Flying Wishbone (oz12058)

About this Plan

Flying Wishbone. Simple indoor rubber sport model.

The Flying Wishbone design by Alan Orthof first appeared in Mechanix Illustrated, April 1939. This here is the plan as published in the pages of Model Builders' Handbook No.1 later in 1939 (curiously, here the design was credited to Nat Forrest, and not to Alan Orthof).

This design was later plagiarised in Aeromodeller, December 1942, when it was published as the Flying Wishbone (oz12052) and credited to a Mr EH Clark. Aermodeller later printed an apology, to Alan Orthof : "To this gentleman and to the proprietors of Mechanix Ltd we tender our apologies for the unwitting reproduction of their plans. To Mr Clark we are not sending any fees," in the Feb 1943 issue.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 04/04/2020: Added complete article, thanks to Pit.

Quote: "Building the Flying Wishbone, by Nat Forrest.

ITS small size and light weight make this model ideal for indoor flying, enabling it to be flown in any large room when properly adjusted. Three to four complete circles of an average sized room on one winding are not uncommon.

The motor stick or fuselage consists of a strip of 1/4 x 1/8-inch medium hard balsa 8 inches long. Round off the ends as illustrated and sand to a smooth finish. Cement a small thrust bearing to the rear of the motor stick and wrap with thread for added strength. The front hook is bent from No. .020 music wire.

Cut the wing mount from medium-hard 1/8-inch sheet balsa. Be sure that the grain runs perpendicular to the motor stick. Sand smooth and inlet the mount 1/16-inch into the fuselage. Cement firmly and allow to dry.

The stabilizer mount is cut from two pieces of 1/32-inch sheet balsa. This is also inlet into the fuselage, as shown in sketch.

The wing halves are cut from 1/32 x 2-inch sheet balsa, sanded to about a 1/50-inch thick-ness at the tips. Start sanding from the center and in one direction only. When you have finished, cement the halves together so that there is 2 inches dihedral under each tip.

The front stabilizer is also cut from a piece of 1/32-inch sheet balsa, 1-1/2 x 6 inches long and sanded to about a 1/40-inch thickness at the tips. Crack the stabilizer at the center and create a 1-inch dihedral under each tip.

The rear stabilizer and rudder are cut from 1/64-inch sheet and slotted so that they inter-lock as illustrated. Tail booms are cut from hard 1/32-inch sheet balsa, 5-1/2 inches long and tapered from 3/32 to 1/16-inch.

Mount the booms on the wing at a point 2-3/8 inches from center. After the cement is thoroughly dry, wet the booms slightly with water and join them at the rear. Now cement the small tail surfaces in place,

The wing and front stabilizer are now cemented to their respective mounts. Be sure that all surfaces line up perfectly.

A semi-cut balsa propeller, 5-1/2 inches long, should be purchased and finished off by the builder. It is advisable to coat the prop a few times with cement, sanding it smooth between each coat.

Bend a propeller shaft from .020 music wire and attach. Slide on a washer and slip the shaft through the thrust bearing. Three strands of h1/16-inch brown rubber arerequired.

As the wing and tail surfaces of this model are not movable and also considering the fact that it is a pusher, the flying of this ship is quite different than if it were of the tractor type. All major adjustments, such as stalling and diving are made by warping the front stabilizer and wing up or down."

Update 19/1/2024: Added original article from Mechanix Ilustrated, Apr 1939, thanks to Pit.

Supplementary file notes

Article.
Article (MI).

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