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MODEL liRe
FT
Designing
MO EL I C
Designing
All rights reserved . All trad emarks and registe red nam es ack nowledged . No part of this book may be co pie d ,
reproduce d or transmitted in an y form w ithout the written co nse nt of the Publi shers.
The information in this book is true to the best of our knowled ge at the time of co mpilation. Recommendation s
are mad e witho ut any guarantee , implied or otherwise, on the part of the author or pu blish e r, who also disclaim an)
liability incurr ed in co nnec tion w ith the use of data o r specific informa tion co ntaine d w ithin this publication .
I , Peter Miller , hereb y asse rt and give no tice of my right unde r section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and
ISBN 0 9510589 6 7
Front Cover
Qua rk is a C02 p owered modelfor tbe CETO su b miniature radio, total, ready to fly weigbt is 2 ou nces .
Inset is Pee Tee Spo rtsterfor .40 to .45 fo ur stroke engines.
Ba ck Cover
The author witb bts u np ublished "Belgarion 'tfo r Sa ito 90 twin .
Tech n ical Drat oings by Lee Wiseda le
Cm 100ns by Simo n Bates
TRAPLET
~' ~
P
U8
TI
Contents
Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapt er 10
Introduction
Why and What With?
Essential Aerodynamics
The First Design Layout
Lightness Equals Strength
Fuselages
Wings and Tails
Undercarriages and Other Bits
Scaling Up Drawings
Flight Testing
Selling Your Plan
Usefu l Addresses
Notes
9
11
15
22
31
39
46
.54
64
69
73
78
79
Introduction
ne of the first questions any specta tor asks a
modeller is 'Did you make it yourself?' and there
ca n be few modellers who do no t fee l a touch
of pride when they say 'Yes, I did.' Imagine then the
pr ide you would fee l it yo u could say, 'It is my own
design.' A response which brings a look of respect to the
spectators eye .
Q uite apart from the ego factor , designing your own
mo dels adds a treme ndo us amount of interest to the
hobby and, no t on ly can it save you money it can actually be profi tab le.
Th ere are other books o n designing mod els but this
book brings the subject down to the simples t possible
ter ms and methods. No maths tha t cannot be ha nd led on
a basic calcu lator, the minim u m of th e o ry w hic h is
reduced to the barest facts in understandable terms.
Even if you do no t want to design models, knowing a
little about design will he lp you to improve on kits, spot
poten tial weak spots, mod ify o ther designs without m ining them and it w ill he lp yo u to understand why things
are done in a particular way.
I have not tried to simplify the su bject for the book ,
what I have done is lay o ut the methods tha t I use , no
more and no less, to pro duce my own designs.
Judge for yourself how successfu l my methods are, 48
published plans in 10 magazines in three countries over
20 yea rs at the time of wri ting with another 8 awaiting
publication, and I don't know how many designs tha t
have never been sent in to magazines.
Chapter 1
to create a trul y beauti ful model. Isn 't there a sca le subject that yo u lon g to build but there are no plan s for it?
J ust once wouldn't yo u like to have a mod e l that no one
else has? If the answer to ALL th ese qu estion s is "No" all
I ca n say is, "\V'atch ou t, th e tran spl ant surgeo ns are
looking fo r spa res ."
- - .....
---:-. :._-
~\:..
11
Tim Rose designed 'R b u ba rb ' as a scbool project. Plans tben published ill RCMlV.
Do yo u un de rstand the co-efficie nt o f lift o r the co efficie nt of dr ag? Do you understand neutral points and
polar mom ent s of inert ia? Do yo u stud y the gra phs su pplied with the co-ord inates of wing sectio ns? You d o?
Well , yo u d on 't need to read this bec au se I don't and
nor will the readers of this bo ok .
You w ill learn all that you ne ed from this book, tru e
rule of thumb designing and th e first rule of thumb is,
do n 't hit it w ith a ha mme r be cau se you can 't hol d a
pen cil afterwa rds.
O ut of the goodness of my heart and be ca us e I am
ge tting paid for it, I am goi ng to tell yo u how to design
mod els the easy way witho ut a ny of the mys te ry or formulae.
12
13
Paper
Fig 1.1 -Tbe most useful French curve
14
Chapter 2
Essential Aerodynamics
e rod ynamics is a vas t and co mp licate d subjec t
but the bas ic theory of flight is much simp le r,
.
and what yo u need to kn ow to desi gn a mo de l is
eve n simpler than that.
I kn ew a University grad ua te who design ed a ser ies
of bea utiful co ntrol line stunt models, all the form ulae ,
the w orks and they flew ve ry we ll ind e ed . O ne day he
needed a stunte r in a hurry and design ed a simple bo x
and plank design for quick buildi ng ... it flew far better
than the fancy o nes.
Do n't think that all the co mputers and wind tunnels
and expertise of the full size wo rld a re infallible , they
ge t it ho rribly wrong as well at times.
I am goi ng to tell yo u the minimum that yo u need to
kn ow to design a model , if yo u wa nt to understand
ae rod ynam ics be tter I ca n recomme nd "The Mechanics
of Flight" or "Flight with out Formulae" by Kermode , o ld
bo o ks bu t st ill tw o of the easiest to unde rstand . Th ey
sho uld be ava ilab le from your lib rary or aviation book
sho ps.
Tips)' N ip per is bigbly a erobatic, note umtsual toing sect io n and lar g e in cidence angle compared uiit b
tailplane and engine tbrustline.
15
c
Flat bottomed
Bi-convex
E
Symmetrical
'-
---
Under cambered
16
Cbord lille
Ang le of attack
Direction of atrfloto
(variable)
A ng les
C!.Jord Une
d~tum
Angle of in cidence
17
WillgAreas
Full size Skybolt and model Vollesplane obey tbe same rules forfligbt.
18
.15
.25
.40
.45
.60
200
350
450
550
650
to
to
to
to
to
350 sq . in.
450
550
650
800
19
AIR 20:1
AIR 6:1
AIR 5:1
AIR 4:1
20
Aspect Ratio
21
Chapter 3
~KY
22
Specification
Before w e ca n s ta rt
drawing w e n e ed to
d e cid e o n th e s ize o f
th e m od el, th e wi ng
section that w e want to
use and the sha pe and
po sition of the wing .
For a .25 size model
a w ing o f a b o u t 4 50
s q .in . is a b o u t righ t.
No w w e p lay a bo u t
with s pa n and c ho rd
until we ge t a n as pect
ra tio that is sensibl e , I
took 50" s pa n and 9"
chord fo r an as pect ratio
of 5 .5 but yo u c o u ld
vary this from a span of
45" a n d c h o rd of 10"
(AIR 4.5) to a span of to
52" and 8.6" chord (AI R
6) . The s h o rte r win g
span will roll faster.
