Belly Dancer (oz3051)
About this Plan
Belly Dancer. Wakefield competition rubber model.
Quote: "Have you ever been haunted? Not haunted by ghosts, but by a model you built in the past that really performed for you. One that you could never duplicate, nor for that matter, figure out what made it fly so well. Well it happened to me, it probably happened to you if you have been flying free flight models for very long.
Mine was a 1949 vintage Wakefield that had a terrific climb. The only thing that was unusual was that it had an inordinately large amount of down-thrust, the end result of some difficult trimming problems I had with it. I never did get a chance to dissect it to find out why, it flew so well because one summer day it disappeared over the hill in a thermal. All that remained was the memory of the down-thrust and some sketchy plans.
I have periodically wondered about that model over the years, but the secret of what made it fly so well was only recently unveiled. This revelation didn't come inspirationally, it resulted from a combination of factors, and the development of this understanding is in essence the story of the Belly-Dancer.
After about ten relatively inactive modeling years, I took a job with the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston and found myself in the midst of a bunch of rabid Wakefielders that had transferred from the Langley Research Center in Virginia. That is all that it took and I was on my way again. I soon had a a new Wakefield model with the wing on top and swinging a 22 x 22 prop.
It flew all right, but then you would have a hard time keeping almost any rubber model from flying in some fashion. The trouble was that it wasn't exactly scaring the pants off the competition. Deciding that there was too much I didn't know about these things, I dove into a large amount of analytical work and some flight testing to try and get some answers... "
Direct submission to Outerzone.
Update 07/08/2017: added article, thanks to RFJ.
Supplementary file notes
Article.
Corrections?
Did we get something wrong with these details about this plan (especially the datafile)?
That happens sometimes. You can help us fix it.
Add a correction
-
(oz3051)
Belly Dancer
by George Xenakis
from Model Airplane News
April 1965
50in span
Rubber F/F
clean :)
all formers complete :)
got article :) -
Submitted: 06/11/2014
Filesize: 416KB
Format: • PDFbitmap
Credit*: JJ
Downloads: 1737

Do you have a photo you'd like to submit for this page? Then email admin@outerzone.co.uk
User comments
No comments yet for this plan. Got something to say about this one?Add a comment
- Belly Dancer (oz3051)
- Plan File Filesize: 416KB Filename: Belly_Dancer_oz3051.pdf
- Supplement Filesize: 2667KB Filename: Belly_Dancer_oz3051_article.pdf
- help with downloads
Notes
* Credit field
The Credit field in the Outerzone database is designed to recognise and credit the hard work done in scanning and digitally cleaning these vintage and old timer model aircraft plans to get them into a usable format. Currently, it is also used to credit people simply for uploading the plan to a forum on the internet. Which is not quite the same thing. This will change soon. Probably.
Scaling
This model plan (like all plans on Outerzone) is supposedly scaled correctly and supposedly will print out nicely at the right size. But that doesn't always happen. If you are about to start building a model plane using this free plan, you are strongly advised to check the scaling very, very carefully before cutting any balsa wood.
Terms of Use
© Outerzone, 2011-2025.
All content is free to download for personal use.
For non-personal use and/or publication: plans, photos, excerpts, links etc may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Outerzone with appropriate and specific direction to the original content i.e. a direct hyperlink back to the Outerzone source page.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site's owner is strictly prohibited. If we discover that content is being stolen, we will consider filing a formal DMCA notice.