Feather Fly (oz2896)

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Feather Fly (oz2896) by Ray Malmstrom 1956 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Featherfly. A small 9 inch span rubber powered pusher, with a prop made of duck feathers. Another Ray Malmstrom oddity. Aeromodeller, December 1956.

Quote: "A feather propelled indoor model. Featherfly, by Ray Maimstrom.

EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT going to have duck and green peas for your Christmas dinner you can still have fun building and flying this little indoor free-flighter, as the heart of the model - the propeller - can be made from any type of small well-formed feathers that may happen to be handy. A spot of sabotage on my younger daughter's shuttlecock provided the excellent little pusher-prop shown in the photo! And if you just cannot lay your hands on a couple of feathers, then a 1/32 balsa sheet-bladed prop will undoubtedly get this little lot airborne. Any bod, moreover, who describes this little bit of aeronautical fun as being fitted with a fully-feathering prop will be given his cards!

The plan below gives all the parts full size. Build left and right wing panels, and then cement together at the correct angle. The lightweight tissue covering must not be water shrunk or doped. The wing mounting which is cemented to the wing incidence block and trailing edge, is a strip of 1/16 x 3/32 x 2-3/4 in. Tie thin pieces of rubber around the motor stick. Slip these over the wing mounting to hold the wing in position. When cementing the fin, offset it to give a right turn. Set the feather blades into the hub at approximately 45 degrees to the building board and remember make it a pusher! To keep the weight down, lightly sand down all the strips of 1/32 sheet, before assembly.

Adjust the wing to obtain a slow flat glide, after having warped the leading edge of the righthand wing UP, and the leading edge of the lefthand wing DOWN. This is most important. Cut a 15 in length of 1/8 in strip in halves and make up into a 7-1/2 in loop of 1/16 in. Lubricate well. Maximum turns are about 300. Handle this wee job with care and you are all set to dislodge the dust from the rafters in your clubroom!"

Supplementary file notes

Planfile includes article.

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Feather Fly (oz2896) by Ray Malmstrom 1956 - model pic

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User comments

So much fun with this way back in 1956 ?? Sending it round the living room as everyone was eating Christmas dinner - need to make it again sixty four years later
kenny omond - 06/02/2022
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