Baby SE5 (oz12860)

About this Plan

Baby SE5. Free flight scale model WWI fighter, for CO2 power. Scale is 1/24.

Quote: "Baby SE5, by Howard McEntee. The venerable SE5 flies again - this time as a midget CO2 powered fighter.

AFTER a great deal of experiment and many hours of flying the little pusher described in Dec 1947 MAN, and a second model of the same design but carrying tricycle gear, the urge was felt to build something a bit more complex for the tiny Campus engine to pull around. As the old World War I SE5 has always been our particular favorite, this biplane was a logical choice. Experienced scale modelers do not need to be told of the advantages the SE5 offers as a free flight scale job, be it powered by rubber, gas or CO2. For those not so well versed we will briefly enumerate its points of superiority.

First and probably most important, the original ship incorporated considerable dihedral in both wings, and the wings are large enough to afford plenty of area even though the span is small. Second, the tail is quite long, allowing a good tail moment arm with only a slight increase in area over that used in the big ship. Add to these the fairly high thrust line, and the general 'right' look of the design as a whole, and it is quickly apparent why this particular biplane has always been such a popular model subject. In a search for authentic plans we remembered Bill Wylam's scale drawings of the original which appeared in December 1944 issue of this magazine. The plans were to a scale of 1/4 in equals 1 ft; exactly double size gave a wingspan of 13-1/4 in, just right for the A-100 powerplant.

The only deviation from true scale was a slight increase in tail area. However, the model has proven such a stable flier that we feel sure strictly scale size tail surfaces would work adequately. No change in landing gear was needed as a gear of scale height gives comfortable prop clearance. Of course, placed as it is, the undercarriage doesn't afford much prop protection, and furthermore it is so far back that the model almost always noses over, even when landing from a smooth glide, unless the landing surface is very smooth. It was decided to take these risks, however, rather than spoil scale appearance by moving the gear forward.

Now a few words about construction and model weight. We have always been enthusiastic about all-balsa construction. While this method has many advantages, to be successful it is imperative that you choose your wood with care. Not only must thickness and weight be carefully checked, but on those parts that have to be curved - such as the cowling and to a lesser degree the wings - you must use a cut of wood that is amenable to bending. Such wood is variously termed 'A cut,' slash cut, tangent cut, and so on. The model shown was made throughout of 'A cut' wood which proved quite satisfactory.

By choosing grades of wood carefully, the weight was held to .82 oz.; this is light enough to allow very good performance. When selecting your wood be careful to pick only the lightest grades - they will be plenty strong and it is astonishing how the weight goes up if you don't watch this. Aside from the wing and landing gear struts. which are of rather hard stock, all other parts are of soft wood.

FUSELAGE: Cut out the two fuselage sides, which run from radiator to tail, These pieces are of 1/32 thick material and should be matched together to be sure both are alike in shape. Moisten both pieces at the rear so they can be bent inward as seen on the top view.

Cut bulkheads 1 (radiator), 2, 3, 4 from soft 1/8, and No.5 from 1/16 stock; after cutting out the centers for lightness, assemble these five bulkheads and the two sides. (Do not pull the sides together at the rear yet).

At this point let us digress a bit to discuss cement. Though some modelers are not aware of it, certain grades of model cement are very fast drying while others dry rather slowly; for such purposes as assembling the fuselage parts the latter is the only kind to use. As they are put in place, the bulkheads must be shifted a bit to line them up; fast drying glue will set almost as soon as it is out of the tube and hence give you no time for careful lineup of the various parts. Also, we find when working with thin balsa parts that the slow drying cement seems to warp them less when it is hardening. There are many places where use of quick drying cement will speed up work however; this grade is especially desirable for field repairs, since even major damage can be mended and the ship will be ready for flight again in a short time.

By the time the glue on the front four bulkheads is well set, the moistened rear of the side pieces should be dry. Cut out the final two bulkheads, cement them in place, and close the side pieces at the tail. Next, cut a piece of 1/32 stock to cover the fuselage bottom from tail forward to bulkhead 4. This piece may be a bit wider all around than needed, it can easily be trimmed to size after the glue dries... "

Baby SE5, MAN, March 1948.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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