Swifty (oz15000)
About this Plan
Swifty. Simple rubber sport model.
Quote: "Swifty, by John Zaic. Teach yourself how to fly a model with this simple craft. If you already know, make it for fun and laughs. Uses hobby shop parts and prop.
Simplicity is the keynote of the design of this little rubber-powered flying model airplane called Swifty. Models can never be made simple enough for beginners, so all frills in construction were eliminated. A landing gear was originally put on the model but later removed. It was surprising how much the performance of the model improved.
The Kaysun plastic propeller used was more than strong enough to take the shocks. You can buy this 5 inch plastic rubber model prop from your local model shop.
It is possible for the model to take off from the ground, too. Just wind up the propeller, lay the model down and see how the pro-peller first beats against the floor and then suddenly pulls the model into the air.
The wing is cemented to the fuselage and, taking a tip from the glider experts, use modeling clay to balance the plane for flight. Very little is needed to bring the model into flying trim. If tail heavy - that is, the model stalls when hand-glided - add modeling clay to the nose until a steady glide results.
The wing and tail are made of 1/16 sq balsa. The ribs are cut out first. Then the wing spars are cut to a length about an inch greater than required. Using your fingernails, split the spars in half but do not break them completely apart (look at the top view of wing and you can see why).
Put the front wing spar on the drawing and bend it to the desired angle. Place straight pins along the balsa strip to hold it in position. Don't put pins through the wood. However, before doing this, rub dry soap over the drawing to prevent the work from being cemented to the drawing.
Cement the large center rib and then the two tip ribs to the front strip. Wait a while for the cement to harden and then add the rear wing spar and the rest of the ribs. Use plenty of pins to hold the parts in place. The rudder and the stabilizer are made in the same manner.
After the parts have been made, they are removed from the drawing. If they tend to stick to the drawing, slip a razor blade between them and the drawing.
The wing is then given a dihedral angle. This is done by cutting slightly the bottom middle of each wing spar and breaking the spirs upward slowly to form the dihedral. Apply cement to both joints, wait a moment, lay one wing-half flat on the table and put a book on it to hold it down..."
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-
(oz15000)
Swifty
by John Zaic
from Model Airplane News
July 1956
13in span
Rubber F/F
clean :)
all formers complete :)
got article :) -
Submitted: 29/11/2023
Filesize: 350KB
Format: • PDFbitmap
Credit*: theshadow
Downloads: 447
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User comments
15,000, what a well-rounded number :)Miguel - 22/12/2023
I've been looking for one of these for a looooogg time, but had forgotten the name. It's the first model I ever built from magazine plans in about 1958 or so. Model magazines were beyond my budget back then as they cost a whopping 25 cents, and I was just barely able to buy an occasional 10c comic book. But the library had stacks of Model Airplane News available within bike range, and they would even let you check them out and take 'em home. I was able to carefully trace out the Swifty plans from the magazine center fold, partly missing on your plan, but no problem at all. It flew right off the board, no adjustments of any kind, a tight spiral climb and smooth glide, with its 5" K-Sun plastic prop. Sometime in the next few days, another Swifty will rise from the board to continue its flight from 60 years ago. It's gonna be a treat.
Doug Smith - 22/12/2023
Hi doug,
I wonder how many of us visit OZ because of childhood / youth experiences similar to yours. High flying dreams (literally!), but always too short on funds to have them take off. I remember borrowing Guy R. Williams´ book "The World of Model Aircraft" over and over, because it had 2 high resolution pictures of the Ryan STA by SIG (oz11780) which I wanted to convert my Ryan ST by Tern Aero (oz510) into.
Merry Christmas to you and all fellow modelers on OZ!
Martin
Martin K. - 24/12/2023
My just completed Swifty [main pic, 005] , not yet test flown, will wait for better weather. First one in 1958 flew well, hope new one flies as well. I added the other wing panel from the plan to build the wing in one piece. When dry, wing was bent up for dihedral and re-glued, then covered with tissue. I used the cheap gift wrap stuff, just like my first one. K-Sun props no longer available, so I used the equally rare North Pacific prop, slightly longer at 5-1/2". I may carve a lighter balsa prop later, model now nose heavy, will have to add tail weight. Plan to bust wing off and move forward after test flights. Weight, ready to fly, 9.0 grams. Could be built lighter. One loop of 1/8" rubber should be about right. Stay tuned for test flight report, have pole ready for tree encounters.
Doug Smith - 02/01/2024
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- Swifty (oz15000)
- Plan File Filesize: 350KB Filename: Swifty_oz15000.pdf
- Supplement Filesize: 2136KB Filename: Swifty_oz15000_article.pdf
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Notes
* Credit field
The Credit field in the Outerzone database is designed to recognise and credit the hard work done in scanning and digitally cleaning these vintage and old timer model aircraft plans to get them into a usable format. Currently, it is also used to credit people simply for uploading the plan to a forum on the internet. Which is not quite the same thing. This will change soon. Probably.
Scaling
This model plan (like all plans on Outerzone) is supposedly scaled correctly and supposedly will print out nicely at the right size. But that doesn't always happen. If you are about to start building a model plane using this free plan, you are strongly advised to check the scaling very, very carefully before cutting any balsa wood.
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