Cessna 170 (oz16185)

About this Plan

Cessna 170. Radio control scale model for electric power. Wingspan 44 in.

Quote: "So, this Cessna 170B is to be followed by the 43 in Piper PA 12 Super Cruiser to complete my triple tribute to the recently late Albert Hatfull, who designed these subjects (and most of the rest of their kits!) for Keil Kraft as the 'Super Scale' free-flight series of the fifties. These three were for rubber or small diesel power. l'm currently working on the Piper Super Cruiser in an effort to submit it as another free plan feature in the near future.

It is sad that so many of these pioneers and geniuses (genii?) of model aeroplane design and construction are leaving us nowadays (so many obituaries in the mags). They have bequeathed a fair number of my own generation with an invaluable encouragement for creative ability in the hobby. I still remember the thrill of the first 'successful' flights of paper fuselaged, rubber powered ARTFs of childhood - a Frog 'Raider' for example. It was an even greater excitement when a model I'd managed to build from a kit or plan actually flew! The fix that addicted me for life was when I'd extracted the prop, motor and wheels from a wreck of one of these and 'designed' another. When that flew, I was hooked!

So I wonder just how many of you younger ones out there move on from the wreckage of today's sophisticated ARTFs and create your own 'Pheonixes'? I usually hear the I just haven't the time story. But I also see an awful lot of scratch building happening on the internet forums now.

OK then. I really don't know a lot about this pretty little aircraft, except that these days it is an accepted classic, developed from the straight-winged 140 and sporting the now famous Cessna wing for the first time. The most well known derivative was, of course the military L-19 Bird Dog. There is a multitude of pictures of the type on Airliners.net, and doubtless your editor will surpass all on the subject in this issue with his usual panache! Well, if you're going for it, let's get started!

Tailplane and fin: Build these parts first because they should be completed and covered before the fuselage structure is finalized (see pics). Begin by building the hinged mainspars as units. These consist of a 'sandwich' of balsa strips, trapping hinges cut from Solartex. There should be some pictures here to help with this part of the build. A carbon fibre rod was used to join the elevator spars, but a bent up wire joiner would be fine.

Chamfer the edge of your sheet balsa and then cut the strip off. Using pieces of postcard to maintain a uniform gap, pin these pre-sectioned strips down on the plan. The hinges should now be ironed onto the wood. Unpin the job and accurately glue on the top strips. (Medium thickness cyano is the ideal adhesive for this part of the job, PVA for completing the rest of the framework). Repin the assembly in position on the plan. Pin down and glue together the outlines with the tip parts and add all the gussets. Fit the 3/32 laminated balsa centre plate (tailplane) and add all the ribs.

Remove the structure from the plan and trim and sand to section. Carefully fold a piece of fine sandpaper over the edge of a piece of scrap 1/16 balsa and run this along both sides of the hinge gap until you obtain an each way deflection of about 30°..."

Cessna 170 from Flying Scale Models October 2008.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Note see original build thread on RCGroups at: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?243357

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