Debutante (oz14)

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Debutante (oz14) by Vic Smeed 1952 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Vic Smeed design, a high-winged cabin model, trainer style. Tricycle undercarriage layout.

Quote: "Designed by Vic Smeed for the 'Especially for the Beginner' series, and described photographically by the Rev F Callon.

In many ways Debutante is the ideal model. It caters for any of the popular range of small engines from .5 to 1 cc. It combines a very pleasing appearance with a robustness of construction which should outlast many seasons' regular flying.

Building the Wing: Trace the central wing rib outline W2 onto two pieces of 1/16in ply; cut out, sand to uniformity, and then pin together a sandwich of balsa rectangles between the ply ribs - nine 1/16in and two 1/8in. Ribs W3 to W6 will have to be traced and cut separately in pairs. Next, trace and cut out the 1/16in ply dihedral keeper and cement the three sections of the x in. reeirispar against it, checking the tip dihedral.

Fig.1 shows the first stage in the construction of the wing. The top edge of the three W1 ribs (two 1/8in and one 1/16in) must first be lowered by trimming off 1/16 all the way along to leave room for the sheeting and the mainspar slot widened. The flat centre section of the mainspar is pinned down over the plan together with a short length of trailing edge and secondary spar, the latter packed up about 3/64in off the board with scrap balsa to accommodate the undercamber of the aerofoil. The three W1 ribs are then cemented in place, a short length of leading edge is added, and gussets secured into the corners..."

Quote: "Debutante is probably one of the most popular plans from the pen of Vic Smeed. It was presented as a free plan in the December issue with full size parts printed in the magazine. It was also presented as part of the 'Especially for beginners' series and so the article contains a wealth of information. I built one many years ago and fitted the ubiquitous Mills .75. I remember have loads of fun with it. I have also seen scaled up versions for RC so we really have a versatile design here which is pleasing to the eye."

Update 13/03/2021: Added review (of the Falcon Models kit) from R/C Model Flyer, September 2004, thanks to RFJ.

Supplementary file notes

Article, thanks to hogal.
Review.
Vector format plan, from hogal.

CAD file

This plan is available for download in CAD format.

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Debutante (oz14) by Vic Smeed 1952 - model pic

Datafile:

Debutante (oz14) by Vic Smeed 1952 - pic 003.jpg
003.jpg
Debutante (oz14) by Vic Smeed 1952 - pic 004.jpg
004.jpg

Do you have a photo you'd like to submit for this page? Then email admin@outerzone.co.uk

User comments

Hello Steve and Mary, I thought photos of Vic Smeed's Debutante would be useful to add to the one associated with the plan. Having built the original 40" in my youth, I scaled the plan up to 150% and 200% - 60" and 80" span and both versions shown in the photos [more pics 003, 004]. Both converted to electric motor and RC. Doped tissue over mylar covered. Regards
JohnLaird - 06/04/2016
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Download File(s):
  • Debutante (oz14)
  • Plan File Filesize: 824KB Filename: Debutante_oz14.pdf
  • Supplement Filesize: 1021KB Filename: Debutante_oz14_article.pdf
  • Supplement Filesize: 1623KB Filename: Debutante_oz14_review_RCMF.pdf
  • Supplement Filesize: 195KB Filename: Debutante_oz14_vector.pdf
  • CAD Zip Filesize: 427KB Filename: Debutante_oz14_cad.zip
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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

This model plan (like all plans on Outerzone) is supposedly scaled correctly and supposedly will print out nicely at the right size. But that doesn't always happen. If you are about to start building a model plane using this free plan, you are strongly advised to check the scaling very, very carefully before cutting any balsa wood.

 

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