Experimental design by Geo rge Strobm does not baue a single curve ill it, evelJ I
You ca n round fig uiing s ection is a d ia mond. Flew a t b lg b speed but was d iabolical a t loto speed.
ures up and down , a little more area or less is
In this cha pter yo u will find three airfoil sec tio ns , yo u
nothing to worry about. For a .40 s ize model the area
can have these enl arged o n a photocopier to th e size
wou ld be 550 or more sq . in.
th a t yo u need , take th e measuremen t of yo ur w in g
Th e wing can be located in the sho ulde r, mid or low
cho rd and d ivide that by the measurem ent of th e sec tio n
positio ns. The mid-wing pr es ents structural problem s
printed here , that is the enlarge me nt factor to set on the
and takes up valu ab le space , the sho ulde r win g is nice
cop ie r whi ch mu st hav e a full zoo m ca pab ility. e .g. Your
but can make for extra work later, it is ide al wh en the
mod e l chord 9.5", in th e bo ok , 5.375, yo u ne ed to
model has to be hand launched and also mak es wo rking
on the model eas y as it will sit o n its unde rcarriage .
e nlarge by 1.76.
You could des ign yo u own sec tio n, I have shown th e
Th e low wing model is mo re commo n and has man y
ma in points that you need to watch . If yo u go this route
ad vant ages but may present problems when it co mes to
you will probabl y not no tice the differen ce . You could
locating the undercarria ge in the ide al position. We will
eve n use th e MILLER T.L.A.R. (tha t looks about right)
cover both shoulder wing and low wing in the exe rcise ,
after all, this is yo ur first desi gn and you are go ing to
sectio n .
build it. We also ne ed to decide on the w ing sectio n .
He re the choice is bewildering. You co uld use a semiP aper and P e ncil
symm etric al wing or fully symmetrical, yo u could eve n
Tak e yo ur piece o f pap er a nd attach it to your drawuse Clad, Y se t at true 0 incidence as this works like a
ing board , I sug gest masking tap e at the co rn ers but
thin semi-symme trical wing inve rted but it is a bit thin .
drawing pins or even proper drawing board clip s can be
I favour a th ick symme trica l sec tio n with a blunt lead ing ed ge, this will slow the model slightly a nd giv es ver y
used .
Now draw a line about 10" inches from the bottom of
gentle stall characteristics.
Fig 3.2 - Ouin Desig n Section
Max thic knes s at 3 0% cb ord
Miller T.L.A.R.
st lit L.E.
23
--
-------Higb wing
p =1
SbOO'de
1.,r--.....
__
----
Low wing
24
Fig 3.4
-s
Aerodynamic Layout
Prop driver
I.E.
T.E.
-------l...I+------cHORD (C)-----.'<llI
...f - - - - - C X
_ _1 _
_ _ _
_ _ _
_ _ L
TIP I.E,
1.5 - - - ----.
Datum
Put the tailp lan e's 6" root chord o n yo ur datum line .
You can decid e wh ere the tailplane will sit now, I like
putting it o n top of th e fusela ge s ide .
Variations
011
the Theme
\X/hat yo u have d rawn ab o ve is the ae rod yna mic layo ut for a sp ort s ac ro batic mod el. With a mod e l of this
typ e the w ings, tailpl an e and e ngine w ill norm ally be se t
at 0 to the datum, this wi ll give neutral stability or, in
othe r word s, the model w ill stay point ing in any dir ection that you have placed it in. Some oth er typ es need to
be different.
Tra iners need som e positive inciden ce o n the wing to
mak e them pull out of a dive if the learner releases the
s tic k. Th ere ar e so ca lle d train ers that ha ve neutral
Higb 1II00m ted pusber engine on tbe Polisb bomebuilt needs some 'up' thrust but, because it is pushing tbe
engine is pointed downwards s ligbtty.
25
Drag
D r ag
26
Sta rt with a Bo x
90% of all model a ircraft are based o n a pl ain box
fuselage . Some , like the Stik famil y don 't go any furth er,
othe rs have a simple turtle deck and o the rs have the box
hidden unde r stringers and fairings .
Your box will look so me thing like the drawing , th e
slo pe up to the ta il may vary but at thi s stage in the
learning curve little e lse will. What you do w ith it is up to
you , a simp le turtle deck will be easy to design and ca n
be varied in he ight , position of co ckp it and so on .
Draw it in lightl y, th is is wh en the era ser co mes into
its own as yo u cha nge things until yo u get a shape that
you like. Of co urs e you should have had a fair idea of
w ha t you w anted from th ose ske tches on the back of
e nve lo pes, but ge tting it to look right at full size can tak e
a little time .
A very simp le jet style mod el is sho wn in Fig 7 this
uses th e bo x and a few pieces o f shee t to crea te an
attractive looking mod el.
Fig 3.6
-s
~fE -=tfR8f~+---
--~
You can draw in the fin, this sho uld have about half
the area of the tailplane, more if you have a very bulky
front end of the fuse lage . Fin shape is not critical, you can
have any sha pe you like, just keep the areas correct and
rem ember that part of it has to be hinged fo r a rudder.
The rudder area is no t critica l, highl y aeroba tic models will benefit from large rud de rs to kic k them over in
good stall turn s and produce crisp flick man oeu vres an d
spins , spo rts mod el do not need as much . A good comprom ise is about Y3rd the tot al area of the fin and rudder.
The rud der is norm ally ex tende d down to the bo ttom of
the fuse lage .
27
011
o
use a s moot h , n atu ral curve o r a tighte r c urve a nd
straig ht tape r.
To d raw a smooth sweeping curve yo u need a spline,
this is not ex pens ive be cau se it is just a str ip of Y.."
sq uare balsa or spru ce . Using mask ing tape hold o ne
e nd d o wn to the stra ig ht po rtion of the fusel age and
then pull the free e nd to line up w ith the ce ntre line at
the rear of the fuselage.
A light pen cil line alon g each s ide of the spline and
28
The Wing
T h e wi ng c a n b e
draw n as a re c tang le
b e c a u s e we a re n o t
goi ng to g o in for
tap ere d w in gs at th is
stage . Straight w ings are
eas ier be cau s e a ll the
wing ribs a re the sa me
with jus t m ino r va riation s.
At th is stage we ca n
design the sha pe of the
t ip s a n d we c a n al s o
p lo t the ailerons .
Th e tips ca n be an y
shape that yo u want but
yo u really wa nt to keep
them simple and light at
thi s s tage . T he s hap e
show n o n the drawing
is as good as a ny fo r a first mode l.
For ease of co ns truc tio n strip a ilerons a re ha rd to
beat. I have foun d that 14% of the wi ng a rea is a pre tty
good rule of thumb, so take yo ur wing area , le t's say 450
sq. in. and punch that into the ca lculator and we ge t 63
sq .in. , if we have a spa n of 50" divide that into 63 and
T1J' different outlines, something sligbtly unusual call produce an eye catching model.
29
Midwest K its use a basic box and uitng for a ,.a llg e of "SOIt of' s ca le models.
Tailplane
area , so it is a matter of
jugglin g the tap er into a
sha pe that looks nice .
Slig htly more swee p
o n th e L.E. lo o ks b e st
a nd gives a se nsi ble sort
o f s ha p e to th e e leva to rs.
Don 't w orry too
mu ch abo ut keeping to
exact areas and pe rcen tages , m o d el s wi ll fl y
wit h wid e vari ations .
