Repulogepgyar Levente II (oz12710)

About this Plan

Repulogepgyar Levente II. Rubber scale parasol model. Wingspan 26-1/2 in.

Instructions file includes detailed instructions along with build photos [model photo & more pics 003-007], plus lots of history and drawings.

Quote: "REPÜLOGÉPGYÁR LEVENTE II. 1/14 Scale, Rubber Powered Free Flight Hungarian WWII Trainer Design. Photographs, Illustrations and Text by PJ Theobald.

Introduction: Like many modellers, I enjoy building models of aircraft that are out of the usual rut and relatively unknown, the Levente II certainly fulfils that requirement. Prior to designing my model, I’d personally never heard of the full-sized machine, let alone seen a flying or static model of one. When I started my research, I only found photographs of unbuilt, small production run 1/48th scale static resin kits online.

During the lockdown of summer 2020 I’d built a 1/14th scale rubber powered model of a Fleet F10G, modified from the 1936 Peerless plan of the Fleet Trainer (oz10200), the well-known Canadian radial engine biplane known as the Finch in RCAF service. Keeping with my penchant for the unusual, I chose the F10G because it differed from the better-known variants in that it was licence-built in Romania and was powered by a De Havilland Gypsy Major engine. I liked the colourful national insignia and the yellow striped wingtips and fuselage too. At 24” span, I found that the 1/14th scale made for a nice sized model and decided that my next scale subject should be around the same size.

My partner is Hungarian and as Romania and Hungary have a somewhat fraught history, (don’t mention Transylvania or the Treaty of Trianon), I felt she was a little aggrieved that I’d built a Romanian aircraft and I thought that I should redress the balance by building something Hungarian next, so the search began to find the perfect type online.

Eventually I found a small side-view of an interesting looking but unfamiliar parasol winged, open-cockpit, tandem seat trainer with an (for me) un-pronounceable name, a copy and paste of that name and a subsequent image search generated some rather nice three views, some videos, some images of the sole surviving original Levente II preserved in a museum in Budapest and a quite excellent Hungarian website detailing the construction of a flying reproduction of the Levente II in Hungary; plenty of information to begin the design of a 1/14th 26.5” wingspan, scale rubber-powered free flight model.

The three view drawings revealed an elegant but somewhat awkward to design elliptical, swept wing which varied in thickness along its length. I briefly considered finding another subject when contemplating the lofting of all those different wing ribs, but the excellent general proportions of the design as a free flight model and its rarity, not to mention my partner’s disapproval at my suggestion of building something simpler and not Hungarian, encouraged me to persevere with the type.

The only intentional deviation from scale outlines in my model is the incorporation of a separate centre section and flat undersides to the centre section and wing panels. The full-sized machine has curved upper and lower wing surfaces when viewed from the front, which would have necessitated a lot of awkward jigging on the building board. The full-sized aircraft also features a lot of plywood sheeting on the wing which could have been replicated with light 1/32” sheet balsa sanded to 1/64” but in the interests of weight saving this was omitted and riblets substituted instead.

The drawings were duly completed on A4 sheets of paper to enable the plan to be scanned at home and uploaded to Outerzone, I’ve built plenty of models from free plans provided by Outerzone and I wanted to give something back!

Before we get into the details of the construction, there follows an account of the development, manufacture and service of the Repülogépgyár Levente II, its designer, András Fábián, and their place in Hungarian aviation history..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Instructions.

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