Zippy (oz13534)

About this Plan

Zippy. Simple indoor rubber stick model.

Quote: "When the weather is bad, rack this little ROG around the living room - heh, shut off that vacuum cleaner! And, on the serious side, it's a perfect project for new modelers. No prop carving.

No flying field? Raining? Windy? Don't let that stop your flying. If you have a room that is about 10 ft square, it is large enough for Zippy. This ROG (rise-off-ground) quickly takes off from the floor and climbs up almost vertically in tight circles. It is rugged but must be handled carefully. If anything breaks, just cement the broken parts together and keep on flying.

The rudder is built first to get practice in the building procedure. Rub a little piece of dry soap on the rudder drawing. This will prevent the work from sticking to the drawing and you will be able to use the drawing over and over again. Place a piece of 1/16 inch square balsa on the drawing and with a new razor blade carefully cut it to the same size and corner shape as one of the sides. Do the same with the other three sides. Lay one side down in place on the drawing. Put some coins or weight on it to keep it in place. Put a drop of cement on the end of the next corresponding side and carefully put it in place against the first piece on the drawing. Weigh it down also. The operation is continued until the rudder is finished.

The same procedure is followed in making the stabilizer and the two wing panels. The ribs are cut to size first. The bent-back balsa strips are made by nicking them slightly with a razor blade at the desired place, then bending the wood until it cracks but still holds together; then immediately apply a coat of cement around the joint to hold it in shape. In making the two wing panels do not put in the rib that is shown dotted. After a flat wing panel is made, the wing tip is bent up by nicking, bending and cementing at the desired location. After two wing panels are made with the tips bent up, they are joined with cement together with the center rib. Note that the panels are at an angle just like the wing tips. Use little weights and little blocks to raise them to the desired height.

Wire parts are minimized by use of balsa strips for wring mounting and the landing gear. But, by gosh, don't dope, watershrink paper covering. Cover the wing, stabilizer and rudder with tissue paper. Nail polish, if available, is excellent for cementing the paper to the framework. Do not dope or use water on the tissue. Repeat: don't dope or water shrink.

The wheels are made of 1/16 or 3/32 inch balsa sheet. The wood is placed between two pennies so that it can be cut and sanded round. Use the drawing to get the center hole location. Put a drop of cement on each side of the hole and when it is dry punch a hole through again with a pin. The wire axle to hold the wheel can be made from a small straight pin. The wheel is put on the axle which is then cemented to the landing gear struts.

Cut the motor stick, landing gear struts and wing struts to size. Notice the bevel on one end of the landing gear strut where it will be cemented to the motor stick. Small size paper clips straightened out may be used to make the propeller shaft and the rear hook to hold the rubber motor..."

Supplementary file notes

Article, thanks to rchopper56.

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