Lazy Bones (oz14058)

About this Plan

Lazy Bones. Radio control sport model.

Quote: "Lazy Bones. Just a big, nice flying job for those who want to make like pilots. Room for gadgets, gismos. For .19, .29.

For those who like them big and lazy, Lazy Bones isn't a half bad airplane. Built lightly, about 5-1/2 lb, it will climb out realistically on such engines as the K&B .19 or .23, Amco .20 (all of which it has flown with), or similar displacements in any first line engine. It will really perform on a .29 and has had about 60 test flights on a Veco, or 100 test hops in all. The combination of dihedral, side area and vertical tail is one of the happy coincidences that produce good turns, remarkably so since the turn is coordinated well at low speed and low power, where the rudder can be held over without earthquaking results.

Naturally, in all this test flying, both good and, in a minor way, bad, characteristics have been noted. When equipped with movable elevators, large the accompanying weight of torsion area for those who might want to fool with multi-channel and elevator trim, rods, extra escapements, counterweight required several ounces of lead in the nose for really good trim. Therefore, the plans show a longer nose than the pictures.

The deep profile area had been used to give a semi-scale appearance - most RC jobs would require legless pilots if scaled up - and to smooth out the turns. But, in a wind, repeated use of the rudder to keep the ship lined up on the final approach subjected too much profile to the direction of flight, slowing down the plane more than is desirable. It was possible to stall out too easily in a gust just off the ground. The profile on the plan is slightly shallower than the test plane.

Speaking of wind, Lazy Bones will fly safely in any conditions that tempt a modeler out of doors - and you know how windy it really is sometimes when you get to the field. Don't let it bother you.

Originally, Lazy Bones had been laid out for multi-channel work but the facts of life being what they are, a little ol' Bonner compound had to take on the task of wiggling the rudder and actuating the elevator drive escapement. Without a balanced rudder, as seen in the pictures, the compound could not hold the 6-1/2 lb ship - we build heavy, hard wood, you know - in a spiral without the force of the air pushing back the rudder and allowing unintentional recovery. By moving back the hinge line as shown in the detail, and finally adding a big overhang (the latter really did it), the compound would hold in through three or four turns of a spiral.

The big problem was moving those wide flippers on such a big job against big air loads with the Macnabb Citizen-Ship escapement. The flippers had to be statically balanced with a sizeable lead counterweight..."

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