Minimousetang (oz5939)

About this Plan

Minimousetang. Radio control sport 1/2A model. This is a modern CAD-redrawn plan.

Published in RC Sportsman, and later kitted by MEN (Model Engineering of Norwalk).

Quote: "Hi Steve, Here is another cute design by Ken Willard. This time I left the file as a PDF vector. I exported it from cad at 300 dpi which seems to be more attractive than exporting at 600 dpi. Normally; I create a PDF raster from the PDF vector to enhance and reduce file size, but I left this one alone. It should make a great park flier with it's highly under-cambered airfoil."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 13/03/2020: Added article, thanks to HappyRCDude.

Quote: "Sport R/C airplanes for 1/2A engines have always been reasonably popular, but their popularity was somewhat hampered by the availability of light­weight radio gear. No longer. Kraft, Cannon, Ace and Litco, to mention a few, have all come out with super-mini servos and receivers, with 100 ma battery packs, so you can now have four channels of control for a total airborne weight under five ounces, even around three ounces for two controls. So now you don't have to have the hottest Tee Dee .049 powering your 1/2A sport job in order to do aerobatics.

With that in mind, I decided to design a low wing sport job for the Cox QZ .049 - one that could do stunts, but which could be slowed down in the glide and flown in highly restricted areas like my front yard. That meant I had to use a high lift wing, and keep the weight down.

So I sketched out a fairly conventional fuselage, the typical box construction, but with a slight difference. By using triangular stock, a rounded effect was achieved by trimming the comers. Yet, where the wing cradle was, it could be strong and square. Even though straight lines are used; the impression is one of smooth curves, and that's what I was looking for.

When the profile was completed, I fiddled with various shapes for the fin and rudder. As I did this, with the highly undercambered wing section showing. I idly sketched ina simulated scoop - something you could hold for hand launching. Hmm-m. Now, if you just add a little dorsal fin in front of the vertical fin, how about that? Doesn't that look like a stretched version of the famous Mustang fuslage? But the wing isn't tapered - and for good reasons. Easy to build, no problem with tip stall, and easy to repair. Can't call it a stand-off scale Mustang then. But it does use mini servos, and it is a bit of a Mickey Mouse design. Hey! Why not dub it the Minimousetang? Mini servos, Mustang profile, and a Mickey Mouse type - like Minnie was. And so, the Minimousetang was created.

Now just a minute. Don't laugh yet. It's got a lot of flights on it, and one of them was a test to see how it would stand up in certain types of sport contests. Like, for instance, a looping event. Ever been in one? Well, if one comes along, build a Minimousetang and enter. It'll do at least forty - yes, forty - loops in two minutes, using standard fuel. Put in some Magnum 25% nitro, and it will loop continuously and gain altitude while doing so!

Spins? Add weight to the tail until you get to the rearward location of the CG shown on the plans. It'll spin so fast you'll lose count. But watch it! Don't get the CG any further back, or it will go into a flat spin, and you won't get it out until it hits the ground. Even so, it's so light the damage is small and easily repaired.

With the QZ enginie, noise is no problem. In fact, the only complaint I've had when flying it in my front yard has been: Why didn't you let us know you were going to fly it? We didn't hear it until it was too late! And then I had to fly it again for them.

Because it is so light, and the structure is so simple, the Minimousetang can be put together verv quickly. In fact, if you're impatient, like I am, you can Zap it, or Hot­stuff it together in just a few hours although I do recommend fast drying epoxy, Hobby Poxy formula 4 or Devcon 5 minute, for the front end which might take a beating on rough landings).

For any modeler who has built a sport R/C, or even a sport free flight model, it is almost an insult for me to say glue this to that, then that to this - which is what most construction articles do. So I'm not going to do it. My instructions to you are going to be confined to only those areas which may be just a bit tricky - and there are very few of them. Let's go.

FUSELAGE: Cut out the sides, and Zap the triaingular stock, 1/8-inch stringers, doublers, and uprights in place. Attach the sides together, using the leading edge and trailing edge bulkheads.

Pinch the tail together, and Zap the 1/4 inch tailposts together. Pinch the nose together, and epoxy the firewall in place. Note the slight right thrust and downthrust shown on the plans..."

Update 19/03/2020: Added kit review from RCM April 1979, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "RCM Product Test: MEN Minimousetang.

If you have been a long time builder of Ken Willard's designs, whether from articles in RCM or from the kits that have appeared on the shelves of the hobby shops, there would be no doubt in your mind that the Minimousetang by Model Engineering of Norwalk, was Ken's. That highly undercambered wing goes way back to his Showmaster (oz6222) which by the way also was a fantastic flyer. The wing gives the Minimousetang the ability to be flown from the local park, school playground, or the parking lot of the nearby supermarket. It is a great plane for the beginner or the expert to fly during these days of expensive fuel and ever shrinking flying fields. If you are able to get the high school football field for a Sunday Fun Fly, it it great to use the goal posts for a limbo contest. You beginners get some practice before you try that.

The instruction book is one of the best that has come to our attention in a long time. Not only is there a numbered step by step set of building instructions but there are diagrams that tell exactly how each piece of top and bottom sheeting is cut from the 1/16 balsa sheets included in the kit. The drawings are simple and direct, there is a layout of how each piece of covering material is cut from the roll, every square inch is utilized. It even shows how to make hinges from the covering material for the stab and rudder.

The hardware package contained control horns, snap links and rods, screws, tail wheel and landing gear along with wheel retainers. The identification drawings of the sheet balsa die-cut parts call out the name of every piece in case the plane is being built by a novice. This helps locate the parts listed on the plans.

In the back is a parts list and a cutting list that tells you the size of every piece, whether or not it is die-cut and, from what thickness of balsa it is cut. This is the best and most comprehensive instruction book we have seen in years."

Supplementary file notes

Article.
Review (MEN kit).

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