Mitchell-Procter Kittiwake (oz13225)

About this Plan

Mitchell-Procter Kittiwake. Control line scale model of the British 1960s homebuilt. Wingspan 48 in, for .35 engines. Scale is 1/6.

Quote: "This plane was designed and built in England by C Mitchell and RG Procter, two young technicians. Mitchell is a scientist at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough and Procter is Assistant Technical Sales Manager for the British Aircraft Corp Ltd. Conceived as a glider tug, 'Kittiwake' was the first English all-metal home-built airplane; its first flight was made in April 1967. It is a low-wing monoplane with tricycle undercarriage, single-seater optimised to tow a 1000 lb glider to 2,000 ft as cheaply as possible, and designed for a gross weight of 1,350 lb or 1,250 lb fully aerobatic.

To achieve a high rate of descent, large flaps were chosen. The powerplant was chosen on the basis of cost/ performance sums to determine the power for minimum-cost operation. The results pointed to the 100 hp Rolls-Royce Continental 0-200-A flat four air-cooled piston engine made under license in England. This engine gives Kittiwake a performances marginally superior to that of the old Tiger Moth with about two-thirds of the power.

With the amateur builder in mind, the untapered wing was designed with all ribs flanged the same way to avoid the need for hand tools. The full size airplane has a NASA 3415 wing section. The only feature beyond an amateur's capability are the main undercarriage legs, bent up from 5/8 in steel plate and heat-treated to 100 tons/sq in.

There were many critics who doubted that a modern metal airplane could be built in a garage. Kittiwake has disproved them. The only tools needed are electric drills, tin snips, files, a set of home-made bending bars, hacksaw, pillar drill, hand squeeze riveter and other simple tools.

The builders reported considerable help from manufacturers in granting discounts on equipment for the prototype. For these reasons the cost has not been as high as might be expected. Total expenditure at the first flight amounted to approximately $3,125.00. Some of the aluminum alloy sheets used for Kittiwake were from TSR-2 English bomber which was not in production at the same time the Kittiwake began to grow.

The first flight and initial handling assessments were made from Lasham Airfield. Kittiwake taxied nicely and the wheel brakes indeed were effective. Its flying characteristics were quite good. Level speed achieved at 2,500 ft was 95 knots. Service ceiling reached 14,000 ft. Kittiwake has some STOL characteristics: take-off to 50 ft was 890 ft and landing distance from 50 ft to about 900 ft. A most amusing thing to try with full flap is a power-off descent at 80 knots: so huge are the flaps that Kittiwake literally has to be stood on her nose to get speed - a most effective way of getting back to earth after launching a glider.

Kittiwake was not put in series production, but complete plans for homebuilders to build the full size plane are available in England.

My Kittiwake was built in 1/6 scale and its span is 48 in. Because I do not live in the USA I could not depend on items from model shops, and most parts are home-made and work well. Though Kittiwake's shape seems to be very straight at the first time, do not think that it is especially for beginners - there are some points which are rather difficult for the inexperienced modeler.

If you decide to build this model, first of all you will have to choose what engine you want to put into Kittiwake. I used the Czech engine MVVS 35 R/C, but you can also use any good .29 or .40 engine with throttle control which is helpful for Scale models, especially for the Kittiwake which has flaps coupled with engine throttle. I think that you can use factory-made items, too, which will cut down the building time of your model.

CONSTRUCTION: Fuselage: I suggest building the model in following sequence: first we build the fuselage. If you have the specified engine, check to see if the engine bearers' width is suitable for your engine's dimensions. If not, this will have to be changed to your requirements. Next, decide if you want to use the original fuel tank as shown on the plan or a fuel tank bought from your hobby shop. When you begin to cut off formers Fl, F2 and F3 remember about the eventual changes.

Before assembly of the fuselage you will have to do the following things: first of all, mount nose wheel bearing to former F2. Then you can assemble the first three formers Fl, F2 and F3 together with engine bearers. Next install cabin floor with former F3, F4 and F5. At the same time you have to attach to former F4 under cabin floor two Dural angle bars for the control belicrank mounting... "

Kittiwake, MAN, May 1973.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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