Le Petit Knight (oz11706)

About this Plan

Aeromodeller May 1963. Rubber sport model, a scaled down Coupe d'Hiver design.

Quote: "Full size plan. A 25 inch span rubber model, designed especially for small field flying and the novice. Le Petit Knight, by WJ Trotter.

HERE IS A CONTEST model in miniature. Something simple enough for the novice, yet involving sufficient structural effort to teach one the elementary arts of construction and cover. In performance it is an ideal tutor for the art of trimming, and for fun, you will have to go a long way to find something with more rewarding flying at this diminutive 25 in wing span.

There was a time when this size of model was extraordinarily popular among clubs, who gathered in the smaller flying fields on Sunday afternoons. From our recent readers' survey, it is evident that a very high proportion of aeromodellers in Britain are lone hands, operating under these conditions and it is to them that we particularly recommend Le Petit Knight as a project for 1963.

Clubs might find it ideal as a 'one-model' contest subject, setting everybody off at the same basic start, although in fact, we do not claim this tiddler to be in any competition class. It was scaled down by the designer from our now world famous Coupe d'Hiver specification design, Garter Knight (oz9833) by Derl Morley. A whole series of models have been built, some of them down to 20 in span, and long flights have been obtained. Why not build one for yourself?

Cut out 1/16 sheet front fuselage sides, then make up rear 3/32 sq sides and cement each to the front portion. Use only soft balsa for the rear end of the fuselage. Now fit the top and bottom 1/16 sheets, which are cut to the dotted inner line profile on side view. Only cement the pylon on when the whole model is finished and the glide tests are made. It can be temporarily fixed with pins while trimming. The fin speaks for itself, being a simple flat plate made of 1/16 square. The tailplane is built of lightest grade balsa and sanded down finally to give a good airfoil section.

Start the wing by cutting out all ribs (noting the slight undercamber) and cement these to the trailing edge and leading edge, which are pinned over the plan. They are slightly slotted into the trailing edge. Gussets are added to keep the wing firm. Make the wing in three separate panels and then join them. Each tip is given 2 in dihedral. Sand well down and try to keep weight low.

The propeller assembly is simple, but the blade may be tricky for some. If you cannot make it, try and persuade someone who has made one before to personally demonstrate how. This lost art of propeller carving needs revival. If really desperate, buy a plastic prop!

Cover with a lightweight tissue and after water shrink-ing, apply two coats of thinned (50 percent dope, 50 percent thinners) dope to wings, tail, fin and rear fuselage and two normal strength coats of dope on the sheeted area of the fuselage. If you have built the model exactly to plan you should now have a successful beginners model, capable of quite high performance.

About flight trim: Test glide the model over long grass and get as flat a glide as possible by putting packing under the tail leading edge if the model stalls, and under the trailing edge if it dives. When flight testing, choose a calm day, and use 50 turns to get the climb trim right. Keep adding extra stages of 25 turns until the total reaches 400 and be careful when launching. The pro-totype would even do VTO's (vertical take-off) with full turns; but this needs care. Launch gently into wind at all times. Before each flying session, lubricate the motor, and always check the prop shaft for bends and alignment.

Le Petit Knight is light enough to bounce away from a hard knock without serious damage and will survive many a day's flying in the smallest fields."

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