Nesmith Cougar (oz5922)

About this Plan

Nesmith Cougar. Scale model for control line.

Quote: "Squarish, simple lines make this aircraft an ideal beginner's scale ship. With lots of detail, is is a contest winner.

It's a rare homebuilt aircraft magazine that doesn't include a Nesmith Cougar. With a wingspan of 20ft 5in, the Cougar zips along, powered by an 85-hp air-cooled Continental engine or by a higher-powered 115-hp Lycoming engine.

Cougars have been built with fiberglass wings or wheel pants, with various cowling styles, and a few without the rear side windows. One Cougar even had folding wings for storage and towing by an auto. Any of these features may be incorporated in the model.

My Cougar was built in Spring of 1969, when I decided to attend the Nationals at Willow Grove, Penna. With only seven weeks of building time, I wanted a ship with simple, yet unusual lines, and the Cougar satisfied these requirements. The ship's maiden flight at the Nats was rather precarious because the windshield blew off, but the Cougar has placed in every air meet since the Nats, including the Eastern States championships held at Johnsville Naval Air Station. It really doesn't take a huge, multi-engine scale ship to bring the hardware home, as was quite evident at the 1969 Nats. The building of small, single-engined scale ships is on the increase.

Construction: The amount of detailing is left to the builder's discretion. Throttle control, operating landing lights, navigation lights, an operating door, complete interior and workable controls from the control stick are a few of the point-gathering features that may be incorporated in the Cougar.

Construction by the usual stick and tissue method is not difficult. The fuselage is a simple box affair. Its sides are made from 1/4 sq medium hard balsa, except for the four upright pieces in the cabin area which extend into the plywood wing center section..."

Update 15/11/2016: added article, and cover photo [pic 005], thanks to theshadow.

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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