Focke Wulf A43 Falke (oz13487)

 

Focke Wulf A43 Falke (oz13487) by Emmanuel Fillon 1975 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Focke Wulf A43 Falke. Free flight scale model of the German prototype light utility aircraft.

Direct submission to Outerzone. Cleanup by Pilgrim.

Update 11/12/2021: Added article, in French, thanks to AlainGuillouard. Note this also includes further sketches showing the model construction.

Quote (using Google translate from the French): "Construction of the model: As for the models previously described, the presentation of the execution size in the insert in this MRA which is made with a piston engine 0.8 cm3 is absolutely not restrictive. The size chosen for this model allows it to be motorized without difficulty with an electric motor or skein of rubber. Only the construction will have to be more or less light or reinforced depending on the mode of propulsion chosen.

You will notice that on this aircraft I have respected the profile and the very particular twist of the airfoil of the original aircraft. You will therefore find ribs with heels of various heights (heels that must be removed after assembly). The very classic construction does not present any difficulty. The single spar ensuring rigidity helped by three stringers which maintain the curvature of the profile to the upper surface of the leading edge. To preserve the very particular twist of the wing, it is strongly recommended, after its covering, to dry it on site after having placed under the trailing edge height wedges according to the sketch on page 16.

The two half-wings are nested on either side of the fuselage on dia 6 cylindrical tenons: They are supported by profiled struts whose length determines the dihedral which must be 38 millimeters taken at the end under the trailing edge.

Fuselage: Of simple construction, the fuselage is in the form of a body of rectangular cross-section, the rails and spacers of which are in 3 x 3 balsa sticks. The front part forming the engine cowling is dressed in couples and false couples and covered with 10/10 balsa as well as the top of the cabin.

The nose of the fuselage must be fitted out according to the engine chosen. The plastron of the engine cowling cut and hollowed out of a block of soft balsa is fitted to the front of the fuselage and locked by the upper cowl (in the case of the piston engine: see sketch). A simpler arrangement can be adopted for a rubber motor. A 3 x 8 balsa beam is located in the field in the axis on the top of the fuselage and is connected to the rudder.

The rear stabilizer planes do not present any mounting difficulty, nor does the derivative.

Use soft, light balsa for the tail and tail sections. This device having a large reed lever arm, that a centering retracted if one takes care there. The center of gravity to be adopted must be located vertically at a point situated between 40 and 43 mm from the leading edge of the wing.

The very characteristic landing gear on this model consists of 12/10 piano strings dressed with important profiling. A volu-circles cover each wheel. The particular folding of the piano wire of the train makes it possible to immobilize in a certain way the profiling of the masts and the fairings of the wheels.

The hollowed out balsa pieces are glued with epoxy resin and then profiled. The arrangement of the wheel fairing with independent axle allows easy disassembly of the wheel.

Apart from the parts covered with balsa, the covering shall be made of lightweight Modelspan paper, coated in two coats with diluted plaster.

The decoration, which remains very sober, consists of a light background which can be given by the original color of the covering paper; white, light yellow or beige. A flame on the fuselage side and dark red tinted wheel fairings. Black registration letters. Obviously the propeller will be different depending on the engine. In the case of a rubber skein a propeller 20 to 23 cm in diameter with large balsa blades can be used.

Here is a simple, good looking mockup that can appeal to fans of flying devices easily.

It only remains for me to think about the next model that I will present to you soon and to wish you good achievement and good flights. E. FILLON."

Update 1/1/2022: Added redrawn SVG version of the plan, thanks to HansvanTol.

Quote: "Hello Mary and hello Steve, First: Happy NewYear! I send you an SVG file that can be opened in INKSCAPE. It is an open file and anyone can make contributions. I've traced and pulled apart the various parts of mr. Fillons FW A43 (oz13487). I noticed some irregularities along the way. Sometimes I repaired them and sometimes not.
The drawing has 4 layers. Layer "Fuselage" shows the contruction of the fuselage. Layer "Original" contains mr Fillons drawing. Layer "strut undercarriage prop" shows just that plus stripings and
registration. Layer "New TopView" is an alternative topview. Layers can be toggled on/off to bring out the content.
Mr Fillon picked some interesting planes to model but this one is not very accurate nor complete. In his defence: there was no internet in 1975. Comparing his design to the 3D view on that mentioned Russian webside I noticed some differences. Especially the nose section is where things become vague. I tried to make things more authentic but then realised it would become my model and that was beyond what I set out to do so I abandoned that project. But that is why there is a
"New TopView". I wonder if this model was ever built.
Greetings from the Netherlands, Hans."

