Pelican (oz1466)

About this Plan

Pelican. Free flight canard flying boat for 1.5cc diesel.

Update 01/05/2020: Added article, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "A highly unusual canard seaplane pusher, originally designed in 1956. Be the first in your block. Pelican, by Jim Fullarton.

Whatever way you look at it, the conventional single-engined flying boat is an untidy piece of work, and many years ago, the writer started thinking about the advantages which the canard layout appeared to offer in this class of aircraft. Biggest improvement seemed to be in the motor mounting; the most common conventional system seems to be the 'engine-on-a-stick' mounting of the Lake, or if you don't like that, you can choose between the drastically cut away fuselage of the Seabee or the structurally unpleasant twin-boom arrangement. Whatever you do, that tail unit just seems to get in the way.

With no bow overhang up front, the canard hull will only be about 60% the length of the conventional tail-behind bird, and if you move the fins out to the wingtips, where they also act as end plates and float supports, you get what appears to be a very compact and attractive layout. One day, we said, we will build a could-be scale model just to see how it all works out. And there the matter rested; until 1956, to be precise, when a couple of keen young members of my wife's family, Max and John Fyfe, were looking for a project, and undertook to build the thing if I would draw it up for them.

This Mark I version would take off and fly all right, but suffered from what appeared to be a typical canard failing, in that it would wind up in a spiral dive at the slightest provocation, a habit which eventually terminated its career. Back into mothballs went the project until along to the rescue comes Henry, Cole, writing in a Zaic yearbook. His article, in the writer's humble opinion, really put the lid on the great spiral controversy. Forward of the CG, says Henry, dihedral or high CLA is money in the bank, but behind it, keep a low profile.

Inspired by this theory, we went back to the drawing board and, this time assisted by son Andrew, built a new flat wing, while the elevator was raised up on struts (the pylon came later). Test flights were still disappointing; there was still that undue turning tendency, so in desperation we stuck on those elevator tip fins. That did it; from then on she became a consistent performer. The final mod was the drooped wingtips, which improved things still further.

In the hypothetical full-sized version, the weight of the engine would be balanced by the crew, but in our case, we use lead and modeling clay packed in a weight box to get the correct CG position. Incidentally, the location of that CG is another thing we learned from Hank Cole, way back in a 1947 Air Trails. To minimize this weight, it pays to build everything at the back as light as possible. Use medium balsa where possible, and save the hard stuff for the spars.

The mounting of the motor on the wing is a point we picked up early in experimenting with canards. It prevents the prop from chewing up the trailing edge every time the wing is knocked askew. That down thrust, which really produces a pitching up tendency, is another feature we have found necessary to prevent the model from hanging low under power.

The hull (fuselage to you landlubbers) is built upside down on the plan, bending the sides around formers F1, F5 and the sternpost. Then add F2 to F9, after which the keel may be inserted, and the bottom covered with 1/16 sheet..."

Update 11/4/2023: Replaced this plan with a clearer version, scanned at 600 dpi, thanks to MB2020.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

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