Walfisch (oz14852)

About this Plan

Walfisch. Free flight scale model for CO2 power.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "Here is a fun-to-build CO2 German biplane from the early days of combat. Walfisch, by Jack Headley.

The Walfisch has been passing across my drawing board as a sport bipe about 40 span, for three channels, but somehow the proportions never seemed to agree with my original intentions. So, I took the original sketches, heavied up the outlines, and voila! An instant CO2 model, complete with iron crosses, a few machine guns, and a motley crew. After the drawings were finished, construction began; this taking about a week, less time out for Charlie's Angel reruns.

If you'd like to make a copy of old Wal' then all that's needed is a few scraps of 1/16 sheet, a trip to the office Xerox to make a copy of the plan, and away you go, pausing briefly to read the construction notes that I've so laboriously typed out in the next paragraphs.

WINGS: Both wings are made from bendable 1/16 sheet, and both initially are made as single pieces. You'll need a 4 x 16 in piece for the top wing, and a 3-1/2 x 13 in piece for the lower wing. Trace or prick the outlines of the wings onto these sheets, then carefully cut to shape. Sand the edges to a full radius.

To give the wing its airfoil shape, ribs are provided near the tip and at the root. The shape of the root ribs is shown on the fuselage drawing. Cut out the ribs from 1/16 sheet, and glue into place, but do not glue the inner ribs together. The best way I've found to hold the ribs in place (while the glue is drying) is with clothespins, but if you're using one of the super glues, hand pressure is satisfactory.

When dry, cut each panel in the center, sand the inner ends to the correct bevel, then glue back together; giving the wing 1 inch dihedral at each tip and the lower wing with 1/2 inch at each tip.

A small slot, just inside the outer rib, on the lower wing only, is now cut for the wing strut, (to be threaded through later, on final assembly).

FUSELAGE: The body is primarily a 1/16 sheet box, with four frames holding the sides apart. The 1/16 side outlines are indicated on the plan with small triangle. Cut out the sides, followed by F3 and F4. F1 is cut from a scrap of 1/8 ply, but F2 is a little more complicated, as it additionally is used to hold the landing gear wire in place. This wire is made first, then laid on top of the largest piece of F2. Wedges of 1/16 sheet trap the wire onto this large piece, then a further 1/16 sheet item covers the wire plus wedges, The whole mess is epoxied together. Be sure that the wire isn't offset before the epoxy sets.

Glue the fuselage sides together with the help of these frames, then insert pieces of 1/16 sheet on the upper side from F1 to F2, and from F3 slightly aft to form the cockpit floors. On the bottom side a similar piece is inserted between F1 and F2.

The bottom of the fuselage aft of frame F3 is covered with 1/32 sheet, with the grain running crosswise. The horizontal tail is cut from 1/16 sheet and glued into place on the body. The back part of the fin, which is outlined with small arrows on the plan, is next glued on top of the horizontal..."

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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