Yardstick (oz9227)

 

Yardstick (oz9227) by Brian Faulkner 1953 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Yardstick. Lightweight rubber competition model.

Quote: "In July, 1952, the North Western Area decided to try out a new rubber model formula proposed by the Cheadle club. The important rule was that rubber weight should be limited to one third of the total flying weight of the model, and, surprisingly, perhaps, the idea took. ' Yardstick' is an example of the type of model evolved to take the most advantage of the specifications, and despite the restricted rubber weight, is capable of a regular near-three minutes on full turns.

The original model was first flown in November 1952 at Tilstock, and turned in something over the two-minute mark on average, in rain. This performance was ascribed to a slightly nose-down glide caused by a slightly too powerful tail, so a 25% tailplane was built to replace the original 33%. A much improved glide resulted, though with a tendency to spiral which was not really eliminated by rebuilding the tailplane with an undercambered section. As a last measure, the wing was moved 1-1/2 in and the incidences re-arranged, and presto! The trimming head-aches disappeared and flights of over 2-1/2 mins became regular.

From this it is apparent that Yardstick is a model that has had a considerable amount of development work put into it, and with the possibility of this restricted-rubber rule being adopted for several major contests, it is interesting to study the general features. The 28 in 8-strand motor is taut between the hooks, and takes 600 turns; the fuselage is extended aft of the rear rubber anchorage to gain additional tail moment, and a fine-pitch airscrew is used to make the most of the climb on the amount of rubber allowed. In common with most low-pitch props, folding is the best answer to glide drag. Lightweight construction, even though it reduces the permitted motor weight, pays off in the flight performance, and geodesy proves worthwhile in reducing surface twist. Like most lightweights, Yardstick uses a cabane-mounted wing..."

Quote: "From the October 1953 Aeromodeller. The Yardstick is a rubber contest design by Brian Faulkner. The rules for which the plane was designed included that the rubber was 1/3 of the total flying weight of the plane. It had a modicum of success with 2-1/2 minutes flying time being possible. It looks like a fairly simple build except for the geodetic wing ribs."

Note this plan is a 2-colour 600dpi bitmap PDF, reduced down from hogal's vector tracing. For the original hogal tracing (probably shows more detail) see supplementary file.

Supplementary file notes

Article.
PDFvector plan tracing (hogal).

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Yardstick (oz9227) by Brian Faulkner 1953 - model pic

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Download File(s):
  • Yardstick (oz9227)
  • Plan File Filesize: 491KB Filename: Yardstick_1953_oz9227.pdf
  • Supplement Filesize: 1395KB Filename: Yardstick_1953_oz9227_article.pdf
  • Supplement Filesize: 153KB Filename: Yardstick_1953_oz9227_vector.pdf
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Notes

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