Miss Kell (oz10251)

About this Plan

Miss Kell. Control line stunt model for OS Max 35 engine.

Quote: "A fine flying Control Line stunt ship with that clean Formula I look that will help impress judges; anhedral stabilizer will turn heads. Miss Kell, by Robert Whitely.

The scene is the 1973 Nationals at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with temperatures in the 90° to 100° range, in a very humid environment. Miss Kell and I had arrived on Wednesday from Southern California where it was balmy but only 70°. Possibly due to this weather change, I found flying conditions somewhat altered, the engines tending to run a little longer and the airplanes not cornering as tight as I had been used to.

After a couple of flights to get the engine dialed in, we proceded to put in some thirty to forty sessions of practice for the upcoming qualifications. Since there were over fifty entries on hand, some real competition was going to be had. Our practice sessions paid off; Miss Kell qualified quite nicely.

Finals day dawned with eighteen competitors ready to do battle, and again the temperature was in the ninety to one hundred degree range, thunder showers at any time forecast. The first round went smoothly, with generally everyone putting in safe flights, and it being sorted out as to how the judges would score, and which maneuvers would require work.

The second round was strictly business - everything was on the line! Once again, all the flights were truly impressive. With nerves of steel but also wobbly knees, yours truly and Miss Kell made her last official. Did the flight feel good! After much waiting (which turned out to be only ten minutes), Miss Kell was sitting in a very respectable fourth position. As there were about seven more flights yet to go, this might change momentarily; given the caliber of the competition at the Nationals, any one of the finalists could beat any other on a given day. Sometimes a mere flick of the wrist could make the difference between first and fifth place.

In the end, Miss Kell managed to hang in there, and was awarded fourth place - with Rabe first, Schaeffer second, and McDonald third. As this was only her first Nationals appearance, she did quite well, but then - Miss Kell is a thoroughbred all the way. She is very responsive to the hard-cornering pilot, yet is not skittish for the intermediate flyer.

In the design stage, the thought came to my mind that, with the trend toward the jet look, a plane with a sleek profile was needed, yet one which still retained the continuity of a prop-driven aircraft. Since the real Formula One racers are very clean and extremely aeorbatic, it seemed only logical to pattern a stunt ship after one.

Once the basic layout was drawn, the sketches for the outline were put in. The swept rudder, anhedral stab and wheel pan-ts are the main points of interest. To add a touch of elegance, the spinner, landing gear and muffler were chrome-plated. These really attracted attention, and I am always asked how I got them so shiny! Anyone wishing to have the same effect, should go see your local custom motorcyle shop; they can have the parts chromed, or know where to send them..."

Update 16/07/2018: added article, thanks to RFJ.

Supplementary file notes

Article.

Corrections?

Did we get something wrong with these details about this plan (especially the datafile)? That happens sometimes. You can help us fix it.
Add a correction