Fairchild 24R (oz16007)

About this Plan

Fairchild 24R. Radio control scale model. Winghspan 70 in, for .61 engine.

Quote: "Fairchild 24R. Engineered and built by Woody Woodward. Drawn by Don Butman, 1968."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Note this plan could use a cleanup. I just ran out of time on this one. Steve.

Update 6/5/2025: Added article, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "Superb scale from the land of scale. Famous classic of the late twenties and thirties presents a challenge to the real scale man who just can't resist a machine that flies as well as it looks. Plans are well engineered and help you build a contest winner. Fairchild 24, by Woody Woodward.

As reward for a hot afternoon spent cleaning the windows, inside and out on what seemed to be an enormously large airplane, an eleven year-old boy was given his first airplane ride. The time and place was August of 1940 at the old Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport in the San Fernando Valley (now Van Nuys Airport). The plane, a yellow and blue Fairchild 24, belonged to the Arlen-Propert Flying Service. I was that boy. For anyone intensely interested in aviation, one's first plane ride is especially memorable. That my first flight was aboard one of the true classics of the air made that plane and that occasion all the more unforgettable.

In the years between, I have seen many more Fairchilds - even managed to log a couple of hours in one eighteen years ago. But the love affair was really renewed when, in July of 1965, I saw Chuck Gupton's beautifully restored Fairchild at the Van Nuys Air Show. It was almost like being caught in a time warp, as the plane was parked wthin 100 ft of the very spot of that first flight 25 years before.

The next time I had the opportunity to see this plane was about a year later at the annual Riverside Fly-In. On that occasion I took a number of pictures and managed to make a note of the owner's name with the thought of possibly building a rado controlled model of the airplane. Gupton, through a mutual acquaintance (Joe Mason, owner of Lulu II) heard of my interest and called me. Buildng the model was now inescapable. I met with Gupton at Torrance Airport where the plane is regularly hangered and shot many more pictures, made notes and measurements so that the model would be as accurate as possible.

My original intention was to duplicate Gupton's plane exactly. However, the development and building of the model took much more time than was originally anticipated and when MAN indicated their interest in publishing the construction article I abandoned the idea of including all of the details peculiar to Gupton's plane. The color scheme is precisely the same as Gupton's, light yellow and dark green. Apart from that, this model is typical of all of the 24's built since 1938. Actually all the airframes are identical aft of the fire wall. Depending on engine installaton, electrical equipment and other minor items. There really aren't any important differences from one four place 24 to another.

The plans that are presented here are that of a basic practical and above all flyable, airframe. It is quite accurate in every respect. The plans were developed directly from Jim Triggs' drawings which were checked (by tape measure) against both Gupton's Ranger powered model and a Warner powered model. The only deviation from scale is the flat bottom stabilizer section I used instead of the fully symmetrical section employed in the full-sized plane. The reason for this change was the relatively small stab. I felt that a lifting stab would produce better flight characteristics in the model. Only a comparison between the two would answer the question. If you're a real purist, it wouldn't take much effort to alter the stab back to its original section.

If you preferred to build this as the radial model (Warner) all you have to do is to ignore my plane forward of the firewall and draw your own front forward end. Again there is no difference in the remainder of the plane. However, I chose the long nose version (Ranger) as it's obvously easier to balance.

After a considerable amount of research on the Fairchild, it became obvious that an article in the February 1968 issue of SPORT FLYING written by Roscoe Deering was by far the most informative piece available.

At this point most construction articles would, logically enough continue with a detailed account of how to go about gluing all the sticks together. Frankly, I think anyone serious enough to tackle this thing is likely to be enough of a modeler not to require much advice. Therefore, I'll just comment on a few points that may be helpful.

The construction throughout is very conventional. That is to say conventional for anyone having come up through the free flight ranks. The fuselage is a built up Warren truss style from quarter inch square hard balsa topped with many 1/8 x 1/4 in hardwood stringers. Don't use balsa for stringers as they will likely cave-in later. Incidentally, since the sides are perfectly flat you could hack the entire sides out of 1/8 balsa sheets (with 1/4 in vertical stiffeners). Another option would be to build up the 1/4 square frames as shown and top them with 3/32 sheet. This would make one heck of a rugged airframe. The stringer positions could then be indicated by the use of 1/8 plastic tape. I've been experimenting with this and find it quite realistic and very fast. I use Chart-Pak brand tape. Simply finish the sheeted areas (sand and dope) up to the point of covering. Position the tape carefully where wanted (self adhering). Sight down the length of the fuselage so as to keep the tape straight and press firmly in place. Now lay one coat of dope over the tape and cover with silkspan or silk and continue to finish the model as usual. The tape is just thick enough to show under the covering material. Caution, do not attempt to put the tape on after the model is finished as it will eventually fall off. If you are really lazy, you could go so far as to make the tail surfaces out of sheet and do the same thing.

But back to the plans: Note that there are three sub assemblies to be built up which aid in the assembling of the two side frames, they are former 'D', former 'F' and the 'floor frame.'

The trickiest part of the fuselage is the sheeting from former 'D' forward. There is a transition here from a square shape to a round shape. The only way I know to do this is with 1/8 x 1/4 inch soft planking. Note that the bottom half of the cowling splits away and is built separately later. However, the top planking continues all the way forward to station 'A', which is oval in cross section! Sounds impossible, but somehow it works.

The other place on the fuselage that will give you the screaming meamies (remember now, this is an honest-to-goodness 'scale' airplane) is the fuselage top and its many stringers. When the fuselage framework is complete (except the top stringers) build the wing center section (minus the main spar) right on the fuselage top (lightly tack glueing it into place). This insures the wing fitting nice and snug later and allows the stringers to be carried away all the way across the top. After everything has dried, take a razor saw and separate the two sections, then knock the wing center section loose.

Most of the forward portion of the fuselage and cowl are made of more or less interlocking parts and are self-explanatory once you begin cutting parts. If you know anything about using fiberglass, for heavens sakes make the bottom cowl section from fiberglass. Otherwise, you'll have to build it up from planking as I did..."

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