Vixen (oz9238)

About this Plan

Vixen. Radio control V-tail slope soarer. For aerobatics or pylon racing.

Quote: "A 65 in span Vee-tail slope soarer, for aerobatics or pylon racing. Vixen, by Pat Thody.

THIS MODEL was conceived while surveying the wreckage of my 74in span T-tail model. The following thoughts went through my mind - well, apart from the usual unprintable ones, that is: I wanted a lighter, smaller and therefore cheaper model, but it had to be fully aerobatic, and easy to build, with a rear-end not prone to damage.

Drag is always the big enemy for lighter models, and two methods of keeping drag to a minimum were decided upon. One was to use a slimmer fuselage and the other was to do away with the fin - which, on my T-tail models had been rather thick in order adequately to support the tailplane - and substitute a V-tail.

This latter ideal also helped in three other ways. First, no fin means less weight at the rear which, in turn, means less lead needed in the nose. Thirdly, the tail unit is kept well clear of the ground on landing. As an added bonus, the V-tail looks very pretty (to my eyes, anyway).

I therefore sat down and drew up the Vixen. The fuselage came out something like full-size types, for the same reasons - to cut down drag and concentrate the weight in the nose. Because of the slimness of the fuselage, fibreglass was used to strengthen the nose section, as this allows more room inside than would have been the case had fuselage doublers been used. The wing was the same 14 to 16 per cent progressive section that was successful on my previous model, but the span was reduced to 63 in.

I used a foam-core wing on the prototype, but mine are relatively heavy, and replicas with the built-up wings shown on the plan have come out appreciably lighter. (as a matter of interest, my original fuselage, complete with tic equipment etc, weighs 21-1/2 oz and the wing, with aileron servo, weighs 19 oz).

Cutting down the drag has really paid of on this model as it is very fast, for a comparatively light machine, and may be flown in a very wide range of wind speeds without resorting to ballasting.

Construction. Fuselage. The construction here is a little unusual as there are no doublers, and only one former is used. The sides are cut out from 1/8 in hard balsa sheet and the dowel holes drilled accurately in place. The nose block..."

Vixen, Radio Modeller, September 1971.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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