Navigator (oz19)

About this Plan

Navigator. Radio control seaplane model. Wingspan 52 in for .049-.10 engine with udder only RC.

Quote: "Take one vacation, saturate in glo-fuel, seaplanes and beach. It adds up to flying thrills to be long remembered. Start here with a simple flying boat, rugged and able, for land and sea. Summer's coming.

The Navigator can be built in a week if you push, so it is a ship you can have available for a full summer season. The swimming days are arriving, so we suggest you get busy fast. The design may be flown free-flight, or via radio. It is light enough, strong enough for either. You might want to build the ship now, fly free-flight, and later install radio as your wallet permits. Torque rods etc. could be installed during assembly to simplify such later R/C installations.

To allay your fears as to water in the working parts, it is no insurmountable problem and we have long since found out about keeping the radio dry etc. The airframe itself must be very well doped, more so than a normal land ship. Pinholes in the covering between each rib position, at the trailing edge will permit any moisture accumulation to drain out, or it may be forced out by blowing into the panel section, with resulting airpressure driving a jet of water out of the pinhole. The hull itself will stay reasonably dry, but will pick up a trickle now and then. Splash water has a tendency to strike the underside of the wing, following it into the fuselage. This may be avoided by taping a hatch, over the cabin area.

Care of the engine is very easy. First of all, a flying boat configuration tends to keep the engine dry, seldom dunks it. Should the engine soak itself, pour out excess, blow dry, crank over, souse in fuel, drain again, and re-start. First few splutters will bring forth remainder of the lake, and then steady down to the usual smearings. At days end, run the engine dry, lubricate inside and out. Flip the engine through a few times during week and prime if it feels stiff. For any slight effect the salt or fresh water might have, it is nothing compared to the grit and cinders encountered by land-locked counterparts. We do advise guarding against sand-intake. Stuff the exhaust etc when not in use, for a few grains in the engine innards can score the piston in a hurry. A soaking wet radio is ideal for bal-last, and that's all. Same for servos, escapements. They must be 100% waterproofed, or forget it. Fortunately, this is easy to do. Modern receivers can be slipped into plastic envelopes, lashed with rubber. A packet of silicagel from a camera shop will absorb any dampness which might enter the envelope.

In building the ship, the important thing is to keep weight down, all surfaces true, thrust adjustments indicated. Power is .049 through .10's, and expect wilder flight with the larger. A great deal of power is required to ROW, and it will take a good .049 and a light ship to get off. The .10 will drag it off fast, but some-what over power it once airborne. R/C can control this, and will make a good flier out of it with engine speed control. Free-flighter's can do it another way - a wire drag vane in the water which shifts the engine speed control into a medium range as the hull breaks off the water. You may of course want the full power once the design is trimmed out.

Ignore all else and get to building. Study the plans, select suitable wood, and decide on any modifications etc. you might want to include, as well as to R/C or Free-flight installations..."

Update 01/02/2021: Have re-scaled this plan up to correct fullsize at 52 in wingspan, thanks to Miguel.

Supplementary file notes

Article, thanks to AugustaWest.
Previous scan version.

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