Wakefield Winner 1950 (oz16318)

About this Plan

Wakefield Winner 1950. Rubber duration model.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 8/10/2025: Added article, thanks to Pit.

QUote: "The 1950 Wakefield Winner, by Aarne Ellila. DUE to my victory in 1949 in England, distant Finland got the opportunity to arrange the Wakefield Cup Contest in 1950. The event has been held and the host country was lucky enough to see her son win the contest again. The climatic circumstances were such that there could not be any argument that the weather would favor some competitors more than others. The conditions were the same for everybody. The quality of the results is the best proof of it. How then did my model win the contest?

My plane is a direct development of the one which won the Wakefield Cup Contest in 1949. The main measurements are the same, the length of the fuselage being exactly equal. The wing is 2 cm (.787 in) longer. The airscrew is larger, but the fin has lost some area. The amount of rubber is still the same,

After I received the necessary quantity of balsa in April from England. I began to build my model, The plans had been made in the early fall. According to my calculation, the model should have been capable of 4 to 5 min in flight. It had been planned for a tensioned motor, and the weight without the rubber ought to have been about 100 grammes (3,52 oz). When the plane was ready. the scale showed a weight of only 92 grammes (3.24 oz).

The first flights were not promising. The glide was difficult to trim and. therefore, I was rather uneasy, this being the middle of June. One good thing: during the motor run, the plane was well-behaved, If only I could get the glide in order. everything would be all right. I made experiments with a small turbulator strip on the leading edge of the wing. The effect could be noticed at once. The glide, before so difficult to trim, became steady and I could move the wing 1.5 cm (.59 in) forward. Now I was able to start testing with more turns.

New difficulties arose now. The 180 cm (70.87 in) long rubber did not work very well. The fuselage seemed to be too constricted at the rear and there gathered some knots, which changed the center of gravity. Besides. I could not get the rubber to turn steadily and the model had a tendency to tremble so much that I was scared it would break to pieces in the air. With only three more weeks 'til the contest, something had to be done quickly. I made up my mind to build a new fuselage for two motors; consequently, I wanted to use cracs or gears, as in my 1949 model.

The new fuselage was ready in a few days. It was built in such a manner that I was able to use all the other parts. Therefore, there are some points in the plane, which would have been built in a different fashion if it would have been planned for gears from the first. The new fuselage was a bit heavier than the previous one, as it had to be stronger. In addition to the weight of the frame, there were now the gears and the extra nose-hook, so the weight loaded after alteration was 110 grammes (3.88 oz).

After the rebuilding I thought I could be sure of my model, and this proved true. The ship was gliding steadily, but there was still plenty of trimming to add. I had a big job with the incidence angles, and I have to admit that before the event began I still was not satisfied with the trim, There was much to be done with it and therefore the final results could have been better.

The evening before the contest I tested my model the first time with full power. The take-off was not successful. and, due to my mistake the airscrew broke. I was not able to fly any more that evening - as happened just the year before. When I went to the starting place for making my first flight. I did not know what would happen. I know it is irresponsible to enter any contest so poorly prepared, but the run of bad luck in small matters had to be blamed. I had worked hard. The bad luck would have to change, and I had to trust to that..."

Supplementary file notes

Article.

Corrections?

Did we get something wrong with these details about this plan (especially the datafile)? That happens sometimes. You can help us fix it.
Add a correction