Mini Thermalist (oz3484)
About this Plan
Mini Thermalist. Free flight glider.
The original Thermalist (oz11429) was first published in Aeromodeller 1948. This here is a reduced size, later version.
Quote: "THIS IS A HALF SIZED version of R Minney's enormous vintage glider and it makes a very handy and attractive sports model. Construction is very simple and can be completed in a week of evenings. No special parts are needed, such as a fishing rod blank and since it will be towed straight up and off, a fuse DT is perfectly practical and cheap and costs little!
The recent beginners series by Trevor Faulkner covered just about all the points you will encounter on this model, but I shall mention one or two features.
Fuselage: Having built two sides, join them with F2 and F3 and add the spacers between. Then draw together at the tail, tapering the ends so that the width here is 3/16 in to merge with the fin, and then add F1. Bend a shallow angle into the wing joiner and epoxy to F2 - this is to prevent the wings from drooping slightly (the inner panels are flat).
Wings: The wing joiner passes directly through the ply ribs and a 1/8in. peg fixes the incidence. A band passing between hooks on the wing roots holds the wings in place. The drawback with this method of wing mounting, is that if the model glides into an obstruction the wing cannot knock-off, and may suffer damage. If this worries you a thin dural tongue could be used. Before covering, assemble the model and put plasticene inside the nose to bring the balance point about 1/4 in in front of the position shown. Cover with lightweight Modelspan and give three coats of dope.
Trimming: Packing the tailplane is not very satisfactory since it spoils the fin/sub-fin junction this is what I did: before fitting the wing pegs, use pins in the fuselage above and below the wing trailing edge and vary the wing incidence for trim. When the glide is OK fit the pegs, and fine tune the glide with tail ballast. The autorudder seems small, but is perfectly adequate."
Supplementary file notes
Article page, text and pics.
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
-
(oz3484)
Mini Thermalist
by Bill Dennis
from Aeromodeller
August 1985
60in span
Glider F/F
all formers complete :)
got article :) -
Found online 06/10/2012 at:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153405...
Filesize: 323KB
Format: • PDFbitmap
Credit*: algy2
Do you have a photo you'd like to submit for this page? Then email admin@outerzone.co.uk
User comments
The Thermalist has a 144inch wing span if I remember rightly, not 120in.anon - 25/06/2016
Don't know. But certainly in this article, the text says half-size is 60in wingspan.
SteveWMD - 25/06/2016
Here are a few photos of my model MINI THERMALIST [more pics 003-005]. I have scratch built it from plans of Outerzone ID 3484. Building is more complex compared with MEDICINE MAN but it flies a little better. More complex because wing is a two pieces one.
LuigiCarlucci - 03/01/2017
It is nit-picking, but the original Thermalist was 137 ins
Charles - 17/10/2020
Add a comment
- Mini Thermalist (oz3484)
- Plan File Filesize: 323KB Filename: Mini_Thermalist_oz3484.pdf
- Supplement Filesize: 743KB Filename: Mini_Thermalist_oz3484_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, 2011-2021.
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.