Mistral (oz16942)

About this Plan

Cambria Mistral. Free flight towline glider model. Wingspan 55 in.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "Hi Steve and Mary, I was fortunate to recently acquire a kit of the Cambria Mistral towline glider, please see attached plan and box photos. There is no designer listed and I don't know the year, although it was in their catalogue around the mid 1970s. When I find the time I'll try to produce some scans of the printwood.
Thanks again for all your hard work.
Kind regards,
Ian Salmon."

Update 17/8/2026: Added kit review from Aeromodeller, July 1976, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "Kit Review: Cambria's Merlin and Mistral. A pair of gliders examined by Joe Goodchild.

Cambria, a name well known in radio controlled circles, have recently extended their range to cover other branches of aeromodelling, Merlin and Mistral being two gliders out of their present range of four. Merlin is of 33 in span and is aimed at the newcomer to this hobby, whilst Mistral at 55 in span, though not difficult needs some experience. Both designs are similar with tip dihedral to the wings, sheet fuselage and built up tailplanes; Mistral's underslung fin, auto rudder and dethermaliser being the main design differences. First impressions are that here is an ideal father/son or elder/younger brother (or sister) combined project.

The contents of both kits are very much the same; all parts being die cut in well graded balsa and ply (Mistral only). The various spars and shaped trailing edges are also suitably chosen both for size and grade. Dowel, wire, clear celluloid and tissue complete the list of parts. The plans are both clear and well laid out, and in the case of Mistral have sketches to show more tricky points in the construction. The separate instructions are examples that should be copied by other manufacturers, being written in plain and simple language that take builders through every step of construction, covering, finishing, trimming and flying. Experienced builders will no doubt go their own way, but even they might pick up a few tips if they care to read them.

I find at this stage that it pays to sort out the various spars etc and mark each piece with its functions. In the Mistral kit one of the trailing edges was considerably heavier, and all the lighter of the tip spars were consequently marked for this side. Everything, including the die cut sheets, were then sanded - this not only helps extraction of the die cut parts but saves a tremendous amount of time and work at later stages of construction. All the balsa parts came away from the sheets with the minimum of help from the razor blade, the die cutting being well up to present day standards. The ply parts in Mistral need a little extra help, but nothing to worry about.

Unfortunately the Mistral fuselage side sheets were found to be badly warped; no doubt these would have been replaced if a complaint had been made to the manufacturers but time was pressing and ten minutes in front of a steaming kettle got rid of the worst and the pieces were pinned flat on a board to dry out thoroughly.

Meanwhile a start was made on the wings. Both are similar in plan form but Mistral features an undercambered airfoil section and built-in washout at the tips..."

Update 20/8/2026: Added kit instructions, thanks to IanSalmon.

Supplementary file notes

Instructions.
Review.

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