Cannonball (oz15780)

 

Cannonball (oz15780) by Paul Schaaf 1972 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Cannonball. Control line sport model.

Quote: "The first thing I am asked when I fly this plane is, What is it - a burnt pizza? I reply, If this was 1776 you'd know what it was. It's a Cannonball. Imagine how fast the Revolutionary War would have ended if a thousand of these could have been launched simultaneously! The soldiers would have dropped their arms in fright or gathered around to take their turns flying.

Seriously, you can make this plane into anything you want it to be; a smiling face, a half moon, a tire, a pizza, etc, Decorate it to your heart's content. It's great for a club contest to see who can be the most original. It flies very well - I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

FUSELAGE: The fuselage is constructed from 1/4 in balsa sheet. Take four 3 inch wide sections and cement together so you can scribe a 12 in circle on the assembly. With the grain running vertical, cut out the motor mount area, slot for the wing and for the stabilizer. At the opposite end of the circle from, the motor mount, measure in 1 inch and cut a vertical section away and then re-cement with 1/4 in offset toward the outside of the flying circle. This is the rudder area.

Make the firewall using 1/8 plywood and cement securely into the motor mount opening as illustrated. After the wing is cemented to the fuselage add balsa blocks behind the firewall to strengthen it and also provide more support for the wing. These blocks should be cut and blended to shape smoothly to the fuselage.

STABILIZER: The stabilizer and elevator are constructed of 3/32 balsa sheet. The two halves of the elevator are joined by using a 3/32 diameter hardwood dowel. The hinges are cut from nylon tape and cemented to the elevator and stabilizer in the staggered pattern as illustrated. A Perfect brand control horn completes the assembly. When cementing to the fuselage make sure the elevator can move freely. Make a larger clearance hole in the fuselage where the 3/32 dowel passes through.

WING: The wing can be made from 1/4 x 4 in preshaped balsa glider wing stock usually carried by your local hobby shop. With this, all you have to do is sand the front of the airfoil to the correct shape. If the preshaped stock is not available you'll have to buy the regular stock and shape it completely. The wing is made in one piece (although the plans only show one half of the wing). The Perfect 2 in bellcrank is mounted through a 1/8 plywood piece that is cemented to the underside of the wing. The leadout wire guide at the end of the wing can be made from 1/16 or 1/8 plywood.

The pushrod can be bent from 1/16 dia music wire, however, it is much easier to use a DuBro Kwik-Link, if your dealer has one. It has a threaded connector that can be adjusted easily for the correct length so that the elevator is in neutral when the bellcrank is positioned parallel to the fuselage. Hold the Kwik-Link against the fuselage, roughly noting where the rear bend has to occur for mounting to the elevator control horn. Bend end at a right angle leaving about 1/4 in length for passing through the horn with a washer soldered on the outside to retain in place. If the hole in the control horn is too snug, drill out for a free pushrod fit,

FINISHING: When the firewall, wing, and stabilizer are cemented to the fuselage, sand the assembly with fine sandpaper. Give two coats of clear fuelproof dope (butyrate dope is fuel-proof) sanding between and after the doping. I painted my plane black, but here is where you can let your imagination inspire the final appearance. I used Mono-Kate for the decorative trim.

ENGINE AND FLYING: The engine can be a Cox Baby or Golden Bee .049 displacement. Mount at the angle shown so the needle valve is free for your hand adjustments. The nylon prop has a 6 in dia with a 4 in pitch.

My plane was flown on dacron lines 28 feet long. Launch the plane in a slight nose up attitude. I suggest flying over grass since the landings are a little rough with the plane rolling when it lands. When the engine stops try to bring it in with the nose a little high. The engine is well protected and we have had no problems with the landings. Some of you junior engineers may devise a landing gear setup if you wish to do so.

The plane flies great - it's lots of fun, its different, and it really draws a crowd. I hope you decide to build it."

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Cannonball (oz15780) by Paul Schaaf 1972 - model pic

Datafile:
  • (oz15780)
    Cannonball
    by Paul Schaaf
    from Junior American Modeler
    March 1972 
    16in span
    IC C/L
    clean :)
    all formers complete :)
    got article :)
  • Submitted: 23/12/2024
    Filesize: 106KB
    Format: • PDFbitmap
    Credit*: theshadow
    Downloads: 110

Cannonball (oz15780) by Paul Schaaf 1972 - pic 003.jpg
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* Credit field

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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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