Pilatus PC-6 Porter (oz12964)

About this Plan

Pilatus PC-6 Porter. Scale model for rubber power or CO2 motor. Wingspan 22 in.

Planfile includes full build instructions.

Quote: "The PC-6 Porter has been designed as an easily-built, light model that can be flown indoors or outdoors. If you build carefully and follow these instructions, you will have an excellent flying model.

Before any building is done, plans should be covered with saran wrap or rubbed with a candle to prevent glue from adhering the framework of the plane to the plans. For cutting wood to shape, use a sharp pointed blade such as an X-acto #11. A small light sanding block should be made by gluing 320 sandpaper to a balsa block approximately 1-1/4 in wide by 1-1/2 in long. A thickness of 1/2 in will do nicely, with edges rounded and sandpaper pulled up around edges and glued in place. This way you won't cut into framework of plane with the edge of the sandpaper, and the light sanding block will give you some feel of how much material you are removing when sanding.

Do not pin through wood strips, but rather put pins on both sides to hold strips in place on plans. Use stronger strips for longerons on body and lighter ones for cross-members, uprights on body, and cross-pieces on stab and rudder. Always use stronger strips for leading and trailing edges of stab and rudder and any wing spars.

The Wing is built flat on the plans. The two center ribs are not glued to the leading edge, trailing edge, or spars until wing tips are blocked up to 1-1/4 dihedral. Now center ribs may be glued in place, making sure they are perfectly vertical. This will give proper dihedral to wings when glued to body. Dotted line marked 'wing strut anchor' is 1/16 square balsa strip glued to ribs for added strength. Build stab and rudder flat on plans and carefully remove them and wing when finished.

Body is done by first building one side flat on plans, and fitting window frames in place. This should be removed from plans when dry and another identical side constructed on plans again. Some modelers prefer to build one side directly on top of the other. This can cause the two body sides to become glued together, and they will have to be separated by gently sliding a double edge razor blade between them. If you prefer the latter method, be extremely careful throughout the entire process, including the separation of the body sides. When the two sides are completed and off the plans, they should be sanded very lightly to remove any glue that will spoil an otherwise beautiful tissue covering job.

The two body sides should be glued together by using the cross-pieces at the widest part of the fuselage shown on the top view. Rear section is then pulled together and glued. Be sure to keep everything square and lined up, then glue bulkhead f-2 and formers f-1 and f-3 in place. With three strips glued from the nose to bottom cross-piece your fuselage is almost finished. The top cowling is now fitted and glued in place. Sand nose of body smooth and assemble the laminated nose block and lock. block, and fit into nose of ship. This nose block will be removed when winding the model for flight. Two coats of thin dope should be applied to all parts of model and lightly sanded.

At this point, take time to inspect each parts of model for proper alignment, and cement any joints which may have come loose during sanding. Each part is then covered with tissue, making sure all edges of tissue are down tight by rubbing with finger and applying a little extra dope to edge. Each part of the model, when covered, should be sprayed with a fine water-mist and watched as tissue shrinks. Warps may develop and can be corrected by twisting slowly in the opposite direction.

All parts are given two very thin coats of dope, and the model assembled. A little wash-in may be warped in the right wing at this time by twisting the leading edge of right wing tip up 3/32 in. Since you will fly in right circles this adjustment will help keep model from spiral-diving in the turn. The rudder is glued in place with a little right turn, and the nose button is glued to the nose block with a small amount of right thrust. This keeps the model turning right under full power, and a small amount of downthrust will prevent power stalling. Any further adjustments can be made after test flying, by gluing thin shims of wood behind noseblock.

Although any 6 in diameter prop can be used, we obtain good results with the following one. The prop is in three pieces: two removable ones and a hub. The hub consists of a piece of 3/16 square balsa 1-1/2 in long with slotted ends, edge to edge at right angles. Slots are 3/8 deep. Prop shaft hole goes through the center on the flat side of wood. Sand this unit round and wrap with thread at end of slot to prevent splitting. Prop blades are sanded streamline, then wet and placed on a 3 to 4 inch diameter glass bottle at a slight angle, wrapped with newspaper, and baked in oven at approximately 200 degrees for about 5 to 10 minutes. The angle at which blade is placed on bottle determines prop pitch - more angle, less pitch. Blades are not glued in hub, and several sets of blades can be made to suit flying site.

FLYING: Start with about 200 winds and trim out plane for smooth flight with clay in nose. Then add more turns until model climbs slowly up and to the right. If more power is added and stalling occurs, add downthrust in small amounts until power stall is cured. Happy flying!"

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "Here’s the not-so-clandestine warrior from Air America service in Laos…the Pilatus PC-6 Porter from MicroX Products Incorporated [main pic, 003-005]. I have scanned the plan right out of the box, so please adjust to whatever size you decide to build. Design wingspan is 22” and construction consists largely of 1/16” square strip-stock balsa. It is very lightly built and covering demands special care in preventing warps, particularly in the empennage. Recommend pre-shrinking tissue before covering in this area. She’s a good flyer."

Update 18/04/2021: Added printwood, box art, and supplement CO2 conversion drawing, thanks to AdrianCulf.

Supplementary file notes

Box art.
CO2 conversion.
Printwood.

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