Trays Vite (oz14479)

About this Plan

Trays Vite. Simple sport trainer model, for FF or single channel, with Cox .049 engine. Uses foam construction.

Quote: "Tray's Vite, by Roy L Clough Jr. The author has always leaned toward the unusual, and his latest creation is no exception; although of conventional configuration, it's built almost entirely of foam hamburger trays! An extremely versatile design, it can be built FF or RC (one or two channels), with .020, .049 or electric power - take your pick!

Model airplanes really are great. Why? Because that mechanical bird flying around up there, that collection of sticks and stuff you put together, is your baby. Doesn't matter if a thousand like it have been built by a thousand other people. Each one reflects the unique personality of its builder, and this one is yours.

Sounds like deep-down fun, but you won't get there for nothing. You can lay out fairly important bucks for an ARF, or for a bit less buy a kit. Lastly, you can go from scratch.

Scratch? For a beginner? Isn't scratch-building the toughest way of all? Not necessarily. In fact, scratch can be the easiest way to get into model building. Find a good set of simple plans and build your plane one stick at a time from raw materials. Go at your own pace. Cultivate a laid-back outlook and keep in mind Clough's Principle: Nothing is worth getting if it isn't cheap enough and easy enough to leave you the resources to enjoy it.

Trays Vite exemplifies that principle. It's made from foam hamburger trays. You can't get started cheaper or easier. Most of the shaping needed is already hidden in the raw material. While it won't cost an arm and a leg to trash it if you run out of juice, stick with it and you'll get encouragingly spectacular results.

Deli trays are made of a closed foam to which practically nothing will stick, with one exception: UFO cyanoacrylate glue. I prefer the fairly thick variety. Most CA glues dissolve foam like hot coffee on sugar cubes, but UFO doesn't melt foam or produce eye-smarting fumes.

Foam deli trays come in many shapes and sizes. You want the smooth ones, not the waffle-grid type. Study the plans with attention to the cross-sections. The fuselage, forexample, does not have to be exactly the cross-section shown on the plan, but shoot for similar dimensions and volume.

The wing takes advantage of the curved edges of the trays to form the airfoil. Don't worry about wringing out that last 10 percent of performance. Any shapethat looksreasonably like a wing section will fly OK. What does matter is alignment, balance and angles of the wings, tail and rudder. Concentrate on these and Trays Vite will fly.

Wing, motor and wheel positions should come out about the same as shown on the plan. The original wing was glued up from four pieces; use fewer or more sections depending an the size of available trays. Be sure to use a balsa strip joiner between the panels. Balsa strip joiners are the Big Secret to the successful joining of foam sections. lust wetting the foa rn with CA and putting the edges together can keep the glue in liquid form almost as well as the bottle it came in. Inserting a strip of 1/32 balsa will result in a quick-setting, rock-stiff joint.

CONSTRUCTION (FF or Single-Channel Model): Let's start with something that's almost impossible to screw up - the tail boom. Bevel the edges of two 1-inch wide pieces to get flats to hold some glue, Pin them to a 1-1/2 inch wide strip pinned flat by the ends, align them and tack the edges every 2 or 3 inches with a drop of UFO. When dry, stand it on end and run several drops of Elmer's white glue down all three inside corners; let it run full length to fill the seams.

Study the fuselage pod design before cutting anything. Opposite sides of the same tray may not be quite symmetrical; better to cut the opposing sides by matching two d ifferent trays. If your trays are shorter or longer than those used for the original model the difference will show up in a shorter or longer fuselage 'chin', and the boom may exit the fuselage either side of the point shown on the plan. No sweat. The important thing is that the front end of the boom and the main land ing gear bulkhead are inches back from the firewall.

Cut out the sides and glue a balsa joining strip to the lower edge of one half-shell. Hold it flat against a wax paper covered surface until the CA sets. Now you have a straight seam against which to glue the other half..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Scan by MarkD, cleanup by Circlip.

Supplementary file notes

Article.

Corrections?

Did we get something wrong with these details about this plan (especially the datafile)? That happens sometimes. You can help us fix it.
Add a correction