One Cent (oz16226)

About this Plan

One Cent. Radio control sport model. Wingspan 23 in, wing area 103 sq in, for Cox .010 engine.

Quote: "What makes very small R/C airplanes (VSR/C) practical? Small, powerful engines and small, powerful radios! Thanks to Cox and Futaba, both are available.

Many .010s are left from the old days, but most people considered them collectors' items and were reluctant to put them in airplanes for fear of loss or damage. But, now that Cox is again producing the TD .010. parts and new engines are available, so that fear should vanish, and the power requirement of a VSR/C has been met.

The other necessary factor has been available from Futaba for quite a while: the FP-R2H receiver and the S33 servos. That combination of receiver and two servos weighs in at less than 2 ounces and, with Ace R/C's 110mAh battery pack, the total flying weight is just over 3 ounces! That's a lot of radio for so little weight.

The power and radio equipment are available, but what about the airplane? Designing a VSR/C airplane shouldn't be much of a problem. The size is so similar to rubber-powered sport airplanes that simply adapting one of those designs would be logical and will, in fact, work to a great extent, but there are a few other considerations.

Even with the light equipment, the servos, receiver and battery are considerably heavier than anything associated with a rubber model of a similar size. This additional weight requires a stronger wing and tail construction, and this adds slightly more weight.

Another important consideration is the scale effect. A small wing is simply unable to generate as much lift per unit of area as a larger one. Therefore, to generate enough lift, the wing must have a lower weight loading per square foot of area. That means a larger wing is needed, and that increases drag and weight. Somewhere, there's a perfect size for the airplane and the weight it must carry - one that matches the power available. The trick is to find that size!

Onec Cent isn't the ultimate VSR/C; it could be built larger, cleaner and lighter, but I wanted to build an airplane that flies well, is relatively light and easy to build without using indoor-type model-construction. It's a solid performer with no bad habits, and it will satisfy anyone. It's a very good airplane!

You could use the Cox .02 as well as the .01, but you'd have to add 1/8 in to the width of the firewall and move the battery pack aft to compensate for the increase in weight up front. Since Onecent flies so well with the .01, it should be a screamer with the larger engine!

Construction: I built Onecent with 4- to 6-pound balsa, and it's important to select that weight of wood carefully. Use CA or model airplane cement (Ambroid or Testors) in all areas except the firewall and the elevator and rudder-to-fuselage joints.

Slice the fuselage sides from 1/16 sheet to the outline shown. Add the 1/16 balsa doublers in the nose and cabin areas and the 1/16 square uprights aft of the wing. Use CA to glue the small 1/64 plywood tripler at the firewall, and hold both sides together with masking tape while you sand them to the same outline. While they're held together, mark the former locations and drill the 3/32 holes for the wing dowels..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

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