Meteor (oz12424)

About this Plan

Meteor. Rubber speed model.

Quote: "Holder of the British Speed Record. Speed 50 mph. The Meteor, by M Farthing.

THIS model was designed primarily to attack the British speed record, and being the first speed model I have designed, I decided to make it small, thus being cheap to make and modify. There was also the fact that a slab-sided model of small size in America flew at over 90 mph and if mine only flew at half that speed it would be enough.

Being an ignoramus where speed models were concerned, I thought that if my model was not fast enough, all I had to do was to increase the wing loading, ie cutting a piece of each wing tip and increasing the power until it was fast enough.

However, I found out my mistake when I first tested the model. It was quite fast, but the plane turned round the prop, and also I could not get it to fly straight over 44 ft, let alone 88 ft. I took the model home disappointed and determined never to make another speed model. Later I changed my mind, altered the prop. size and increased the area of the tail surfaces. These modifications remedied the trouble and the model flew perfectly, clocking 50 mph over 88 ft with 6 strands of 1/4 in. The next week I increased the power to 8 strands and got 60 mph out of it. Then I cut the wheels off and bent the wire undercart legs back, making skids and thus decreasing the resistance. I again increased the area of the tail surfaces, reduced the wing area and increased the power to 10 strands. The model was faster than ever but it was extremely sensitive and tended to turn round the prop, again.

Fuselage. This is built up as usual of 1/16 square hard balsa. The corners are sanded round. The nose former is made of 1/8 ply and the nose block, of poplar, is a tight fit in same. A brass nose bush and nut is used and a ball-bearing washer. The necessity of the latter can be understood, the prop. revving at upwards of 12,000 rpm. The prop shaft has a clip on the hook (which is covered with valve tubing) to prevent the rubber working off. The rear peg is held in place with a rubber band to prevent it flying into the fuselage.

The fuselage is covered with coloured tissue, glossy side out, and with the grain running from side to side (not lengthways). It is water-sprayed and given two coats of dope. The prop is carved from poplar and given four coats clear dope.

Wing and Tail Unit: The main plane is cut from 1/8. medium balsa and is sanded almost streamline in section, there being little lift. It is filled with grain filler and given three coats of gloss dope. The tail surfaces are cut from 1 mm ply, sanded streamline and given three coats of gloss dope. The tail surfaces are cemented to the fuselage and the wing is held on by a tight elastic band."

Update 2/07/2021: Replaced this plan with a clearer copy (patterned background removed) thanks to TonyP.

Update 2/07/2021: Replaced this plan with a revised version (minor correction to tailplane size), thanks to TonyP.

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