Firefly (oz11385)
About this Plan
Humbrol Firefly. Free flight towline glider. Wingspan 860mm. This model is stage 3 in the '5 Stages of Modelling' series from Humbrol.
Quote: "Humbrol Firefly. (Stage 3). 700mm span scalish tow line glider. Designed to further the growing skills of the new modeller and develop his ability to construct a semi box-type fuselage and a taper wing."
Quote: "Firefly and Sirocco. Hi, here are two more plans for the Outerzone with photos. The Firefly is also on the wanted page, I myself have been trying to find one to build, and now here it is... Regards,"
Note see the Humbrol Dragonfly (oz5158) listing for a review of all 5 models, from AeroModeller, Jan 1978.
Direct submission to Outerzone.
Update 28/04/2021: Added decals, kit instructions and scans of wood parts (both fuse and wing) thanks to AdrianCulf.
Update 13/3/2025: Replaced this plan with a re-scaled version now at correct wingspan of 860 mm, thanks to Joost, AdrianCulf.
Note the actual wingspan of this model is 860 mm. For some reason the kit box as printed, also all Humbrol adverts, etc, show an incorrect wingspan of 700 mm.
Supplementary file notes
Decals.
Instructions.
Wood scan parts, fuselage
Wood scan parts, wing.
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User comments
You need the ribs in the plan to build the wing.bob - 04/08/2019
The main rib is shown on the plan. So we are just missing a drawing of the outer (tip) rib, and then you could make them all, as a sandwich.
SteveWMD - 04/08/2019
Wow, I built the firefly in 1979 and have been searching for the online plans for ages, its 18/04/2020 and I'm going to build it in lockdown, I intend to use solid shaped balsa wings with a wingspan of 28" at 82.3% of the original 34".
Thanks for the post Starfighter
Mickey B - 18/04/2020
You have listed the wing span as 32".
I get 27.56" by 700/25.4
Gene
Gene Rock - 20/04/2020
Doh. You're right. Fixed now.
SteveWMD - 21/04/2020
Ohh yeah Gene, you are right, 27.56" ha ha, ,i have changed my calculations and started on a 20" wingspan at %72,56, my firefly https://www.facebook.com/mick.bartram
Mickey B - 21/04/2020
PROJECT: to scale down a Humbrol Firefly, to a wingspan of 20" by using outerzone.co.uk plans - Part I - Work in Progress - by Mick Bartram. See https://youtu.be/0T7gSZtuTV0
Mickey B - 24/04/2020
hey, nice your building this one , I am building mine also , should be finished tomorrow. so easy this one . for wing ribs I placed rectangular strips of 1/16 in between le and te and when dry marked main spar on top and made cutouts ,glued spar in and later sanded it all to right rib shape ,took less than an hour to do so. oddly i found both wings on the plan are not exactly the same one is bit wider and this is an original plan. also If any one who collects kits has this one ,could he send a scan of the kit stickers I would than get a colour photo copy of that and use it on the glider as I did with my other humbrols in this series that would be very nice ,thanks and regards Joost (starfighter and what ever else ) :-)
joost - 30/04/2020
Hi here is a photo of the Humbrol Firefly [pic 006], just finished, took about 2 hours work, not counting glue-drying time. And a photo of the instructions part showing the 75 mm wing dihedral used, not shown on the plan [pic 007]. Next, covering it. Its really fun to build this one ! regards
Joost - 04/05/2020
The wingspan is approximately 860 mm / 34" from the plan and wood parts. The kit box statement of 700 mm is a typographical error. Oh, the '70's!
The wing is almost identical to that on the later Humbrol Kompetitor, introduced to accommodate the Humbrol Mk.2 CO2 engine/motor.
I'm using a Kompetitor wing on a Firefly build this week.
Adrian Culf - 10/03/2025
Dear Mary & Steve, Here's a pic of my Humbrol Firefly glider [main pic]. Weight is 40 g. This model glides nicely. I added a plywood dihedral brace to the wing build.
I'm trying to determine where to put the towhook for hi-start launching. Ideas welcomed.
Adrian Culf - 12/03/2025
As for the towhook position, I've done several small gliders and the towhook looks about right on the plans. It should be slightly ahead of the CG. If too far ahead, the glider will weave back and forth on tow. If too far back, it will swerve over to one side and contact the ground. Best to make it adjustable.
Doug Smith - 12/03/2025
Just tidying up here. Having rescaled this plan to correct wingspan of 860 mm, have now renamed all the files here, removed the reference to 700 mm.
SteveWMD - 13/03/2025
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- Firefly (oz11385)
- Plan File Filesize: 350KB Filename: Firefly_oz11385_.pdf
- Supplement Filesize: 165KB Filename: Firefly_oz11385_decals.pdf
- Supplement Filesize: 425KB Filename: Firefly_oz11385_instructions.pdf
- Supplement Filesize: 1710KB Filename: Firefly_oz11385_wood_fuselage.pdf
- Supplement Filesize: 2014KB Filename: Firefly_oz11385_wood_wing.pdf
- help with downloads
Notes
* Credit field
The Credit field in the Outerzone database is designed to recognise and credit the hard work done in scanning and digitally cleaning these vintage and old timer model aircraft plans to get them into a usable format. Currently, it is also used to credit people simply for uploading the plan to a forum on the internet. Which is not quite the same thing. This will change soon. Probably.
Scaling
This model plan (like all plans on Outerzone) is supposedly scaled correctly and supposedly will print out nicely at the right size. But that doesn't always happen. If you are about to start building a model plane using this free plan, you are strongly advised to check the scaling very, very carefully before cutting any balsa wood.
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