You sho uld now have a
dr awing that lo o ks like
Fig 3 althou gh the wings
a nd tail may be on separate p ieces of paper.
I
I
\I------_-+---_----jl/
I
30
Chapter 4
Inertia
Sir Isaac Newton sa id
th at a body had a tend en c y to rem a in in a
c o ns ta n t s ta te unl es s
acted o n by a n o utside
forc e , Le . th e apple kept
falling until his he ad got
in the way and sto ppe d
it o r, a m o re m od ern
e xa m p le , s it ting in a
cha ir until the wife tells
yo u to go and mow th e
lawn . .. this is inertia .
In th e sa me w a y a
mod el ha s ine rtia a n d
eac h pa rt of that mod el
ha s iner tia and wh en it
is m o vin g non e of it
w ant s to s to p . Wh en
one part sto ps th e rest
wa n ts to ca rry o n an d
the heavier eac h part is,
the more iner tia it has.
No w ima gin e yo u r
ni c e s tro n g , he a vy
mod el. Th e s p inne r
sto ps be cause it meet s
th e g ro u nd but everything else want s to ca rry
o n until it too , m e ets
the ground and so yo ur
he avy wingtips hit th e
ground and the wing is
in two (o r a lot more)
bits and the tail tries to
ge t up front with th e
e ngine and your solid
'lo o king mod el is a he ap
of splinters.
Now tak e a light e r
t,.~
----
ddIl'\t'
ti ff .
\~ .
".,,~
~h ;\1 \
~ \\ I
""'#
. ~'"
I~
~\
....
.... . ..
..":
..
.~
"~_~, .,I .
. r:
/1./.
.,H."""
-1'
~ "~t
(
,.. ..
....,Hft. . .
....
..u~_
.",
~ -a
31
32
COIISt'"IICtiOIl
==
Tapered sp a r
/
r
I
I
-,
I
-.
Dihedral braces
Good /
~ --=
-=--. -- --- - -
---1
~--
Balsa trebler
Ply doubier
Balsa side
33
T he p a rt s rh at . do
n e e d to b e s tro ng are
the e ng ine m o unting ,
th e
u n d e rcar ria g e
mo un t, the wi ng attac hm e n t area sa n d th espa~
but e ve n th es e ca n be
mad e a bit lighter w ith
so me thou gh t.
The Rotten
Carrot
Syndrome
T h ere a re ve ry few
m o d el s
t hat
are
des ign ed to spread th e
load s prope rly. We see
d oubl ers th a t e nd in a
s tra ig ht lin e just a t th e
rear of the w ing , ce ntre
sec tio n s h eeti ng th at
jo ins the L.E. shee t and
T.E. at a right ang le an d
This 15 powered aerobatic model used tbe tapered spar toitb webs mid velJI
so o n.
Th is sudden cha nge
ligbtureigbt structures, note centre section sheet blended to spars and tips. Flew
of sectio n alwa ys results
like a dream.
in a high stress area an d
tha t is w here the mod el w ill brea k in a cra sh. The co rand pu nch holes in the surfa ces. A strip of harde r wood
fo r the hinges w ill also act as a spa r to stiffe n th ings up
rect way to design any stru cture is to tap er the change of
a little.
sectio n and to taper the streng th to suit the load s.
This Tiger Motb kit fuselage could be improved at tbe [unction bettoeen sbeet and built up section
34
Ultra light structure Oil lVaco PG -2jilselage showing curved ends to doubler,
Materials
Balsa
O f a ll woods , bal sa is th e mo st varia ble , th is is
because it grows ve ry fast and so a very dr y or part icu larly wet season has a mu ch mor e dram at ic effec t o n
the w oo d .
You can be prett y ce rtai n th at any plank of oak w ill
be mu ch like any o ther, but a shee t of balsa ca n be
rock hard o n o ne side and, in the sp ace of two inches,
go to very soft.
More often yo u will find less var iation than that in
any give n sheet but any stack of shee ts in th e mo de l
sho p w ill s how th at de gree of va ria tio n be tw een th e
hard est and softes t sheet, and fo r ha rd and so ft you ca n
also re ad heavy and light.
Thi s varia tio n in hard ness is ve ry usefu l, we ca n use
hard shee t fo r he avily load ed areas, medium fo r less
stresses p arts and so ft fo r th ose th at do not nee d th e
streng th.
.
No t onl y do sheets vary in hardness, they also vary
in stiffness , this is co ntrolled in part by the hard ness but
also by the way it has been cut. Quarter g rain sheet is
rel uc tant to bend across it's w idt h an d so is used fo r
th ings like fuselage sides and w ing ribs .
The softe r, easi ly curled sheet is best for L.E. sheeting an d turt le de cks where it w ill curve wit hout spli tting.
Str ip wood shou ld a lways be h ard , it is used for
spa rs, lon ge rons a nd stringers , the first two have to ta ke
the main loads of the mod el w hile stringers take ha nd lingIoads and soft stringe rs w ill break very eas ily
whe n you p ick the mod el up .
Solid Tail surfaces sho uld always be mad e o ut of so ft
35
Inside vie w of Taylor Monoplane fus elage sbototng W' sq wood and ply co ve ri ng:
Gtrssets are formed by solid blo cks g lued illto co rners ofjoints.
Unidentified bomebuilt fus elage under co nstructio n. Square cut-out is for toing,
1I0te large gussets spreading load ill bigl stress area. Tbe fram e will be covered
tuttb ply late,'.
36
Plywood
Plyw o o d is mu ch
stronger tha n ba lsa but
it is a lso mu ch he avier
a n d s o mu st b e u s ed
with car e .
T he re a re m a ny
ty p e s o f p lywoo d a nd
se ve ra l usefu l thi ckn esses , most have thei r uses
o n o u r mo de ls.
Th e most co mmo nly
u se d s izes a re Yt. ,", y.,",
X,,", X" a nd Y.". Th e th inner s izes are ofte n used
fo r d oubl ers as th e y
ten d to be rather fle xibl e a nd b onding th em
to b a ls a mak e s a very
stron g, stiff laminate .
Doubl ers a re o fte n
mad e o ut o f X,." ply but
th is is thicke r th an yo u
rea lly nee d . y'," p ly la minated to ha rd W' ba lsa
is q ui te stro ng e no ug h
to ho ld a powerfu l .40
e n g ine , w hi le 10 ." p ly
a nd .y,," b a ls a is a deq ua te fo r the nose struct u re o f m od el s wi t h
e n gin e s u p to . 15 ,
incre ase the balsa to X"
for e ng ines up to .20.
I o nce sa w a mode l
whi ch u s ed o b ec h i
ve nee r ins tea d of pl y
fo r th e d oubl ers . Th e
gra in was runn in g in
t h e sa me direct ion as
th e b a ls a g ra in a n d
o bec h i is n ot mu ch
stro nger than balsa anyway so I form ed a
ra t he r lo w o p in io n o f
the design.
