Buzzard (oz10556)

About this Plan

Buzzard (aka Something Else). Radio control sport model, for electric power with Speed 480 race motor.

Quote: "With this 1:1 scale model you can fly alongside the scale subjects. Something Else, by Chris Golds.

And Now for Something Else! I felt that I was not getting enough 'stick time' and that my flying was no longer up to standard. So, I built a light fuselage and tail surfaces to match a previously built wing of 42 inches (1070mm) span. I bought from the Electric Aeroplane Company a Cosmotec gearbox with a ratio of 4.5 to 1, to fit one of my many Graupner Speed 480 Race motors and to be run from 8 x 500AR cells.

With just throttle, rudder and elevator the model is very nice and easy to fly either hand launched in my local fields or with undercarriage off tarmac at our club site; an average flight is about 5-6 minutes depending upon throttle and aerobatics, or much longer if you find yourself a thermal.

Last week l was flying locally (without UC) and trying to see how high I could get from one minute of motor run. Very high as it turned out, giving nearly three minutes of glide down to landing. On my second climb I noticed a 'pack' of buzzards wheeling round and round in their mating dance where they grab hold of each other and tumble - out of control - down a few hundred feet, separate and climb back up to start again.

Once at home I told Lauri about my bird experience and she, practical as ever, said: Why don't you make a buzzard and go and join them? After you have built the shuttering for the garden arbor base, of course!

So herewith one Buzzard in very simple building form.

Building Instructions. Wings. From two inch thick (50mm) blue (or similar) foam cut two blanks as per plan with a horizontal datum marked half way up the thickness of the ends. Cut wing section cut-ting patterns from 0.8mm (1/32 in) ply or similar. Drill them and pin into place for hot wire cutting of the panels. Ensure the datum is marked on the section patterns as this will give you the washout.

The aerodynamic section-cut panels are now cut to outline as per plan using a sharp blade. Sand back in the leading edges which were flattened by the shaping. Lower the tips thickness by 0.8mm to accept the 0.8mm primary feathers at the tips. Cut these from ply. Note the grain. Pin down to hard base and wash all over with boiling water - use a brush. Shake dry then blow dry (or wait overnight to dry slowly) to set the curves provided by the packing under the tip of each feather as per plan. The feathers can now be set into the wing tip top surface and glued with PVA..."

Buzzard, Electric Flight International, July 2000.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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