Mickey Mousetang (oz2293)

About this Plan

Mickey Mousetang. Radio control sport model styled as a Reno racer based on a P-51B airframe. For .40 power. Span 53.5in, wing area 550 sq in. From RCM March 1973.

Quote: "Mickey Mousetang is a pattern aircraft designed to take advantage of the current breed of high performance .40 cubic inch engines. Mickey's styling, a very liberally translated (ie Mickey Mouse) version of a racing P-51 Mustang has brought about its name.

In the air Mickey Mousetang is a fast, sensitive and neutral flier. Mickey is very streamlined owing to its general lines and a somewhat thin airfoil with a sharper leading edge than is normal for a pattern ship. At the same time the airplane shows no tendancy to stall on landing approaches (one such stall per plane is all you usually get).

The tail-dragger arrangement may cause some concern to those who are used to tricycle landing gear. However, the wide stance main gear and the short steering moment of the mid-body tailwheel make the Mousetang very controllable on the ground both for taxiing and take-off. Besides, neither Mustangs nor Mousetangs look right with tricycle gear.

I have almost been convinced that for radio controlled flying Murphy's Law should be amended to read, 'Even if nothing can go wrong, it eventually will.' This cautious approach influenced the choice of the simple tail-dragger landing gear and dictated the use of a removable one piece engine cowl and tank compartment hatch. Removing this unit exposes the engine and tank to ready inspection and maintenance. The engine is side-mounted since such an arrangement minimizes vibration transmitted throughout the airframe. In addition, such a side-mounted engine is used since it certainly looks better than an upright engine while an inverted engine could idle unreliably.

As luck would have it, all of this caution has proved justified. However, the removable cowl/tank compartment hatch, as originally held down, tended to be a bit too removable and would come loose in flight. The scheme presented here holds the unit firmly in place.

In spite of all this philosophizing, Mickey Mousetang is a fun airplane which can win in pattern contests (yes, even with a 40). It can also be used to advantage as a Sport Pylon racer since it is fast and turns on a knife-edge quite well.

Construction. Mickey is not difficult to build and, if you like carving and sanding, will be fun when you get to completing the fuselage. The wing and tail surfaces are very straightforward. All wood used in the model can be the soft to medium grades without sacrificing needed strength. Hobbypoxy Quick-Fix glue was used, where practical, to speed building time.

Wing. Begin by cutting the foam cores, ensuring that the wing upper surface is perpendicular to the root and tip patterns. In this way, little truing-up will be necessary prior to joining the wing panels in the flat top wing configuration. Dihedral is formed by the root to tip taper on the bottom wing surface. Cut out the servo area, the full depth spar slot, and the maple landing gear block area. The latter two operations will leave a floppy section at the foam core leading edge which must be made rigid prior to sheeting the core..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, text and pics, thanks to theshadow.

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