Gee Bee Zeta (oz6011)

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Gee Bee Zeta (oz6011) by Henry Haffke 1983 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Gee Bee Zeta (Miller Aircraft Zeta). Scale model for RC, for .60 power. Wingspan 72 in. Scale is 1/5.

Quote: "A sport scale model from a famous racing heritage. Gee Bee Zeta by Henry Haffke.

The Zeta was such a beautiful aircraft that I could not resist doing a model of it. It had excellent proportions for a model and, since it had been very aerobatic, it seemed a good bet that the model would also inherit its fine flying characteristics. With the help of Pete Miller and Bob Granville, I obtained a fine collection of photos of the Zeta.

With all this documentation, I was able to do a very accurate rendition of the Zeta I had several other Gee Bee projects under way so did not have time to start another, but my good friend Joe Gallagher (who had built two previous contest winning Gee Bees from my drawings) agreed to build the first one. I designed the model in 1/5 Scale at his request and as soon as I had the pencil drawings done, he started on the model. He had it finished in a short time and it was test flown by our chief test pilot supreme, Sid Clements, who has tested most of my designs. Sid reported excellent flying characteristics and we had another winner.

It was flown in five contests during its first season of flying and took three first places, a second, and a third. Its first in was at the Northern Connecticut Fly In where we went specifically so that Pete Miller could see it fly as his home is only a short distance from the site of that contest. Pete was thrilled to see a model of his creation fly using radio control and this was the first time he had ever seen a model flown by R/C. To top everything off the Zeta was awarded first place in the event which had our entire crew very pleased.

Construction: The model is not difficult to build and everything is pretty normal. The landing gear is a little different from most aircraft as the main landing gear struts emerge from the fuselage centerline with an outboard shock strut connected to the wing center section. Another unique difference in the Zeta is the wing strut arrangement. The wing struts were attached to the windshield bow structure which gave a lot of strength to the real craft and even though not needed on the model, it would be a shame to omit this as it's part of the Zeta's character. These struts were made from streamline aluminum tubing which was assembled together with epoxy. It is plugged into a tube installed at the windshield bow and the other end is bolted to brackets built into the wing.

Fuselage: Make up two fuselage sides of 1/8 x 48 in sheet balsa. The basic sides are shown on the plans with arrows. Note that the rear end beyond F-9 is raised to support the stabilizer. Mark each side for bulkhead locations. Cut all bulkheads from the proper material as shown on the patterns. Locate engine mount on F-2 and drill for mounting bolts. Also drill holes for fuel lines and throttle linkage. Cut out the two oval shaped holes for the cooling tubes. The cooling tubes are made from cardboard tubes on which Coverite is rolled. Trim the oval holes to fit the tubes.

Next, assemble all bulkheads on the basic sides after marking stringer locations on each bulkhead. It is best not to cut stringer notches until after assembly to assure straight stringers..."

Update 10/10/2014: Added the missing last 2 pages to the article file, thanks to RFJ.

Update 8/12/2016: Added the final missing page to the article file, thanks to Gunars.

Note there has been some confusion about the correct wingspan of this plan - see comments section. Listed by RCM as 72 inches, the plan as published seemed to show the wrong centreline, one rib bay off, and so a total span of 69 inches.

Update 21/08/2021: Replaced this plan with a revised version, thanks to JanNovick. This fixes minor issue with placement of centreline shown on wing, and results in total wingspan of 72 in. See supplement file 'previous' for the original scan.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article.
Previous scan version.

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Gee Bee Zeta (oz6011) by Henry Haffke 1983 - model pic

Datafile:

ScaleType:
  • NotFound | help

    This is a scale plan, but ScaleType is set as NotFound.

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    Corrections? Use the correction form to tell us the new ScaleType link we should be using. Thanks.

Gee Bee Zeta (oz6011) by Henry Haffke 1983 - pic 003.jpg
003.jpg
Gee Bee Zeta (oz6011) by Henry Haffke 1983 - pic 004.jpg
004.jpg
Gee Bee Zeta (oz6011) by Henry Haffke 1983 - pic 005.jpg
005.jpg

