Wittman Tailwind (oz9309)

About this Plan

AJEP Wittman Tailwind. Radio control scale model, for .35 - .40 power. Scale is 1/5.

Quote: "I first spotted the AJEP Tailwind while browsing through some old model magazines, and was immediately taken by its unusual and attractive lines - and by the possibility of using it as the subject for a scale radio model. The fuselage is of slab-sided rectangular section, with a generous nose moment, and the cowling should be big enough to hide completely the average .35 or .40 engine and silencer. My first thought when I had completed the 1/5 scale drawings was that the wing area at 500sq in might be on the low side, so lightweight construction was going to be essential. To this end I used the Warren bracing type structure for the rear fuselage and in fact have kept the amount of sheeting to a minimum. My only departure from true scale, initially, was to use a one-piece wing with full span ailerons for simplicity, not incorporating the fully glazed roof. I endeavoured to keep the line - and hence airflow - as smooth as possible from the bottom of the windscreen over the centre-section to the roof, assuming this would act as an aerofoil, increasing the total lift. The model's first flight nearly ended in disaster when I discovered too late that the CG was much too far forward, and the single circuit was completed with heart in mouth and stick full back! Subsequent flights revealed the model to be rather unstable in pitch, however. Though I had hoped to be able to use a tailplane of scale size, I was thus proved wrong, and the problem was overcome by fitting the somewhat enlarged version shown on the plan. "

Wittman Tailwind, Radio Modeller, July 1977.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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