Red Racer (oz16437)

About this Plan

Comet Red Racer. Radio control sport model. Wingspan 46 in, for .10 engine.

Note the FF Comet Red Racer (oz155) kit first appeared in 1932. This here is a later enlarged version for RC.

Quote: "A nostalgic classic from the 1930's. Comet Red Racer, by Col John A deVries.

They just haven't gone back far enough! The 'Old Timer' modelers, with their ignition engines and ancient free flights, have created a fascinating class of R/C models. With a collector's item spinning the prop they've added radio control assist - to keep from having to chase their late 30's free flights.

But there was a time, before Maxwell Bassett cleaned up the Nats with an internal combustion engine, when 99% of all model airplanes were powered with rubber bands! Oh, there were a few 'giant' models propelled by compressed air 'engines' and a few with CO2 power plants. However, most kids growing up in the Depression days relied on the kit manufacturers to produce models that flew. And those kits cost 10c. Most of us were scandalized when one of our favorite kit companies produced the 'Red Racer' and charged a whole dollar!

Bill Bishop, then President of Comet Models, knew what he was doing. In 1931, he designed the Red Racer - and the kit was worth the price! That the model was a good flier was never in doubt. The kit was in production from 1932 until the balsa shortage of World War II stopped kit manufacture! Its twelve year run suggested something new and different in the way of 'Old-Time R/C' to us. Why not adapt an old time rubber powered design to R/C, specifically, the Red Racer.

In its original form, the Comet Red Racer had a span of 15-1/2 in, much too small for R/C. But, enlarged three times, it is an ideal model for the new teeny-tiny radios and .10 R/C engines.

While we were on the nostalgia trip, we decided to duplicate the construction of Bill Bishop's design as far as was humanly possible. Course we had to make some compromises (for instance, 1/64 ply fuselage doublers) to strengthen the structure for powered flight. Then, too, there are few modelers who retain the skill to bend curved bamboo wing tips around 100-watt light bulbs. So we substituted laminated balsa tips and the tail feathers' curved parts.

Mr Bishop's airfoil section resembled a Clark Y, so we computer plotted a set of ribs, in the same number shown on the Comet drawings (which we acquired from John Pond's Plan Service). Col Hurst Bowers (Herb' Clukey's former partner in Flyline Models) doubled the number of wing ribs in the Red Racer he built from our prints. But, he covered his model with silk (in keeping with the era of the model) so he needed the extra strength.

Built as shown in our drawings, our MonoKoted Red Racer, lacking only the radio installation, weighed 19 ounces! It seemed like a good excuse to acquire one of the Cannon Micro radio sets. So, our bird, ready to fly, scales-in at less than 23 oz. We're only using three of the Cannon servos - and they're lost in the Red Racer's fuselage. Hurst, too, used a Cannon radio but there's ample room for many of the small servos on the market, for example, Kraft 12's and 18's, Ace's smallest, and Royal Products' Mini-Titans (all of which we've test-fitted to the drawings).

Since we're duplicating a rubber powered model of the 30's, construction is dead-on simple. We won't bore you with an extensive how-to description, nor include a bunch of redundant photos of a stick and stringer model. What follows covers a few suggestions and tips to simplify your construction of the design.

Wing: The wing is built around a D-tube spar system, in two panels. The spar stubs are inserted through the fuselage, so it's a good idea to build the wing panels first. We purposely positioned the wing spar at 25% of the chord - where the completed model will balance. Laminate the tips, add leading and trailing edges but don't glue the root ribs in place until the rest of the structure has dried. Prop up the panels to the proper dihedral angle (We under each tip) and then epoxy the root rib(s) in place, perpendicular to the work surface.

Fuselage: Construct a right and left fuselage side and then glue the 1/64 ply doublers in place. Very carefully locate and cut out the wing spar openings through the doublers, before adding the fuselage crosspieces. Note that the formers, forward of the cockpit, are doubled to provide a hatch for access to the radio and the fuel tank. The base of the hatch is a rectangle of 1/8" sheet balsa and the forward, upper fuselage, between stringers is inset with 1/8 balsa. The hatch is retained between the 'instrument panel' former and the cowling..."

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