Supplementary file notes

Article.
SVG zip.

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Focke Wulf A43 Falke (oz13487) by Emmanuel Fillon 1975 - model pic

Datafile:
  • (oz13487)
    Focke Wulf A43 Falke
    by Emmanuel Fillon
    from MRA
    April 1975 
    32in span
    Scale IC F/F Cabin Civil
    clean :)
    all formers complete :)
    got article :)
  • Submitted: 30/11/2021
    Filesize: 893KB
    Format: • PDFbitmap
    Credit*: anon, Pilgrim, AlainGuillouard, HansvanTol
    Downloads: 1076

ScaleType:
  • Focke-Wulf_Fw_43_Falke | help
    see Wikipedia | search Outerzone
    ------------
    Test link:
    search RCLibrary 3views (opens in new window)


    ScaleType: This (oz13487) is a scale plan. Where possible we link scale plans to Wikipedia, using a text string called ScaleType.

    If we got this right, you now have a couple of direct links (above) to 1. see the Wikipedia page, and 2. search Oz for more plans of this type. If we didn't, then see below.


    Notes:
    ScaleType is formed from the last part of the Wikipedia page address, which here is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw_43_Falke
    Wikipedia page addresses may well change over time.
    For more obscure types, there currently will be no Wiki page found. We tag these cases as ScaleType = NotFound. These will change over time.
    Corrections? Use the correction form to tell us the new/better ScaleType link we should be using. Thanks.

