Vendetta (oz6721)

About this Plan

Vendetta. Radio control sport model. Pusher layout. Wingspan 70 in, for .40 engine.

Quote: "Larry Mitschke's colorful Vendetta captures the mystique of the flying wing - handsome on the ground and graceful in the air.

I'm the kind of person who likes to do things out of the ordinary and, after building several R/C airplanes, I decided to do something very different for me. A flying wing was one design that I hadn't yet built. I wasn't exactly satisfied with the designs that were out, so I decided to undertake a project to design and test fly an original flying wing design. This is how the Vendetta began.

I'd read about the Mitchell U-2 ultralight plane and decided to base a sport plane on its design. So I ended up with the prototype of a rear engine, tapered and swept-back flying wing with elevons underneath the wing. Supposedly, with the elevons in this position, when the plane is in a stall situation the control surfaces will still be functioning. It sounded good on paper, and I had high hopes for my design. But I learned one thing after more than twenty crashes - try only one new thing at a time!

I had the Center of Gravity as shown on the U-2 plans but could not get the plane to fly. Since I didn't know how well the external elevons were working, I put the elevons back into the wing and I was able to narrow the problem down to CG position. After being very frustrated, I put almost one pound of lead in the nose and gave it a try. This flight showed some direction (which was a first). There was no damage on this flight, so with a little more lead I tried another flight. You wouldn't believe my excitement and relief when the plane rose into the air and kept on flying and, to my surprise, flew smoothly and gracefully. You should experience the feeling of success after almost dumping a project several times.

So out of this success came new plans which are presented here, with improvements on the old design.

The Vendetta is the only rear engine flying wing with tapered, swept-back wings that I've seen in my five years of R/C modeling. It features a throttle servo right by the engine, and so far I have had no problems with vibration. Also the fuel tank is right on the C.G. so there is no shift in weight as fuel is used up. The wings have a 4° washout which helps in making this plane one of the smoothest I've flown.

Building this plane requires the experience of building at least two kits, but otherwise no special knowledge is needed. A three channel radio will control this plane, but, unless your transmitter has servo mixing, an Ace 'Christy-Mixer' will need to be purchased. Be sure it is the bi-directional unit. Now, let's build.

Contruction. First of all, you must use straight spruce sticks for spars. Also plan on using balsa sheets of the same density for fuselage sides. Wing: 1. Cut out all parts. Mark former positions on R-1 and fuselage sides. Drill holes in firewall and install 4-40 blind nuts. 2. Cut out a trailing edge (TE) spacer from 1/4 in stock, 18 mm tall at root end and 12 mm at tip end, and pin to plans where indicated. 3. Pin bottom spar to plans and glue ribs to spar, giving root rib the angle indicated by the plans. Add top spar. Note: Due to washout, the bottom spar will need to be raised at R-13. Slip a couple of thicknesses of cardboard under that end. Also, the spars (and TE strip) must extend to the fuselage centerline in order to assist in aligning the wing halves later on. 4. Check front of ribs for alignment and sand to an angle..."

September 1988. RCM 1027.

Update 18/4/2024: Replaced this plan with a clearer copy, scanned from fullsize at 300 dpi, thanks to Rennfahrer.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

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