Mini Ambassador (oz3329)

About this Plan

Mini Ambassador. Control line stunt model.

Mini Ambassador 23.5in wingspan C/L. A scaled down version of the classic original 1951 Alan Hewitt Ambassador (oz1036) design.

Quote: "Stuart Fletcher presents a miniature version of the Alan Hewitt classic .

Ian Hewitt flew his Elfin 2.49 powered Ambassador to win the 1951 International Stunt Event held at Knokke, Belgium and the Gold Trophy in 1951 and 1952. His design was instrumental in maintaining the tradition of lightweight, flapless, fast flying models which virtually dominated the competition stunt scene in this country until the late 1950's. My mini version stays as faithful to the original as practically possible.

Construction. This should present no difficulties but what does require a great deal of care and thought is the sequence of assembly due to the interlocking method of joining the fuselage and wing and the limited amount of internal space.

The wing can be built directly over the plan. Glue the trailing edge components together and, while this is drying, cut out all the other wing parts. The ribs are made by the sandwich method, using R2 and R9 as templates. Pin down the lower spar followed by the leading and trailing edges, packed off the building board as appropriate.

Add the ribs, taking great care over the angle of the rear portions of RI where they taper in towards the trailing edge. Glue in the vertical grain spar webbing between the ribs and add the top spar, bellcrank mounts and tip gussets. Make the tip blocks, drilling the inboard tip for the leadout guide tubes and recessing 1/2oz of lead into the outboard tip. When dry remove from the board and glue the tip blocks into position and add the cap strips at R1.

Construct the tailplane, elevators and fin from sheet balsa, rounding off all edges as shown. Make up the combined control horn and joiner from piano wire and epoxy to the elevators. Add the nylon reinforcement patches and hinge to the tailplane using your favourite method.

Next make up the control system, with the pushrod approximately 1/8 inch shorter than shown on the plan. Cut the pushrod into two parts at a position central between formers F6 and F7, then attach the rear part to the elevator horn. Temporarily install the control system into the wing, making any necessary adjustments to the brass tube bellcrank spacers to achieve free operation with a minimum of vertical play. Remove from the wing when satisfied and set aside for the time being. Cut out the sheet fuselage sides and clearly mark on them the wing outline and centre line. Make sure you have one side of each hand. Add the longerons to the fuselage sides. Some soaking and pre-bending of the lower curves may be necessary..."

Supplementary file notes

Planfile includes article.

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