Th e thick e r s ize s o f
pl y a re used for forme rs . T h e form er o n
w hi c h t h e e ng ine is
mou nted must be birch
pl y and , if 1'." pl y is
u s ed for th e lar g er
e ngines , thi s sho uld be
multi pl y with a t lea st
five layers.
Th ere are s e ve ral
typ es of plywood , so me
o f this is wh at used to
b e ca lle d "Do u b le
Thi ckn e s s
Ce n tre
Laminati on ", it is ofte n
mad e from mah o gan y,
it is easy to re co gn ise
b e ca u s e th e ce n tre is
thi ck with th e outsi de
layers being ver y thin . I
find that it cu ts badl y ,
tends to se parate and is
n ot
reall y
stron g
en ough .
Lit epl y is a mu ch
bett er material and ca n
be used for so me forme rs . Man y kit s u s e
lite ply for mu ch of th e
co ns truc tio n , incl udi ng
a ll th e fu s ela ge p arts .
Thi s is hea vy and harder to cut-o ut and so we
would onl y use it for a
few parts.
Formers ca n be cut
a way lea v ing ju st a n
o u tli ne a n d th e a reas
wh ere o the r p art s are
a ttac he d, s uc h as th e
plates fo r the nuts th at
hold the win gs o n .
l1H" ply is a ve ry useful mate rial , it fe el s so
w eak and floppy but in
th e righ t place it ca n be
bett er than balsa.
My Velie Mon ocoupe
has a fu sel age b uilt of
Wt sq ua re s pruce w ith
an inn er skin of )(,," ply
in th e ce ntre area, thi s
w as pow er ed by a Cox
Qu e en Be e .07 4 a n d
w as full y aero ba tic . In
th e fin al cras h whi ch
demolished the top p ortion of th e ca bi n, th e
wing , buried the eng ine
and snappe d the cranksha ft, the ba sic fusela ge
was not bro ke n.
l-f, ." pl y can a ls o b e
Metal bomebuitt, 1I0te oarying size of' tubes, biggest is 0111)' W '. Turtle deck is
us ed for turtl e de cks as fibreglass, rest is fabric cooering.
it will roll so easily a nd
Hardwoods
I have used it to shee t ce ntre sectio ns o n w ings. I a lso
Th ere are two main hardw ood s so ld for mod el co nkn o w of so me mode ls wher e th is ply is use to shee t th e
struc tio n . Bee ch for e ngi ne bea rer s and undercarri age
L.E. of th e win g.
mo untings , a nd sp ruce w h ich is use d for s pa rs a nd
Use d carefully, y", " pl y ca n ad d va luab le s tre ng t h
with very little we ight pen alty.
stringe rs.
37
38
Chapter .S
Fuselages
an y people draw the ir plan s with single lines
to represe nt pa rts, fo r exa mple just the front of
the spa r and the rear of the T.E. Th ey also use
single lines for the for mers and fusela ge sides.
This is bad policy in my view for two rea son s. The
most immediate reason is that you have to draw all the
parts using previously d raw n item s. You need the fuselage side and plan view s to draw the forme rs. It is all
to o easy to ge t mixed up wh en taking these mea surements if you only have o ne line .
Imagine that you are o nly using a single line for eac h
former. The fron t form er would have to be represen ted
by the front face becau se that is where the e ngine sits,
but the next one back wo uld have to be sho w n by the
rear face which is wh ere the w ing L.E. locates and the
former at the T.E. would aga in have to be show n by th e
fron t face . . . See ho w easy it would be to ge t confused ?
I'
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11
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er
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N o te:
Cockpit opening o ver tuing cu t-o u t is the weak point, exte nd dOll,blers beyond area.
---,--
~-----n=-=,..-=--==~""-=-=~:::::::::----l
,"
,'1;;'
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Trebler
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- - I ~....
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---=,.......,'='-~
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39
... some just leave it like that . . . Blue Movie 2 from tbe RCMlV Plans Seruice, tbere is not mucb else you
call do witb Correx . ..
The second rea son is that yo u just might want to
offer yo ur pl an to a maga zine and the y will ne ed more
th an a few thin lines. A typ ical pl an is show n in the
drawing Fig 5.
Fuselage
In th is p art I s ha ll tell yo u how to lay out yo ur
drawing but I won 't cover everyth ing in gr eat detail
be cau se a nyo ne designing a model sho uld ha ve built
o ne o r tw o kits and so will have a little ex pe rie nce .
For exa mple, yo u sho uld n't ne ed me to tell yo u that
th e e ng ine mount ing form er mu st be pl yw o od a nd
mu st be firml y attac he d to th e side s. De sign er s use
40
many standard techniqu es so , if so me thing is not cove red in detail , use a method that yo u have se en e lse wh ere .
Th e sid e view will sho w a ny d oubler s and th e forme rs. Ind icate the dou bler , not forgetting to make it end
in a cur ved line aw ay fro m any o the r changes in section (Yo u did read th e last chapte r, didn 't yo u).
Form ers come at logical points, the e ngine mounting bul kh ead , at the L.E. and T.E. of the wing and at
the L.E. of the tail plan e . You w ill need at lea st o ne
between the wing and the tail and the turtle deck may
need a co uple of ex tra formers.
Drop lines to the plan view and dr aw the doubler
and formers in to this. If you are fe elin g lazy yo u ca n
indi cate the th ickness of the sides and dou ble rs in the
plan view at the former locat ions o nly.
Now to plot the formers. Draw a lon g datum line
and dr op ve rticals from th is, also ex tend the ve rtica ls
upwards . It is at this p o int that sq ua re protra ct o r
co mes into its ow n.
Now, usin g a pai r of divid ers tak e the distan ce from
th e d atum on th e s ide v ie w to th e b ottom a t th e
e ng ine fo rme r and tran sfer thi s to th e first former,
re peat with the top d imen sion a nd then using the plan
view tak e the width fro m the ce ntre line to th e side
and tran sfer this to each side of the former drawing.
Us ing yo ur sq ua re protractor pl ot o ut th e sq ua re
sha pe of th e ba si c forme r. Th e top p ortion will be
plott ed later. Rep eat fo r all the o the r formers.
The re a re var iou s styles o f turtl e de ck , yo u ca n
le a ve it flat (Ug h l), yo u ca n mak e it ro u nded or a
sharp ang led deck .
Th e sha rp a ng led top is easier to plot as yo u can
use fixed points o n each former. Th e ro unded turtl e
d e ck lo o ks b e st a n d
Fig 5.2 - Former P lotting
ca n b e pl otted u sin g
th e h e ight a n d width
a n d drawin g it with
co m passes . A p icture
be ing wo rt h a th ou sa n d w ord s yo u w il l
find two d raw in g s
I 1Vl
s howi ng th e m eth od
---+=
elsewhere in this cha pter. Fig 2.
The me th od s ho w n
for pl ottin g round
to pped fo rmer s works
we ll , but so me times
I
yo u may want a diffe re nt sha pe to the turtl e
deck and yo u will find
that interm edi ate form e rs ca n no t be p lotted
easily. Th e simpl e wa y
is to lea ve them oversi ze and s a n d down
I
with th e aid o f a
I
straig ht edge until they
I
blend in .
