Air Transport P2 (oz13036)

About this Plan

Air Transport P2. Free flight scale rubber parasol model. Nats-winning design.

Planfile includes article.

Quote: "IN SELECTING data and other information preliminary to building a good flying scale model many things have to be taken into consideration. First select a ship, one not too modern, that has a rather long fuselage and large tail surfaces. Then look through all the airplane magazines and get as many details as possible; or if it is a modern ship, you may be able to get information from the company that builds the ship.

The Air Transport P2 scaled down to half-size makes a very fine indoor as well as outdoor flying model and many indoor meets have been won with it. The entire structure can be scaled down directly if desired. On a half-size model most of the extra bracing and wire landing gear may be omitted for lightness. A full color doped model has averaged 45 seconds indoors.

The Philadelphia Flying Scale Model Championship three years in a row, and another model built from original drawings took 2nd place at the Nationals, flown by Ray Beaumont, of Philadelphia;

This ship is not one of those lucky combinations that cannot be duplicated: four or five have placed consistently at various meets. Anyone with a little experience in scale model building who builds a model of this ship from the following plans can be a threat at any meet.

You will notice the model is built very sturdy: designed to fly outdoors in almost any kind of weather, and to turn in consistent flights of over a minute.

Fuselage: First make a full scale layout of all necessary parts. Be sure to lay these out accurately in order to make templates for the wing ribs and tip pieces fit' properly. When cutting out parts, be sure to make all joints square. Do not be afraid to use a little sand paper. This is important; a model will not look any better than the woodwork underneath the covering. Be careful not to use too much cement as this adds additional weight, does not increase strength and only makes it harder to get a good covering job. If the model is for competition remember that good workmanship and finish means a lot of additional points.

Start building by making both fuselage side frames in conventional manner, being careful not to put pins through any main structural member, and while these are drying work on the nose block, as that is part of the fuselage. Cement the two blocks together with very little cement as this is only a temporary joint, to be cut open again to hollow

out the block. Carve the block to shape and give it a rough sanding. After this cut the blocks apart; hollow out the block by drilling about 1/2 in diameter hole, using a small gouge or chisel to hollow out the remaining area. The wall thickness on the finished block should be about 1/2 in all around. Do not hollow block too much as weight is needed in the nose. Now drill or cut a hole in the forward block to allow rubber to be pulled out the front. This hole must be at least 3/4 diameter and be sure it is centered and square. Now cement the blocks together and give final sanding with very fine sand paper.

A suggestion on how to arrive at a good finish is to use cement, slightly thinned, as a primer. Give the block four coats of cement, sanding all the bumps off between each coat. Then give the block one coat of clear dope and finish with the back of the sand paper rubbing rapidly until the paper feels warm. This gives a high luster. This is all done before cementing the block to the fuselage.

Now continue to build the fuselage in the conventional manner by cementing both aft ends together and cementing the nose block in place. Next add 1/8 square cross members and all formers. There are no formers used on the fuselage sides. Build stringers out away from the fuselage of small blocks varying from 1/32 to 3/32, as shown in prospective drawing.

The next step is the landing gear, made of .047 dia piano wire and soldered together. Be sure to use plenty of flux, as these joints must be good. It is then bound to the fuselage with fine thread and plenty of cement. Now make the landing gear struts. Be sure to notch struts to receive the wire; this can be done very easily with a broken razor blade. Sand and finish the struts, same as the nose block. Cement them in place and bind top and bottom, to make it a permanent job, as shown in the prospective drawing..."

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Planfile includes article.

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