nervous as he watches his A-10 Warthoga 10-foot-wide, 65-pound, hand-built modelbegin its maiden takeoff roll down a rough asphalt runway near Bangkok, Thailand. Selby, who spent over $12,000 and the better part of a year fabricating and building this radio-controlled jet, stands runwayside with his thumbs hooked into the belt loops of his jeans, trying to look relaxed as he draws on a Cuban cigar. But he cant stop tapping his foot. Next to him, pilot Ray Johns, a U.S. Air Force general and test pilot who has flown everything from Air Force One to the U2 surveillance plane, chews a wad of gum with anxious rapid-fire chomps and leans back against the weight of the control console hanging from his neck. This is one of the things that simultaneously satisfies my geek side and my grunt side. Posted by: OldSpook 2008-06-20 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=242225 |