Curve d turtle deck s
be
w ill
n e ed to
plank ed
a nd
thi s
method of co nstruc tion
WI
allows yo u to use fo rlIT
m e rs th at vary qu it e
d ra maticall y. Th is ca n
ma ke for very attractive
s ha pes w hic h a re not
lIT
o ften seen these days.
When drawin g forme rs o ut don 't for get to
allow for the th ickn ess
o f th e s ides a nd top ,
and rem ember that the
double rs do not ex tend
to the tail, all these are
good reason s for drawing the model in full.
Oth e r it ems t hat
h av e to b e added to
th e fu s e lage d rawing
w ould b e win g bolt
pl at e s , a ny rei n fo rcement for att ach ing th e
undercarriage , perhaps a sheet inse rt for gluing do wn
the tailpl an e and a ply mount for the tail wheel and
sk id .
Draw all th ese p a rts in on bo th drawings. Very
often yo u will spo t possibl e pro blem s w hile doing the
d rawin g w hich is a lot bett e r tha n finding th em w he n
co ns truc tion is well under way.
For o ur in itial d esign we ca n use a very sim p le
unde rcarriage , the be nt dural U/C bo lted to the bott om
of the fuse lage so incorporate a ply plate jus t in front
of the win g an d use trian gul ar stoc k to reinfor ce the
join ts b et w e en th e pl at e a n d th e s ides a n d a lso
between the e ng ine mounting form er and side s.
This wh ole area is primary struc ture as defined in
Cha pter 4.
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~il'
HT2
,,
,,.
11
11
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HS2
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11
l1i72
11
11
Advanced Fuselages
The design of yo ur average sports mod el is prett y
basic and there a re limits to w hat o ne ca n do with a
plank w ing and modifi ed box fuse lage with dural U/C.
Add round fuse lages and tape red wi ngs to the pe rmut a tions, th ro w in a variety of under carri age types
a nd yo u can pro duce some rea lly differe n t look ing
mod els.
You may fee l that suc h co mplications are not worth
the effo rt a nd for sports mod els this could be true , but
w he n it co mes to sca le mod els so me of th e nicest subjects are mo re co mplex.
The aerody na mics rem ain th e sa me , the probl em s
co me in design ing the structure so that it is still light
and relatively easy to build.
41
Rounded Fuselages
Fig 5.3
Rounded so
---
42
Th is range o f a irc ra ft
us e d. o ne mon o coqu e
pl y ". fu s e lage s he ll
form ed in a co nc re te
mou ld a nd a s ta nda rd
wi ng ;w ith slight variations o n dihedra l.
Fro m th ese co mp on ents Lo ckh e e d b u ilt
th e p a ra s o l w in g Air
Exp re ss , the s h o u lder
w ing .Ve g a , th e lo w
wi ng Altai r, Sirius and
O rio n , so me w ith a nd
so me without retracting
undercarriages.
These aircra ft w e re
v ery fa mo u s , Wi nni e
Mae for exa mple hel d
the reco rd for a ro und
the wo rld flight.
I h a ve o fte n w ondered w h y s o me kit
ma nufactu rer has n ot
prod u ced a series of
m od e ls of t hese a irc ra ft. Even th ou gh I
d isli ke fibregl ass a n d
. . . toitb stringers Oil tbe s ides of tbe box . . . like Tequila Sunrise . . .
fo am I ca n see t h e
adv a ntages he re . O ne
Meamobile, Back at the Drauring
ma in GRP moulding and a few small o nes , o ne basic
foam wing and a varie ty of sheet tail surfaces a nd he
Board
wo uld have five diffe rent kits.
The average sports mod el has a hard life (and a sho rt
From our point of v iew the Lockh eed se ries wo uld
ne ed to have the fuselages p lanked , whic h is the rea o ne so metimes) , and so we ma y not want to go to suc h
so n that I have never built a mod el of o ne of these airle ngths as describ ed above but we can use the techniqu es.
craft.
. . . tobile others bide tbe fa ct co mp lete ly . . . Pee Tee Sportster is built as sb o um on figure 53
43
This Auster has velJ' box)' fuselage but three stringers add a little shape.
. . . but a feto do not use tbe box at all: B-17 built as
show" in figure 5.4 .. .
44
Combinations of all the methods can be used to produ ce so me really bea utiful fuse lage shapes . The ph otos
and drawings will give you so me ideas. Just rem ember the
rules, kee p it light, no sudd en change of sec tion, spread
any load and tert iary structure does not carry any loads.
Oil
longerons
I
Typical former
I : I
I
45
Chapter 6 '
POOR
Splits here
Common with or rottbout sheet
c.
::
Front view
c =======
c:
46
distortion of th e wing .
Be warned th at it is
a lmos t imposs ib le to
rem ove a built in warp
from this type of wing.
Rib spa cin g will
depend on th e typ e of
mod e l, th e size a n d
loads. Closer ribs at the
ce n t re e sp e c ia lly if a
win g mounted und ercarriage is used and wid er
spacing out beyond the
ce ntre sec tion shee ting.
All s hee ting s hou ld
foll ow th e rul es about
tap er ing off the strength,
large radii at all corners
o r ce ntre sectio n sheet
tap ered into the L.E. and
T.E . over two rib bays
will prev ent that sudde n
Ellip tical tips O il p a r allel cbord look nice, inset ailerons are velJ' effective Oil
change o f se cti on th at
tbis Mo nocoupe 110.
snaps so easily.
Trailing ed ges can be made with a strip of W' sq . and
tap er the bra ces o r the win g will snap wh ere they end.
two pieces of XI," shee t or of mor e substa ntial strip withStrip a ilerons are normally so lid, quit e often ready
out the sheet. The T.E. does hav e to take the loads of
sha ped T.E. stoc k can be used but do not compromise
the aileron hinges and so must be strong enoug h for the
the airfoil section by using the wrong size of wood , better by t~I1' to sh ap e yo ur ow n stoc k from thicker wood .
task.
Leading edges do not need to be very strong . O ne
Tips must be kept light , rem ember inertia ? A co uple
very commo n type of L.E. is Y, sq se t o n one co rne r, this
o f sugg es ted meth od s are sho wn in the drawings.
is not good becau se a slight tap will split the ribs. A better L.E. is shee t glue d flat to the front of the ribs.
Dihedral
My favourite L.E. is a variation of the abo ve whe n
used with L.E. sheeting. The L.E. is ~" sheet, it ca n be
Dih edral is use d to p ro vide lat eral sta b ility , o n a
quit e soft, this is glued to the ribs and sa nde d to blend
mod e l with no aileron s it is esse ntial but not on o thers.
A mod el w ith no aile ron s ne eds abo ut 5 o r 6 o n
in pe rfec tly. Th e sheet is glue d on and trimm ed back
eac h panel, this will give reason able rudder control, less
flush with the front of the L.E. and then a caps trip of ~"
d ihedra l will reduce the efficiency of the rudder.
sheet is glu ed o n the front a nd sanded to the co rrec t
sectio n . Thi s sys te m is
very stron g and ve ry
Fig 6.2 - lVillg Shapes
ea s y to mak e and
alwa ys looks ve ry neat.
