Q-Tee (oz1350)

About this Plan

Q-Tee. Radio control sport model. Parasol sports trainer. Wingspan 36 in, area 250 sq in, for 2 channel RC and .049 power.

Later kitted by Airtronics.

The Q-Tee was designed for a lower power .049 motor like the Cox Golden Bee.

Note the article for this plan is very long and detailed. 15 pages, in total.

Quote: "Designing a good trainer is a difficult task, more difficult in our judgement than the design of a good flying Scale or Pattern aircraft. It is not easy for an experienced flier to recapture the lack of knowledge and shaky knees that preceeded his first efforts. To analyze the problems facing the novice; to develop solutions to these problems; then to verify the solutions by a rigorous testing program, demands the highest level of design ability and insight. Rarely does a talented designer take a clean sheet of paper and create a truly unique model aircraft specifically tailored for the R/C Novice.

There are many excellent trainers available today. Most of these are for .19 to .60 sized engines, and many require 3 or 4 channel radio equipment. This type of model will handle heavy wind better than a smaller airplane and they are very popular today. They do, however, offer significant drawbacks to the prospective R/C pilot. The most obvious one is the initial investment in materials, engines and accessories and radio equipment. Not so obvious, is the additional skill level required to build many of these models, particularly those which require sheeted and cap stripped wings, carving and shaping blocks and other construction techniques the experienced builder takes for granted. Most important is the fact that the more popular trainers require the assistance of a skilled flier to trim out the aircraft and provide flight instruction. This is great if such assistance is available, but what about the guy who lives in the boon docks and has to get it all together by himself?

The Q-Tee, designed by good friend Lee Renaud, offers an alternative method of starting in RC. This is a unique approach by an outstanding model designer and uses a carefully thought-out systems engineering concept. By using a low cost, easy starting engine which is available in every hobby shop and most work benches around the country as the basis for the Q-Tee, he has achieved a minimum cost way for the novice to try RC flying. So simple that it's obviously a breakthrough in attracting newcomers to our hobby - yet no one else has approached the problem in this unique manner.

To most of us who have been involved with RC flying for a number of years 1/2A RC is associated with racing or small pattern ships. The Q-Tee is a very different breed of cat. As radios continue to shrink in size and weight and the pressure of urban sprawl makes large flying areas more difficult to find, we believe more and more fliers will be attracted by the advantages of this type of model.

The Q-Tee offers the stability and slow speed required for the beginner who has not yet mastered the sticks. Set up as a trainer it will putt-putt around until the tank runs out, then glide flat until you touch down. With the advanced set-up it can bore holes in the sky, fly inverted, perform all rudder/elevator stunts, yet still give you a glide many sailplanes would envy.

No matter what your skill level, we suggest that you read Lee's article. Perhaps you might enjoy a fun-fly ship you can keep in the trunk of your car until the next good day. Even if not, you can teach your own or the neighbor's, kids how to fly an RC model. If there are no kids around the Q-Tee is still great for wives or girlfriends. Build one!

The Q-Tee is an R/C power model designed for the novice builder and flier. The design was approached with the following objectives in mind:

1) Simple rugged construction so that someone with no previous building experience could easily duplicate the model.

2) An inexpensive systems approach which would minimize the investment for the person who wants to try R/C flying but has limited funds.

3) A model which could be easily transported to the flying field, even on a bicycle, with all support paraphenalia minimized.

4) A model which could be flown in a restricted space, such as a local schoolyard, parking lot, or field. It must be easily hand launched by the flier, without an assistant.

5) Smooth, stable flight characteristics for hands-off flying with the ability to return to level flight without constant control for the beginners. In addition, an intermediate flight envelope for stuntability as more skill is gained.

These goals are not easily accomplished and much thought, drawing board time, and test flying took place before the design was finalized. All design is a compromise, and sport/trainer type models offer a most difficult challenge. So that you may better understand how the Q-Tee evolved we will explain this process in some detail.

Goals 2, 3, and 4 established that the best approach would be a 2 channel .049 pow-ered model. Although there are many kits and previously published plans available for this type model, most use the Cox Tee-Dee series engines and are fast flying and highly maneuverable. This model was designed around the Cox Reed Valve engines, speci-fically the Golden Bee or Black Widow. These engines are inexpensive, readily av-ailable, start easily and have an excellent muffler available. They use small props and very little fuel and an important bonus is the built-in starter spring. The only field items

required are a can of fuel and starting battery, with a spare glo-head, wrenches and screwdriver as deluxe additions. Cox even sells those items either separately, or in a neat plastic case, Part No. 990. Please don't use the more expensive and higher power Cox Medallion or Tee-Dee series engines, you just don't need the higher performance.

