Vampire (oz4866)

 

Vampire (oz4866) by Bill Dean 1946 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Vampire. Free flight rubber model. Twin-boom pusher. Vampire by Bill Dean, 9in span FF rubber, a little indoor pusher from Model Aircraft Dec 1946.

Quote: "HAVE you ever built a pusher? if not, then this little stick model will help you to understand a few of the advantages and problems that are encountered with this unorthodox type. The parts are all drawn full size and should be traced or pin-pricked through onto sheet balsa.

FLYING SURFACES: The wing panels, fins and elevator ore made from medium strength sheet sanded down to the typical section indicated on the drawing. Note that the wing only tapers in thickness outboard of the booms-- also that the elevator and fins are sanded down to about 1/48 in.

FUSELAGE AND BOOMS: The fuselage stick is slightly rounded and tapered at each end, with the corners sanded away. The twin booms are hard balsa ; the corners being left square.

PROPELLER AND FITTINGS: Cut the 4 in diameter propeller blank from medium sheet balsa and steam to the pitch shown. A coot of banana oil is given for strength. The shaft is bent from a piece of 24-gauge wire; a small bead being threaded on before forming the hook. For the bearing, first bend the L-shaped portion, then clip off at about 1 in from the bend. Insert the short end In a vice and wind the long end round another piece of wire.

ASSEMBLY: Prop up the two wing Dancis in the usual way and cement them together to give a dihedral of 3/4 in under each tip. Cement the tailplane on top of the twin booms. Attach the wings to the fuselage stick by a small rubber band.

FLYING: The number of strands of rubber is best found by experience. Wind up from the front by means of a wire ring attached to the motor and launch with the right hand, holding the propeller in the left. Trimming is obtained by warping the tips, elevator and fins."

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Vampire (oz4866) by Bill Dean 1946 - model pic

Datafile:
  • (oz4866)
    Vampire
    by Bill Dean
    from Model Aircraft
    December 1946 
    9in span
    Rubber F/F Pusher
    clean :)
    all formers complete :)
    got article :)
  • Submitted: 26/09/2013
    Filesize: 282KB
    Format: • PDFbitmap
    Credit*: stormin
    Downloads: 3014

Vampire (oz4866) by Bill Dean 1946 - pic 003.jpg
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Vampire (oz4866) by Bill Dean 1946 - pic 004.jpg
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Vampire (oz4866) by Bill Dean 1946 - pic 005.jpg
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User comments

Many years ago a library book led to a lifelong love of this wonderful hobby. A simple, all balsa, tow-line glider I’d built slowly circled oos while I watched in slack jawed amazement. I’ve been a fan of Bill Dean’s designs ever since. Enlarging his little Vampire to 14” span results in the perfect platform for the first “Power Up” paper airplane motor [main pic, 003, 004]. I just tape the boom to the bottom of the wing. No winding, just charge and release. Perfect for a quick trip to the local ball field on those rare, calm, summer evenings. Highly recommended!
David Walters - 07/06/2025
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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.

 

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