Findragger (oz12760)

About this Plan

Findragger. Radio control sport model.

Quote: "A small/medium sport R/C model for learning to fly (with an .049), or tearing up the sky (with a .10). The inverted fin? Just think of the fun you can have explaining it to the spectators!

Let me guess. You were either half asleep or drunk when you glued the fin on, right? This is a pretty typical comment when fellow R/Cers eyeball the Findragger for the first time. If I were smart, I would just kind of grin and play along, but usually I tell them that I actually did it that way on purpose. Why? My answer to that is the ageless reason: just to be different. It could definitely be argued that an inverted rudder holds certain aerodynamic advantages, but on a sport ship like the Findragger, they're relatively unimportant.

One very obvious disadvantage is the fin's vulnerability to damage. The rugged design in the tail area has proven more than sufficient in squelching that concern. In fact, the entire structure is pretty beefy, resulting in one tough little bird. The overriding factor during design, however, was ease of construction - that is where the flat-bottomed wing, sheet tail surfaces, and box fuselage come into play.

The Findragger is an extremely versatile aircraft. It was originally designed around a Cox Medallion .049 R/C (with throttle). It flies around very nicely on this power. With the .049 and small control surface deflections, the Findragger is an extremely easy aircraft to fly. I recommend this setup for training (with an instructor). More advanced fliers will definitely want to go with an .09 or .10 for much higher performance. Crank up the control deflections, shift the balance point back, and you'll have a truly spectacular hot-dogger. It will do loops like a control liner, spin faster than you can count the turns, hug the field contours at quarter throttle, and settle in for beautiful, soft three-pointers every time.

I generally fly aileron-equipped models, but rudder control can be a lot of fun - and quite a challenge to fly well. Flying with rudder is quite a bit different from aileron flying; while certain maneuvers cannot be done (axial rolls, for example), the Findragger will do other stunts (as yet unnamed) that will amaze you. So give it a try -rudder/elevator/throttle is a lot of fun. And fun is the whole idea behind the Findragger and our hobby, right?

Construction: One point that I would like to get across in this article is that modification is strongly encouraged. I certainly don't expect this design to appeal to everybody, so change should be made to suit your tastes. This is a creative person's hobby, so be creative. Maybe a curved belly would look better, or maybe the stab could be tapered. You could add a nosewheel, or replace the vortex wingtips with tip plates. You could even turn the fin upright, but that would break my heart!

As with any scratch-built project, wood selection is paramount. Use contest quality wood, if possible, to keep the weight down. Epoxy use should be limited to the engine and landing gear mount areas and the wing joint. Hot Stuff and Titebond are fine for the rest of the structure.

As you begin to cut balsa, you will notice that many parts have been designed to fit standard sizes of wood. The fuselage sides will just fit on four-inch-wide sheets. When you cut the 3-1/2-inch-wide balsa portion of the stab, the remaining half-inch strip can be used for the wing saddle. Using standard sizes of balsa results in fewer knife operations, less building time, and a simplified structure.

Wing: The wing is built in two pieces. Cut out twenty ribs (all identical) using your favorite method. I prefer to make a plywood or stiff cardboard template; cut the ribs using the template, and then sand the stack of ribs together. Lay down the bottom leading and trailing edge sheeting over your Saran-Wrap protected plans.

Glue the lower spar to the leading edge sheeting (even with the back edge), followed by 10 ribs. Align the root rib using the dihedral template. Add the spruce leading edge stiffener, the balsa leading edge, the upper spar, the upper leading and trailing edge and center sheeting, and the uppercapstrips..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

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