FAC Trainer (oz12675)

About this Plan

FAC Trainer. Rubber sport trainer model.

Quote: "Named after the famous Flying Aces Club, this appealing little rubber job is the next logical step up from the Delta Dart (oz7931) and AMA Cub models so popular with Juniors. Great flier!

There is a magic in flight, and nowhere is this more evident than in a rubber-powered model wheeling silently high overhead, the sunlight dancing through tissued wings. Fortunately, such a ship can be quite easy to build and inexpensive too, if it's our FAC Trainer. The FAC Trainer (named for the famed and far-flying Flying Aces Club) is, because of its simplified, straight-line design, eminently suited for the beginner, but its flying qualities will more than satisfy the veteran modeler.

To build your own FAC Trainer, begin by tracing the wing rib and fuselage nose piece onto thin paper. This paper pattern is then glued (rubber cement is good for this) to thin cardboard, and then carefully cut to shape. These resulting patterns, or templates, are then used to guide the knife while the balsa nose pieces and wing ribs are cut to shape. Remember that it is usually more satisfactory to cut such parts using several light cuts with the knife, instead of trying to cut through the wood in only one pass. With these parts cut out, the hardest part of the ship is done.

Now lay the plan (traced, photocopied, or ruthlessly slashed from your magazine) on a flat board and cover the plan with a piece of clear plastic food wrap. This plastic covering is important to prevent the workboard from becoming a part of your model. The wing leading edge and trailing edge spars are then pinned in place over the plan and all ribs and gussets (except the very center) are glued in place. When the glue has thoroughly dried, remove the pins and cut or carefully crack the leading and trailing edge spars exactly at the center. While holding the center of the wing on the building board, prop up each wing tip 1-1/2 inches and glue the center rib and its gussets in place. The wing structure is completed by adding the two upper spars.

The frames for the tail surfaces are simply flat structures built of strip balsa, much like those of the popular Delta Dart (oz7931) and 'AMA Cub' airplanes. When dry, the stabilizer and fin can be removed from the building board and lightly sanded with fine sandpaper to remove the lumps and bumps of glue and such. The leading and trailing edges of all of the flying surfaces may also be rounded with sandpaper at this time. The fuselage, being of the built-up profile variety, is built much like the other flat parts. The nose piece and upper and lower longerons are pinned down and the uprights glued into place. When dry, the fuselage too may be smoothed with sandpaper, though the edges are best left square. The propeller thrust bearing is cut from a length of aluminum tubing (Know how to cut tubing? Roll it under the blade of a hunting knife), then glued in place under the nose and bound with wrappings of cotton sewing thread. The rear motor hook, formed from wire, is glued and bound in similar fashion to the lower longeron.

Now the various assemblies will be ready to cover with lightweight model tissue. This operation is not at all difficult if you give the bare structures a coat of clear dope along those areas where the tissue is to be adhered, and allow this to dry. Lightly sand off the resulting fuzz and apply another thinned coat of dope. When this has dried, begin with the fuselage and cut a piece of tissue about an inch bigger in all directions than the part to be covered, and lay the tissue in position upon the frame. Now, using a brush dipped in dope thinner, brush the thinner right through the tissue and onto the doped frame. This will make the underlying dope sticky, and the tissue is attached to all parts in this manner. After covering, lightly spray (as with a Windex spray bottle) the parts with water and pin or weight them carefully to the building board..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

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