Speed Job (oz503)

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Speed Job. 1936 world record holder rubber model from 1937 Model Airplane News.

Update 22/10/2025: Added article, thanks to JeffGreen.

Quote: "Build This World Record Speed Job. Here Is Complete Construction Data That Will Enable You to Build the Fastest Model in the World. By Robert Jeffery, Robert Chatelain.

IN ORDER to create this high speed plane first we should know just what we are building; how the original performed and something of its development to its present state of efficiency. It has been developed almost directly from ships used by Dick Korda and L Becker in Cleveland in 1935. Although the present design does not even faintly resemble these ships, nevertheless it can be traced directly to them.

The whole story is that we crossed Korda's design with those which we had previously developed, thus the result. Ours had been heavy, low-powered streamline crates, while the Cleveland fellows depended almost wholly upon light weight and lots of power. We merely used the best points of both types; streamlining, lightness and power to gain the end which we have achieved.

The record of the design has been brilliant from the start, having begun its career with a record-smashing victory at Toledo where it easily beat the best of our, and their, square jobs. This happened in January of 1936, and since then the fuselage has been cleaned up considerably, weight decreased, and strength increased. The second ship of this type was equally successful over longer courses, namely 176 foot and 200 foot. It was this design which placed first and third in the National American Legion Contest - speed event - at Indianapolis in 1936. The speed was 50 mph, a new course record, although speeds of nearly 70 mph have been obtained, both prior to And after this contest.

The plane presented here is neither of the two record-breakers mentioned above, but a third design, slightly improved, and boasting a fuselage design superior to either of the others. It is also designed so that no changes, except for power, need be made.

In the only contest in which this particular design has been entered so far, it won at a speed of 60 mph. It was also flown by a 15-year-old girl over the 88 foot course at a speed of 54 mph. On this flight the turns were limited and the powered Right was only about 80 feet, the balance being the glide, The control was very nearly perfect, flying perfectly straight and gaining only a few inches altitude over the above mentioned course. On the fastest flight only enough turns were given it to carry it just past the finish line because of the wall at the end of the room in which the contest was flown.

When building a speed ship, several points must be kept in mind. The most important is that luck plays a relatively small part in a speed contest, that speed depends upon design and construction. coupled with expert flying. You have here the first. the other two depend upon the builder. However, we have, at the end of this article, listed a few hints concerning testing your speed plane. These hints are compiled from nearly two years of building and flying speed planes, the last year in competition.

The construction of the ship starts with the wing, not because it is easiest, but because it is different in cross-section (airfoil) from the usual wing. The materials consist of 1/4 in flat balsa, 10 pound stock, for leading edge; 1/16 flat balsa, 12 pound, for trailing edge; 1/32 flat, 10 pound, for ribs; and 1/16 x 3/16 tapered, 12 pound for spar..."

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