Flying Saucer (oz9528)

About this Plan

Flying Saucer. Free flight 1/2A unorthodox sport model.

Quote: "Build your own Flying Saucer. By Roy L Clough Jr.

She flies through the air with the greatest of ease, transition from powered flight to glide is smooth, the glide itself is slow and the letdown gentle. It is spin-proof and one of the most stall resistant models ever built, yet when forced into a stall it recovers cleanly without the violent oscillations usually associated with 'tail-less' types.

It has been observed many times to climb steadily at a 45 deg. angle into a stiff breeze, yet it may be trimmed for straightaway speed dashes at a surprising clip with the little Infant power plant.

We can hear the free flight fans: How can that thing possibly fly? It has nothing suggestive of dihedral- what keeps it from rolling over? Or, We've tried these generally-delta type models before - fine as long as a gust doesn't upset them, but everybody is familiar with the stall and endless dive characteristics produced by longitudinally disposed lifting surfaces. And how can you rig a thing like that to climb under power, yet still glide nicely - with a symmetrical section, yet!

This model has the answers. Behind it lie a dozen experimental saucer-deltas, both free flight and control line, several bent crankshafts and at least one broken crankcase.

Worries about surface warpage are a thing of the past; the model is one unit, you build it, you cover it, and there she is, all ready to go. Nothing to twist out of shape, nothing that must be assembled 'just so' every time it is to be flown. In addition to this the model is extremely difficult to smash up, and lastly, if it lands in a tree it will usually slip down through the branches to the ground without hanging up. That's not a strictly aeronautical consideration, to be sure, but a rather endearing characteristic to those who must do their flying near wooded areas..."

Direct submssion to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, (also includes good line drawings) thanks to rchopper56.

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