Crusader (oz3420)

About this Plan

Crusader. Control line stunt model, with flaps, for .29 to .35 engines.

This plan was printed in Flying Models Decade of Designs (1), published 1960.

Quote: "Have you ever watched someone go through the stunt pattern and said: I wish I could do that? You can! You need only two things: a little practice and the correct airplane. The Crusader was designed with just this purpose in mind, the practice is up to you!

You may be wondering what is wrong with the conventional profile for an inexpensive, strong, and easy-to-build stunt trainer. Some of them do make good trainers, however many do not. The profile is often designed with the combat flyer in mind, hence they are fast and rather sensitive. Others may be sluggish and very unforgiving of mistakes and late decisions.

Perhaps at first glance it seems logical to use a stunt model to learn to stunt. They fly a bit slower, most of them are fairly stable, and they turn tight enough to keep you out of trouble. While this is true, the contest stunt model is more expensive and requires more hours at the workbench. Windy weather represents more of a hazard because of the large wing area, and these ships aren't designed to with-stand frequent crack-ups.

The Crusader was designed with the idea of taking the best character-istics of the profile and full stunt model, combining them into one plane, a happy medium. Check the bill of materials at your local hobby shop, you'll find the cost of building this model to be very reasonable. Strength is comparable to the average profile, and building time is kept low. Al-though it will do the complete'pattern, it was not designed for contest work, but as a tool to use in your progress; learn to fly the pattern with it, then move up to the contest stunt ship with confidence.

If you have built only models from kits, don't let the prospect of building from a magazine plan frighten you. Simply mark the parts onto the balsa, cut them out, and in less time than you would suppose you have your 'kit' ready for assembly. Let's begin construction. The leading edge of the wing is shaped from 1" square balsa, or a pre-shaped leading edge may be used if available in your area. Cut notches for the ribs every 2in, excluding the center one. Cut corresponding notches in the shaped trailing edge..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 12/01/2018: added article, thanks to RFJ.

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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