Key (oz3046)

About this Plan

Key. Control line team racer from Berkeley.

Quote: "Team Racing is the latest sport in controline model flying. It was originated on the West Coast by the FAST Club (First All-Speed Team). The aim of Team Racing is to give the spectator as well as the contestant all the thrills of full scale airplane racing. See the Racing Rules for complete details.

It is assumed that the model builder is equipped with the standard simple tools and a place to work. The construction of the model from the prefabricated parts is easy. The quality of the finished product will depend upon the care with whichihese parts are finished and assembled.

FUSELAGE: Both the top and bottom halves have been carefully carved. Except for cut-outs for engine exhaust and the glow plug extension, which vary with different engines, no additional carving is required. The landing gear is attached as shown in figure #1, after removing a small section of the fuselage. Note that the center bolt is longer than the others and holds the control plate.

The control plate can be mounted after locking the landing gear nuts with cement. The control plate bushing can be raised to clear landing gear bolts by shimming up with additional washers, included in the kit. See figure #2 for installation of the hardwood motor mounts. Drill the motor mounts to fit the engine mounting holes of your engine. The heads of the engine mount bolts can be either soldered to a brass plate or firmly cemented to the bottom of the motor mount. When installing the motor mount, be sure to carefully fuel proof all the cement joints. The hardwood wing brace is inserted through the mortised slot. Be sure to check this carefully for alignment, shimming it as required before cementing it into position.

WING AND TAIL: Figure #3 shows the step by step method of assembling the wing. Figure #4 shows the tail assembly. The stabilizer is firmly cemented to the bottom half of the fuselage and a notch to fit over same is cut from the top half. The plywood rudder and fin is cemented in the top half of the fuselage. The rudder is not offset for normal flying. If model must be flown in exceptionally windy weather, the rudder may be cut away from the fin along the inked outline and set at about 15° to make the plane pull on the control lines. The elevator horn is not installed until the push rod has been joggled into position in both the control plate and the control horn.

ENGINE INSTALLATION: Bolt the engine in position on the motor mounts. Build up the tank from the stamped out brass. Install all copper tubes before closing the last end of the tank. Check all solder joints for leakage and wash out the tank several times with clear gasoline before installing it in the model. Mount the tank in the position shown, bracing it with scraps of balsa. Fit the top half over the engine, noting carefully where to cut away for the exhaust stack, needle valve and glow plug and fuel vent holes. It may be necessary to cutaray parts of the fuselage at the head fins so that they will not come into direct contact with the wood.

ASSEMBLY AND FINISHING: The top half of the fuselage is positioned over the lower half with three 1/8" dowel pegs. The halves are held together by rubber bands over pins at the nose and tail. The entire assembled model should be finished with '0' sandpaper and given a coat of 'Fil-it' thinned out with clear dope. When dry, it can be given two or three coats of colored model dope in colors of your own choice. Add decal numerals as indicated. Wax entire model. At the nose, a coating of fuel proofer must be used if your fuel reacts with the colored dope.

The wheels are attached to the landing gear with 6-32 bolt and drawn up tight as shown in the front view of fuselage. An optional wire tail skid is installed when required by the contest director for attachment of the mechanical starting release. Otherwise a flush wire skid can be attached to the bottom of the fuselage. A small windshield can be made from sheet celluloid. A small doll's head can be inserted in the cockpit if contest rules so require. Any standard 1-5/8 in spinner can be used. However, a Universal 2-piece plastic spinner is recommended.

FLYING: The model possesses extremely smooth flying characteristics. If balanced approximately as shown it should require no further adjustments other than trim for maximum speed.

Attach .040 music wire lead-in wires to the bell crank, extending the lead-in wires 4 inches beyond the tip guide. A loop is soldered in the end of each lead-in wire. Stagger the lead-in about 2 in so that they cannot catch on each other. Standard snap swivels, line and handle are attached to the lead-in wire. For test flights 35 to 50 feet of line is sufficient. Using a 9 x 6 pitch propeller, speeds of about 80 mph should be attained. "

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update: Added kit review from Air Trails, Feb 1950, thanks to Pilgrim.

Supplementary file notes

Review.

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