Nimbus 2 (oz9580)

About this Plan

Nimbus 2. Radio control pattern plane.

Quote: "The Nimbus represents a somewhat different approach to radio control Multi class aircraft design than some of the other more popular competition ships. My basic ground rules at the time I began planning went something like this: First I needed a ship that would compete in contest work with Ed Kazmirski's Orion (oz927). Second it would have to be sufficiently different so as to minimize the number of "is that a modified Orion" queries. With these fundamental principles and a few of my pet theories, tastes and building practices Nimbus began to take form.

Since relayless equipment seemed unproven and far away in August 1960 the logical approach was to set her up for relay equipment. The installation indicated a ship of about 700 square inches to keep wing loadings around 22 to 23 oz/sq ft. I might mention here that I prefer to fly at slightly higher wing loadings than generally used. I've found it easier to fly smoothly in windy weather. Maneuvers as well as landing approaches seem to be steadier in spite of the gusts.

To further insure smoothness of all maneuvers a larger than normal coupling was established. To improve steadiness of landing approach the percent of wing taper was increased over that of the Orion. The theory here being that a rolling moment caused by gusts producing air velocity across or against one wing panel, different than on the other, is proportional to each unit of area times its distance from the roll axis. Since a 'board' wing has many unit areas at a great distance from the roll axis, as compared to a tapered wing that has fewer unit areas at the same distance, the total rolling force value is less.

After observing Bob Dunham's demonstration of near flawless flying at the 1960 Great Lakes Invitational Meet, trike landing gear was a must. Having used a swept-back rudder hinge centerline for several years, because of the added elevator effect it has on spins and spirals, I tossed this in as a feature worth while..."

Nimbus, American Modeler, June 1962.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

Corrections?

Did we get something wrong with these details about this plan (especially the datafile)? That happens sometimes. You can help us fix it.
Add a correction