Arrow 60 (oz11652)

About this Plan

MK Arrow 60. Radio control pattern plane. F3A competition model. Wingspan 63 in, wing area 705 sq in. For 60 power.

The Arrow 60 (oz507) design was first published in MAN, June 1980. This here is a later plan from the MK kit.

Note this plan has issues. Could use a good cleanup.

Update 22/04/2020: Added kit review from MAN February 1981, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "Field & Bench Review: MK Arrow, by Mike Lee. The World Championship airplane and Super Tigre's X-60 R/C combine with Ace's new Silver Seven to create all the pattern potential anyone could want.

Not so long ago, in a country far away known as South Africa, Wolfgang Matt brought an old term back to world prominence in a new form. His Arrow, a new world-class pattern airplane, helped Wolfgang win the World Championships in 1979. Actually, the Arrow is not all that new, having placed second to Hanno Prettner's famed Curare (oz5527) at the 1977 Tournament of Champions. The modeling world went Curare happy and this tended to obscure the obvious potential that Matt's airplane had. This was all changed with the MAN presentation of the Arrow (oz5507) in the June 1980 issue and a kitting of the bird, the subject of this Field & Bench.

For those who are curious about the actual ship Matt flew in South Africa, his entry was equipped with a piped Webra Speed, retracts, flaps, spoilers and a variable-pitch propeller. Because there was not sufficient time to work with the variable-pitch prop, it was used very little in the competition but has since proven its worth to the World Champ. Basically the Arrow is a direct descendent of Matt's popular Atlas with clean-up efforts directed toward hiding the pipe and other minor changes.

This review looks at a version of the Arrow manufactured by MK Models of Japan; a version endorsed by Wolfgang Matt. Indy R/C is the distributor of MK kits in the U.S. and Bev Goad of that company was kind enough to allow me a kit to work with. Bev also sent along some MK retracts and an OS Cougar retract servo.

THE AIRCRAFT: The kit can best be described in one word - INCREDIBLE! MK really went 'first cabin' with this one. Die-cutting, what little there is, is sharp and clean. Ninety percent of the kit is machine cut with an accuracy that is nothing short of fantastic. A complete hardware package is included which contains the tank, spinner and some well-thought-out aileron hardware, along with the usual collection of nuts, bolts and other goodies. Let's get to building.

The most discouraging thing with kits made abroad is that the instructions are in almost every language but English. This kit was no exception, but the parts are numbered and identified in English and there are small exploded views of the various subassemblies to help out. Actually, the plans are so well done that anyone with any past building experience will have no trouble and most who build Arrow will have the background to handle construction.

The fuselage is basically a box with a lot of block balsa to shape the basic structure out and give those unusual Arrow lines. After the sides are pieced together, the separately assembled nose section is fitted to the fuselage. Unless you do some pretty serious surgery, you will be using the built-in wooden motor mounts. I recommend you do; they are solid and many experienced fliers prefer the vibration absorption a wooden mount gives over the more common radially mounted metal mount. The engine compartment has the recommended right thrust and down thrust built in, giving you one less thing to worry about. After the engine compartment is attached, the tail is pulled together and everything else just falls together after that. By using a ruler, you can accurately place anything required on the plane (drilled holes for wing bolt anchors, for example) by simply transferring a measurement from plans to actual work.

The stabilizer and fin are built-up sections and are simple and a lot of fun. It takes no more than a 1/2 hour to do the stab with the help of some Super Jet or Hot Stuff. The fin takes about five minutes. You should sand the fin so that it tapers from a thick base to a thin top. The rudder is also tapered, but don't taper it below the stab centerline. Both stab and fin are tapered from the leading edge of the item to the trailing edge :a la airfoil style.

The wing is probably the hardest item to construct; but only because it's so big. As does the fuselage, the wing goes together quite rapidly. Make sure you identify the various pieces, because each and every part will fit exactly in its proper position only - if it doesn't fit, you have the wrong piece! After assembling the ribs on the main spars, and the glue is dry, you must decide what kind of retracts you wish to use. The kit has blocks custom-made for MK type 'S' retracts and I highly recommend them. They are very sturdily made and they operate smoothly with positive locking. The MK units are those that I installed in this project. The linkage to the retracts is not all that critical; relatively easy to set up. If you do choose to use another type of retract be careful, as there is limited room in the fuselage nose.

After the leading edge and trailing edge pieces are installed, the entire wing is sheeted with balsa supplied for that purpose. Be sure you follow the grain direction shown on the plans to gain maximum strength. Most of the wing's strength depends on its stressed construction. Add the wing tip blocks and cut away any excess balsa throughout.

The aileron/flap torque rod is an integrated unit (as its name implies). It is very simple in design and is merely a tube with the aileron rod running through it. The flaps are glued directly to the tube, and the tube rotates freely and separately from the ailerons. I interconnected the two flap tubes to operate them from a single servo.

The kit also includes all the wood and hardware for the optional spoilers; however, I did not install them on this model.

Finish the wing by installing the bottom belly pan and lining the wheel wells with the super flexible balsa supplied in the kit. I saved the neatest goodie for last because I know you'll be just as pleasantly surprised about this as I was. Most people would have you believe that the pipe tunnel on the fuselage top is balsa or scrap metal. Not so. The tunnel is made of rolled steel with the nicest chrome..."

Supplementary file notes

Review.

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