Hawker Hurricane I (oz11991)

About this Plan

Hawker Hurricane MkI. Radio control scale model WWII fighter. For PAW diesel power.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 05/03/2020: Added article (from R/C Scale Aircraft June/July 1990, which covers this same plan), thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "Free Pull-out Plan. Hurricane Mk 1, designed for 25 - 40 engines and four function by David Boddington.

ALL ELEGANCE AND GRACE the Spitfire might be, but many would choose the Hurricane as having more character and purposeful appearance - and not just modellers, either. Our free pull-out plan offering this month is of the unsung hero of the Battle of Britain (and the Middle East, India and Burma). It is of a size large enough to fly with authority, but small enough to fit into the car without having to dismantle the model. It is accurate scale, within the limits of the designers skills and those of the scale drawing and the draughtsman - but you can simplify, or add more detail, as you wish.

No undercarriage is fitted to the prototype model as our club flying field does not have a tarmac strip and would not be kind to small retracts. If you fly from a smooth hard surface you can incorporate retracts (but forget about trying to faithfully copy the system of the prototype). I opted for fully built up wings, but you could use veneered foam panels - and incur a slight weight penalty.

Available from our ASP Plans Service are vac-formed cockpit canopies, GRP engine cowl and decals, all the items you need to make life a little easier. For those of you who prefer to build from a standard ASP Plan - or have friends who wish to build the model - prints are also available of the 'Hurricane'. Costs of the above items are: Can RSQ1625 Cockpit Canopy £3.00 including postage; Cow RSQ1625 Engine Cowling £7.00 including postage; Dec RSQ1625 Decal Set £7.00 including postage; RCQ1625 Plan £3.25 plus 60p postage.

Engage brain: The structure of the model Hurricane - in keeping with its full-size counterpart - is very rugged. This means that you can afford to use light grades of balsawood and still end up with a tough model. Indeed, it is essential to be circumspect with your selection of balsawood grades or you will have an overweight model which will not fly as well as it should. Just take your time and choose the lightest wood you can find (except for wing spars and fuselage stringers) and you will probably be able to forget about nasty things like additional nose weight to obtain the correct balance point.

Light-ply is quite adequate for fuselage formers - except for the engine bulkhead - and you can cut additional lightening holes in formers and the tail surface sheet cores if you so wish. The correct number of stringers are shown on the fuselage drawing but, even with 1/16in stringers, it does start to get a little cramped at the rear end. I 'bottled out on the fuselage side and used fewer stringers than scale.

Without an undercarriage fitted and the model landed on the grass, the underside radiator will be quite vulnerable. You have the choice of making this a knock-off item (using press studs or Velcrostrip — or similar) reinforcing it with glass cloth and resin, or fixing it permenently.

Why the diesel engine for power? Simply because I like diesels and the PAW has very neat, rear mounted silencer which tucks away nicely on the cowl. Of course you can use a glo-motor, just arrange the bulkhead, mount and silencer to suit.

Grab yourself a stack of balsawood, copy and cut out all the parts, and you're ready to go. If a part doesn't fit too well don't be tempted to try to force it into place. check it for size and modify it as necessary - it will save time in the long run.

Fuselage: Determine the position of the engine and radio equipment and mark on the drawing. Framework for the fuselage is a basic sheet and strip box with sheet part formers and stringers to flesh it out to the typical hump-back profile. The important points to watch are that the fuselage is straight, planwise, and that the top sheeting and formers are added in sequence so that you can easily trim off the front edge of the sheeting each time, before adding the next piece.

Rough carve the side sheeting to shape but leave the final sanding until you have temporarily fitted the engine cowl (protected with masking tape) to give a smooth blending. Rear top stringer positioning can be quite tricky as the stringers need to change angle on the formers along the length. Even with 1/16 x 3/16 in material this can be difficult if the material is too hard. A little wetting of the balsa will help. Start by positioning every fourth stringer, then every second and cutting short the last intermediates. This is definitely a case for using the quick setting cyano adhesives.

Leave the final shaping of the rear end of the fuselage until the fin and rudder are constructed to ensure they match.

