Taylorcraft O-57 (oz3379)

About this Plan

Taylorcraft O-57 (Army Grasshopper). Scale plan for gas power. Class A or B engines.

Quote: "A flying model Taylorcraft O-57 that provides thrills of the full scale plane.

THE Taylorcraft O-57, and other light planes now used by the US Army Air Corps, are known affectionately as 'grasshoppers.' They have been found to possess excellent characteristics needed for all-around general purpose military aircraft as useful in the air as the 'jeep' and 'peep' are on the ground.

The term 'grasshopper' probably grew out of the Taylorcraft's ability to take-off and alight in very small and difficult landing fields. Their work is very diversified, ranging from artillery spotting and ob-servation work to delivering war material and serving as taxis.

Aside from a complete radio outfit and several more flight instruments, the Army's version of the Taylorcraft is identical to the commercial one. And to show the Army's faith in these small light planes, orders are constantly being in-creased for grasshoppers.

For a flying scale gas model the Taylorcraft leaves little to be desired. The design proportions are excellent for producing stable and smooth flights. And the construction of this type of airplane is so simple that even if this is your very first gas model you should find no difficulty whatsoever.

The flight characteristics are just about perfect. With an Ohlsson 19 in the nose the flight is very similar to the full size job. Along steady climb and when the motor cuts, well, the glide is as good as you'll find on any contest field. But when you install a big motor in the nose, such as a Forster 29, then the climb is as good as any you'll see on the field. The size is just right too. The ship will take any of the larger size Class A motors and all Class B motors. A class C version may be obtained by enlarging the model 1-1/2 times which would net you a six-foot job.

All-in-all I think we can safely say that this little job is a scale model that can hold its own against any other and will give a good showing of itself in an endurance contest and to top everything else, is extremely easy to build. Now what do you say if we get busy and build ourselfs a model of this here airplane just to see if I ain't right.

Fuselage: First of all it will be necessary to make full size drawings of the fuselage, wing and tail group. Most of the dimensions are given in the plans but sizes may be obtained by enlarging three times from Plates 1 and 2 as the given scale is 1/3 in to the 1 in. All parts shown on Plates 3 and 4 are full size. Lay the plans upon a smooth working surface such as a flat piece of pine board or other soft material so that pins may be pushed into it with ease.

Construct the fuselage by first making two identical sides. Pin 3/16 square strips of balsa onto the plans wherever you see it grained. This constitutes the basic fuselage frame..."

Update 11/05/2019: Added article, thanks to RFJ.

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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