Cessna 150 (oz12130)

About this Plan

Cessna 150. Radio control sport-scale model. Uses the Ace Mini Foam Taper Wing. For .049 - .09 engines.

Quote: "Cessna 150, by Fred Reese. A lesson in simplified realism, this little R/C bird duplicates the big ship's characteristics without the usual complication of scale construction.

There are Cessna 150s at almost every airport, yet rarely is an R/C model seen. Most of us are probably thinking of building more exotic flying machines - but think of all the Cessna color schemes. Some have very simple stripes, while others have more intricate patterns, and Cessna went wild with its 150 Akrobat. By using the Ace foam wing, wheel pants, struts, and Monokote trim on a balsa box, you can have a very realistic looking little flyer in about a week of evening work.

A Cox .049 or .09 makes the Cessna 150 an exciting airplane to fly, and it is not really a beginner design. I shortened the moments and reduced the horizontal tail in order to get more maneuverability and quicker spin entry. The model Cessna 150 is fast, does nice rudder rolls, flies inverted, and the power-on spins are fantastic. Spin recovery is immediate and the landings are easy. The Cessna 150 will take off from a paved runway, but should be hand-launched if flying from a grassy or rough field.

CONSTRUCTION The sides of the fuselage are straight from the nose back to bulkhead C; consequently all of the forward structure is completed before pulling the sides together at the tail. Begin by deciding on the engine position. I made no designation on the plan, as the engine can be mounted upright, inverted or sideways. Cut out the firewall and bolt on the engine mount and attach the wire nosegear with 'J' bolts, copper wire, or heavy thread. Cut out the fuselage sides and mark the firewall and bulkhead positions. Contact cement the fuselage and cowl doublers to the sides, leaving slots for the firewall and bulkhead C. I used 5-minute epoxy for the firewall and bulk-head, and Wilhold Aliphatic glue for the remainder of the wood construction. Glue on all of the cabin top and bottom pieces D, E, G, H, and then epoxy in the landing gear doubler F. With a sanding block, true up the front end and glue on piece A.

Pull the tail together and glue. Add the top and bottom rear sheeting. Fit and shape the rear window block, hollow it out, and then glue into place. Finish shaping and sand the entire fuselage. Cut the stabilizer slot (if you haven't already done so) and cut a slot in the top for the rudder. Glue the rudder to the stabi-lizer and when dry, slide the tail group into the slots from the rear and glue. Join the two elevator halves with an 1/8 inch dowel..."

Cessna 150, Model Builder, November 1974.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Note this plan used the Ace Foam wing. For a plan showing how to construct a replacement wing in balsa (both tapered and straight-chord) see Ace Foam Wing (oz8557) thanks to AndyKunz.

Update 06/08/2020: Added vectorPDF and CAD (dxf and dwg) versions of this plan, thanks to Valeria367.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.
VectorPDF plan tracing.

CAD file

This plan is available for download in CAD format.

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