Airknocker (oz1293)
About this Plan
Airknocker (Aeronca C-3). Single channel radio control semi-scale model for .09 power, with a wing area of 420 sq.in. The original was powered with a Fox 10 engine and 8x4 prop.
Quote: "Scared off by the high powered multi-types? Here's the place to start... out in the pasture with the rest of us... Not a nervous bird, flies slow and easy, lets you get the feel of it, gain confidence.
Having built 66 radio control models of all sizes, shapes, and types, we have long since learned that there comes a time when a fellow just wants to watch an airplane fly. Plane watching is an art.
Some people regard multi stunting as the ultimate but unless the pilot is expert enough to smooth out the maneuvers, to impart a certain majestic quality to his pattern, he is more apt to acquire a case of knocking knees than he is a feeling of serenity. To our mind, therefore, the most pleasant airplane to watch is a single-channel rudder job which climbs slowly, flies smoothly, turns as if a pilot in the cabin co-ordinated stick and rudder - no zooms, mad vibration, crazy stalls, death defying wind-downs, erratic tail wiggling, or shattering engine noises.
The trouble with most rudder jobs is that, if you have seen one, you have seen them all. The typical bomb spans 50 or so inches and is powered by any-thing from a .15 - this isn't enough they say! - to even a .29. The miracle is that anyone can fly them—though we all do.
The genesis of this jumping bean school of design is the rules which dictate machines that stall and zoom, for you need that spectacular instability called ballooning to rack up points. It takes great skill to manage these jumpy craft..."
Update 09/12/2016: Replaced this plan with a clearer copy, also now scaled up to correct wingspan at 52in, thanks to pilgrim.
Supplementary file notes
Article pages, text and pics, thanks to GeeW.
Previous scan version.
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-
(oz1293)
Airknocker
by Bill Winter
from Flying Models
April 1963
52in span
IC R/C
clean :)
all formers complete :)
got article :) -
Found online 24/06/2011 at:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126587...
Filesize: 471KB
Format: • PDFbitmap
Credit*: 50+AirYears, pilgrim
Downloads: 4049
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User comments
I must admit that when I first saw the Airknocker in the FM magazine back in the early sixties it wasn't love at first sight, in fact I thought "that's ugly". However, over the years it grew on me to the extent that I finally decided to build one in late 2014. Mine is electric powered of course and R/E/T controlled and it is a surprisingly "burly" aeroplane; it has a solid presence in the air, so stable and well behaved that it would make an excellent trainer and I now find the way it looks actually attractive in a chunky sort of way [see more pics 004-006]. The flying surfaces are very easy and straightforward to build, but the fuselage, with its unusual cross section requires more care, in fact mine was a bit of a nightmare! Whilst not one single part of it is anywhere close to an Aeronca C3, the overall "cartoon scale" effect is such that the origins of the design are immediately apparent. Specifications of my model are: Weight 25.5 ounces, wing loading 7.7 ounces/sq. ft. Motor BRC 120/140 watt outrunner. Prop APC 9"x 4.7" Slow Fly, Battery 2s 1300. Full throttle watts 80, maximum watts/pound 51.Sundancer - 28/03/2016
I have just built from your plan an AIRKNOCKER to use at OT competition here in Sweden. Here are some images of my model [more pics 007-009].
OweCarlson - 03/08/2017
Today I saw my Airknocker on Photo Gallery, and this week I have made a trunk to make it easy to transport it to the flying field. I had to cut the wing in two halves which was not so easy but with a metal sawblade it went OK. A beam of steel will keep the wing-halves together. Here are some images that show the trunk, lid and rubberband lock of the lid [more pics 010-012]. Best wishes to you from Sweden.
OweCarlson_Sweden - 25/03/2019
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- Airknocker (oz1293)
- Plan File Filesize: 471KB Filename: Airknocker-FM-April-May-63_oz1293.pdf
- Supplement Filesize: 1687KB Filename: Airknocker-FM-April-May-63_oz1293_article.pdf
- Supplement Filesize: 538KB Filename: Airknocker-FM-April-May-63_oz1293_previous.pdf
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Notes
* Credit field
The Credit field in the Outerzone database is designed to recognise and credit the hard work done in scanning and digitally cleaning these vintage and old timer model aircraft plans to get them into a usable format. Currently, it is also used to credit people simply for uploading the plan to a forum on the internet. Which is not quite the same thing. This will change soon. Probably.
Scaling
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