MODEL AEROPLANE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 249, 17 July 1937, Page 8 (Supplement)

MODEL AEROPLANE NOTES.

BY

"AILERON"

A Large Model Sailplane. This sailplane, with a wing span of sft. -lin., ias a steady flyer, aud looks very realistic in flight. Draw the plans out fuli size before starting construction. The fuselage is built on a keel system. As the dotted lines in the side view show, I the outline is built up from three pieces of sheet balsa. Mount this on a board. The half formers are now cut; the dimensions can be taken from the plan, and they are all shaped similarly to former "A,” shown. Carve the nose block, cut in half, and mount one half in position together witli al] one side's formers. Cement all the stringers in place; these are l-l(iin. square. Take up the completed half-fuselage, and cut 5 holes in the top keel member for the wing and elevator. The elevator has n slight negnt’ve angle to the wing. Now mount the other side's formers and stringers, and the other half of the nose block. Cover Hie fuselage in front of the wing with l-32iu. sheet, and tit a windshield of thin celluloid. A bamboo skid is bent and mounted on short three-ply supports, being also well cemented to the nosebloek. The elevator lias a 1-Sin. sq. leading edge, and J-M?in. spar and trailing edge; tills are sheet balsa. After it has been covered, doped, and slid into position, cutting stringers away where necessary,

the rudder is slid through aud glued to ■the keel piece. It is thus not quite central, as is shown in the plan. The rudder is of l-16iu. sheet, doped and sanded. The wing has a spar l-Bin. by iin., and a trailing edge of 1-Sin. by ]in., tapered. Dampen the l-32in. balsa leading edge before bending it round the nose ribs. The sheet covering should be well glued to the spar. There is no leading edge proper. Tips are of l-Bin. sheet balsa. The centre section is* constructed in similar fashion and glued into place iu the fuselage. Some portous of the model will have to be cut away and replaced to do this. A strip of aluminium, seen in front view, extends across the centre section and fits into sleeves (bent from the strips.of metal from a tobacco tin) glued behind each wing spar. Wire prongs are used in the trailing edge. This makes a very strong type of removable wng. Make sure the wings have -lin. diliedral and are not warped. They need only one coat of dope. Weight the nose til) a long, fast glide is obtained. By means of a long thread with a wire loop in the end, the model may be towed into the air. Slip the loop over the rear end of the skid and move into wind till the model has risen as high as it will go. Then slacken the thread, which will fall clear to allow the mode] to glide away.