Fine Flier (oz2551)

About this Plan

Fine Flier. Free flight model from MAN December 1935, by Raleigh T Daniel.

Quote: "TO THOSE who are just beginning in the art of model airplane building or for those who have not yet enjoyed the results of completing a successful flyer, we recommend this model. The design is such that if the instructions are carefully followed, the machine will be easy to make accurately and to true-up. The necessity of obtaining these two conditions cannot be emphasized too strongly as the lack of them is the principal cause of failure to fly properly in all well-designed models.

We believe that many of the more advanced modelists will also want to build this plane because of its rugged construction, ease and economy of building and its consistent and dependable flying qualities. Its climb is remarkable and the stability (model's ability to maintain and regain flying equilibrium) is good.

There is a point which the writer wishes to mention to beginners; namely, the instructions to a working drawing are usually boiled down to a very minimum of words to save space. Hence, those who make up plans and instructions in their work are continually seeking to use expressions arranged in such a way that even the concise, the most logical way for the reader to see it, is the very meaning intended. But don't forget that due to the brief form, the true meaning often has to be 'dug out.' So it is advised that you study the plans and instructions in a manner to understand them as clearly as possible before starting work. That in general is a practice that will help rocket you to that upper strata of the experts!

The Wing: An old drawing board is ideal to work on or else get a flat and level, preferably wood surface of some kind. Sand the 1/8 x 3/16 x 15-3/4 in leading edge spar to a rounded shape on one edge, see fig.1, end view. Use sandpaper wrapped around a rectangular wood block. Sand the 1/16 x 1/8 trailing edge spar on one side to a wedge shape; see fig.1, end view.

Lay out a full-sized drawing of the wing on your board. Now the wing spars may be put in place directly on the drawing and secured with thumb tacks or weights. Cut the 1/16 x 1/16 wing ribs to length and cement in place, all except the no. 1 ribs which are not put in until after the dihedral angle is fixed.

Set your compass to scribe a radius of 1-1/8 and mark the wing tips on 1/32 sheet balsa so that the wood grain runs with the wing span. Cut out and cement the tips in place. Be sure that your cement is not too thick, for if it is, it will not penetrate the surface crevices and get a real hold on the wood. Make several applications of cement (allowing time between to dry) on all of the various structures.

The wing tips are braced with 1/32 x 3/64 x 2-5/16 bamboo strips 'C, placed on the underside and cemented. It is necessary to cut a notch in rib no.5 so that the brace may be imbedded in it. The end of the brace punctures into the front spar, see fig.1.

When the wing is dry it may be removed from the board and remember that the top side of the wing was against the board while being made - see the underside structural view in fig.5.

In order that the model may have lateral stability, the wing tips are raised to give the wing a 'dihedral' angle. The method of doing this is clearly shown in figures 6 and 7. The spars are cut half-way through from the underside and cracked up into the position shown. The wing is now placed on the drawing board and one-half is held down flat with weights..."

Supplementary file notes

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