Little Glenelg (oz13010)

About this Plan

Little Glenelg. Free flight sport model.

Note the 72 inch free flight Glenelg (oz906) was first published in Aeromodeller 1945. This here is a later reduced size version from 1995, at 48 in wingspan, for 1 to 1.5 cc engines.

Quote: "Build this charming power model from 50 years ago, re-created by Don Knight. There will be a special precision contest for it at the Old Warden Vintage Weekend.

I was chatting to George Gleaves at a spring meeting at Old Warden last year who told me that, as a very young lad, he had saved up his pocket money and bought the very first issue of a new magazine called Aeromodeller. He must have enjoyed it as he has bought every issue since. George also said that one of his favourite items is '50 years ago' and how nice it would be to feature a model from that period each year.

When I looked back it seemed 1945 was not full of stunning designs, although one did look promising, and we zeroed in on W Wilton's attractive Glenelg. I suppose the country was getting back on it's feet after the war, materials were short and people were preoccupied with rationing and austerity.

The span of the original is 72.5 inches. Not too big but demanding a largish flying site. So I decided to make it 2/3 size at 48 inches, but sticking to the original construction as far as possible. Power should be from 1 to 1.5 cc, of which there are plenty available. It is not a complicated model to build but there is quite a lot of building in it, if you understand. No lightweight bag of wind this, but a model that will be strong enough to stand up to some hard treatment.

The wings: Cut out a set of ribs, the trailing edge and tips. Assemble them over the plan remembering the dihedral on the root rib and the fact that they are all capped with 1/16 balsa which must be allowed for where the rib is slotted into the TE. The root rib is from 1/8 sheet and not slotted into the TE but glued to it as shown on the plan. Add the 3/16 LE and let the glue dry. Cut the spars from hard 1/8 sheet, lay the top ones across the ribs while the wing is still pinned to the board, mark the ribs, cut the slots and fit the top spars. Wait for the glue to dry before lifting the wing and fitting the bottom spars. Sheet top and bottom forward of the centre line of the front spars.

Add the web between the spars as shown in the small drawing on the plan. The original had webs fore and aft of both spars making a box. I only used one web at the back of the main spar and I'm sure it is strong enough. Note that the web on the first bay at the root is 3/16. Cap all the ribs with 1/8 x 1/16 strips and you have one elegant wing. You will probably need two! The centre section is built between the two wings with them both pinned firmly down with the tips propped up to give the correct dihedral. Glue the centre section ribs to the wing root ribs, make sure that the spar, TE and LE fits are as perfect as you can make them and then let the glue really harden before being tempted to remove the pins to look at your handiwork. When it is dry remove the wing and add the 3/16 web to the centre section. You can slot the ribs by the spars and add dihedral braces, but I can assure you if you have got good fits it will be strong enough without them.

The fuselage: The fuselage is so simple it needs few comments. The front two uprights for the integral fin and sub-fin are slotted right through the fuselage. To get the sharpish curve at the front of the bottom longeron you can split it for about 5 in, work some glue into the cut then bend it to shape using the 1/16 sheet side as a template. The front undercarriage leg is bound and glued to the ply F1 and the rear is fitted into hard balsa blocks epoxied firmly to F2..."

Supplementary file notes

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