Short Scion (oz15235)

About this Plan

Short Scion. Radio control scale model twin, for electric power. Wingspan 32.5 in, wing area 208 sq in, for 2x GWS IPS-A motors. Uses foam construction.

Note this plan is available as a free download from the FlyRC site (see Datafile).

Quote: "Download plans for the Short Scion. Featured in the September 2008 issue of Fly RC, Omar Forberg’s delightful Short Scion provides a glimpse back to the simpler days of airline flying. If you got to the airport 90 minutes before your flight, it was only because of the excitement of watching the planes come and go. There were no long check-in lines, no taking off your shoes for TSA agents, no lost luggage and no sprinting between terminals to make tight connections.

Forberg’s little twin is ideally suited for larger indoor sites, or for flying outdoors in your back yard or the local school ball field on calm evenings. The two GWS brushed motors and single ESC promise economical operation. Construction goes quickly, and you can build with any common sheet foam materials, or even balsa..."

Update 17/4/2024: Added article, thanks to theshadow.

Quote: "Build an electric sport scale vintage twin. Short Scion, by Omar Forberg.

The Short Scion's cute factor fascinated me first. I conducted a little research, and was hooked after finding out about all the variations of this delightful British twin. The Scion earned its keep with small airlines from Australia to Lebanon, and was conscripted by the RAF in WWII, giving many possible liveries. Most had Pobjoy geared radial engines, though at least one was converted to de Havilland Gypsy Major inline engines in Australia. They had landing gear with spats, with-out spats and even served on floats. The options are wide open with this one.

I designed this little model as an easy building, lightweight first twin with a lot of character and no vices. The materials are readily available and there are no super secret methods or fancy tools involved. I used 2-inch pink construction foam from Home Depot, and some 3/16 sheet foam board I had on hand from foamfly.com. Another good material is foamcore board with the paper soaked off. My adhesive of choice is five-minute epoxy, used sparingly. It makes for a quick and strong build.

Start construction by cutting out all the flat foam parts with a sharp #11 blade after removing any the paper or plastic film from the surface of the foam. These skins are heavy and hamper the adhesive bond.

Fuselage: Pin the fuselage sides to the plan and start by gluing in the 3/32 x 3/16 window frames. Adjust the wood dimensions if needed to match your foam stock. Remove from the plan and taper the inner ends so that the rear joint equals one thickness of the foam and mates up well with the rudder. Now glue the bottom to one fuselage side, beginning at the rear and working forward while making certain they are square. Repeat the process for the other side. It may be necessary to prebend the curve of the bottom piece where the nose begins to meet the nose block.

The only former is the rear cockpit bulkhead, with holes for the door and wing hold down dowel. Cut from 1/32 ply, laminate the top, and glue in place. I added small Tyvek reinforcements cut from a FedEx envelope to support the battery weight during hard landings. I rough cut the nose blocks from 2-inch foam and glue them in position before setting the fuselage aside for the time being.

Flying Surfaces: The first step is to roll the airfoil into the wing blanks. This is easier than it sounds. I use the rounded edge of our kitchen counter but a piece of 2-inch dowel or PVC tubing will work as well. With the panel held parallel to the edge, spread your fingers and hands to distribute the pressure evenly and roll it back and forth until it matches the root rib fillers that will be added later. Bend a little washout into the tip for safety's sake.

Use sandpaper to round the LE and taper the bottom of the TE. Now block up the tip of each panel 1-3/4 inches and sand in the dihedral angle..."

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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