Tercel (oz6831)

About this Plan

Tercel. Grenade-launch glider, for 2 channel RC.

Quote: "Hello once again Steve. The Tercel was another Joe Bridi design similar to the Flipper (oz4994). I recently built one but increased the wing to 58in as blogs suggested that an increased wing span would be better. I also changed the design to hold a truer E205 airfoil since I fly slopes and weight is an advantage. I always thought the Tercel was squirrelly, but this wing really works well at the cliff. (see you tube video) don't expect stellar aerobatics. This was the third flight after getting the bugs out. A few clicks down elevator trim, and the plane books, a few clicks up, and speed drops off and lift takes it up and up."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 05/06/2018: added kit review from Model Builder, June 1984, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "Review by Howard Doering. Kraft Systems new KraftKit Tercel is a little charmer! You can fly this model hand launched over flat fields or slopes and really have a blast!

Initial examiniuation of the exterior of the box revealed the identity of the designer, Don Doerfler, the specifications of the glider, and a boast of its performance capabilities. Yes, this model is about one-third smaller than a two-meter ship with its 50-1/2 inch wingspan. My job was to see if this kit lives up to its namesake.

Inside the box were: a) a set of nicely rolled plans; b) an instruction booklet; c) bits and pieces of wood; d) two screws in a clear plastic bag; e) shaped tail feathers; f) some stripwood all rubber banded together; g) some small rectangles of 1/16 balsa; h) two shaped fuselage sides; and i) two sheets of die cut ribs.

After unrolling, inspecting, and contemplating the plans, the wood was checked off against the list on the last page of the instruction booklet and aligned over the plans. Everything was there and seemed to fit properly except one part: the nose block. It had the grain running vertically. (Hmmmm, must be for shock absorption on spot landings.)

Most of the wood miked out slightly oversize. The 1/8 x 1/2 TE stock was substantially oversized, varying between .140 to .152 thick at the front. This caused minor problems later in construction. I picked the two hardest fuselage stringers for the bottom longerons. The bottom fuselage stringers were too short, and one of the other stringers had wind stress and cracked upon slight flexure. It also was tapered end to end and had a step in the middle. It was relegated to be fuselage braces.

The wing center section sheeting rectangles were B/C grain, just a bit stiff for such use, but quite strong. One main panel leading edge stick was badly warped and was replaced. The fuselage top and bottom sheeting was A grain and quite soft. B or B/C grain would be a better choice for us rough landing types. Balsa weight and grain selection for all other pieces was excellent for their end use.

Die cutting on the wing ribs was excellent as a light sanding on the back of the sheets was all that was required to shake most of the ribs out. After the ribs were removed from their sheets, the total weight of the Tercel's pieces, ready to be assembled, was 3.4 ounces.

Let's see now, under 12-ounce advertised weight, less 3.4 ounces, leaves 8.6 ounces maximum for glue, covering, radio, and balance weight - sure sounds easy with a micro receiver and two micro servos. Now, let's see how this little bird goes together.

Fuselage: Step One says to glue the longerons to the fuselage sides; however, the bottom longerons are too short as mentioned previously. No problem, you just splice in a couple of inches left over from the excess top longeron material. Only one question remains; should the splice be at the front or the rear of the fuselage? My decision was easily made when I tried to warp the longerons to fit the nose curvature. It proved much easier to angle the spliced end slightly, and thus the splice was put at the front. Anyway, the sides got their longerons and verticals.

I tapered the rear ends of fuselage halves (Step No. 4) next, then went to Step No.2. Though Step Nos, 2 and 8 in the instructions suggest cutting Bulkhead Nos. 1, 2 and 3 to the desired width, the plans advise the builder to add material to these bulkheads if larger servos than those shown are to be used. Contradictory, but no loss, as I was building a stock model per the plans. I had to omit Step No.5, mounting the radio..."

Update 7/3/2023: Added hand-traced parts, thanks to BenjaminJolly.

Quote: "I scored a NOS kit of this model in the hobby store last weekend. I enjoyed reading about it on the website and saw the plans on the website too, I have built a couple other sailplanes from OZ too. Here is a scan of tracings of the ribs and die cut parts. Thanks,"

Supplementary file notes

Kit review.
Parts tracing.

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