Handley Page HP 42 (oz15666)

About this Plan

Handley Page HP 42. Radio control scale model.

Quote: "Handley Page HP 42. That man Chris Golds has been at it again! This time, as a change from his usual monsters, he offers a delightful 44 in span Heracles for four Cox 010 engines, built largely from scrap bits.

I have long been in love with 'fun' models, and by definition I mean semi-scale, radio controlled easy-built models which are immediately recognisable for what they are - Camel, Spitfire, Lancaster, Hunter or whatever you choose to build.

The giant HP42 commercial biplane of the early 1930s was quite a monster for its time, being 130 feet span, 92 feet long and powered by four 550 hp Jupiter radials, with a maximum weight of 14 tons to carry up to 38 passengers in considerable luxury. Proper meals were served and the customers spent each night in a well appointed company hotel. But against all these plusses was one great negative - the aeroplane was woefully slow. Against even a moderate headwind the HP42 had a ground speed less than that of a modern motorway coach!

For modelling purposes it has one tremendous advantage as a four engined aeroplane; all the props are tractor and all are placed about as close to the centre line as is possible. I have long wanted to model the type and some months ago I needed a break from my picture painting and decided to build, as simply as • possible, a small scale model to act as a tryout for a future large-scale version using four FS 90s as power. (Father Christmas - did you hear?) I only had one weekend free and this decided me to go for an all-sheet structure with maximum use of cyano to speed things along.

Construction: Cut out the fuselage sides and edge with 1/8 sq. Cut the bulkheads and fit with fuselage upside down on a flat surface, in the following order: 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 6, 7, 8, 9. Cut and assemble the tailplanes and fins with bracing as shown, all sanded to simple aerofoil section i.e.: rounded leading and trailing edges. Fit the hinges, slotted into 3/32 carefully and fit three rudders and two elevators, linking them as shown. Fit to fuselage with thorough gluing. Cut the wing top centre section and bottom inboard sections from soft 1/16 sheet. Cut 'ribs' and leading edges, fitting the leading edges first followed by the ribs. NB: 'Cant' angles on the bottom wings.

Now cut the lower wing dihedral braces and glue to the fuselage then fit the lower wing centre sections using the template for the anhedral. Cut the top wing centre-section assembly jack and spot glue to fuselage (it will be removed when the struts are glued). Fit the centre section struts in order M and N, 0 and P, and, when dry, remove the jack.

Cut the engine nacelles from soft 1/2 in balsa and shape as shown. Cut the engine mounting bulkheads from 1/4 Liteply and PVA to the nacelles thoroughly at the engine out-throw angles as on the plan. These are very important to help counter what little asymmetric thrust there is if you lose one engine (or more) in flight. Remember, you cannot just throttle back and land - with these engines you have to wait until the juice runs out! Fit soft 1/2 inch cheecks to fair the bulkheads.

Next, fit the engine nacells to thewings ensuring that the out-throws are correct. Make and fit the main undercarriage as shown: the oleo action is simple and fun to make and use..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

From Radio Modeller December 1995.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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