Heath Baby Bullet (oz12096)

About this Plan

Heath Baby Bullet. Rubber scale model, wingspan 27 in. Scale is 1/8.

Note the plan shows four different nose installations using rubber power, a Cox .020 engine, Mabuchi A-1 and V-L101/Hytork electric motors. Quote: "For Rubber, Electric or Gas / Free flight, U-control or Radio Control".

Quote: "Steve, this plan kit for a Heath Baby Bullet is from the late 70’s. They included print wood for all parts. You had to supply your own sheet and strip wood. A very nice plan and booklet plus an 8x10 photo of the plane were included."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "The Heath 'Baby Bullet', one of the smallest air racers of the late 1920s, was perhaps the finest airplane of the day for its size and horsepower. Officially clocked at more than 150 miles per hour in 1928, it is doubtful that this unofficial record has been beaten to this day.

The Bullet was conceived by Edward Bayard Heath who was well known for his fight aircraft designs, aircraft kits and Henderson engine conversion. He was a popular subject of aviation publications in the late 20s.

An outstanding race pilot, Heath's successes during the 1926 and 1927 racing seasons found his popular Parasol designs in the winners circle of every major air race in the country. In order to perpetuate his colorful racing record, Heath commissioned Clare Lindstedt, an employee of his company, to build a fast new racer that would keep the Heath Company name in the aviation spotlight.

Lindstedt appears to have been a jack of all trades - designer, draftsman and welder. He in turn enlisted Roger Lorenzen and Fred Goldammer, two other company employees, to assist in the project. Design and construction began at the company's Broadway plant in Chicago, only to have the new racer nearly destroyed by a fire that ravaged the building. The aircraft was salvaged and rebuilt after a new plant was located elsewhere in Chicago.

Taking only two months to rebuild, the new racer was completed and ready to be test flown on August 18, 1928. The sleek silver airplane with its burnished aluminum cowls was moved to the Heath Flying Field near Des Plaines, Ill, where it was assembled in the remarkable time of one hour. While his ground crew was at work, Ed Heath busied himself giving flight instruction in one of his many World War I OX-5 Standard airplanes. Waiting until the cool of late afternoon before making his preflight inspection, he had a short discussion with his ground crew, climbed into the tiny cockpit and took off. He wore no flying goggles and the unusually large cowl completely blocked his forward vision.

After a surprisingly short ground run, Heath climbed and circled the field a few times getting the feel of the plane. He suddenly dove and made several highspeed passes over the heads of his jubilant crew. The new ship was truly fast as a bullet, and so it was named.

The flight test was concluded in 15 minutes. No structural engineering was ever done on the Bullet, a testament to the uncanny feel these men had for their work, as the race results that followed would prove

The tiny airplane had a wingspan of 18 ft (approx) and was 14 ft 6 in (approx) in length. Designed around Heath's slight frame (he weighed only 110 lbs and was slightly taller than 5 ft 1 in), the entire plane weighed less than 400 lbs, fueled and ready to fly. Heath sat on an aluminum panel that was bolted around the bottom longerons of the fuselage, his head barely protruding from the tightly cowled cockpit that was sometimes likened to a 'turkish bath'. The cowls hinged open to allow entry and exit while a simple instrument panel containing the barest essentials obscured his forward vision. No windscreen spoiled the airflow. The entire airplane stood a mere 4 ft tall - a beautiful and most unusual machine for the late 20's.

Powered by a Bristol Cherub engine developing 36.6 bhp at 3200 rpm, the 'engine rotated counter-clockwise (cockpit) and swung a 4 ft 4 in diameter lefthand propeller. This same engine was used on two previous Heath Racers, the Tomboy and the Super Parasol...

HEATH BABY BULLET - BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS

GENERAL: Construction of the Baby Bullet as shown on the plans will result in a rubber powered model weighing approximately 4 ounces. Several means of powering the model are indicated on the plan and the structure of the model should be changed slightly to beef-up the tail surfaces for a model intended for R/C or U-control. Our plan shows an ultra-light tail section intended to keep the rubber powered model from becoming tail heavy - this condition will not result with a gas or electirc model. U-control versions may use the scale surfaces shown on the plan.

More than ample room is provided to fly the Bullet on single channel R/C. We urge the use of our vacuum formed cowls which will considerably ease building time, lighten the model and allow easy access to any R/C gear which may be installed.

FUSELAGE: Typical box frame construction is used. Cockpit details indicated on the plan MUST BE ELIMINATED ON THE RUBBER POWER VERSION and portions of the nose structure must be cut away to allow the passage of the rubber motor through the nose section. (See F-3, F-4 & F-5). Note that two instrument panels are supplied.

