Colossus II (oz289)

About this Plan

Colossus II. Contest rubber plane by Al Casano from Air Trails.

Quote: "THAT whirring sound you hear is the rubber-power model builder winding up his crate after a lapse of 'too many years. Yep, T-56 rubber is back, in carloads, so let's try a rubber job. Colossus I was designed, built, and flown early in 1946, when rubber was both scarce and poor in quality. Its performance was slightly spectacular, and since the return of good rubber, even more so.

Let's start with the fuselage. One eighth square is used entirely. The use of cross braces to form triangles in the two sides adds tremendously to the strength, and will prevent folding of longerons under impact or heavy winding. The weight increase is negligible; in fact, with this or any other job, it is better to build the required weight into the ship, in the form of structural bracing, than to add it in the form of clay, lead shot, or other dead weight.

The nose section and rear dowel section are planked with one sixteenth balsa, or pine, if obtainable, and the side body former, at the landing gear station, is made up of one eighth sheet. Plank brace for wing hook with one eighth by one quarter. When the two sides are thoroughly dry, sand well on both sides, using a very fine sandpaper. This will take off superfluous cement and give an even base for papering later. Do not use a coarse sandpaper, for although it does a faster job, it rips out many of the needed wood fibers, thus greatly weakening the structure of the wood.

The fuselage structure is completed by adding the crosspieces at top and bottom. Four one-eighth sheet formers are used at top of fuselage at wing location, to match dihedral of center of wing. Top and bottom of nose section are planked the same as sides, with one-sixteenth. The curved step behind landing gear station can be planked with one-eighth soft balsa, and sanded well for a clean job.

Install landing gear. Put on one-and-three-quarter-inch diameter wheels. Again sand the entire fuselage, and round the corners well. The front wing hook is next installed. It is a good idea to fit and finish the nose block now, as the finish sanding can be done right on the plane, without rubbing off paper. Be sure the fuselage lines up and is perfectly square in cross section..."

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, text and pics, thanks to theshadow.

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