Lark (oz828)

About this Plan

Lark. Control line flap-winged stunter design.

Quote: "Created by one of top men in stunt, this design is a world beater. Development took years. Takes up to .35

The Lark (before Studebaker's little car) was designed to out perform any competition it might encounter. The Lark comes from a long line of stunt ships. Its family album dates back to the ignition days. There are two ships that play the major part in the development of the Lark.

The first was the Cardinal; a ship that followed standard dimensons with a thick wing (20% chord). The Cardinal did well the season it was flown in competition by winning both state championships in which it was entered. It was a very easy ship to fly and would fly round maneuvers exceptionally smooth. It was seldom necessary to correct the height or shape of round maneuvers, but when we did find it necessary, it was difficult to get the exact amount of control we desired. On the square maneuvers, it was smooth and easy. It would give any competition a rough time. The rules call for a 5-foot radius on square maneuvers. The Cardinal, like all of its competitors, could not accomplish this on every maneuver; so we were dissatisfied.

The next design featured an extra long tail moment and increased control surfaces, larger stabilizer, increased taper in the leading edge and a thinner airfoil (12% chord). This design was much more desirable to fly, although I don't believe it would score any more points than the Cardinal because it had lost a desirable quality - the ability to smooth out round maneuvers. The new design did have many new qualities that were welcome. It would take correction easily, it could put a 5-foot radius on triangles and hour-glasses without bounce and we even found it possible to fly a 10-foot square loop, although the ship almost stopped while doing this.

The logical answer was to cross the two airplanes. This was done, but I must con-fess being worried about ending up with a ship that possessed the bad qualities and none of the good ones. After many test flights, the desired qualities were proved. The Lark would groove very well, round out maneuvers, take correction when necessary and put a 5-foot radius on any maneuver without bounce (with practice.) It will do 10-foot squares and triangles, if you can move your wrists fast enough. On 70-foot lines the Lark will stay out on overhead 8's with the motor running rich..."

Update 03/10/2016: Replaced this plan with a clearer copy at 400dpi, thanks to JJ.

Update 06/10/2016: article pages, text & pics added, thanks to RFJ.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, text & pics.

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