Stinson SR5-E Reliant N (oz7942)

About this Plan

Stinson SR5-E Reliant N. Radio control scale model. A 1/8 scale model of a Golden Age classic for .25 - .32 2-stroke power. Subject is the full-size aircraft N14187, restored by Tom Laurie and winner of 1984 Grand Champion Antique award at Oshkosh.

Quote: "A 1/8 Scale Model Of A Golden Age Classic - For .25-.32 2-Stroke Power. Stinson SR5-E Reliant N by Ron Peterka.

I never met Tom Laurie, he died a few years ago, but I know and respect his abilities. A lifelong modeler since the thirties, several of his free-flight designs were printed in the Frank Zaic Yearbooks, but his most outstanding project, in my eyes, is his restoration of N14187, a full scale Stinson SR5-E Reliant airplane.

Even though Tom never managed to get a pilot's license, he persevered as a labor of love. When it was finished, Tom had to get a qualified pilot to fly it. He spent ten long years restoring this classic 'straight wing' Stinson to such a high degree of perfection that it was awarded '1984 Grand Champion Antique' at the prestigious EAA Convention at Oshkosh against some of the finest antique aircraft over presented for competition.

This beautiful aircraft had been on display at the Gillespie Field
hangar of the San Diego Aerospace Museum in San Diego, California, untill recently when it was sold to a private owner. Excellent 3-views and photo paks are available from Bob Barka.

The SR8 through SR1O 'Gull Wing' Stinsom: are perhaps better known, but the SR5-E is a pretty design and a little easier to model with the constant chord wings compared to the highly tapered wings of the SR-8 or SR-10.

This 1/8 scale model is a highly detailed model of Tom's Stinson, with measurements from the real craft taken to document almost every visible feature. Wing rib spacing is scale. Wing flaps, called 'speed arresters' by Stinson, were an optional feature in 1934 and are installed on N14187. It was common in those days for each airframe to be highly customized to meet the customer's requests.

Construction. If you decide to build this model, be advised that it is a somewhat complicated effort, not at all a beginner's model, and will require some ingenuity in some areas. Any modeler who has built from plans should enjoy the challenge of this project. Please use these plans as a suggestion for one way to build the model, and feel free to change materials and detail design to suit yourself and your skills.

At this time few applicable commercially manufactured parts are available. Fiberglass Master Inc offers a 5-1/2 in diameter Waco SRE cowl and they offer wheel pants that may fit for you. l enjoy the challenge of making my own pieces, so I built composite epoxy/glass cowl and wheel pants using foam for patterns, covering them with three layers of 3 oz. satin weave fiberglass cloth and using E-Z Lam epoxt resin to form a hard shell; same thing for the upper windshield and forward cockpit area..."

Supplementary file notes

Article thanks to hlsat, JHatton.

Corrections?

Did we get something wrong with these details about this plan (especially the datafile)? That happens sometimes. You can help us fix it.
Add a correction