Allan Flowers' R/C model of the LA-11 "Ferret" ground support aircraft.
Allan Flowers designed, built, and donated this R/C model of the LA-11 “Ferret” ground support aircraft. This unique aircraft model was designed and built by former GM and Nissan stylist Allan Flowers in 1996-1997. Rather than modeling an existing plane, he decided to design his own next generation of a ground support and tank killer aircraft. It would be part A-10 “warthog” and part Cobra gunship with a little Humvee thrown in.
Allan handled the project as if designing a new car. First came sketches and computer drawings. Next he lofted the lines of the plane in three views using thin black tape on clear Mylar. Then he made a clay model of the fuselage from which molds were made, and eventually plastic fuselage parts were vacuum formed. The parts were then painted, the wings made, control surface and landing gear servos installed and finally the Magnum Pro .45 cubic inch 2-stroke, single-cylinder model airplane engine was installed in the rear as a “pusher.” Using a turboprop engine in the real version would give P-51-like performance, but keep cost down to a minimum.
The model ended up being featured on the cover of Radio Control Modeler magazine in June, 1997 (see photo below). The cover photo was shot at Miramar Naval Air Station, known as “Fightertown USA,” where the movie Top Gun was filmed. The planes and hangars in the background are real. The model was posed on a gray board and aligned to get the perspective right.
The first step—pencil sketches and eventually computer generated drawings. Next, a three-view drawing is lofted using strips of black tape on clear mylar. This full-size drawing is about 6′-long. Tape is used because it can be peeled up and repositioned easily to change the lines of the plane.From the drawings, a clay model is made. This photo shows the top of the fuselage the top of the fuselage. Other clay models are made of other parts that would be vacuum formed later on.This photo shows the bottom of the fuselage. Some of the stylist’s clay modeling tools can be seen as well. Then, a mold is made for vacuum forming various parts. Shown here are the cockpit and pilot head insert and the nose of the aircraft including the canopy. The vacuum formed parts are made from clear plastic and painted on the inside after masking off the parts that will remain clear. Here is Allan Flowers’ impressive final product. The plane was flown three or four times and then put away for many years until donated to the Craftsmanship Museum for display in 2016. Note the cockpit detail, including the face of the pilot inside the helmet. The face was modeled by a friend to look like the builder, Allan Flowers back in 1997. This photo shows the plane with a blue ribbon for 1st place in the scale division of a contest in Pasadena in 1995. The Ferret model was featured on the cover of the June 1997 issue of Radio Control Modeler magazine.
Exhibit added: May 10, 2016 - Last modified: April 24, 2023
