Fat Porter (oz6774)

About this Plan

Fat Porter, designed by Alan Wiseman. Radio control model.

Quote: "From the time you take it out of the station wagon and get ready to fly you'll draw the crowds. And they'll keep laughing until you fly this cartoon caricature of an airplane. And then nobody will be laughing. Fat Porter, by Alan Wiseman.

If you have been promising yourself a larger model, here is one that is different from anything you have ever seen before. In fact, we see so many look-alike sport models today, I think the Fat Porter will prove to be a refreshing change of pace.

It is as easy to fly as anything you have ever flown. The big plus for this model is that it's a lot more exciting because of its scale-like flying capabilities. This is especially true of the maneuvers which actually appear to be in slow motion. And, if you stop to think about it, this is actually how a full size plane flies through an Immelman or loop, etc, If you have always wanted your models to fly in this fashion, the Fat Porter will come pretty close to fulfilling that wish.

The idea for the design came from pictures I saw some time ago in one of our British magazines, of a model with extra large side area and a quite narrow fuselage. It is a very discrete way of making a model look enormous since you would expect it to be very wide with all that side area. But, surprisingly it isn't. It is big, I suppose, as models go since it has 900 square inches of wing area and weighs between 9 and 11 pounds ready to fly. But, think of the weight if the width was in proportion to all of that side area - 12 in wide instead of 3 in which is what you might expect it to be.

A favorite light aircraft of mine for some time has been the Swiss Pilatus Porter which is operated mainly from short unprepared runways, off grass, snow, ice, etc, in restricted mountainous areas, thus having to have STOL capabilities. I feel that the aircraft also has a lot of character and, in some degree, almost appears to be comical, much like the Turbo Porter with its unusually long nose, the high aspect ratio wing, angular wing and tailplane with outwardly counterbalanced rudder and elevator and those unusual side windows.

Thus, I have taken the idea of massive side area on a model aircraft a stage further by incorporating in this design some of the features I've just mentioned of the Pilatus Porter. It is, if you like, a send-up called the Fat Porter, a not-so-scale, fly for fun plane, guaranteed to get plenty of laughs on your club field before take-off. But, I guarantee that when she has taken off, is flying around and going through some aerobatics, lands, and you taxi her back to your feet, no one will be laughing. They will simply be stunned at the pure grace and beauty that this cartoon-like character of an airplane demonstrates once airborne. In addition to that she is as easy to build as she is to fly. So, if you are convinced, let's begin building the Fat Porter.

Fuselage. Be sure to cover your plans with Saran Wrap or wax paper before beginning..."

Update 10/11/2016: article pages, text & pics added, thanks to RFJ.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, text & pics.

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