Roplano (oz10084)

About this Plan

Roplano. A/2 competition glider.

Quote: "In keeping with our policy of providing nothing but the best - here is the 1960 Europa Cup winner by the top Italian A/2 flier. Carlo Paulo Varettos elegant 72 in span A/2, Roplano.

WINNER OF THE 1960 'Europa Cup' International in the Saar, a tough event held in trying conditions against the best in Europe, this glider is the ultimate of a series of models the first of which was built in 1954.

The 1955 version was taken to Wiesbaden for the World Championships, where it placed 12th - contributing to the Italian team victory. For the 1956 World Championships, held at Florence the model missed a place in the Italian team by just a few seconds and so the designer proxy flew for Japan, taking 44th place with Hujikawa's model, being down-draughted three times and making one max and a 179!

At Mlada Boleslav in Czechoslovakia for the World Championships in 1957, 20th place was taken with a very unlucky 39 second flight caused by severe downdraught. In 1959 Carlo could not go to Belgium because he placed fourth in the Italian team selection trials, and that year, teams were cut from four members to three!

The already-mentioned success in the 1960 Europa Cup was made with four maximums and a 146. This was for the second flight, which was made in cool evening air.

At present Roplano is adjusted for thermal search, and cannot achieve more than 160 - 165 seconds steady average, but that's enough to satisfy most enthusiasts.

A 'Roplano Called Desire' is the full name given to this model: Roplano being the name by which the designer's little boy calls all his models - the rest may be guessed.

The following notes on construction methods will help the builder when tackling the continental style of construction which, although usual practice in Carlo's own country, may at first seem complicated by normal British standards.

Wings: Originally the wing section was a Benedek, modified to incorporate to the the developments then taking place in Denmark. Subsequent models had section thicknesses progressively reduced to the present form. This may still seem a little thick when compared to some other designs, but tests have proved that the aerodynamic advantages of very thin airfoils do not warrant the more involved construction methods.

The wing structure is straightforward, the only unusual feature being the spar built up with one 1/8 x 1/4 in obeche strip, one 1/32 x 1/4 in ply and one 1/8 x 1/8 in balsa strip. The wing dowels are 10 swg wire, rooted into the fuselage, but are so fitted as to be removable. The aluminium wing tubes are thus inclined at their seating to give the correct dihedral angle..."

Roplano, Aeromodeller, March 1961.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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