Focke Wulf A43 Falke (oz13487) by Emmanuel Fillon 1975 - pic 003.jpg
003.jpg

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User comments

I understand what magazine production needs are, but this is a bad example of cramming an entire plan on a sheet too small. I suppose the builder would be required to overlay a (larger) sheet of transparent paper on top and copy at least the main outlines, in this case especially the wing! In a more positive tone, this would be good in helping to develop essential drawing skills, that's how I started over 50 years ago scaling up magazine plans :-)
But back to my grumpy self, this plan is quite annoying, one can hardly read the wing trailing edge! Against M. Fillon's usual style, the number of exquisitely shaped parts is kept low, thankfully :-)
Miguel - 10/12/2021
Well, you seem to have lots of idle time, get busy redrawing it...
D A - 11/12/2021
Fillon's plans are so crowded that accidentally you could build two or three different models... look at the Boston Havoc (oz516).
pit - 11/12/2021
No Re-Drawing necessary. Definitely it won't come out any better.
Hubert - 11/12/2021
I like this one very much. I’m tempted to have a go at this myself - not to redraw it really, just to make a clearer copy that spreads the drawing out, makes for for easier reading.
SteveWMD - 11/12/2021
In my opinion, or speaking for myself, most people will look at these plans as what they are nowadays, that is relicts from other times of modelling. I guess they want these plans exactly as they were published. Signs of age or proper building-use are taken as an add-on - a digital form of the typical smell so to say.
Besides that, no one would have found this plan weird or hard to read in its days I guess. You can still find this sort of plans in sewing or stitching magazines. An entire issue on one sheet of paper - and no ambitious DIY taylor would complain about insufficient readability
Hubert - 11/12/2021
Yes I agree. We wouldn't want to replace the original scan. We'd just add a supplement file for people who are interested in it. That way everyone can be happy :)
SteveWMD - 11/12/2021
The publication of this plan made me reflect a little on aviation history and types of aircraft prefered or renounced by different nations.
It seems to me that the layout of this Focke Wulf -- single engined cabin high wing monoplane was not very common in Germany, at least concerning aircraft built in greater numbers.
There were of course the Fieseler Stork and the Dornier 27, but others as the Udet U5 and U8, or Messerschmitt M18 and M 20 seem not to having been built very often.
If one compares this with those many Pipers, Cessnas, Stinsons, Aeroncas, Monocoupes, Taylorcrafts, Howards and so on from the USA or with the De Havillands (Puss Moth and Leopard Moth), Austers, Beagles, Wickners, Britten Normans (Nymph), Scottish Aviations (Pioneer) from the UK and the many, many French contenders -- i.e. Bernard, Max Holste, Aubert, Caudron, Farman, Gerard, Hanriot, Mignet (HM 21), Mauboussin, Pottier.
Germans seemingly prefered the low wing configuration for their commuters, such as diverse Klemms, Bückers, Bf-108s, Arado-79s prove.
Robert Schlickewitz - 11/12/2021
Plans like these are priceless! In the style of the times, they're totally readable if you've done one once or twice. The man was an absolute master at it. Given how very little info is available even nowadays on the aircraft, it is an excellent plan; albeit maybe a bit plump compared to the pics & outlines available online. Definitely a must-do rc conversion project for me.
KvdB - 12/12/2021
Have added Google-translated text of the article onto this page. I realise now the wing-halves mount onto the cabin sides of the fuse, so have set the wingspan at 2 inch more so that's 32 in.
SteveWMD - 12/12/2021
ha ha. Replaced text "ca-potage moteur" which became "engine ca-soup" with "engine cowling".
SteveWMD - 12/12/2021
Yes Steve, there is an excellent site with info & pics of this plane at http://www.airwar.ru/enc/cw1/fw43.html I have the 3 views as overlays on EF's and it too tallies to 32" span; which is at 1/12th scale (1" : 1ft).
One cannot actually tell which outlines are more authentic, Fillon's plan or the 3-views on that site, as there are no others to really compare them to.
KvdB - 13/12/2021
Hans, that's a pretty plan you did there! Any chance of exporting into DXF, now that you are at it? :-)
Miguel - 03/01/2022
Hey Miguel, Thank you for the compliment. There is a "Save as...: DXF" option in the program. I tried it but opening in another CAD program gave disappointing results, even with the in-fills removed (just lines). But I thought you were the expert :)
Hans - 04/01/2022
If I were an expert I'd be one of the lazy sort :) Right, I'll be giving this problem a few voodoo whacks and will back to you, with my shield or under it. Or words to that effect!
Miguel - 04/01/2022
Success! I get a much better result when I delete the layer containing mr. Fillons original drawing. So open the SVG file, make the "Original" layer visible, delete that layer and then save as DXF.
Hans - 05/01/2022
May I humbly suggest the Tantalizing One jumped over the suspense and loaded the dratted DXF himself, o Most Sapient Excellency? :-))
For the record, I installed Inkscape and used it to save the SGV file into DXF. I'd done that in the past and the outcome was again a complete spaghetti of components spread all over, like the undercarriage on the nose (which considering my landing style is not such a bad idea).
So I went back to the original file and employed my Trick Mk. 1 : I printed it into PDF format, choosing an adequate paper size, A1 in this instance. Out came a vector PDF which my CAD package accepted with very few problems, like missing wing ribs and spars on the wing plan view but luckily these can easily be restored.
All layer info was lost as always at PDF creation, and it appears the usual SNAP protocols were different in your package, but this can easily be cured as well, after a few hours of filigree work. This was caused by the original using line widths greater than 0.
Have you uploaded the DXF yet? :-)
Miguel - 05/01/2022
"Apart from the parts covered with balsa, the covering shall be made of lightweight Modelspan paper, coated in two coats with diluted plaster." Plaster? Who broke a leg? :-))
Miguel - 06/01/2022
Here is another site with more pictures of the original craft :) http://www.luftarchiv.de/index.htm?/flugz...
KvdB - 06/01/2022
Thanks for the SVG conversion, I truly hope someone builds it and posts pictures. The original plan is of great sentimental value to me.
DirkW - 27/02/2022
I remember well the MRA issue with the plan of this very rare aircraft. When I was in holidays in France I always bought French RC modelling magazines. Years later I built the model with a wingspan of 1200 mm / 48 inches after the enlarged plan. Equipped with one of the first available brushless motors (Torcman 280) and 7 NiCad Cells. The model flew very well. Unfortunately I have no fotos of the model. Mobile phones with camera option weren’t so popular in the 90ies ;-)
Gernot - 13/10/2024
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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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