Playboy Senior (oz16990)

About this Plan

Playboy Senior. Radio assist vintage model. Texaco 1/2A class. Wingspan 47 in, wing area 288 sq in.

Quote: "1941 Cleveland Playboy Sr, 1/2A Texaco. Nominally 288 sq in. Structural design by Bill Schmidt. Wood fabrication by Sal & Mike Taibi. Kit engineered by Joe Klause, 4/1/86."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 15/9/2026: Added kit instructions, and decal, thanks to Dan.

Quote: "1/2A TEXACO PLAYBOY SENIOR.

BACKGROUND: The Playboy Senior has a longstanding record as a model with extraordinary flight characteristics. It's not surprising, then, that a properly scaled-down version would make a superb R/C assist A Texaco model. Bill Schmidt, of Wichita, Kansas, has built a series of these models, and he has had remarkable success with them in Society of Antique Modeler competition. Others have used the design for A free flight or electric power events. Still others think it makes a great sport flyer. Whatever your particular preference, we trust you'll enjoy this kit. The plans are a scaled-down version of the original 1941 Cleveland Playboy Senior. All airfoils, relative areas and cross sections, moments and outlines are exactly the same as the original. Structural changes have been made only to strengthen or lighten the model, and to provide for control surfaces. All such changes are consistent with the character of the original model.

KIT MATERIALS: Every effort has been made to provide you with top quality materials through-out this kit. Premium wood has been selected specifically for each application, and where appropriate, it has been precision die cut to minimize your building time. Additionally, a hard-ware package has been included for your convenience. The formed landing gear is self evident. The 1/16 ID washers are meant to be soldered either side of the wheels of your choice. Since the most common power source will be a Cox reed valve engine, round head machine screws, lock washers and blind mounting nuts have been provided. The mylar material is for use as control surface hinges.

GENERAL CONSTRUCTION. Overall construction is very straight forward, however, the following comments are particularly important. First and foremost, build light and accurately. That means: Use light adhesives and covering, no warps, and all alignments as shown on the plans. Specifically, with one exception, it is recommended that cyanoacrylate adhesives (CA) be used throughout the entire construction of the model. CA is available in several "curing" times and gap-filling varieties. It is an extremely strong adhesive, and is relatively very light.

It is also strongly recommended that you build the fuselage sides on top of one another. Build one side, protect it with Saran wrap; or the equivalent, and then build the second side exactly over it. This procedure will go a long way towards ensuring a "square" aligned fuselage.

Another area of concern is the pylon. Be most careful to place it exactly in line with the fore and aft vertical axis of the fuselage. Naturally, it also should not be tilted to the left or right, and the pitch, or incidence, of the wing saddle must be as shown on the plans. The wing saddle should be made from pieces cut from the 3/32 x 2 x 8 sheet balsa. The width of the saddle should be 1-7/8, and the grain must run parallel with the wing span. When installing the saddle rails of 1/8 square hard balsa, it is best to notch them so that they can be bent easily to conform to the saddle, or wing, platform. Otherwise a warp is likely.

The single exception to the use of CA concerns the landing gear installation. After joining the three major pieces of the firewall with CA, sand the edges to match with the planked fuselage nose section. Install the blind nuts, and then attach it to the fuselage with gap-filling CA. Add the cowl sections, and again carefully sand the entire nose section. Later, put five minute epoxy in the notch of the center section of the firewall, push in the apex of the landing gear, and then add some more epoxy and the keystone center piece. Before the epoxy cures solidly, vertically align the fuselage while it is sitting in the take-off position.

The last basic construction note concerns the curved wing tips, stabilizer and vertical fin. They are 3/16" balsa, which may seem a bit thicker than most models of this size. This was done purposely so that, after proper sanding, you will have a framework that has a complete and gradual transition to the edges. You'll appreciate the benefits of this when you cover the framework. Note that the fin should be sanded to a teardrop symetrical airfoil. To make this sanding task easier, it is suggested that you obtain a flat piece of 12 x 3 x 3/4 pine, and slightly round the edges. Attach a 12 x 3 piece of fine garnet sandpaper using either rubber cement or 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. You'll find this sanding 'tool' to be quite useful in many aspects of model building. Many modelers make a sanding block for each grade of sandpaper they use.

R/C INSTALLATION: There are many ways to install R/C gear. Use your favorite method - hopefully light and strong - but keep the weight forward. As shown on the plans, the nicads are right against the rear of the firewall, followed by the receiver and servos. This helps con-siderably in achieving the location of the fore and aft balance point at 50% of the wing chord without having to add a lot of lead to the nose. One other recommendation: Use Sullivan Products Gold-N-Rods, stock no. 507, for the control surface push rods. They are light and quite adequate for this model.

COVERING AND FINISHING: This is another subject where most modelers have their favorite materials. Nevertheless, it is strongly recommended that you use light weight silk and low-shrink nitrate dope. For both strength and lightness, it's the best. When your model is complete-ly covered, then attach the stabilizer and rudder to the fuselage with CA. Be sure that there are no warps, and that they are symetrical with the wing mounted on the saddle by rubber bands. Finally, coat the inside of the cowl with polyester resin to fuel-proof it.

BALANCE AND TRIM: If you have built a warp-free model that balances as prescribed, then you will have no trouble whatsoever in flying the model. For emphasis, the balance point must not be aft of 50% of the wing chord. If you have difficulty achieving this, there is an alternative to putting a lot of lead in the nose. Use a plywood spacer block between the firewall and the engine to move the engine forward."

Supplementary file notes

Decal.
Instructions.

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