Ole Tiger (oz10903)

About this Plan

Ole Tiger. Radio control pylon racer model.

Quote: "A delightful little 1/2A pylon racer for small field and club events. 2 function RC, TD 049 power, 31-1/2 inch wingspan. Ole Tiger, by Neville Mattingley.

ON SEEING an Ole Tiger many years ago, it was love at first sight, for me; ever since then I have wanted to produce my own version of this pretty little Good-year design. Now, with the increasing popularity of 1/2A racers as an incentive, here it is. As many of you will know, the full-size aircraft is really the Miller Little Gent - what a superb name for a really good little racer - which was purchased by Bob Downey under a part-exchange agreement with the previous owner. Under this agreement, Bob traded in his Miss Cosmic Wind plus $5,000 for the Little Gem, and retained his Ole Tiger motif.

I expect that many of those who read this will be very sceptical of the flying qualities of these small 1/2A racers, so I will quote fellow club member Mick Joyce, who built the second prototype 1/2A Ole Tiger. His words were: It's a fantastic little model! He had built and flown his, from my drawings, without ever having seen my original fly.

The model has been designed as a 'minimum' one - in other words, it only just fits all the rules for 1/2A racing. None of the specified measurements is exceeded by more than 1/16 in, so please be careful with the sanding block!

Rules for 1/2A racing: The model specifications for this 1/2A racing business are really very basic, and I give them here, for those who may have joined the ranks of RC modellers since they were given by John Ralph in his 'Full Chat' column.

1. The model shall be semi-scale.
2. Wing area (total projected) min 200 sq in.
3. Minimum wing thickness 7/8 in except for last 2 in on each tip.
4. Minimum fuselage height 4-1/2 in.
5. Minimum fuselage width 2-1/4 in.
6. Minimum all-up weight 20 ounces.
7. The model shall have 2 x 1-1/2 in diameter wheels.

As you can see from the fore-going, and a quick check of the plan, the Ole Tiger meets all the requirements and, as well as this, it looks right, both on the ground and in the air. For those of you who are still reading this, we will now go quickly through the construction (which may appear to be more like a boat than an aeroplane at times).

Construction. The wing is built first, flat on the plan. The ribs are produced by the 'sandwich' method, using root and tip templates, and balsa rectangle blanks sand-wiched between them and carved and sanded to shape. The whole structure is built complete, and the ailerons cut out afterwards. The area around the aileron cut-out is strengthened with scrap block, and the torque rod inserted in position. (The ailerons were centre-hinged on the original). Sheet the top and bottom leading edges and centre panels, as indicated.

The fuselage is started by building the basic sides and bot-tom panels up, until something approaching the shape of a galleon is achieved. The wing is then pinned into position and the whole of the top decking is built on. The tailplane and fm are also mounted in position at this stage. The wing, now complete with its cockpit and fore-decking, is removed from the fuselage by cutting through the top spine and sheeting between the two sets of formers, 2a and 2b - and 3a and 3b.

The engine is now bolted into position and the cowling is built up from scrap balsa. The cheek cowls are next added, and the wing location dowel is fixed in position, former 2a having been drilled to accept it. Finally it the ply wing hold-down plates in position; the wing is bolted through from below. The screw should be retained by using a short piece of fuel tubing, so that it does not drop out when the wing is removed... "

Ole Tiger, Radio Modeller, January 1974.

Note this is a low resolution plan.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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