Standard tapered tuing
J oinin g tw o w ings
ca n be done in various
w a ys . Som e Ame rica n
kits ha ve us ed g lass
--tape and resin just like
joi ning foam wings , it
work s if yo u don 't mind
the mess and e ffo rt of
ge tting the joint smo ot h.
Small mod els can just
hav e th e w ings butt
join ed and rely o n good
Spar
glue joint s and the cov"
e ring materi al, but thi s
is o nly for mod els with
engines up to .09.
Th e normal method
is to use d ihedral braces
o n th e s pars a nd L.E.
and T .E . Th is s yst em
has work ed for as long
12 Washout
as model s hav e b e en
built , just rem ember to
11:===4
47
Tapered Wings
O ne of th e easiest mod el struc tures to design and
bu ild is the pa rallel chord wing with strip ailero ns, however, the tapered Wing is a bit more co mp lex be ca use
eve ry rib is d ifferent and the d read ed tip stall is more
likely to occ ur.
Of co urse if you really wa nt to make life hard you
can go for a fully elliptical wing and if you are a ce rtifiab le sado- masochist yo u co uld design a wing like Carl
Go ldberg's famo us (I'd say infamous) Valkyrie , whic h
has each rib buil t up from st rip o n that vas t elliptica l
wing. My o nly co mment is, if yo u are read y for that ,
w hat the heck are yo u do ing wasting yo ur time reading
this?
Homebuilt biplane top using structure, note ve,,' ligbt construction of ribs and beauier compression
member betuieen spars. Ribs are tertiary structure.
48
49
~;/\\\
,/
:-\
'.
Spar may
co ver aileron
only or
. If\ \
i ,.\ '.
,'
~ Without
Full span
~ gussets
H inge
Pusbrod
slide the outline up and down until you get the correct
size of shadow and then draw rou nd it. I haven 't tried it
but it migh t work.
There are ways of draw ing the req uired ribs, o ne is to
plot the o rdina tes for each rib and then draw it o ut . ..
This way lies insan ity . . . then the re is ano the r meth od
w here by yo u d raw th e tip rib and root rib a nd then
about seven thousand lines (we ll, an awful lot anyway)
Top hinged
Elliptical Wings
Elliptica l w ings ca n be treated in the sa me way as
tapered wings bu t the shee ting is much harder because
it is dou ble curve d .
A straight wing with elliptical tips is one so lution an d
the re are Spitfire models wit h a straight tapered wing
wit h ellip tica l tips a nd curved strip ailerons, they are
quit e co nvincing in the air.
.
Nice, light elliptical tips can be made by laminating
strips of wood over a pattern, this is ideal for sca le and
se mi sca le mod els. See the picture of my Monocoupe
wing.
Elliptical wings do tend to increase the likelihood of
50
Ailerons
The strip a ileron is the mos t co mmo n typ e o n models
because it is ver y easy to mak e , ex treme ly simp le to
Seruo disc
Bellcrank 90
Bellcrank 45
1
j/~I~+7c::============================~JU
1 1
1
1
1_1""""'-----.11
1 1.....------...1
51
Tail Surface
For in itia l d e si gn
exe rcises the shee t tail is
the best ')Tay to go but
yo u can build them up
52
with so mething like X" x )1," outlines and ~" x X" strip ribs.
Used medium shee t for the solid tails and hard stock
for built up tailplanes.
Of course the draw ing for solid shee t tails is do ne as
soo n as the outlines have been drawn and I hop e that I
don 't have to describe how to draw the bu ilt up system.
It is rare for a model to finish up nose heavy and so
anything that can be don e to keep the tail light will he lp,
don 't forget that an ounce of sur plus weig ht at the back
end will need three to four ounces up the front, this is
useless weigh t which we need like a hole in the fuel tank .
Tail surfaces can be built up , there are three co mmon
meth od s. Ordinary straight strips of wood with ribs as
sho wn in drawing 6.4 of this chapter.
More curvaceo us shapes can use the same method but
the outline can be don e with lamination s as described for
wing tips.
Another meth od which is very goo d and popul ar is the
core meth od , a thin shee t core is cut to the shape of the
tail and then ribs and spa rs etc are glued on each side ,
wh en covere d it looks just like a fabric cove red tail but is
ve ry s tro ng and al so
light. Co mb in ing thi s
Fig 6,5 - Tailplanes
method with th e lami nat ed o utline mak es a
wonderfully strong light
structure.
Weight can be saved
over a so lid tail b y
build in g th e struc ture
from strip and coveri ng
it with Yl,nd balsa, this
makes what is, in effect,
a b o x struc tu re with
webs which is incredibl y
stiff for its weight, but
you must use soft wood
throughout.
One method that was
very popul ar some years
ago was to build an outline with diagonal bracing (\'(farren Girde r) and
then put a spar top and
bottom a nd fill in th e
ribs with small triangular
s ha pe d pi e ces . Thi s
meth od was used on the
aerobatic mod els of the
d a y and is light and
strong. The tail need s to
be stiff. enoug h to preve n t flu tt e r. Th e top
Co m pe titio n Fu n Fly
model s use inc re di b ly
light tail sur faces w ith
very large co ntro l surfaces bu t these mod els
are not design ed to be
flow n fast a n d m o s t
wa rn th e builde r th at
flying straight and level
at full throttle w ill cause
the mod el to flutter and
self destruct. I have see n
it happen seve ral times.
Sheet core
c --WF
53
Chapter 7
Undercarriages and
Other Bits
T
Undercarriage
Th e undercarriage is o nly used for a sho rt time at
take-off o r landing, however , it is a vital piece of eq uipment. It sto ps the propeller bein g worn down and the
belly of yo ur model bein g scra pe d alo ng the ground so
it mu st work properly and not co llapse.
Simple dural
54
\
\
\
\
Tricycle VIC
IN
IN
Note: Larger
moment of
leverage 011
foruiard VIC
increasing suiing
55
11)'1011
56
riage leg ba ck into sha pe and see the effo rt that has to
be used . A lot of the landin g loads have been absor be d
by that tw isting but much of the load has been transmitted into th e fuse lage o r wi ng . T hat load has to be
spread.
Look at the d rawing of the w ing mounted un dercarriage, note how the doublers on the ribs spread the load
an d tran smit it to the main spars. Note that the torsion
springing will absor b so me of the loa ds but not all.
O n th e fuselage mounting not e th at th e mo unt is
braced with triangu lar stock to spread the load in the
joint and that the stresses are then transmitted to the ply
doublers. O ne of the best metho ds of mo unting a dural
V/C o n a tra iner is to attach it with e lastic bands, if the
landing is too hard the U/C will flick back wards and the
mod el will se ttle o n its belly with minim um da mage .
Wire
u/c
Triangle stock
brace .
