UFO (oz14441)

About this Plan

UFO. Free flight sport model. Wingspan 465 mm.

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Quote: "Quote (google-translated from the German): "UFO. An unusual construction, by Ernest Hiller.

It was a beautiful summer day, almost no wind. The UFO stopped three meters away from me as if nailed to the air, rotated faster and faster on its own axis and then, almost imperceptibly, moved in a circle around me. Then the UFO made another full circle, lifted gently over the barbed wire fence and slowly floated up a small slope. I ran after the UFO, which climbed higher and higher and drifted west in the light evening breeze. Soon the UFO could only be made out as a small, five-penny-sized disk against the sun. Ducks crossed the path but respectfully avoided the strange object. Fascinated, I followed its trajectory and ran after it, despite the fences I had to climb. Suddenly the disc stopped in the air and at the same moment, spinning slightly, it began to descend and disappeared in a cornfield, where after some searching I found the UFO.

This is how the designer of the 'UFO', Ernst Hiller, describes the first flight of his model, the construction plan and description of which we are publishing in this issue.

Assembly: Assembly is relatively easy and can be done within a day. First, the parts are pre-manufactured according to the parts list and a flat work surface, slightly larger than the diameter of the UFO, is cleared.

Inner ring (1): A sheet of balsa is reinforced on one side with nylon silk, which is applied with varnish. From this board we cut a strip of 60 x 560 mm. With a folding bone, the strip is scored vertically at approx. 1 cm intervals, just deep enough that the strip can later be bent into a ring shape. Outer ring (3): The balsa boards are also reinforced with nylon fabric for the outer ring. We cut strips 30 mm wide from the board.

To assemble the model, we now have to make a cylindrical body out of cardboard. The height of the cylinder must be exactly 105 mm (see sketch on the construction plan). We glue the inner ring together around this cylinder. A line is drawn at the height of the upper edge of the inner ring (ie at 60 mm), which later indicates the height at which the inner ring must be fixed.

Next, the outer ring is built. Pins are placed in the building board at approx 3 cm intervals on the line of the outer ring. The outer ring is made of two layers glued together, see sketches. The outer layer is cut and assembled in the pin circle (the nylon webbing side outside). Then the individual strips are coated on the inside and the ends with contact adhesive and glued together to form a ring. The inner layer, which is also made up of individual strips, is then inserted into this ring..."

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