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User comments

The C of G is not shown on the plan or text. I have started building and would appreciate your help. Thanks.
EJK - 25/11/2018
Hi, l bought the plan back in the 1980s and put it aside until now! I have started to build and the C of G location is not shown on the plan nor mentioned in the building notes. If subsequently it has been shown I'd appreciate a reply.
EamonnJKeenan - 31/01/2019
Eamonn, Since the Gee Bee Zata has straight leading and trailing edges, and no taper or wing sweep, a CG location of 25% of the chord line will be a safe place to start. Regards,
Joe A - 01/02/2019
Thanks Joe, a secure starting CG for the initial trimming flights indeed.
EJK - 08/02/2019
Has anyone printed out the plans for this model? I'd like to do an electric version with a 48 in. span, Oz lists the span as 69". The data block in the RCM plans says 72". An ebay listing shows 68", while another says 59". All are of the Haffke design. I printed out a 25% half span which measured out at 66.5" full span. Seems this plan is all over the place. could someone with a plan measure the span and submit it to clarify?
Thanks
scotprin - 17/08/2021
Can't speak for anything on ebay. And sometimes there were misprints in the magazine articles, it would not surprise me if RCM got it wrong in the data block. All we really have to work with here, and to trust, is the actual plan PDF file we have in front of us. For help with how to measure and check scaling and dimensions of PDF files, see the Oz KB article at https://outerzone.co.uk/knowledgebase/entry.asp?ID=106. Checking this plan for scaling, the dimensions of the 6 inch scale bar printed in the bottom right corner, and the 3-1/2 inch main wheel, both of these measure correctly. So. The PDF here is full size. So measure the half wing shown, it's 34.4 inches. So that's a total wingspan of 68.8 in. Which rounded to the nearest inch, is 69 in. As to whether all this is exactly what Henry Haffke had in mind when he sent it in to RCM, we can't say. But that is what this here PDF measures, here, now, today. Work from there.
SteveWMD - 17/08/2021
Looking at the way they printed the wing on sheet one, the centre-line is not clearly marked (apart from having a servo in it). If somebody in a rush measured that wing half and included that extra bay shown, that would produce a total 72 inch span, exactly.
SteveWMD - 17/08/2021
Steve, Sorry you went to so much time and trouble on this, but I really appreciate it. Followed your method and came up with 69 inches as well. Thanks for the help.
Scott - 17/08/2021
On both sheets the title box says 1/5 scale and 2.4" to 1' ?
Ted Avey - 17/08/2021
I don’t understand your question, Ted.
SteveWMD - 17/08/2021
1/5 scale and 2.4" to 1'? Yes, that is correct, if you divide 1 foot (12 inches) by 5 you get 2.4 inches, that's what your calculator surely says. Summing it up, saying the scale is 2.4in to 1ft is the same as calling it 1:5 scale.
Miguel - 17/08/2021
2.4 * 5 = 12 (12 inches = 1 foot) so 1/5 scale and 2.4" - 1' are the same thing.
Daithi - 17/08/2021
Ted, another way of expressing 1/5 scale is to say one foot on the model represents 5 feet on the full scale version. I.E, 12" on the model equals 5 ft on the big one. Thus (12/5) inches=(5/5) ft. 12/5 is 2.4 inches, so another way of denoting the scale is 2.4" on the model equals 1 foot on full size.
David Duganne - 18/08/2021
When the plan states a scale, as in this case, why is there a debate on what the wing span should be?
Ted - 18/08/2021
That was your meaning? Ok. Think about it this way - it’s not a debate about what it should be. It a debate about what it is. The two are often different.
SteveWMD - 18/08/2021
Almost sorry I started this !! Here's what I've concluded; The wing plan is wrong!! The full scale Zeta's wing span is 36'-0'. A 1/5th model span would be 6'-0" or 72". As Steve pointed out earlier, using the measuring tool from wing tip to the faintly marked center line rib measures a little less than 34.5",which doubled would be the 69", but measuring out to the end rib is exactly 36" for the full span of 72". Another clue are the dihedral braces. They measure close to 8"end to centerline. If measured on the wing plan from end to marked centerline it's around 6-1/2", but measured to the last rib in the right it's nuts on 8". There are other clues but this is getting a little long. Conclusion: the data blocks are correct, It is a 1/5th scale model with a 72" span, however the centerline on the half span plan is the last rib on the right otherwise it's a 69" wing.
Scott - 19/08/2021
Well Scott, you just said the full scale Zeta's wing span is 36'-0", and then go on to state that 1/5th scale of that is 6'-0". But 1/5th of 36'0" would be 7.2 feet. Since I have no desire to search the full sized plane's wing span, I'll presume that your 36'0" was a typo and you meant 30'0", otherwise, you've just opened up another can of worms.
RC Yeager - 19/08/2021
Yep, that's a typo. The full scale is 30 ft. NOT 36.
Thanks for the callout,
Scott - 20/08/2021
The Miller Aircraft Co. Zeta Z-2 had a wingspan of 30'0" Ref:http://www.aerofiles.com/_mi.html. Can we put this one to sleep, now? Be creative, use your imagination. It's just a plan, after all. It's not carved in stone nor the word of a diety.
Jan Novick - 20/08/2021
Scott... just saw the that in the RCM article it states the full size plane as gaving a 30' span (presuming they got it right), so the 36' was most definitely a slip of the finger from your end. And you are right, the last rib on the right in the plan is the center rib, not the rib that has the drawing of the servo intersecting it. The mistake by the RCM guys was putting the depiction of the servo amidst that 2nd rib and putting the "cut this center rib" note, thereby confusing us all. Wing span of this one should be set as 72", with a note of the mistake in the plan, or at least a reference to all this mumbo-jumbo in the comments section.
RC Yeager - 20/08/2021
Will be submitting a redrawn page one that I hope will be satisfactory to most people.
Jan Novick - 20/08/2021
It's not a Gee Bee. It's the Miller Aircraft Zeta. I know, you have to catalog it per the callout in the drawing title block. Curious isn't it, how incorrect information carries forward...
DaveD - 21/08/2021
OK, I'll buy that (badly drafted centre rib by RCM). Will change this listing to say 72 in, insert the redrawn sheet #1, and add a note of explanation. 72 in span it is, then.
SteveWMD - 21/08/2021
Thank you Steve.
John Green - 22/08/2021
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  • Gee Bee Zeta (oz6011)
  • Plan File Filesize: 938KB Filename: Gee_Bee_Zeta_oz6011_.pdf
  • Supplement Filesize: 3761KB Filename: Gee_Bee_Zeta_oz6011_article.pdf
  • Supplement Filesize: 936KB Filename: Gee_Bee_Zeta_oz6011_previous.pdf
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