O Cafona (oz16180)

About this Plan

O Cafona. Radio control sport aerobatic model. Wingspan 67 in, for .61 engine.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 2/8/2025: Added article, thanks to dfritzke.

Quote: "O Cafona. A Brazilliant Pattern Bird. The story of its design by Cesar A Gama, one of Brazil's leading pattern flyers. Text by Vic Husak.

O Cafona? What the heck is an O Cafona, and what does it mean? Well, loosely translated from the Brazilian Portuguese, its a slang expression meaning 'the exquisitely ugly bird'. This is the explanation my good friend Cesar A Gama of Rio De Janeiro laid on me when I asked him for an enlightenment. It seems that his flying buddies in the Rio R/C Club hung that name on his latest creation after seeing it for the first time. He admits that it may not be one of. the handsomest of pattern ships around; nonetheless, after flying it, I feel that it is undoubtedly one of the best performing birds I have flown to date!

I've been in this crazy, but wonderful hobby-sport of ours for at least 15 years, and I never cease to be amazed at the things that I've witnessed and experienced over those years, not to mention all of the great people I've come in contact with in the interim. Please allow me to relate to you one of the most recent events; one which ultimately led to a great friendship, and tolny introduction to the O Cafona.

About a year and a half ago I began wondering why so little, if any, news regarding R/C activities from the countries in South America, and particularly from Brazil, ever appears in our domestic model magazines. So I decided to write to the Editors of a couple of them, requesting the names of any R/Cers they had in their files who live in South America, and who might be interested in corresponding with an old R/Cer living here in the US.

Both of the Editors very graciously printed my letter of request in their respective magazines, informing me at the same time that I'd probably end up with all the correspondents I could handle. And they were right! At present I'm corresponding with five guys living in Brazil and two living in Peru. It keeps me busy, but I enjoy writing to these fellow R/Cers, exchanging ideas, news and views.

The first R/Cer to answer my request was Cesar A Gama of Rio De Janeiro. Before long we were exchanging plans of our own designs, he sending me a set of prints for the "0 Cafona" and I in return sending him a set of plans for 'Mr Slick'. I took one look at those plans of his and I knew that I had to build one. And build it I did. After flying it for the first time I knew that he really had something going for him. My immediate thought was Hey, this bird is really OK. So what's the story on this guy Gama and how did he come up with such an exceptional design?

Well, first off, Cesar is 45 years old, has lived in Rio all his life, and until about 6 years ago was one of the biggest names in U-control stunt in Brazil. Then he moved into R/C - pattern being a natural for someone with his talent and experience. He has since become one of the more prominent pattern buffs in his country, and for that matter, in all of South America. It follows naturally, that sooner or later every good pattern flyer, regardless of where he's from, will start designing his own birds.

In this respect Cesar is no exception. However, his is a situation which, like that of most R/Cers in South America, is unique in that he does not have the ready availability of good domestic radios, engines and accessories such as we have here in the US. Almost everything needed by the South American modeler pursuing RUC as a serious hobby must be imported. This was one of the first things I became aware of after corresponding with Cesar. Another barrier for the Brazilian modeler is a rather high rate of import duty, as is the case for most South American countries. For example, a brand name 7 channel radio retailing here in the US for $499 costs the Brazilian approximately $680 after the import duties are tacked on. A well-known .61 engine selling here for $100 costs them about $160. It follows that unless he's more or less well-heeled, he stands little chance of obtaining anything in the way of good equipment. Even used equipment of rather dubious quality, or in poor condition sells for a small fortune - when available.

Hence, RIC has been slow in developing in South America. Brazil, of course, is the fastest developing of all, but modeling equipment and materials are still considered a luxury and therefore have to take a back seat to other, more essential commodities. Nonetheless, modelers being modelers, no matter where they're from or what the extenuating circumstances may be, always seem to find a way to pursue their particular facet of the hobby. So it has been with Cesar Gama, designer of the O Cafona.

After flying Kwik-flys and Kaos' for a number of years, he felt that he'd like to come up with a pattern design of his own, and the O Cafona is the happy result of his efforts. However, in designing this bird, he has had to keep in mind one very important factor - something the pattern flyer here in the United States doesn't need to worry about; this factor being that there can he no Nitro in any model fuels used in Brazil. Nitro is considered a high explosive there, and a law exists prohibiting its use. This, of course, means that the average .61 R/C engine, running purely on methanol and castor oil isn't going to put out nearly as much oomph as it would running on fuel containing, say 15% Nitro. How to get around this problem using a given engine and your own design, and still remain competitive?

Well, one way is to build the bird nice and light, with ample wing area and plenty of lateral area up front and at the rear, so that even with less than sufficient power the plane will still fly nicely thru the maneuvers. This, then, is the basis which Cesar has used for designing the O Cafona, and boy, how well it works..."

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