..
iiJl>.,rIZ--~...- - - - -
'A Pl)'
'A6 P l)'
/~7J.,----,,~
,, ~~
,~~"'--
Ply doublers
Cowlings
Cowlings may no t be so importa nt from the struc tura l
po int of view as they ca n be classed as terti ary struc ture,
but they ca n have a very se rious effec t on the engi ne
coo ling if not design ed properly and it is velY frustra ting
if you canno t ge t in eas ily on the field to sor t out so me
minor pro blem.
Cowling the eng ine neatly is ofte n a proble m, man y
mo d el s jus t u s e an exposed engi ne w it h ju st th e
crankcase cove red by a cowl that is p art of the fuselage.
57
-----
P_'_l),_-----,~----___;r
~ Balsa
. :
Two laminattons
of~z
balsa
58
59
I di d sa y 'Pro ba b ly'
but
m y T ur b u le n t
d e s ign ( RClVIW pl ans )
has a big w inds creen , if
this go t kn ocked off o r
b adl y b roken I w ould
have to wind in masses
of trim o n the e lev ato r
c le v is to mak e th e
mod el fly properly and
th en take it o u t aga in
when the w in dsc ree n
wa s replaced.
In th e c ase o f a
m ould ed ca no py th e
imp ort ant thing is to
design it to suit w ha t is
a va ila b le , as th ere is
nothing more frustrating
than tryin g to find o ne
that fits wh at you have
drawn , in dee d yo u
mi ght eve n h a ve to
mould yo ur own.
Tbe simplest form of couii firmly attached, good access and good cooling. Tbis
line is from Gerard Peeney "Callisto" design.
Th e u se o f vac uu m
form in g pl astic a llo w s
you to de sign an y sha pe of ca no py, it also allow s you to
where that will do the formin g for yo u but this is not as
produ ce involv ed and tight fitting cowlings , spa ts and
difficult as you might imagine.
fairings .
The plu g or patt ern can be mad e out of hard balsa if
it is only to be used fo r o ne or two parts , ha rder mater ial
Most peopl e avo id this tech niqu e because of the need
to make pa tte rns . The o ther probl em is findi ng somewould be in orde r for production runs .
Monocoupe bad vel)' small outlet area so front of cotoling is btanked off, model was still vel)' fast
011
all
O.S. FP.15.
60
Toumend ring
011
Tequila Sunrise cowl s u rviv ed toben all eng ine was turitten off inslde it.
61
To approac h the head of the dep artm ent you sho uld
tel ephon e just after th e lunch o r final bell has go ne
whe n he is still there but has got rid of the pests, I mean
pupil s. You will NOT be popular if you ph on e during
classes, the school recepti onist will tell you the bes t time
to ph on e.
62
011
63
Chapter 8
Scaling Up Drawings
T
Trioial Pursuit bas bee" scaled up for .25 sized engines and eve" enlarged to 10ft tuingspau and kilted
toith modified construction and sligbtly altered tail surfaces.
64
American Dragon is a 30" span for .Bcc engines but bas been scaled up to 60" spa" andfitted tuitb aileron
Modellel' was delighted toitb performance and handling.
New Zealand modellers scaled Tequila Sunrise up.40 and .60 engines, .40 version was modeller's first low
wing plane.
65
-U6 Sq.
-'h Sq.
A ll dimensions doubled
Cross -s ection area = 4 times
Volum e = 8 times
66
'A Sq.
Lengtb double
Cross-section x 1.3
Cross-s ection area = 1. 77 times
volu m e = 3.55 times
Fig 8.2
-i
Scattng up a 3 View
~Ve,.tiCal
datum
I
Horixoutal datum
Grid metbod
+-- - - _.
Enlarging
We have talked abo ut the basic meth od of enlarging
with d ividers and this is pre tty standa rd for the co mplete
mod el but there are a few places whe re differe nt techniques are need ed .
Plotting the shape of a elliptical w ing tip or fin and
rudd er ca n be done by p lottin g seve ral points and joi ning them up with a Fren ch Curve, but you ca n also draw
grids over the sha pe and a s imilar grid o n yo ur o wn
pla n a nd use thi s to plo t the sha pe.. Man y Ame rica n
scale drawings actua lly had these grids printed on the
plan, Nye and \V'ylam draw ings for exa mple.
Possibly tbe ultimate design ch a lle ng e, drato YOIl,.
01011 3 uieurs from full size plans and pbotos and
tben d esign tbe model Tbls is tbe author's Mong
Sport control line model.
67
Scale Construction
Th ere is no di ffer e nce between a sca le model and a
s ports m odel as fa r as constru c tio n goes , th e sca le
mo del may have a more complex shape which w ill ca ll
for some of th e fancier tec hniques but it is still jus t a
model aircraft.
The average sca le aircraft has a large r fuse lage in
relat io n to the wi ng area th an th e equiva lent size sports
mod el , this ca n add weight w hic h is bad news . There is
a nat ural te n d ency to wa nt to add d et ail to a sca le
model , th is will also add weight an d is even mor e ba d
news . Fina lly, the co lour sc heme on a sca le model may
tempt you to do a fancy pa int sche me an d thi s w ill add
ye t mor e weight which is even worse news.
Bear all this in mind and mak e a co nscious effort to
save weight and you might keep th e m o del somewhe re
w ith in reasonabl e limits but it is diffic ul t. Console yo urse lf wi th the thou ght th at if th er e w e re no weight lim its
at all for competitio n sca le mod els, the build ers wou ld
still b e moani ng th at th ey co u ldn 't keep wi thin the
limit.
200
Equal diuisions
1
1
~I
~----'''"--t.I4--=---...I.''--='-------'' '1
F6
F7
F8
F6
Plot points
F6 & F9 k'IOWIl F7 & F8 plotted
68
011
Chapter 9
Flight Testing
O U stand in th e workshop a d miring yo u r first
ever own design model , you picture it takin g off
and flying ro und, you imag ine th e aerobatics
and then the approach and greased o n landing.
This prob ably takes pla ce at about ten o'clock on a
Saturday night and you are go ing to fly her in the morning . You are? Well you have quite a bit of work to do
befor e that.
Final Checkout
69
70
The Test
Programme
The elatio n of having
made the first fligh t w ith
your firs t d e s ign wil l
h a ve yo u ' wa lking
aro und about six inches
a b o ve t h e ro u nd a nd
you will wa nt to fly the
mod el agai n an d again .
The first thing to do
is exa mine the model ,
jus t as yo u wo uld a ny
new mode l b ut wit h
even mo re care as yo u
w ill wa nt to be certain
th a t th e s tructure th at
yo u design e d is u p to
th e stresses an d strai ns
imposed on it.
In subse que nt flight s
yo u ca n fl y th rou g h
ae roba tics bu t w hile you
are en joy ing yo urse lf
yo u sho uld no te if th e
mo de l rolls with eq ua l
s pee d in bo th d ire ctions , if loops and bun ts
a re equa l, ho w mu ch
down trim is need ed in
inverted fligh t.
