Pirate (oz1052)

About this Plan

Pirate. Control line combat model. FM_Jun55 p10-12.

Note this is not a fullsize plan. This is a scan of the magazine pages as originally printed in 1955, so only the formers are shown at 100%.

Update 13/12/2022: Added complete article, thanks to PeterB.

Quote: "Here is the rest of the article that goes with the Pirate plans and build article. I had a customer wish to build this and asked me to laser cut the parts. When looking for the plans i noticed the build article was incomplete. Found the rest of the article on the RCG forum at:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18204293&postcount=3861 I've also attached it to this email. Love your site. Thank you for your great work,
PeterB
www.vintageplanekits.com"

Quote: "Want a contest-winning combat ship? Then hunt no further here it is! The Pirate, by Riley Wooten.

A good combat plane should be simple to build, light yet strong, fast, and able to turn tight without loss of speed. While it is hard to get a plane to meet all of these qualifications, we believe the Pirate will come as close as any.

The model has a thin airfoil and small wing area to give it speed. Wing flaps are used for tighter turning without loss of speed. And, by selecting the wood carefully and putting it where it is needed, we have a light plane which is also strong. One Pirate was flown an entire season, was in numerous crack-ups, but always came out with only minor damage.

The wing area of this plane is a little over 300 square inches, and the weight of the four models we have built has ranged from 15 to 17 ounces, which gives it a very light wing loading. With a Fox .35 up front, it does over 80 mph, and it will do loops about ten feet in diameter with very little loss of speed.

A box fuselage is used because it gives better wing support, is easier to repair, and is stronger and lighter. The controls are put on the outside, to make them easier to adjust and hook up.

Many combat ships are good, except that the flyer must watch his plane all of the time. The Pirate, however, is very stable - you'll be able to watch what the other flyer is doing.

Wing construction is a little unusual. Instead of being square, the leading edge is 1/8 x 1/2 in, lying horizontally. It is also covered 1 in back with 1/16 sheet. This arrangement gives a very strong wing with a minimum of weight.

The fuselage is built up first, then the wing is built around it. If the wing is badly broken in a crash, all you have to do is to cut the spar and trailing edge out of the fuselage, and build another wing around it. Part of the fuselage top may have to be removed for access to the spars, but this is much cheaper and easier than building an entire plane..."

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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