Bellanca Pacemaker (oz12580)

About this Plan

Bellanca Pacemaker (Transatlantic Bellanca). Control line scale model for class A engines.

The subject prototype is the CH-300 'Cape Cod' (Registration: NR761W) flown by Russell Boardman and John Polando from New York City to Istanbul in 1931.

Quote: "Remember the Pacemaker that flew from New York to Istanbul? This model of her is for Class A engines. Transatlantic Bellanca, by Walter A Musciano.

Clarence Chamberlin, Francesco Di Pinedo, Russell Boardman, Holger Hoiriis and James Mollison are a few of the famous pilots who selected Bellanca airplanes for their long-distance flights. World-famous names like Columbia, Liberty, Cape Cod and Irish Swoop all belonged to Bellanca designs.

Although we built the Cape Cod model with considerable success, the plans also describe the minor revisions required to construct the Liberty, another famous Bellanca, in case you prefer it to the Cape Cod.

Designed as both a stunt or sport job, our prototype model behaved beautifully as either by adjustment of control horn moment arm. Flown on 45 ft lines; the 152 sq inch wing area gives plenty of lift for contest type maneuvers. Any engine from .099 to .19 can be used to power this 3/4 in = 1 ft scale model. We mounted the engine pancake fashion so the nose profile would not be spoiled by the cylinder and to improve engine performance during quick changes in flight attitude (inverted flight).

Cut fuselage sides and formers from specified stock and cement fuselage together at rear. When dry, cement formers between sides one at a time starting from rear. Add bulkhead and cement mounts.

Tail surfaces are cut out and sanded to streamline cross-section. Cement elevator halves to hardwood joiner; add a commercial control horn with two holes. Hinge elevator assembly to stabilizer with crinoline strips. Cement stabilizer to fuselage; use plenty of cement. Attach music wire lead-out lines to dural bellcrank; screw or bolt bell-crank to bottom of top engine mount. Install wire control rod.

Although landing gear construction may seem unorthodox, it provided excellent service and is easy to make. Draw strut outline on dural sheet; cut out with tinsmith shears or fine hacksaw. File edges smooth, finishing with emery cloth. Drill holes for wire axle and mounting screws. Mount strut after bending to shape; cement foundation securely to fuselage. Add axle strut. Cover fuselage bottom; add soft balsa nose blocks. Carve these to shape; remove from fuselage. Hollow as shown; re-cement in place after installing fuel tank.

The wing is so simple it hardly need be mentioned. There is no dihedral, taper nor sweepback required. Cut out all the ribs and pin together. Sand these so they are of uniform shape. This improves appearance and performance. Separate ribs; pin them directly over wing plan. Add leading and trailing edges; block them up so they fit ends of ribs. Apply plenty of cement to all joints. Add solid soft balsa tips; when dry cut leading and trailing edges plus the tips to shape. Sand well and cover wing with paper. Apply three coats of clear dope sanding between with fine paper.

Cement wing securely to fuselage; then fuselage top can be added. Note that both top and bottom of fuselage should be applied with grain running spanwise. Install fin, offset rudder.

Pants are 'sandwiched', then carved and sanded to streamline shape. These slide over axle and fit to main strut. Install wheels before pants are cemented. Fillet the joint well with Plastic Wood or balsa dust and cement mixture.

You may find a cowl ring made of aluminum or plastic that will fit. We made ours from balsa rings cut from sheet balsa and cemented together cross-grained under slight pressure. When dry the unit is carved and sanded to shape. Cowl-ring is cemented in place after painting model. If you have a lathe, the ring can be turned from hardwood.

Cut struts to streamline shape but do not install. Bend tailskid to shape, cement to fuselage. Model should receive at least two and preferably four coats of wood filler on all exposed wood surfaces. We used Testors Sanding Sealer. Sandpaper wood filler thoroughly after each coat has dried. Add control line guides on inboard wing tip.

Paint entire model yellow. We applied four coats; thinning each successive coat. Trim in black the wheel pant striping, cowl ring and upper portion of fuselage aft of cockpit plus license numbers. 'Cape Cod' lettering below cockpit and the map on fuselage side are white. These plus license are cut from 'Trim-Film.' Add cowl. Struts should be wood-fillered and painted yellow, then cemented in place. Coat all external surfaces, inside of fuselage near engine and engine mount cement joints with good grade of fuel proofer."

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