Leprechaun (oz14850)

About this Plan

Leprechaun. Radio control sailplane model.

The original 103 inch Dick Twomey Leprechaun (oz3252) was first published in Aeromodeller, March 1950. This here is a later plan, for RC and with electric power.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "Dear Mary from Outerzone, I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to you to send an article [of a design of mine] that appeared in the Italian modeling magazine in December 2018. I will add the translated article taken from the magazine...

The CAD illustrated drawing is of the famous Leprechaun by Dick Twomey made with modern technique by cutting everything on a CNC and using cheap poplar plywood, I think it will interest your audience.

I am excited for the opportunity to share my work with the aeromodelling community and contribute to the wealth of knowledge available on your platform. If you feel that my proposal is in line with the content and goals of your website, I would be honored to feature my drawings and article. Thank you for considering my contribution. Best regards, Tristano Perotta"

Article text (translated from the Italian):

"The first time I saw the leprechaun was years ago I think it was a little photo on Soaring Digest, I immediately imagined its flight and from that idea was born the desire to build it, splendid lines from floating.

Construction: found the original design on the usual Outerzone. I started working on CAD and after a lot of work I came up with the drawing that allows me to create the model 'in my own way', using mostly cheap 3mm poplar plywood for the frame and by exploiting the CNC's ability to hollow out the wood with precision, we still obtain a very light model.

After various sections of CNC cutting (mine is not very large) I obtained a sort of kit which is easily assembled a little more work required to create the bayonet system of the wing which allows it to be burst but for the rest the system I adopted makes it similar to the creation of a box model.

Finishing and lining: to cover I use Bemberg fabric which is a nylon fabric that is used for lining clothes. It is also cheap, just a little laborious to apply and, in addition to its cheapness, it has the advantage of being also a structural component: the fabric, once stretched well, greatly increases the rigidity of the structures.

Everything was stretched first with water and then with coats of very diluted nitro x wood sealer paint, the model was then painted with acrylic colors which adhere well to this treated fabric.

You will notice that I have omitted the layout of the radio and engine system, I know from experience that every good modeller has his preferences and I left freedom of choice.

Flying: The maiden flight from football slow motion to find a flaw the model would like a little less wing dihedral but my mistake as I kept the original free flight values. Even so I don't mind it all, it results in a very slow response delay, like a real old man...

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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