Midi Mambo (oz15934)

About this Plan

Midi Mambo. Radio control sport traoiner model, for electric power. Wingspan 45.6 in, wing area 360 sq in. Uses foam construction.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: " Hi Steve and Mary, My building has slowed down a bit and the weather's been exceptionally uncooperative, but I've still managed to grind out another model. This is the Midi Mambo, a scaled-up Minnie Mambo (219 in. sq. area, grown to 360 in. sq.) and made from paper-covered foam. So far, it's had one flight - but it was really an uneventful maiden, considering Micki and I were looping and rolling it on that flight :-).

Attached is a zip file with the plan (.dxf and .pdfs of the build article, parts list, and a photo page. I used my standard Titebond II, water, and paper covering method, but I did NOT include that 'how to' in this. I figured I'd save us some bandwidth and storage space ;-).

Sincerely, Bill Bowne"

Quote: "Midi Mambo, by Bill Bowne.

About a dozen years ago, I drew up and built a model of a model, the Sterling Minnie Mambo. I started with a set of plans from the Outerzone web site, scaled them up (from 219 to 252 in sq) for a Skatty out runner on a 3S1000 pack, then designed a new internal structure.

That Minnie Mambo was a blast to fly. Super stable and tame at a lower power setting, it could loop and rudder roll with the best at higher throttle. Best of all, it would flat spin (making an eerie racket!), yet land like a feather.

Since then, my increasing allergy to balsa forced me to either give up modeling or build with foam. After nearly 60 years of aero-modeling, there was only one choice – foam. So, I started making new designs, using varied foams. In the Fall of 2024, an all-foam Mambo appeared on my 'To Do' list, scaled to the motor/battery size we’re now using: A 1000-1100 Kv motor, 3S1000-1500 Lipo, and 360- 400 sq. inch wing. Since it’s bigger than the Minnie, but smaller than the standard Mambo, I call it the Midi Mambo. Enough chit-chat, on to building!

My preference is to start by making a kit of the parts (including the wire bits), updating the plans as I find and fix oopsies.

Glues used to build the Midi Mambo are Titebond II and CLEAR Gorilla Glue (NON-foaming polyurethane). For covering, I used paper and a 50/50 mix of Titebond II and water (hereafter to be referred to as Glue Glop). After that can come paint, shrink film, or a combo of the two. Please see my generic notes (Chianti or Lollipop articles) for how to do the paper covering.

Choosing which glue to use for gluing the paper templates to the foam is a bit more problematic. I used three different foams; Owens Corning Foamular (pink), Kingspan (green) and white Model Plane Foam (MPF), made by Adams. All three have different formulae and spray glues affect each differently. For example, Elmer’s spray craft glue sticks well to the green and MPF foams, but melts the pink – and 3M-77 melts all three. Carefully test any glue on your foam! Glue sticks are okay on all three (but don’t stick well to lite ply).

You wonder why I use three different types of foam? Each has different properties. MPF (no longer made, sadly) is stiffer than the house insulation foams and less likely to snap when bending. Pink foam is brittler and green is even worse. MPF is 6mm thick, but the pink and green foams are 1/4”...because I cut them that way, unfortunately (and not consistently, to my embarrassment!). I don’t use much blue foam, as I can’t find anyone in my area who sells it. Confusing, yes, but not much different from choosing between balsa, lite ply, and birch ply, 'A' grain balsa from 'C' grain balsa, and so forth. Once you’re comfy with the glues, glue templates to the foam and wood, cut them out, and sand the edges. When it comes to cutting the wood bits, I use a 44 year-old Dremel jig saw. For the foam, well, as a long time X-Acto user...I don’t use my X-Acto knife. Instead, I use disposable knives. You can extend them to cut deeper foam in one slice, and you can quickly re-sharpen them with a whetstone or strop, making one knife last for months.

We’ll start with the wing, then build the fuselage and tail feathers. Once the wing is done and the fuse papered, we’ll mate the fuse to the wing, then the tailplane and fin to the fuse.

Wing: I cut my cores from pink Foamular, but had a problem when a wire snagged on a template (on my last block of foam, of course). So, I cut replacement LEs from green foam I had on hand, resulting in the color combo you see. Otherwise, the wing is pretty simple. Paper the cores with brown parcel wrapping paper (not the heavier brown bag paper), cut the dowel brace slots, sand the dihedral joint, cut the wing tips, and glue the wing panels together. Next, add the paper diamond spars..."

Supplementary file notes

Build notes.
Parts list.
Photo pages.

CAD file

This plan is available for download in CAD format.

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