Eastbourne Monoplane (oz16893)

About this Plan

Eastbourne Monoplane. Radio control scale model. Wingspan 52 in, for electric power.

Quote: "Eastbourne 1912 Monoplane. A simple scale model for electric power & 3 function R/C designed by PETER RAKE.

Models of pre-1914 aircraft are very often ideal candidates for electric power. They have so many of the features that we want. Their structures are usually quite straight forward and are easily reproduced in model form. They're slow, easy to fly and, most important, they're light.

The Eastbourne has always been a personal favourite of mine. Somehow its very angularity gives it so much character. Well, I think so anyway. You could, if you wished, make it a four function model, since the prototype did in fact have ailerons. I just happen to like flying on three.

I've tried, with this model, to make it as simple as possible to build, without losing any of its appeal. So, whilst the basic structure is easy and quick to build, it would look nothing without the details. This being the case, it seems a good place to begin some form of instructions.

Make the detail bits first: The dummy engine is a little bit of a cheat, since it's not 100% scale. It is, however, easy to make and lends itself admirably to mounting the motor in a way that thrustline adjustments are very easy to apply. You'll see what I mean once you have it all put together and mounted on the fuselage.

The 'crankcase' is in fact the bottom half of a Balsaloc jar with holes drilled and cut for the cylinders, pushrods and motor shaft. The rear edge of the crankcase should he cut at a bit of an angle so that it will provide the side and down thrust once it is mounted flat against the front former.

The Speedgear 480 motor/gearbox unit is simply bolted through the front face of the crankcase (bottom of the jar) into the two mounting holes provided in the front of the gearbox. The cylinders are modified Williams Bros items with the pushrods being shaped from wire. Once it's all painted it will look as if it took ages to make. Mine took an afternoon to make ad finish.

The instrument panel is a piece of stained and varnished 1/64 ply. Use a sharpened piece of brass tube to cut the holes for the dial positions and thin slices of the same tube for the bezels. I drew the instruments for my model onto postcard and attached them from behind, along with some acetate sheet. I don't swear to the accuracy of my dash, but felt that it was so obvious that it had to have something fitted. I would welcome any information on this point. I'll almost certainly be building at least one more Eastbourne.

The nose area is clad with litho plate, which has been given an engine turned finish, before being cut to size and cyanoed into position. A small disc of green scourer and a small electric drill (or motor) give quite good results for not too much effort. Do cut templates for the panels from thin card before risking your litho after all that trouble. The front top panel is the one you need to be careful with.

The item that will probably take almost as long as the rest or the model is the spoked wheels, unless you know someone who sells them (let me know if you do.). I suppose you could use WWI type wheels, but they won't look as good or be as accurate. They'll be a lot heavier too. If you do decide to make the wheels, they're not as difficult as they look - just time consuming. Basically, the hubs are drilled washers, soldered to brass tube, the rims are laminated from 1/32 ply strips filed & sanded to shape & drilled for the spokes. The good news is that the spokes are in fact laced into place and not individual spokes.

Set up the hub and rim on a simple jig ( four pieces of wire in a block of wood. One at the centre and the other three spaced evenly around the inside of the rim) and lace them together using 25 lb fishing line. Start with the bottom of the hub and keep working back and forth until the whole wheel is done. Begin from the rim and lace to every hole in one side of the hub and to every other hole around the rim. This means that once the bottom half is done, you'll be back in the right place to change over to the top half. Once all the lacing is done lock it off with cyano.

As a rule of thumb, I normally drill each washer with nine holes and each rim with 36 holes. If the washers are off-set so that the holes don't line up when they're soldered to the brass tubes, it will give the right effect. About 10 degrees off-set is fine. The tyres are the easiest bit of the whole thing. Hoover belts are just the right size to slip onto the wheel..."

Eastbourne Monoplane from Aviation Modeller International, June 1998.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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