Chris Cox of Delta, B.C., built this
version of his Hellcat design for use in Precision
Aerobatics at the 2026 Control-Line World Championships. All
photos by Chris Cox.
The Hellcat for 2026
By Chris Cox
Construction of my latest Hellcat
began around September 2025. With the F2 World
Championships taking place in Perth, Australia, I
decided I really needed a model that would break down
into multiple components in order to better facilitate
shipping and in an effort to save money on oversize
baggage.
My very good friend Tim Just,offered me a ready-to-fly Aurora that fits into a small box (under maximum allowable 63” total, length plus width, plus height). I brought the model home and flew it about 40 times and decided it would fit my needs if necessary, but I really wanted to fly one of my signature Hellcats.
This would entail plug-in wings, stabilizer and a fuselage with a joint around the flap control horn. I was able to use Arkady Gorodetsky’s wing, stabilizer and control surface molds, and went about producing a new fuselage mold. This entailed careful construction of the plug and then creation of the mold itself. I’m happy to report it went well, but the work required made the idea of purchasing a ready-to-fly model from the Ukraine start to seem more reasonable at $4,000.00 CDN! Still, being cheap, I pushed in.
The wings were molded from 1.2 mm Airex foam and 1/2 ounce glass cloth. The fuselage was molded for 1/16” balsa and glass cloth.
The finish was traditional clear dope with urethane color pigment added for color. I still find dope to be the easiest medium for finish and touch-up if required. I also find it to be the lightest finish! From bare surface to paint and polish only accounted for about 10 ounce total weight gain.
Test flying has shown this to be one of my best flying Hellcats yet, which is saying a lot as previous Hellcats were also ”very” good flying models. I should mention that all previous Hellcats are well and flyable.
So, provided nothing changes my mind, Hellcat #5 will make its debut in Australia this April/May!
Molded balsa fuselage parts.
Internal fuselage parts.
Trial assembly on the workbench.
All the parts for a truly take-apart model.
My very good friend Tim Just,offered me a ready-to-fly Aurora that fits into a small box (under maximum allowable 63” total, length plus width, plus height). I brought the model home and flew it about 40 times and decided it would fit my needs if necessary, but I really wanted to fly one of my signature Hellcats.
This would entail plug-in wings, stabilizer and a fuselage with a joint around the flap control horn. I was able to use Arkady Gorodetsky’s wing, stabilizer and control surface molds, and went about producing a new fuselage mold. This entailed careful construction of the plug and then creation of the mold itself. I’m happy to report it went well, but the work required made the idea of purchasing a ready-to-fly model from the Ukraine start to seem more reasonable at $4,000.00 CDN! Still, being cheap, I pushed in.
The wings were molded from 1.2 mm Airex foam and 1/2 ounce glass cloth. The fuselage was molded for 1/16” balsa and glass cloth.
The finish was traditional clear dope with urethane color pigment added for color. I still find dope to be the easiest medium for finish and touch-up if required. I also find it to be the lightest finish! From bare surface to paint and polish only accounted for about 10 ounce total weight gain.
Test flying has shown this to be one of my best flying Hellcats yet, which is saying a lot as previous Hellcats were also ”very” good flying models. I should mention that all previous Hellcats are well and flyable.
So, provided nothing changes my mind, Hellcat #5 will make its debut in Australia this April/May!
Molded balsa fuselage parts.
Internal fuselage parts.
Trial assembly on the workbench.
All the parts for a truly take-apart model.
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was updated March 6, 2026