F4D Skyray (oz14087)

 

F4D Skyray (oz14087) by Bill Dean 1954 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

F4D Skyray. Simple profile scale model, for Jetex 50 power.

Quote: "This profile bat wing really gets moving on its Jetex .50 powerplant. The accompanying plans are full size. Two hours' working time but many hours of fun flying. Skyray, by Bill Dean.

Soon after the existing world air speed record of 753 mph was notched up by the famed Douglas F4D Skyray, we decided to make a simple all-sheet replica of this unusual bat-winged aircraft. Chet Miller, Douglas public relations manager, kindly provided three-views, photos and other data on which we were able to base our plans.

Previous experience with similar deltas had shown us that no dihedral was needed and an 'S' shaped airfoil was best - and in this case we found that scale fin area was exactly right. The correct balance point was located by shifting the Jerex .50 backward and forward along the fuselage until a smooth glide resulted.

As luck would have it, the prototype had a natural turn to the right and this effectively canceled out the left-turning tendency under power caused by the side-mounted (on right) power unit. Minor trim adjustments were effected by bending the wing trailing edges and the flight pattern consisted of a steady climb curving slightly to the right, followed by tighter right circles on the glide.

Stability is as good as any conventional design and stall recovery is much, much better. Glide ratio is slightly inferior to the usual wing-and-tailplane type, but the sight of a scale Skyray wheeling gracefully overhead is ample compensation. You might expect this to be a tricky little ship to fly, but in actual fact the F4D proved to be one of those 'naturals' for model building, just like a Piper Cub or a Fokker D-8!

Now let's turn to the construction notes. Start by joining three pieces of medium-soft 1/16 sheet (3 in wide), edge to edge, pinning them down flat on the building board (see dimensioned sketch on left of plan). Trace the actual outline of the wing (A) onto these joined pieces of sheer and cut our.

Trace the fuselage (B) onto medium-hard 1/8 sheet and the fin (C) onto medium-soft 1/16 sheet, noting the wood grain direction. Cut out these parts, then pierce two holes in the fuselage to take the screws for the Jetex mounting clip and cement a rounded match-stick in the upper fin slot. Now trace the markings - such as the canopy, insignia, U/C doors and control surface outlines with a soft pencil. Go over the pencil lines with a ball paint pen, using a straight edge as a guide where possible.

Mark the fuselage location on the wing with two soft pencil lines (top and bottom), then cement the wing in the 'S' shaped fuselage slot. Make sure the wing squares up with the fuselage in the front view and hold the two parts together with pins until the cement dries..."

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F4D Skyray (oz14087) by Bill Dean 1954 - model pic

Datafile:
  • (oz14087)
    F4D Skyray
    by Bill Dean
    from Model Airplane News
    October 1954 
    10in span
    Scale Jetex F/F Military Fighter
    clean :)
    all formers complete :)
    got article :)
  • Submitted: 15/09/2022
    Filesize: 164KB
    Format: • PDFbitmap
    Credit*: theshadow
    Downloads: 710

ScaleType:
  • Douglas_F4D_Skyray | help
    see Wikipedia | search Outerzone
    ------------
    Test link:
    search RCLibrary 3views (opens in new window)


    ScaleType: This (oz14087) 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/Douglas_F4D_Skyray
    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.

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User comments

This same plan had appeared in the magazine RAF Flying Review, one month previously!
David Foster - 23/09/2022
This airplane flies real nice as a simple chuck glider or launch with an elastic band.
Jonathan Noon - 25/09/2022
I built the F4D from the plan at the time and powered it with Jetex until I had to retrieve it from the neighborhood laundry roof. After that it became an excellent hand launch glider, just as Jonathan said. In fact it was probably my best and used these office paper clips [see pic 006] in place of the Jetex. They are perfect for finding the balance on other profile gliders.
EdShearer - 06/10/2022
Hello Steve and Mary, thanks for your amazing site. Here's a few pictures of my glider from the plans [pics 007-010]. Thanks,
Tom Akery - 20/04/2023
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Scaling

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