Show Off 550 (oz3859)
About this Plan
Show Off 550. Free flight power floatplane contest model. Here is Ron St. Jean's Show-Off 550 from Flying Models magazine issue April/May 1963. Multiple class 550 sq in area design for .15 to .32 power.
Quote: "Those who make the contest circuit will recognize this fine ship for what it is: A competition-bred potential winner - a versatile craft for multi-class flying, designed for ROW, at its best on land or sea. Show Off 550, by Ron St James.
The model presented here was originally a modification of an old FAI job to create a good ROW model. The re-design was accomplished with only ROW flying in mind. Despite its small size and these design objectives. the 'Show-Off' has demonstrated itself to be an excellent ROG model as well. VTO's are easily made, even after reducing the downthrust to 3°. However, if the ship is built for ROG only, a full 10° may be used if desired.
The big surprise to us was that the design, a rather small model, has an excellent glide. Often times the model rocks laterally, and the glide circle cycles from wide to tight. This creates the thought in the flyer that his ship is actually looking for a thermal!
The Show-Off is a very forgiving model. Its inherent spiral stability was proven when it inadvertently went to the left under power. At the time the wing was warped for a left turn and there was quite a bit of left rudder. Only a vertical-banked turn resulted, even with the 'down rudder.
If you build one up, we feel that it will become one of your favorite models, as it has ours.
Design Evolution: It was designed several years ago for the FAI Power Event. At the time it was erroneously believed that the lift of a wing was proportional to its volume, so the ship was first designed with a low aspect-ratio wing, to maximize volume for a given area. The model was stable, but had a rather poor glide. Finally it dawned on us that the lift of a wing is not proportional to its volume, but to the volume of air beneath it! The wing was then extended 11 inches in span by adding a center section to the four-panel wing..."
Direct submission to Outerzone.
Update 14/07/2016: complete article pages, text & pics added, thanks to BobPollock.
Supplementary file notes
Article pages, text & pics.
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(oz3859)
Show Off 550
by Ron St Jean
from Flying Models
April 1963
69in span
IC F/F Pylon Floatplane
clean :)
all formers complete :)
got article :) -
Submitted: 05/01/2013
Filesize: 680KB
Format: • PDFbitmap
Credit*: theshadow
Downloads: 1642
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User comments
Hi Steve, I built a 1/2A version of Show Off in the 60's powered by an AM15 diesel. It was an excellent performer and flew beautifully until it ploughed into a glider tow line during competition at a champs meet. Neither of us were quite the same after that. Now, 50 years later, those lines still look good. Thank you for a brilliant site. Regards,BobPollock - 07/10/2014
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- Show Off 550 (oz3859)
- Plan File Filesize: 680KB Filename: Show_Off_550-FM-04-05-1963_oz3859.pdf
- Supplement Filesize: 2083KB Filename: Show_Off_550-FM-04-05-1963_oz3859_article.pdf
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Notes
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