Note that the aluminum tube which runs through the fuselage is bent slightly to allow the rubber motor to pass over it. Interior details are simple and material selection is left to the model builder. If the model is to be flown by electric or FI/C some mounting provisions for equipment should be made prior to covering the model. Prior to installing the belly stringers, epoxy two aluminum tubes at F-4 and F-5 which will accept the landing gear assembly,

LANDING GEAR: The landing gear assembly is unusual and the drawings on the plan sheet should be studied carefully. (see illustration) All strut pieces should be installed on the fuselage prior to the assem-bly of the axle fittings. A brass tube was used as the main axle bearing and was soldered to the legs and spreader bar. A washer should be soldered or glued to the inner axle shaft as a wheel retainer. An alum-inum tube was used as a wheel bearing. Flying wires pass through the axle plug the plug should be spot glued into position allowing it to pop free during impact, which will allow the wings to knock off the fuselage.

WHEELS: Vacuum-formed wheels are indicated on the plan, however wheels may easily be built up of balsa using a plywood center disk, Each wheel is built up of 1/8" sheet, using plywood as a center laminate. Cement aluminum bearing in place leaving a tail long enough to be chucked into a drill,spin and sand the wheels to shape. Cut off the ex-tended tube with a razor saw.

COWLS: Cowls are built in the usual manor, Use of vacuum-farmed cowls will speed building time, lighten the model and in general present a more realistic appearance particularly in the nose and cockpit area. This model, because of its unusual cockpit lends itself beautifully to the vacuum formed cowls which may be split as the original aircraft. (see documentation booklet) Use the patterns provided to cut out the engine area on both sides of the nose cowl. Cowl fastening is left of the model builder to suit the particular means be which the model is powered.

ENGINE: Build up fins from scrap balsa, plastic or paper. An aluminum tube may be used for the cylinder barrels. Epoxy head to barrel. Paint cylinder barrels black, cylinder heads are natural aluminum. Details such as exhaust pipes are easily made from plastic rod heated slightly and bent as shown, Push rod tubes and magneto are made of scrap material. NOTE: MAGNETO ON LEFT SIDE ONLY

SPINNER: Laminate two pieces of medium 3/4 in balsa with a 1/4 in tube extending into the lamination long enough so it can be cut out after the spinner has been turned. Spin pattern on drill to rough outline using a template. Give several coats of sanding sealer. Make spinner back plate from thin plastic and spot glue it to back of spinner. Finish turning and separate back plate. Use pattern provided on plan to cut out propeller slots after spinner has been hollowed. Use a new #11 Exacta blade. The blade slots will have to be made slightly larger to allow assembly. When attaching spinner to assembly, make a single loop motor, spot glue back plate to propeller PRIOR TO ASSEMBLING PROPELLER SHAFT. Spin the entire assembly before epoxy sets to center spinner on assembly. Fill open spaces around blades with bits of balsa and epoxy. BALANCE THE ASSEMBLY.

WINGS: The wings have no solid ribs, instead cap strips top and bottom of the spars make a light warp resistant structure. After laying down lower caps and spars, glue the top caps to the leading edge so they just rest on the forward spar. When cement is dry, wet each stick with a small brush, moisten the forward part of each cap as it is bent over and cemented to the trailing edge. Laminate bass wood for wing tips,

STABLILIZERS: Ultra-light construction is shown on plan as well as scale size sur-faces. The builder should select proper materials for his own ap-plication, particularly were R/C or U-control flight is intended. Where laminated basswood is used, cut out a cardboard template, wet and tape bass to pattern. Assemble pre-bent parts to plan in the usual manner when dry.

COVERING: Use the lightest tissue available, The original "Bullet" was painted silver and had burnished cowls. White or Grey tissue should be used. Tissue does not stretch easily over compound curves; cut separate pieces for each facet of the turtle deck and wing tips, Give model one coat of thin dope. Apply decals as shown in a fairly dry state or tissue will wrinkle under decals.

PAINTING: One of our models was painted with silver dope as a display model and was rather heavy; keep in mind that every gram added to the tail of the model may require five to compensate. KEEP IT LIGHT. The burnished cowls shown on the model in our literature was accomplished by mixing a small amount of black with silver enamel, start at the top center line and apply small dots with a brush, it is not as difficult as it may look and the end result will be something that you will enjoy

FINAL ASSEMBLY: Wings are attached using, hooks, rubber bands and dowel pegs. The wings should be mounted with approximately 2 degrees positive incidence. Once this location has been determined, eyelets should be pressed into the fuselage mounting plate and mounted flush to the fuselage. The rear eyelet might be tacked into position to allow final adjustment once the model has been flight tested. Several small rubberbands should be used to keep the wings firmly in place. Use a small wire hook to pull rubber thru tube. Tail surfaces should be tacked into position until final postion is determined, then rigged..."

Note this kit (and plan) was available in two sizes. This here is the 27 inch version. See Heath Baby Bullet (oz5528) for the 13 inch version.

Supplementary file notes

Instructions and documentation (16 pages).

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