Beercat (oz5172)

 

Beercat (oz5172) by Hal DeBolt 1980 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Live Wire Beercat. Radio control sports biplane trainer. Midwest kit # 150. A realistic sport bipe trainer, for .35 to .50 power. Wingspan 47 in, wing area 840 sq in.

Quote: "Realistic. This realistic sport bipe is patterned after the full-size Beercat biplane once raced at Reno. It's the fourth kit in Midwest's Livewire trainer series.

Quick-building. It's an easy and quick-building biplane - a feature not found in most biplane designs. There are no cabane struts to complicate attaching the top wing.

Economical. A smooth handling, fine performing airplane capable of all maneuvers. It's a big airplane - 840 sq ins of area, yet it flies well on a .40. Economical to own and operate. Takeoffs are a cinch due to the Beercat's excellent ground handling."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 29/04/2020: Added kit review from MAN August 1982, thanks to RFJ.

Supplementary file notes

Review.

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Beercat (oz5172) by Hal DeBolt 1980 - model pic

Datafile:
  • (oz5172)
    Beercat
    by Hal DeBolt
    from Midwest (ref:150)
    1980 
    47in span
    IC R/C Biplane Civil Kit
    clean :)
    all formers complete :)
  • Submitted: 19/12/2013
    Filesize: 1127KB
    Format: • PDFbitmap
    Credit*: JJ
    Downloads: 4636

Beercat (oz5172) by Hal DeBolt 1980 - pic 003.jpg
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Beercat (oz5172) by Hal DeBolt 1980 - pic 004.jpg
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Beercat (oz5172) by Hal DeBolt 1980 - pic 005.jpg
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Beercat (oz5172) by Hal DeBolt 1980 - pic 006.jpg
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User comments

The Beercat is actually the name of a Reno racing biplane that raced in 1969 and '71. It is part of the Texas Air and Space Museum collection. Now, is the Midwest Beercat modeled after the racer? Have to leave that up to the experts - though it sure seems similar. Thanks,
edk - 24/12/2013
Thanks Ed, I'll buy that. Have tagged this plan as scale now.
SteveWMD - 24/12/2013
Hi from an Aussie living in Thailand. First, thanks for all the wonderful plans. Now for my dilemma, I think the balance point for the BEERCAT is wrong. If it were a low wing tail dragger the plan's balance point would be very close, but as it is a Bi Plane with a stagged top wing it will never fly as it is tail heavy...a lot. If I accept the balance point to be in the same place on the top wing cord it seems perfect. Interested in your opinion.
JohnKruger - 23/05/2017
Not sure my opinion on this would be worth so very much. I've spent no time flying models with reverse-staggered biplane wing layouts :) I'd wait for smarter people to come along. But meanwhile certainly a search for Staggerwing on Oz will show quite a few similar designs you could compare the CG with those plans?
SteveWMD - 23/05/2017
I'd say it's rather nose heavy. Following the 30% rule of thumb you could move the CG back to nearly 50% of the lower wing. That's roughly what other staggerwings use. But maybe it's better to stay on the safe side and try the shown position for first tests.
Hubert - 23/05/2017
Balance point is correct for a negative staggered wings biplane, make a comparison with other similar plans like Beech 17 (more than one) on Outerzone.
Pit - 23/05/2017
Original photo of the full size Beercat, which could be useful [more pics 004].
Pit - 24/05/2017
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Scaling

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