Swarm of Bees (oz8011)

About this Plan

Swarm of Bees. Collection of 4 simple beginner's models, by Mark Bee.

Quote: "Four delightful little models designed by Mark Bee.

When asked by John Stroud to write a piece on the four models we have here, it must be said that out of all my designs, four more varied models could not have been chosen. From the ultra-simple 'Bee' chuck glider and practical sport 'Wren' for rubber power or CO2, to the indoor fun model of 'Bumble Bipe' and 'Backward Bee', as you see a very mixed bag.

As anyone who knows me will tell you my designs may not be hi-tech or highly competitive, but they are easy to build and fly which has made them popular with the people who have tried them. Anyway, less of me chattering and to the building. The plans are largely self-explanatory, so I will not bore you with sticking Part A to Part B instructions, instead I will give you some useful notes on each of the designs.

The Bee (chuck glider): Designed primarily as a first model its simple design needs no explanation to the experienced builder, but a few pointers to the less experienced may be of some help.

Firstly the fuselage needs to be of balsa which is hard and rigid, this is essential to prolong the life of this model through the many varied arrivals to earth this type of model will encounter in the hands of the newcomer. It is also very important that the tail is set at the correct angle on the fuselage bottom, so carefully cutting out of parts will pay dividends.

When gluing the parts together make abso-lutely sure the finished model wings and tail surfaces line up as on plan when viewed from the front, and that the Bee balances at the point shown. This will make the flight trimming of the model much easier. Once the Bee has been trimmed satisfactorily a small notch may be made one inch from the nose and this will enable this model to be catapulted with the aid of a rubber band enlarging the performance of this model.

The Wren: This model, though simple in essence, needs careful selection of wood and accurate construction. Attention to these details will pay dividends in flight performance. The wings must be made from light but rigid balsa, and it is advisable that both wing panels be cut from the same sheet of wood. As with all sheet balsa surfaces they may be decorated with strips of coloured tissues as the picture shows and given one coat of dope with sanding to finish.

The fuselage is built and covered in the traditional way and should pose no problems. The wren is one of my favourite designs, and you can always find me with one tucked away in the boot of my car. The rubber powered model I find flies best right, but the CO2 version flies better left. Don't forget to put your name and address on this model as I have lost one out-of-sight.

Backward Bee: This is the one for everybody who likes to fly backwards. There is not much to be said about it except the motor stick must be made from rigid, hard balsa, and care must be taken when butt jointing the foreplane. I have found an outline of cotton glued round the edge of the foreplane will increase the strength (knock-ability) substantially. When assembling this model, it is advisable not to glue the foreplane assembly on too well as it may be necessary to remove to alter the pitch trim. The wing may be covered with any light material, but on no account try and shrink the covering on the wing as this will cause catastrophic warps.

This model flies left or right and any ten-dency to rolling into the circle can be coun-tered by warping the trailing edge of the wing which drops down (wash in). Make the wing damp and let it dry using weights or packing
pieces to twist the wing. Try a very small amount first of about 1/16 in at the tips.

Bumble Bipe: For out-of-the-rut indoor sports flying this is a must. With its wide speed range through its flight (fast take off and climb, to a very slow cruise and descent) it is always a crowd pleaser.

Construction of this model is reasonably straight forward and should hold no problem to anyone who has built a model before.

I would however, suggest that all rib and 1/ 16 sq balsa be made from rigid and strong stock. You will also find that covering the main flying surface is better done before final assembly. I have found the best covering for this model is the plastic sandwich bag! This method was discovered by myself and necessitates acquiring light sandwich bags. The best and cheapest I have found are from our local Superdrug. Cut the bags to convenient sizes, screw these pieces up into a ball then flatten out, this gives a very light, strong and flexible covering material which can be attached to the air frame by spraying the frame with photo mount spray or white glue.

The power for this model is a fourteen inch length of 1/8 flat rubber. I have found that the model turns best left, but this Models' flight characteristics are so gentle that any experi-ments can be carried out safely! Lots of fun too. Also note that the wing is only a push fit into the paper tubes. This should be used to alter the pitch trim of the model by moving the front post up or down."

Quote: "Hi Mary and Steve, Please find attached the article, free plan and photographs for four little free flight models which appeared in the December 1991 issue of Aero Modeller. The models included in the plan are:

1. The Bee, a 12 in chuck glider.
2. The 21 in Wren in two versions (CO2 and rubber motors).
3. The Backward Bee, a 10 in rubber motor canard.
4. The Bumble Bipe, a 14 in rubber motor biplane and the only indoors model of the four.

You'll have to excuse the low quality of the article, it was scanned in the cheap second hand scanner I had years back, before giving the magazine away to a friend. The plan was kept in my archive, though. Well, I hope you'll find them interesting enough to be included in Outerzone. Best regards,"

Direct submission to Outerzone.

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