Miss Crescent City (oz10995)

About this Plan

Miss Crescent City. Radio control sport model.

Quote: "Our beautiful medium size trainer puts the lie to the belief that all of our trainers must be ugly boxes of functional design with just the rudiments of lines, only a place to hang wing, stab, engine & equipment. Miss Crescent City, by Allen J Wiltz.

The year of 1971 was a very eventful one for my young son, Allen. After many trips to the flying field and a little air time flying some of our friends' kites, I felt he was of age to begin flight instructions with a plane of his own. Since my stable of ships has long been cleared of trainers, next stop was the local hobby shop.

After viewing several kits, I decided that the features desired were not to be found without extensive modifications. So out came the old drawing board. Throughout the design stage, I tried to keep in mind that even though this was to be a beginner's aircraft, it would have to be chic with clean lines, easy to build, fly, and repair if necessary.

Other than carving the engine cowl and windshield hatch out of a block of balsa, it is exactly that. The engine is installed sidewinder-style for better distribution of vibration, but it can be mounted upright if so desired. Wing and stab are foam to facilitate fast, true construction. For those who do not desire to cut their own, these may be purchased from Custom R/C Products, 3231 47th Street, Metairie, Louisiana 70001. Price is $9.95.

For several years I had considered chang-ing from Mode II to single stick flying; now that my boy was ready for instruction, I de-cided to make the change. A new Kraft single stick system was purchased. 'Miss Crescent City' would serve as my trainer, and after I got the feel of this new system, I would teach my son. The decision to convert was a wise one as the Kraft single stick transmitter really has a beautiful feel and has added to my enjoyment of the hobby.

Miss Crescent City has been flown by beginners and people who have never seen a Radio Control model fly by using the Buddy Box. She has been built by beginners and sport flyers and all the comments are the same: She really is a lot of fun to build and fly.

Several months ago Miss Crescent City was involved in a mid-air collision. Anyone who has ever had one knows the traumatic feeling. On this particular day, the sky was clear and only two ships were in the air when the near head-on occurred. Parts of a red and yellow ship came fluttering down, preceded by a fuselage with a screaming engine. One ship continued flying and we realized it was ours. The throttle was chopped, and, with gentle banks, the ship was brought in from an altitude of about 300 feet. After viewing the damage, everyone wondered how it was possible to have landed it. A chunk of the foam right wing about 15 square inches was gone, the wing cracked, an aileron missing, half of the other ship's stab embedded like a rudder in the left wing panel, windshield block chewed to ribbons, plus other minor damage.

Yes, the ship is rugged - it has been repaired and Miss Crescent City is once again extending a helpful hand to beginner and Sunday flyers who want a good looking Sport ship. OK - you like her? Then let's get started!

CONSTRUCTION. Fuselage: Cut out fuselage sides. Glue 1/32 plywood doublers and reinforcement strips to them. Add formers A, B, and C. Glue sides together at tail and add separator strips. Glue top on. After installing Tatone mount and nose gear bracket, install motor. Cowl block is cut to sideview shape and hollowed out just enough to fit over engine. Once clearance has been established, remove engine, tack glue to firewall and begin final carving. Do the same for windshield hatch. This block is held on with four sheet metal screws through sides to hold down blocks.

Install servos and run all necessary controls to throttle, nose wheel, rudder and elevator. I use Gold-N-Rods and find they do a beautiful job. Anchor the rods close to servo, where they leave rear of fuselage and a point mid-way between the above. Cover bottom of fuselage, round corners, sand and give coat of clear dope. Cover with silk for strength. Aluminum landing gear is attached with five 3/4 x 4-40 machine bolts.

Wing and Stab: Cover foam cores with balsa as shown in sections D-D and E-E. Join balsa-covered wing panels together with epoxy using the center spar. The center section of the trailing edge that can be made from hard balsa or sugar pine is then grooved to receive aileron horns. Fill groove with epoxy, cover horns made from coat hanger wire with light layer of vaseline and lay in groove. Attach to TE or wing using masking tape to hold it in place. When dry, pop horns and you have a smooth hinge. Install a 3 wide strip of fiberglass cloth completely around the center section of wing. After wing and stab wing skins have been sanded, cover with silk of silkspan. If silkspan is desired, use OO on stab and GM on wing.

Rudder: Cut out of 1/4 sheet balsa. Carve and sand to shape as shown. Cover with silk. Install hinges and attach rudder to fin. After you have applied your favorite finish, balance the assembled model. If the model does not balance at the CG, then add lead. Several models have required some lead ballast in the nose.

FLYING: This model is capable of performing many of the AMA contest maneuvers. If you are new to the hobby, you will find that the OS .30, throttled back to about 60% power, will move the ship around at a nice clip. The extra power is nice to have for quick takeoffs and maneuvers. I know that Miss Crescent City will bring you many enjoyable hours of flying, just as she has given to all who have flown her way down here in New Orleans."

Miss Crescent City, MAN, November 1973.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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