Now you ca n eva luate your mod el , Is it as
ae robatic as yo u h a d
hop ed , is it un stable , do
a ll th e contro ls ..,h a ve
ro ug h ly
t he
sa me
powe r? In s ho r t, a re
yo u h ap p y wit h the
model,
Ge t other p eopl e to
fly it and see wha t they
say. You may no t ag ree
wi th them but yo u are
getting feed back which
ca n be help ful for your
n ext design . You may
wa nt to try so me modifications , bigger co ntro l
surfaces or perhap s cutting them down , maybe
you will try fitting a bigger eng ine . T he most
likely thing that you will
do is just canyon flying
the mo de l witho ut any
. major changes bu t with
the knowledge of things
th at yo u wi ll change
on yo ur next d es ign ,
becau se the best way to
le a rn to d es ign is b y
practical experience .
T he mo re th at you
fly your new design the
....oJlI,.. .
\LI,
...u.
. ... ..sIf.,liJI . .
. P' -
.......
........
..
.. .
"tK)to . ......
Second uersion Of Tequila Sunrise was excellent and has been publisbed here
and ill the USA and enlarged with success ill New Zealand.
71
One scale lip tb a t didn't work, Aztec Two -step scaled up to 45" span for two . 12s, came out grossly overuieigbt at 600111lCeS, tip stalled and fliclsed as SOO1l as it was clear of tbe ground.
Pilot Error
Thi s is th e most co nte ntio us g ro up because if the
model is mar ginal the pilot will usuall y blam e the mod el
and d raw ing th e line between a situatio n that a pilot
could have save d and one he co uld not ca n ca use bad
feelin g between peop le . This is the reas on tha t I always
test fly my own mod els and hat e being aske d to test fly
othe r people 's mod els.
It mu st be said that a we ll designed mod e l, pro perly
se t-u p and flown by an ex pe rienced pil ot sho uld be
sa fe, so o ne of the oth er failure groups will almost ce rtainl y be a contributing factor in any failure .
Aerodynamic Failure
Most e rro rs in aerod ynam ic design w ill s how up
immed iat el y after take- off. Ask yo urs el f exac tly w ha t
72
Structural Failure
Th ese ca n happen and w he n they happen at height
th ere is nothing that yo u can do ex ce pt stan d ba ck
a nd enj oy the cras h .
Struc tur al failures are rar el y caused by major design
faults , it is normall y th e sma lle r things lik e a wing
atta ch me nt that has not be en rei nfo rced sufficie ntly o r
th e use of inc o rrec t grades of wo od .
Failures after a heavy landing o r minor crash will
often show up wea k po ints in the co ns truc tio n , ver y
often ca used by that sudde n cha nge in sectio n .
Th e impo rta nt thing is to learn from th ese things
and go ba ck to the dra wing board a nd d esign a new
mod el o r modify the last on e .
Chapter 10
attract the editor and potential build ers. It ca n look beautiful, it can be ultra che ap to build or velY qui ck to build.
Scale mod els are always popular bu t do call for ca reful se lec tio n of a subject , p ro to types that hav e be en
don e to death are less likely to be accepted but equally
the very obscure typ e for whi ch there is no docum ent ation would ne ed so me th ing s pecia l. Hom e builts are
always popular.
The one important factor is that it must fly well , if the
perform an ce of your mod el is poor o r it has very nasty
hab its , don 't se nd it in becau se it will do nothing for
yo ur reputation and co uld affect the sale of futur e plan s.
My first Teq uila Sunrise was pretty good but it would
flick into a spin at the slightest provocation and it need-
First Approach
You have a nice mod el whi ch you think might be of
interest to a n editor . Choose o ne ed itor and se nd him a
co up le of ph otos and a description of yo ur model and
an SAE.
Do not se nd the sa me thing to mor e than o ne ed itor
at a time because if they all wa nt it . . . yo u have mad e
yo urse lf unpopular with most of them and that is not
go ing to help you. If the ed itor is inter ested you have to
be read y to se nd him the plan s etc.
The Plan
The plan need s to be neat and clear, it must sho w all
the information regarding wood sizes and any instruction s, all parts must be sho wn and identifi ed .
Ryan B-5 Brougbam plans sold ill tbe USA, aircraft
is commercial uersiou ofRyan NYP.
73
ill this book bave tbe f rame fllled bJI tbe model, II0t
like tbis o ne.
A roll of tracing pa per is not too ex pe ns ive and drawing pen s can be ve ry chea p for the disp osabl e typ es,
better ones are ex pe ns ive but well worth it o nce yo u ge t
into designin g.
Some of my ea rly p lans were traced usin g th e old
sp ring bow pe ns , wh ich co uld be se t to su it th e lin e
be ing dra wn . Now I use 4 pens, .25mm for fine detail
and grain marking, .5mm for most of the draw ing, .7mm
for main o utlines and l mm for the border of the plan .
This is purely for my own satisfaction, as the draw ing
w ill be retr aced an yw ay I su gge st th at yo u se ttle for
.5mm whi ch is an ideal size of pen .
Till)' Shrike Commander is a bail)' little beast b u t great filii and cheap, text ioarns of pitfalls.
74
Tbis is better, m)' neighbour's drive gets usedfor most of my static sbots.
Letterin g can be don e free hand so lon g as it is legible, you can use a stencil but that is vely slow .
Ju st rem ember, the better your plan is, the eas ier it is
for the tracer and the less likely he is to mak e mistakes.
Text
Photos
Yo u will n e ed a
g oo d s e t of ph ot os ,
ordinary gl o ss co lo ur
prints 6" x 4" are quit e
acce ptable, alw ays se nd
plent y to allow the edi to r to se lect th e one s
he wants.
75
\
This is not a good background as it is d is tracting.
Where Next?
76
Looking B a ck
Th is book has tried to sh ow yo u the simple, un complicated wa y of designing mod e ls, a subject which ca n,
and does, fill bo ok s.
You now kn ow the basic mech ani cs of design and
e no ug h of the very Simple aerody na mics and struc tures
to design successful models.
The re are bo ok s wh ich will te ach yo u more about
aerodynam ics if you feel the need , there are bo ok s o n
de signing scale mod e ls as we ll as sports models . Add
these to your co llectio n as they will always be useful
referen ce sources but the mo st impor tant thin g that yo u
ne ed now is ex pe rience and yo u can o nly ge t that by
design ing mod els.
Designing M od el A ircra f t
You need a good pilot and guts to get this close, eoen tuitb a 300mm lens.
of shy.
RIC design.
Filling the frame and pill sbmp,f/)'illg pictures like this are bard to get. Top and bottom pictures are Gemini
model kits.
77
Useful Addresses
Aviation Bookshop
656 Holloway Roa d
London
N193PO
Tel: (0171) 272 3630
Ae rofoil sbeets, modelling books and magaz ines, full size
aviation books a nd magazines. Also second ba nd books
and magazines. Get tbeir catalogue.
Transair Pilot Shop
50a Camb ridge Street
Lon d on
SW1V 4Q Q
Or :
Fairoaks Airport
Surrey
Tel:(01276) 858533 for orders and catalogues.
Squa re protractor s, books, Videos, av iation novelties a nd
fo r tbe full size pilot, all navigation aids, equipme nt,
sim ulators etc.
78
Notes
Notes