Privateer (oz4922)

About this Plan

Privateer. Free flight gas model.

Quote: "Building The Privateer. How You Can Construct a Sturdy Gas Model That Has Proved to Be a Consistent Contest Winner. Privateer, by Thracy Petrides.

HERE is a superperformer without superconstruction Not only does it embody the unusual simplicity of square construction, but it also retains the desirable flying characteristics of a streamlined plane. To substantiate this claim, it flew out of sight after 11 minutes, 25 seconds, at the 1937 National Meet at Detroit. And after being recovered, it later flew for 32 minutes, 50 seconds at another contest. During this flight it drifted only about a mile and at the end glided in for a perfect landing, a few feet from the followers.

From the very first flight the model showed signs of a promising future, and its excellent consistency may be attributed to the well arranged aerodynamic forces. The line of thrust is well up in the fuselage, placing it above the center of lateral area. This set-up promotes spiral stability, which is essential in a gas model. Successful endurance models have a tight spiral climb as well as a tight turn in the glide, the latter being necessary for soaring (the glide, of course, being as flat as possible) and this model incorporates these desirable features.

The correct fin area makes possible the combining of these two flight characteristics. Two rudders were tested before the desired results were obtained. It is hard to believe that ten to fifteen square inches, more or less, in the rudder can make quite a noticeable difference. but these tests have shown this fact to be true.

Construction. Wing. It is advisable to begin construction with the wing as this requires great care. The rib shown is half the actual size, so it must be scaled up by plotting. Make a graph of half-inch squares on cardboard, plywood, or thin metal. Reproduce the section by making a small mark where the airfoil outline intersects each vertical station. Then connect the dots with drawing curves. Draw in the correct spar positions. When this is done cut out the template, and use it to make twenty-seven ribs on 1/8 in medium balsa sheet.

The builder may use his own favorite method of laying out the wing. All sizes of spars, etc for the wing are noted on plate 1. The wing tips are 1/4 in thick, being made by laminating 1/8 in sheet balsa, and attaching them at a 45 degree angle..."

Quote: "Here's a free flight power model from the September 1938 Model Airplane News. Like a number of other designs, it's also called Privateer. Span is 87 inches. Design by Thracy Petrides and drawn by Felix Gutman."

Note this is not a full-size plan, it is a scan of the orignal printed magazine pages, with drawings showing formers at 1/2 scale, general layout at 1/8 scale.

Supplementary file notes

Planfile includes article.

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