Tail Surfaces: Built on the widely accepted central core method, these are straightforward providing you remember to allow for accommodating the hinges and you check that fin/rudder and tailplane/ elevators have the same taper towards the tip.

Because we are sanding the trailing edges down to a taper on the 1/16 sheet core it is worthwhile reinforcing the edges with a squirt of cyano all the way around.

Wings: Constructed as three separate panels, the thickness ratio of the wing section is sufficient to only require a small (1/16 ply) dihedral brace when joining the panels - you must also have a good glue joint between the root ribs, of course.

Centre section ribs are cut out individually. I used a .8mm (1/32 in) plywood trailing edge and you have to take care in cutting the slot to receive the edge. If you prefer you could substitute a balsa strip trailing edge. Pin down the spars and leading edge directly over the plan and add the ribs, egg crate fashion. Slot in the trailing edge and glue. Join lengths of balsa sheet together and glue to the framework - as the top sheeting - while still pinned to the board (do not leave any pins under the sheeting). When thoroughly dry, leave overnight, remove from the board, add the dihedral braces and form the servo box and sheet the lower surface. You now have a very rigid and light wing box.

Ribs for the outer panels cannot be formed by the sandwich method, it requires too much trimming and sanding of individual ribs afterwards. Construction is then similar to the centre section except that you must not add the lower sheeting until the panels have been joined and the dihedral braces glued in position. The aileron linkages also have to be fitted at this stage. Forming the ailerons is a bit messy. I am never convinced whether it is better to build them separately or cut them from the complete wing panel. In this case I am sure that the latter option is the correct one, even though the fitting of the strip edges is a little bit hit and miss.

I prefer not to add the fuselage/wing fairing strip and the forming of the fillets, until the wing can be offered up to the fuselage at the same time. In this way you will be sure of getting a good wing to fuselage fit and no unsightly gaps.

Assembly and covering: With all components shaped and sanded smooth it is time to decide upon the method of covering and painting. In view of the quest to keep the weight to a reasonable minimum I decided to give the new Solarfilm 'Fibafilm' a try and to use the simplest of painting methods - brushed on enamel. (More details of this method next issue). Although I was using a diesel engine and diesel fuel does not attack enamels I thought it prudent to finish with a coat of polyurethane matt proofer - it would also help to 'equalise' the decal and paint finishes.

One thing is certain, you should have no problems in finding information on the colour schemes and markings. With all the drawings, books - plus full-size examples - about, there is an excellent selection of schemes.

Final Checks: With the radio and engine fitted, carry out all the standard check procedures ie. full and free movement of all control surfaces and throttle control, movements in the right directions, correct C of G (balance) position, reliable engine runs and no excessive vibration and adequate radio range. All OK? Then off we go.

You will require, as an assistant, a modeller capable of giving good, reliable, reasonably fast but - above all else - a straight and level hand launch. Slow launches in an upwards direction will always spell disaster, as will a launch aimed towards the ground or with the wings strongly banked. Remember that the control to use at the moment of launch are throttle (full engine) elevator - used gently - and rudder for directional control, keep aileron control for later in the flight as excessive movement at this point can cause aileron reversal and a flick roll into the ground.

Aim to climb steadily away with a minimum of directional control. Once at a safe height try turns in each direction and when you are getting the feel of the model try - still at a safe height - the stall characteristics with a safe low throttle setting on the engine. The purpose of checking the stall on this first flight is so that you do not get caught out on the approach for landing. Having seen the speed at which the model stalls it should give you a better idea of the safe approach speed.

With the good thick wing section the stall is fairly gentle, but if it is constantly one wing first then check the lateral balance and if this is OK, correct the fault by adjusting the ailerons (a drag tab on the unstalled wing is probably the safest). Although the thick aerofoil helps to keep the stall soft it also creates quite a lot of drag and it is advisable to keep some engine on for the landing approach, this also helps to give rudder and elevator authority right to the touch-down. If you do have to do a dead-stick approach and landing you will find the rate of descent - although not the speed - is quite high. Do not try to stretch the landing approach.

Watch out for the hun in the sun."

Supplementary file notes

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