Waco E (oz4664)

About this Plan

Waco E. Radio control scale model biplane.

Quote: "Hi Steve, Here is Ken Willard's Waco E from Model Builder magazine issue 11-84. The text describes this as an updated R/C version of his earlier plan which is posted as Waco (oz1585)."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "WACO Biplane, by Ken Willard. Finally! Here's a fun little biplane designed for the G-Mark .030 that will fly and look realistic in the air or on the ground. Grab some sheet balsa and your micro radio gear!

About twenty five years and thirty pounds ago, I designed a small, all-balsa and plywood Waco Custom Cabin biplane for the Cox Tee Dee .020 engine, an Otarion super-regen receiver, and Babcock escapement. The Waco (oz1585) design was published in the now defunct American Modeler magazine, and was popular with small airplane enthusiasts. After a couple of years of flying, the model was 'retired' to hang in my garage.

A couple of years or so ago (the pounds had stabilized by then), I took the Waco down, cleaned it up, and installed a new radio and engine combination. The radio was Cannon's Super-Micro, and the engine was the G-Mark .030. It was the perfect combination; the throttle feature on the G-Mark made it possible to taxi out, take off, climb out, throttle back and cruise - even do touch-and-goes! It was a reborn hit.

I took some photos of it with me when I went to the Toledo show in April 1983, and showed them to Bill Northrop, originator of the phrase: Real airplanes have round engines and two wings. How about an updated construction article? I'll do it. Time passed, other designs came along. Then I went to Toledo in April 1984, Bill gave me that icy stare. I'm working on it, I lied. When'll I get it? Bill demanded. Before the end of May. What year? He had me trapped. This year, I promised.

So here it is. When you see it, if it's late in the fall, don't blame me. I did what I promised - delivered it in May, 1984. Yeah, I shoulda done it sooner, but there's a side benefit now. In addition to Cannon, you can also install the new, lightweight equipment from World, Airtronics, Circus, or Ace. The choice is yours. There's room for any one of them. The plans show a schematic installation for three servos, a small receiver, and a small battery pack. The servos are in-stalled merely by sticking them to the sides of the fuselage with mounting tape, and the receiver and battery pack are loosely packed in foam rubber and stuffed up front behind the firewall.

With the exception of the radio mounting, the basic construction is unchanged from that which was described twenty one years ago. This is the way it read:

WINGS. The top and bottom wings are made in three pieces - the right and left panels and the center sections. The panels are butt-joined and glued to the center sections, with the inboard ribs of the panels slanted at the proper angle to provide the right dihedral. Some sanding may also be required to make the angle accurate. Then a 1/2in strip of nylon, or Celastic if you prefer, is glued over the joint on the top and bottom to give it the necessary amount of strength.

To make the panels there are a couple of tricks. Let's take a top panel in sequence.

1. Lay the bottom sheet of 1/16, sanded to 1/20, on a flat surface.
2. Put a piece of 3/16 sq stick under the bottom surface, longitudinally, at the tip rib location. Pin the bottom sheet to the table.
3. Trim the bottom of the leading edge to fit the curve from the tip rib to the next inboard rib. Glue in place..."

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