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Thursday, 26 January 2017

And for my next project…


The ‘Omega’ slope soarer by C. Chapman.
A plan from the 1970s, drawn by C. Chapman and available from Myhobbystore.co.uk. It’s an elegantly proportioned 72” span model with an irresistibly racy profile:

 
It has some cunning details to contend with like the homemade elevator horn concealed in the fin and an aluminium/ply sandwich wing-joiner through the fuselage. I’ll do my best to tackle these, but mini wing-mounted servos will replace the solitary standard servo in the fuselage. The wings will be built more like a Phase 5 by replacing the single balsa spar with twin spruce spars and vertical balsa webbing, this should circumvent the weak spot at the end of the ply wing-joiner box. The spruce spars will have the added bonus of providing a secure point for fixing wing retaining hooks which in turn will allow me to link the wings internally with rubber bands and stop them sliding off in flight.
I would have liked to create an all-flying tail plane too, but the back end of the fuselage is too narrow for a bell crank. The radio access hatch is sensibly hinged at the front, an arrangement worth repeating I think.
A guy called ‘slopeflyer’ built one in 2013 and described it on the RCMF Retro Glider Thread forum. His flight video looks impressive, showing the model to be plenty manoeuvrable enough for me. I notice he used a standard external elevator horn and made the fuselage longer and thinner, sensible modifications I’m sure, but I want to retain as much as possible of the original’s idiosyncrasy and vintage charm and avoid the ubiquitous slick-stick-with-wings appearance.
Regards
Russell H

2 comments:

  1. Bob P27 January 2017 at 07:42

    Looks like a fantastic model, look forward to following this as you build it. Is it a kit or are you scratch building from a plan? I recently discovered a website offering free plane planes, I'm sure you've heard of Outerzone.co.uk.
    There are plans very similar to your chosen plane but I've chosen to build something a little simpler, it's very simple flyjng wing called "little plank" I really enjoy all these vintage builds and the simple radio gear they used, including a sliding servo to achieve elevons.
    Good luck with your build, I will be following your build with interest.

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  2. Russell H27 January 2017 at 09:15

    Hi Bob, it's not a kit (unfortunately) so my first task was to compile a £50 shopping list of sheet/strip wood which I've now received from Slec (excellent service). I've also bought some ali and brass sheet off Ebay. It should keep me happily fettling for months.
    I hadn't seen Outerzone.co.uk, it's a real nostalgia trip with plans scanned from old model mags.
    Good luck with the sliding servo, I'm told that a high degree of engineering precision is required to avoid a sloppy linkage... It's an interesting question of where do you draw the line with vintage authenticity?

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