Baby Bird (oz4043)

About this Plan

Baby Bird. Control line model for 2.5 - 3.5 engines.

Quote: "Here is the Australian version [of the Little T-Bird], the Baby Bird. There has been a thread on this model over on the Barton Control Line Forum, and the plan redrawn on CAD."

Update 02/01/2020: Added article, thanks to StevePollock.

Quote: "Steve/Mary, Happy New Year! While flipping through the February 1964 e-copy of Model News (from Down Under) I ran across the build notes for Don Martin's 'Baby Bird' (oz4043). I thought it might be useful to include this information with the plan. It's attached... Thank you for your web site."

Quote: "MODEL NEWS February, 1964. BABY BIRD, Don Martin's Snappy Stunter for 2.5 to 3.5 Motors.

Although seldom seen at major contests these days this class of stunter is still very popular and 'Baby Bird' is one of the prettiest examples that we have seen for a long time.

Construction is quite straightforward as a study of the plan will reveal.

FUSELAGE: Cut sides from 118in. sheet, and cut out for wing position. Cut balsa and ply formers. Bend and fit undercarriage to F2 with eye bolts. Fit F1 and F2 to engine bearers. Cement fuselage sides to engine bearers and cement together at rear. Fit remaining formers. Leave rest of fuselage construction till ready to assemble model.

WINGS: Build in usual manner. Add one ounce of lead to outside wing tip. Build in control platform to take standard C/L plate. Attach one end of a piece of 14 gauge wire to C/L plate for pull-push rod. Cover centre section with 1/16 sheet leaving slot for free movement of pull-push rod. Slide wing through fuselage side and check for align-ment.

FLAPS: Cut from 1/8 sheet. Sand to a slight taper. Flaps are fitted to TE of wing with metal and linen hinges as shown on plan.

TAIL PLANE: Cut stabiliser and elevator from 1/8 sheet. Sand smooth and taper to outside edges. Fit elevator horn in position. Hinge elevator to tail plane in the same manner as the flaps.

FIN: The fin is cut in two parts. Sand smooth and round edges. Join the two pieces together, cementing in the amount of offset shown on the plan.

ASSEMBLY: Pin elevators and flaps in neutral position. Slot rear of fuselage to take tailplane unit. Position and check pull-push rod for length. Connect up control system. Solder washers on all free ends. Be sure that the control set up is 100% as after the top goes on the fuselage the control set is inaccessible. Recement all joints inside the fuselage and fuel proof the tank bay. Fit tank.

Shape the top of the fuselage from sin. soft sheet and cement in place. Sheet bottom of fuselage after fitting tail wheel. Shape cowling block to suit type of motor and spinner used. Slot rear of fuselage to take fin and cement in place. Sand completed fuselage down smooth rounding off all edges as shown. Recement all joints rubbing the cement in.

COVERING: Cover the fuselage with Modelspan. Dope onto the wood by brushing the dope through the tissue and smoothing out the wrinkles by hand. Put a few drops of castor oil on all hinges to prevent the dope from getting into them and sending them brittle. Cover the wings in the usual way. Give the completed model three coats of dope. When dry, fuelproof or paint the model to the colour you desire.

Baby Bird can be powered by any good 2.5 to 3.5 cc model or Glow."

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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