R-1 Chambermaid (oz7515)

About this Plan

R1 Chambermaid. Rubber scale model racer.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 29/6/2024: Added article, thanks to julio see his post on HPA at https://www.hippocketaeronautics.com/hpa_plans/details.php?image_id=13284

Quote: "THE Connecticut Flying Aces Club, originators of the P-Nut Scale, can also be credited with starting a raceplane movement which has been gaining in popularity over the last few years. The raceplane events are divided into three categories, the Shell Speed Dash, the Greve, and Thompson Trophy Races. The Shell Race is strictly an endurance event but models competing in the Greve and Thompson are mass launched and fly against each other instead of a stop watch. Repeated heats are flown with the first model down eliminated each time until finally only the winner remains.

There is no static scoring but the models must be reasonably accurate replicas of actual aircraft that were flown in, or designed for, the pre-WW II Thompson or Greve races. High-wing monoplanes are not allowed and wing span is limited to 24 inches. Models of racers which had retractable landing gear can be built with wheels in the retracted position. A complete set of rules for these raceplane events appeared in the 3/77 issue of Model Builder magazine.

My interest in this fascinating scale category was aroused early in 1976 and I began giving a lot of thought to what type of model would be most competitive. Since high-wing planes were out, the next best bet seemed to be a shoulder-wing job with a low thrust line. Mr Smoothie, an obscure racer designed for the 1938 Thompson Trophy Race, seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I obtained a set of plans for a 24-in Smoothie from Art Hall, PO Box 485, Winter Park, Florida 32789 and finished the model in time for the Fall FAC Meet. Even though the craft came out quite heavy it placed third in the Shell and second in the Thompson. Mr Smoothie was stable under power and capable of flights of over a minute. What really impressed me were its excellent glide characteristics. Most of the other racers I had observed at the FAC meet, generally smaller low-wing types, practically fell out of the sky once the prop run was over. This convinced me that a large shoulder wing model was the way to go.

The following winter I built another simplified 24-in Smoothie, which was almost 1/2 ounce lighter than its predecessor. The performance ofthis model was startling and flights of 85-90 seconds were not unusual.

Dissatisfaction with the small wing area of the Smoothie led me on a search for an even better subject.

The Chambermaid, another 1938 shoulder-wing racer, appeared to have great potential. At the FAC meet I had seen a well detailed P-Nut version of this aircraft (racewings plan by Pres Bruning) fly very well. The Chambermaid has a long body and nose movement, plenty of wing area and a huge stab. Furthermore, the wing is mounted in such a position that the spars, leading and trailing edges can be joined within the fuselage and still have enough room underneath for the rubber motor. This adds a significant amount of strength with little addition of weight. My final, and equally important, reason for choosing the Chambermaid was that I found its streamlined, uncluttered appearance very pleasing. Experience has taught me that I cannot exert a sincere effort into building a model of an airplane which does not turn me on.

The use of opaque projector and a Hertz 3-view made it a simple matter to draw the outline of this aircraft to the desired size. This is a quick and easy way to make a plan with sufficient accuracy for FAC scale.

I finished the model a week prior to the Spring 1977 FAC meet. On its first test flight, with about 200 turns, Chambermaid climbed out in a nice right pattern and transitioned smoothly into a flat, slow glide in the same direction. The model displayed the same stable characteristics with 400 turns. On the third flight with 800 turns packed in I was shocked to the bird cork-screw up like a Wakefield and fly 00S in about 4 minutes. By some miracle, about an hour later, I retrieved the model approximately a mile downwind of where it was released. It had flown over a small forest, several communities and landed in the only open area in the vicinity. Needless to say, it was kept grounded until the contest, where it easily won the Shell and Greve Races and placed third in Scale.

During the morning of the meet, in still damp air, two flights were clocked at about 1:45 and another at 1:59.

The model wasn't flown again for a year until the Spring 1978 FAC meet where it again won the Shell and the Greve Races. During July 1978 it was entered in the FAC Nats which were held in Johnsville, PA. On the first day of the meet a 15-minute thermal flight earned Chambermaid second place in Scale.

Chambermaid's latest accomplishment was the winning of the Shell and Greve Races (during a rainstorm) at the October 1978 FAC bash. The competition encountered at the Connecticut meets is about the toughest to be found anywhere. Winning any kind of a rubber FF event in Yankee territory is never easy.

Construction of the model is straightforward with no unusual or difficult aspects. Choice of wood is paramount. Use the lightest contest balsa you can find for the fuselage formers, nose block, wing ribs, wing tips and all the rudder and stabilizer parts. The rest of the components are constructed from slightly firmer wood, with the exception of the fuselage longerons which are hard balsa.

The fuselage has flat sides which makes for easy assembly. Once assembled, the sides can be joined in a box-like fashion using 1/16 crosspieces..."

Supplementary file notes

Article.

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