Lieutenant (oz3876)

About this Plan

Lieutenant. A 48 inch span C/L stunt model.

Quote: "Top praise of .35-engined stunter has come from the competitors who flew against it. It's no run-of-the-mill design. Lieutenant, by Leroy F Ducharme.

The Lieutenant is a contest stunt model designed to achieve peak performance and yet be a distinctive looking airplane. The long tail, semi-balanced elevator, inverted engine and tapered elliptical wing were all designed for specific purposes.

It all started with a very official letter stating that my career as an Air Force officer was to start in one month; at that time I was working in the experimental department of Bendix Aviation. We had just finished a project for the Hustler (B-58) and, therefore, I had some spare time. By the time the week ended, almost every engineer in the department had made comments and helped on the design!

The construction of the Lieutenant began at Bartow Air Base, Fla, after I soloed the T-28 and finally found some spare time. Rapid progress was not made until we learned that a contest was to be held in Tampa, Fla. The airplane was finished on Friday, tested on Saturday. and took first place in open stunt on Sunday!

The finished model weighed 30 ounces and was anything but slow: it was clocked at 80 miles per hour. Besides being a fast stunt model. the design produced a very good glide and excellent landing characteristics: the long fuselage and inverted engine installation enable the model to rest almost in a horizontal position - this also produces a beautiful take-off.

Flying the real thing proved that ample rudder area was necessary for smooth flight in wind: therefore, the model has the rudder blended with the fuselage producing the needed area and an extra clean design. The rudder had to be made extra light because of its location: this was accomplished by using a 1/16 sheet outline with ribs cemented to produce the desired airfoil section and then silk covered.

The entire structure is built in a conventional manner, but here are a few helpful hints. Build the entire wing first, starting by joining the main spar and leaving the inside panel 1-1/2 in longer. Insert the controls, but do not cover until the entire model is finished. The wing is very easy to build despite its elliptical shape and tapered air-foil section..."

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