RC Special (oz15003)

About this Plan

RC Special. Radio control sport cabin model. Wingspan 61 in, for OS .30 engine.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 23/12/2023: Added article, thanks to Pit.

Quote: "This is a story about flying a scale-down version of a pioneering model of the same name printed in 1948. By Bill Winter.

Since this is my last issue of MA, I should like to make a token gift to the membership of this design. When it came down to the selection of a design, this ship seemed to have more significance to me than much more modern stuff. During 1948, I had designed as my first RC a 6 ft 7 in version with a Good Brothers radio, a 4-arm escapement, and an Ohlsson 60.

It was a glorious controlled free flight. Walt Schroder built it beautifully. We had many wonderful flights in northwest Connecticut from the old Canaan airport, and the plans appeared in Mechanix Illustrated that year, and afterwards in their Annual. (I am indebted to Ralph Davis, of Portsmouth, VA, who supplied the old clippings to make possible the scaled down version you see - he has built highly modified versions of the big one all through the years.)

After three years of flying, the model is being used by Don Srull as a test bed for engines for competition scale models. It is not a beginner's model, although it has lovely characteristics. If you are able to shoot two smooth touch-and-goes with your own stuff; the new RC Special is well within your flying capabilities.

This is not a construction feature - you are on your own with the plans which, incidentally, took perfectionist Lloyd Hunt over six months to draw - he is the son of draftsman who 'lofts' everything. We will talk nothing but flying. The spirit of the thing is well captured by photog John Preston.

DURING the fall of 1977, after a building lapse of 13 years, preceded by over 100 RC jobs, I was bitten yet again by the modeling bug. It is tough to start up cold. One needs inspiration. I found it in the past and decided to scale down the first RC I had flown. This flying story lies in the things that occur when you scale down an airplane. Dimensions change directly but areas diminish as a square. So wing loading goes up, airspeed rises, response is different. In fact this 'RC Special' named after its granddaddy, is related to it only in appearance. It proved something else, just sheer, wonderful luck.

Span is 61-1/4 inches, wing area, including the portion over the cabin, about 515 sq in. Gross is 4-3/4 lbs, so the loading is a high at about 20 ounces per sq ft. For a few months it was powered by a Veco 19, later by an OS 30. On its first flight on a gray pre-rain evening at 'Shangri La' it was off gently after a slight uphill run on grass into a 2 to 3 mph breeze. It was 'right on' and during that flight it was handled by Hurst Bowers, Don Srull, John Worth, John Preston, and mysterious others. It tracked perfectly, climbed moderately, and had good sport performance aloft. What struck us all was its phenomenal smoothness of response, and delightfully groovy turns.

Unmowed strips and hot humid days dictated the increase in power to the OS 30 - one of the nicest starting, and throttling sport engines a man could desire. The 19 turned a 10x3-1/2, the 30 an 11x3-1/2 or 11x4. In spite of the low pitch, when trimmed, the ship moved out surprisingly well - that wing is none too big.

Having been checked out in some 25 light plane types in the dim past, I can relate this craft to you in terms of real aircraft, and where it fits into your modeling spectrum. If you fly it, you will find yourself thinking in real airplane terms - it is that kind of machine. It is not a Cub. The Cub is one of the most forgiving airplanes in history - students by the hundreds of thousands have hung it several feet off the ground in stall landings, hit with a thud, and bounced and bounced. You can't do that with a Luscombe. The RC Special might be more like a Tri-Pacer carrying four people. It has a bit of a bite if man-handled on takeoff, or nosed up in an oscillating glide approach, with small dips and zooms from over-correction. Not only is the loading high, but there is no twist in the tips - I couldn't afford that with this area.

That's not a handicap. I am a lousy pilot, but I've never stalled it and dropped a tip on the approach. I did suffer one major overhaul through a stupid transgression of safe flying rules. It was a 90-degree day with high humidity, on a medium-sized grass strip which had not been cut in weeks. The cross wind was at right angles to takeoff. The wind got under the right wing, causing a moderate left swerve on takeoff..."

Update 13/6/2026: Added original article (in 2 parts) from Mechanix Illustrated Dec 1949, thanks to dfritzke.

Supplementary file notes

Article.
Article (1949, MI) part 1.
Article (1949, MI) part 2.

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