Silent Knight (oz8344)

About this Plan

Silent Knight. Radio control sailplane model.

Quote: "85 inch sailplane, for R/C. Silent Knight, by Dave Hughes

THAT slope-soaring is still a 'minority interest' is, I am sure, due to the relalively small number of known soaring sites, and the fact that not every would-be enthusiast is keen to travel perhaps fifty miles for an afternoon's pleasure flying.

Silent Knight, therefore, was designed to bridge the gap between the power-model and the our and out slope-soarer, in that it can be tow launched on your local flying ground. This will enable you to get the feel of R/C gliding and, who knows, maybe make you think that 100 mile round trip to the nearest soaring site may be worth white after all!

Tow launch: What a joy it is to be able to make directional corrections whilst the model is being towed up! ln a light breeze, you can hover her overhead, or zig-zag up wind to 'feel out' patches of lift. Spot landings too, can be great fun: you get more time to judge the approach on the one hand, but on the other, you find unexpected patches of lift on the way - which makes it all the more interesting - the glider being so much more sensitive to it than a power job.

Slope-soaring: Of course, to serve this dual purpose, Silent Knight has to be fairly lightly loaded, (the original is 11.2 oz per sq ft) and this means that it is not capable of real 'ridge soaring' in a high wind, as are the more specialised and highly loaded pure soarers. It does mean, however, that one can get many hours of wonderful, relaxed 'lift-sniffing' in marginal lift conditions, while the more heavily loaded boys are sitting around waiting for the breeze to stiffen.

Construction: Although large, Silent Knight has been kept simple and unsophisticated, with plenty of room inside for the 'works.' Even so, she looks quite elegant in the air.

Fuselage: The length of this unit necessitates the scarf jointing of the 1/8 sheet sides, reinforced with 1/16 ply doublers as shown on the plan. The nose portions of the sheet sides and bottom are best steamed to take the required curves prior to assembly. Note that the sheet top and bottom have the grain running lenthways - not the usual crossways. After the 3/16 square longerons and spacers have been cemented to the sheet parts, assemble the left-band side to the bottom, with the formers.

Now you can install the escapement, pushrod and all the wiring. The escapement used on the original is a modified 'Commander,' The simple wire yoke gives very satisfactory push/pull action but, of course, there is now a push/pull version of the Commander' available which, although it takes up a little more room, obviates the need for 'building in'' your escapement. Or, of course, you may prefer an electric servo..."

Quote: "Hi Steve, attached plan scanned & resized from Model Aircraft mag, also presentation article. It's a model I've long wanted to build myself but have never found the time & don't look likely to for a long time yet - if ever. Hope you can use the scans."

Note this is a low resolution plan.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

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