AT-6 Texan (oz12591)

About this Plan

AT-6 Texan. Radio control stand off scale model. Wingspan 68 in, wing area 680 sq in. For .61 - .80 engines. Scale is 1.35 in = 1 ft.

Note this kit included a GRP ready-moulded fuselage [see pic 004] and also used foam-core wing and tail surfaces. The plan, accordingly, does not show formers for these parts.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Note pic of completed AT-6 model by Don Olsen was found online at https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?919801-Vintage-Bridi-AT-6-Help

Update 29/11/2020: Added kit review from RCM, February 1979, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "RCM Product Test: Bridi Enterprises AT-6.

Now that you have bought, or if you are planning to buy, the Bridi AT-6 we will try to give you some useful hints for building and flying this excellent sport scale aircraft.

As to the kit layout and quality, we found all the fiberglass material of good quality. Included was a formed glass pan for wing center section, along with the normal hardware for building. The foam wing cores are excellent as are the balsa sheeting and hardware parts. I found the instruction booklet and plans very clear and explicit. I am 16 years old and have been building scale models for the last 2 years. I found all the information easy to understand.

The one most important suggestion I can give anyone building this kit is to check the stabilizer incidence as I did find mine considerably off. This can result in a very difficult flying aircraft, especially sport scale.

I found the building instructions in the booklet in sequence. It shows good starting and finishing procedures. I feel this aircraft would be a good beginning Stand-Off Scale aircraft for the RC modeler. As I mentioned before, the instructions are good and the kit does go together quite easily.

Three other things that I think would be of help to you:

(1) The fiberglass rudder and fin included in the kit are much too heavy and I suggest using a balsa built-up fin and rudder.
(2) If you are interested in a close Stand-Off Scale aircraft, the landing gear should be slightly longer and the tail moment or length could be shortened about 1 in. (This is not necessary.)
(3) There are much better ways of attaching the cowl than shown in the plans. There are various methods which, if I covered all, would take up too much space so suggest using your own innovations on this.

In completing the AT-6 I used the aluminum finish put out by Pactra called Flight Aluminum. This finish seems to cover well and has good fuel resistant qualities. On the balsa covered portions of the aircraft I used Jet Cote mylar covering over the wood portions and primed with synthetic lacquer primer. I found this to be a very fast method of sealing the wood portions of the aircraft; however, I feel there are better methods for longevity and quality finishing.

For radio installation I used the Kraft 7 channel radio; however, only 5 channels were used, the fifth channel being retracts. I used Kraft multi-con retracts which 1 feel, for this particular aircraft, is much more reliable and have scale operation.

I did not incorporate flaps into my model but there would be no reason why they would not work well on the aircraft.

Trimming and flying the AT-6: I found that almost all cases of modelers having problems with scale aircraft is that they are not balanced properly. Normally they try to fly the aircraft tail heavy which has disastrous results. My particular AT-6 took 6 oz of nose weight to balance it. On the other hand, my Dad's AT-6 only took 2 oz of nose weight. This could be due to different finishing and painting materials and/or location of radio systems. If your AT-6 is slightly nose heavy you will never have problems and its much better than being slightly tail heavy.

The AT-6 has good flying characteristics. It has good take-off and landing capabilities, it is stable in all flight maneuvers that most stunt aircraft would perform. On your scale fly-bys they look like an AT-6. The AT-6 is such an easy airplane to fly that you may find yourself using it as your everyday fun flyer. I hope you enjoy your AT-6 as I have mine."

Supplementary file notes

Review.

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