Wyndigo (oz12211)

About this Plan

Wyndigo. Radio control slope soarer model. An aerobatic mini-sailplane.

Quote: "Wyndigo. Here's a great little slope ship that'll blow your summertime blahs 100 yards downwind! Wyndigo only demands two-channel operation, but what it can do with those two channels!

Those of you lucky enough to have seen a hot pilot wring out his SR-7 in a strong wind know what it's all about. You keep wishing that you could get that sort of performance out of something that would fly in light air conditions. I set out to design just such an aircraft, and succeeded beyond my expectations. I was so pleasantly surprized and captivated by this slope machine's performance, I named it the Wyndigo.

I went small and light to get a low frontal area and wing loading. I gave it a home brewed, semisymetrical section with a very sharp entry to get good penetration and stall; I mixed in a low aspect ratio wing and a short tail moment to ensure good response. I must admit that I evoked the Wyndigo with a bit of the old: if it looks good, it'll fly good philosophy. Imagine my enchantment when it all worked!

The Wyndigo is meant for winds be-tween six and 20 mph, and in that range, you won't find a plane more fun to fly. She rolls faster than my SR-7, flies inverted quite nicely, and her instant response and forgiving stall make landings a downright pleasure. Its only weakness is that the wing section will not permit outside maneuvers to be as tight as inside ones. You've gotta pay something for that floating ability folks!

The day of the "vest pocket" aerobatic sailplane seems to be upon us, and as you can build 'em faster and cheaper, plus carry, fly, and land one almost anywhere, I'm all in favor of the idea!

Which brings us to one last fact. Due to the Wyndigo's small size and instant control response, it is not a beginner's airplane. It will be upside-down and heading for that final excavation before your average floater begins to respond to the rudder. However, the Wyndigo's total lack of bad habits means that anyone with a reasonable amount of aileron time can fly it. Just treat it with respect until you get used to the idea that it will respond more quickly than anything you've flown before without an engine.

I'm a hate-to-build but love-to-fly sort and the Wyndigo is that sort of airplane. It's designed to build fast and cheap. In fact, the prototype was built mostly from leftover scraps! I am known as a slow (read "lazy") builder, but even I had the first one in the air in less than a week.

The Wyndigo was designed around the new 'mini' radio systems, but it will swallow a standard size Futaba four-channel receiver with careful fitting. You will also need two mini servos and a standard 250 mah battery pack.

The lower you can keep the wing loading, the better your Wyndigo will fly. Use light woods, forget the word fiberglass, and go easy on the amounts of glue you use. If your Wyndigo weighs in at more than 17 ounces you built it a bit too strong!

As you will see on the plans, the construction is conventional. Experi-enced builders can almost skip the instructions.

WING CONSTRUCTION: Cover the plans with waxed paper to prevent them from becoming a part of the airframe. Pin the sub-TE and the bottom spar to the plans..."

Windigo, Model Builder, June 1984.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 10/9/2023: Replaced this plan with a clearer copy, thanks to MB2020.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.
Previous scan version.

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