Dallaire Sportster (oz2419)

About this Plan

Dallaire Sportster. Modern 1/2A Texaco version of the 1936 Dallaire Sportster, scaled down to 47.5 in span, with a Cox Texaco .049 engine.

Quote: "Joe Dallaire's Sportster won the National Model Airplane Championships held in Detroit some eighteen years before I was born. A few years later I saw my first Dallaire at the local R/C field. I remember thinking that the HP 40 was too small for the eight-foot model. Then I saw it rocket off the ground after about a 10-foot take-off roll and climb like the proverbial homesick angel until it was a speck.

My club, the Fort Wayne (IN) Flying Circuits, has a very active contingent of modelers involved with Old Time models in SAM Chapter 28. Two of these guys, Walt Golembiewski and Bob Hartwig, are directly responsible for the model published here. Walt helped me trim out the electric Dallaire and decided that it would make a great 1/2A Texaco model.

Walt had the plans photocopied and shrunk down to 1/2A Texaco size, and he and Bob (seemingly overnight) got a couple of Dallaires ready to go! Because Walt also cut out an extra set of ribs for me I was compelled to join the fray. All together we have about a half dozen Dallaires from these plans and a couple more in different sizes under construction for the 1991 season.

The Dallaire makes an excellent choice within the context of these rules for several reasons. First, the wing is large relative to the fuselage. That means that when the wing is scaled to get a desirable area (in the 280 to 320 square inch range) the fuselage gets rather compact The fuselage itself has well-balanced proportions so that even when scaled down it still has ample room for a straight-forward radio installation. The tail surfaces have ample area and have spars in favorable locations for hinged surfaces. Not only does it simplify building but it 'looks' right Finally, the airy structure builds light naturally.

One more reason that I like the Dallaire: the Old Time models (or models of any era!) that I like have a 'handle', a signature that gives them their character. For the Dallaire it's the clean classic cabin fuselage with its special rear cross sections Take a look at the plans While the main fuselage frames sweep back to the tailpost the upper longerons run dead straight from the wing saddle to the stab. This forces the upper rear vertical members to tilt in. The large wood used on the upper longeron allows a generous radius, further adding to the section contour. Thus, through creative use of sticks, the Dallaire still achieves a high degree of graceful contour.

With its constant chord wing and classic Old Timer stick construction, the Dallaire Sportster builds quickly and easily and rewards its builder with an attractive good flying package. Get off the sidelines and find out how much fun simple models can be!"

Direct contribution to Outerzone.

Update 28/06/2017: Added article, thanks to RFJ.

Supplementary file notes

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