Alley Kat (oz838)

About this Plan

Alley Kat. Radio control sport model. For .35 to .46 power.

Update 07/12/2020: Added kit review from RCM, December 1977, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "RCM Product Test: Southern RC Products, Alley Cat.

The Alley Kat is a sport pattern aircraft manufactured by Southern R/C Products Inc, of Pensacola, Florida. It was designed by Ed Keck.

The kit is of conventional balsa and plywood construction with a hardware pack that consists of a canopy, steerable nosegear, aileron linkages, wing hold-down mounts, screws and dowels, hinges, control horns, main gear and trunion blocks, devises, wing center section reinforcing material, and elevator joiner.

This kit features excellent plans. Also extreme care has been taken to select the highest quality of balsa with matching wood of equal weight and density used for the ailerons, fuselage sides, etc. The machine parts fit exceptionally well to corresponding parts as well as to the plans. Most bulkheads, doublers, etc are shown on the plans. There is also a complete materials list included with the instructions.

The only modifications we made was to add 1/16 in balsa vertical grain spar webs in the wing and to add a removable tank hatch on the bottom of the fuselage for easier access to the fuel tank.

After the aircraft was completed, the control surfaces were checked and then temporarily fitted in place using Klett hinges. With the control surfaces given a final fit, they were removed and the entire airframe was given a final sanding before covering. We used Super Kote by Hobby Lobby as covering material.

The fuselage and vertical fin were covered with a 'tomato soup' red with the wing and horizontal stabilizer covered in white. Red was used for the leading edge on the wing. Both an iron and a heat gun was used in covering. This material conforms very well to the contours and really sticks at the edges and seams. DJ's 1/4 in black and 1/16 in white striping tape were used for the final trim.

The canopy was trimmed to size and formed to match the contour of the fuselage where it is located. Before gluing the canopy in place, a piece of black adhesive shelf paper was cut to size and located under the canopy to serve as a base. The canopy was then glued in place using Goldberg Jet cyanoacrylate cement.

Next, the engine, muffler, fuel tank, and radio were all installed and the balanced checked. Approximately 2-1/2 ounces of weight was needed in the nose area to make it balance at the point shown on the plans.

With regards to flight performance, gound handling is excellent and on take-offs the model rolls about 25-30 yards and then goes up at a very fast rate. Our model required only slight trim correction on the first flights but we did add more rudder and elevator throw on subsequent flights.

The model is very responsive to the controls and performs all the basic maneuvers with ease. It performs very well at slow speeds and control response is still very effective. This makes landing a pleasure. Once on the ground, it has no ballooning ten-dency and sticks to the landing strip as if it were glued.

The K & B .40 with Perry carburetor provides plenty of power for this aircraft and really makes it move out at full throttle. The muffler used was a Slim Line Sport Scale II with dual pipes and a pressure take-off. In fitting the muffler to our aircraft we found it necessary to move the pressure take-off to a new location where it would not interfere with the fuselage. This muffler mounted easily and looked extremely neat on our model but was a bit loud for our flying field. A standard Slim Line muffler was later installed in our model and was found to be much quieter.

The Alley Kat is a pleasure to fly either as a sport stunt aircraft or as a contender for A and B Pattern events."

Update 14/07/2021: Added kit review from Flying Models, September 1977, thanks to RFJ.

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