Noctule (oz15348)

 

Noctule (oz15348) by OFW Fisher 1988 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Noctule. Free flight rubber model. Wingspan 20 in.

Quote: "Noctule, which is named after a species of bat, has been specifically designed as a small free-flight rubber model of semi-scale aspect (to bats at least) for the specific purpose of flights in small gardens. Under such conditions, it will be appreciated that there is very high turbulence; thus an ultra-stable layout is required, together with the ability to maintain a tight-turning flight pattern. Another parameter is to ensure that these relatively tight turns can be achieved without a high rate of climb which would inevitably lead to the model being impaled in trees or shrubs, or landing on rooftops.

Noctule fills the design criteria of a tight turning but very flat stable flight pattern. The prototype flew 'off the board' and no modifications or trim adjustments were required. First flights were made in Woodland Towers' garden on 22nd October 1987. For flight testing, a small area of front lawn about 50ft. square bounded by trees with a camellia growing in its centre (the latter surrounded by a low stone wall) was used for initial flights!

Design and development: Noctule is the 322nd model built by the designer. It has been developed from the Ionosphere series of F/F wings (see Tailless Tales, June 1987 Aeromodeller), and is in fact the 22nd model built in this series. The 'flat plate' type of wing section is suitable for a very lightweight model. Construction is very simple and quick, and the design of the wing is such as to reduce to a minimum the risk of warps. Ideas for the precise layout of Noctule have been developed over eight years, and it is pleasing to note that, provided the model is built exactly as designed, no trim adjustments are required.

Build your bat: Before commencing construction, cover the plan with a piece of wax paper; the inside wrappings of cereal packets are suitable. This stops the structure from adhering to it.

The main wing is built up from two inner inverted gull-hedral sections and two outer sections. All are built flat over the plan. Pin the 1/2 x 1/bin. trailing-edge sections in place, followed by the 1/8in.sq. leading edges and diagonal cross-members. Chamfer the joint surfaces at the cross-section to allow for lin. anhedral at the joint line. The outer panels, after chamfering of the joint lines, are arranged to give 1.6in. dihedral at the wing tips.

Now cover the top surface of the wing with lightweight tissue and give one coat of clear dope, very lightly applied. Do not cover the lower wing surfaces. After the fuselage is completed and cemented in place the lower nose section and upper rear sections can be covered and given one coat of clear dope. Lastly the fin, covered on both sides, is cemented in position.

Cut the fuselage sides from 1/16 lightweight balsa. Join with the three 1/8 sq spacers marked 'A' on the plan. Take great care to ensure accurate alignment using set squares over the plan. Add the other 1/8 sq spacers and tail upright..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "Hi Mary, Please see attached a plan and article for the 20” rubber powered Noctule, a really quirky design which was published in Aeromodeller March 1988, by the late O.F.W. (Peter) Fisher, from Performance Kits. I am also sending you some pictures of my recent build of the model. I will be posting a build and flight series on my YouTube channel shortly. Once I have, I will post a comment and link to the page.

So many of Peter Fisher’s designs are still hard to find, or simply unavailable, so it's great to be able to get more of them on Outerzone. Really appreciate all the hard work you and Steve do running the site, it’s such a hugely valuable resource. All the best, Mark Robinson"

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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Noctule (oz15348) by OFW Fisher 1988 - model pic

Datafile:
  • (oz15348)
    Noctule
    by OFW Fisher
    from Aeromodeller
    March 1988 
    20in span
    Rubber F/F
    clean :)
    all formers complete :)
    got article :)
  • Submitted: 03/06/2024
    Filesize: 212KB
    Format: • PDFbitmap
    Credit*: MarkRobinson
    Downloads: 440

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Noctule (oz15348) by OFW Fisher 1988 - pic 005.jpg
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Noctule (oz15348) by OFW Fisher 1988 - pic 007.jpg
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Noctule (oz15348) by OFW Fisher 1988 - pic 008.jpg
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User comments

Hi Mary, Please see attached pictures [main pic, 005-008] of my build of Peter Fishers 20” rubber powered Noctule, a really quirky design and great fun to construct. I also have a build series for the Noctule on YouTube, here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGILJsUw3dvSOMadEr-Dm35IaAFCRZ4Z5
All the best,
Mark Robinson - 15/07/2024
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* 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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