Dragonette (oz9815)

 

Dragonette (oz9815) by EF Bryant 1965 - plan thumbnail

About this Plan

Dragonette. Unorthodox biplane design, for either free flight or single channel RC. Suitable for engines of .75 to 1cc.

Quote: "THE original model of this type, called 'Dragon Fly', was inspired by the sight of one of these magnificent insects gliding silently and effortlessly over the still waters of a canal one hot, dry summer afternoon. The author, who was supposed to be fishing, was so impressed by this performance that he determined to try to reproduce it in model form. Accordingly, the largest dragon fly to be found was sacrificed to the cause, pinned to the drawing board, and scaled up as accurately as possible.

Nature's perfection having been suitably modified, the result was a model of some 42 inches span, which although almost impossible to build, flew extremely well and realistically. Powered by a worn out Taifun Hobby of .98 cc capacity, the model flew regularly on calm evenings over the Wiltshire countryside, attracting much attention and, on one occasion, raising the local unorthodox record by some 2 or 3 minutes. After completing well over 40 hours, it was finally broken up when its owner was posted overseas.

The next model in the series was much smaller and the fuselage much modified to make construction easier, and to facilitate the installation of radio gear. Built and flown in Aden, it was a diminutive 22 inches span, powered by a new ED Baby .46 cc, and controlled by a C&S 501 receiver and an OS lightweight escapement. Over the desert sands it was found that the wing load-ing proved too high and this particular model was difficult to fly. It did, however, show that the type could be made suitable for rudder only radio control, before eventually meeting its fate in the shape of a very solid goalpost on the sports ground of Steamer Point... "

Dragonette, Aeromodeller Annual, 1965/66.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Supplementary file notes

Article pages, thanks to RFJ.

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Dragonette (oz9815) by EF Bryant 1965 - model pic

Datafile:
  • (oz9815)
    Dragonette
    by EF Bryant
    from Aeromodeller Annual
    1965 
    40in span
    F/F
    clean :)
    all formers complete :)
    got article :)
  • Submitted: 15/02/2018
    Filesize: 767KB
    Format: • PDFbitmap
    Credit*: Circlip, RFJ
    Downloads: 675

Dragonette (oz9815) by EF Bryant 1965 - pic 003.jpg
003.jpg

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User comments

I built this around 1968 - I was 14 at the time and I recall is was an amazing looking model. I flew it free-flight and remember chasing after it many times. Also remember it was pretty strong and finding it in a yard near the field that had articulated lorry tractors stored. The dragonette was sitting undamaged in front of one of them - it's windscreen was gone and there was still the sound of falling glass pieces!! Loved it!!!
Tony - 26/06/2024
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Notes

* Credit field

The Credit field in the Outerzone database is designed to recognise and credit the hard work done in scanning and digitally cleaning these vintage and old timer model aircraft plans to get them into a usable format. Currently, it is also used to credit people simply for uploading the plan to a forum on the internet. Which is not quite the same thing. This will change soon. Probably.

Scaling

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