To minimize radio equipment cost only rudder and elevator control was considered. The smaller engines don't throttle very well anyway and the power onlpower off speed ratio is not high. Ailerons were not considered as they require more skill to install and align. We consider the 2-3 channel brick style radios as most suitable for the beginner as they simplify installation and make it very easy to fly several, different models with one radio system. Take a look at the systems offered by Cannon, Kraft, or EK and pick the one you like best - they all work well. Of course any conventional airborne systems using small servos will also work well. There are many such radios available, several of which offer optional 225 mah battery packs, an easy way to save 2 ounces of flying weight.

Previous experience with 1/2A powered models indicated that a target flying weight of 18-20 ounces was suitable for a muffled Golden Bee engine. The desired flight characteristics, particularly slow flying speed dictated a wing loading of 10-11 ounces/sq ft. This meant a wing area of 250 sq in would be about right. To conserve wood and covering material, a span of 36 inches was selected, and a constant chord layout adopted.

With the power plant, radio system and wing planform determined the next step was to finalize the overall layout. The parasol wing position was chosen to provide a high center of lift. Combined with positive wing incidence and a generous horizontal empennage, this layout ensures good longitudinal stability and a nose-up tendency under power. A large amount of down thrust is used to prevent excessive-climbing under power. Generous dihedral is used to ensure adequate spiral stability. A two wheel gear was chosen since easy ground handling was not a consideration. With major airframe elements determined the overall lines could now be finalized. The final configuration is reminiscent of home-built aircraft popular in the thirties, and many current EAA home-built designs. We think that the lines are visually appealing and appropriate to the flying characteristics of the model. Everyone who has seen the prototypes agree, and almost all have said: That's a real cutie. Now you know why we selected the name Q-Tee.

The secret of successful flying of all model airplanes is a lightweight accurately aligned airframe. This is particularly important in the smaller size models as 4 weight increase of only 2-3 ounces will make power flight marginal and the increased flying speed makes control more difficult for the inexperienced pilot. For those reasons we carefully considered the structure of the Q-Tee and tried several variants before selecting the materials and construction shown on the plans. The resultant airframe is very easy to build and very crash resistant. Most important, it is simple to assemble accurately and requires no special tools or jigs. Additionally, repairs are very easy and the structure is rigid enough so that any of the currently available film coverings can be used. Please don't 'beef-up' the structure as it is not necessary and flight performance will be degraded.

If you have read this far and think that the Q-Tee is the model to introduce you to the sport of R/C Aircraft, send off to RCM for a copy of the full size plans of the Q-TEE and Volume I of the Flight Training Course. (See special offer on page 166 of this issue.) Then visit your local friendly hobby shop with a copy of the materials list and select everything you need. While you are waiting for the full-size plans, study the photos, instructions, and magazine plan to completely familiarize yourself with the building sequence. This will pay off later when you start to build.

Note that in addition to the .materials required to build the Q-Tee you will need a few tools, supply items and a work surface..."

Update 17/03/12: Uploaded a slightly clearer copy of the same plan.

Update 03/03/2015: Replaced this plan with a clearer copy, thanks to theshadow.

Update 14/01/2016: Replaced this plan with a better copy scanned from a fullsize plan, thanks to Balsaworkbench, scanning by Don at EAC, cleanup by theshadow.

Update 01/03/2017: Added article, thanks to RFJ.

Update 14/08/2017: Added PDFvector plan tracing, thanks to dfritzke.

Quote: "Hey there, if you want to post another version of the Q-Tee, here is a plot-to-pdf from the cad file I drafted, back in 2009, apparently! You have probably noticed that this plane has nostalgic value for a lot of us Yanks. Only now do I notice I put the title block on the 'hatch' layer, sloppy sloppy... Dave"

Update 24/12/2020: Added kit review from RCM, June 1977, thanks to RFJ.

Update 26/2/2025: Added kit instructions (from the Airtronics kit), thanks to dfritzke. This is essentially a reprint of the RCM article, but does include several more build pics.

Update 3/3/2025: Added airfoil dat zipfile, thanks to Martin Huebner.

Quote: "Hi Steve and Mary, hey, what a nice funny plane. Q-Tee is a cutee! LOL. Here I would like to send you the coordinates of the Q-Tee (oz1350) wing airfoil. I took it from the supplement vektor pdf '_vector_dfritzke.pdf'. By the way it seems to be the same airfoil that Ron St.Jean used on his Ramrod
see: https://outerzone.co.uk/search/results.asp?keyword=ramrod.
It may also fit to other similar planes by Lee Renaud, such as the Gere Sport (oz5884) or S-Tee (oz4600).
Greetings from Germany,
Martin Huebner"

Supplementary file notes

Airfoil dat zipfile.
Article.
Instructions.
Previous scan version.
Review.
VectorPDF plan tracing.

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