Citabria Profile (oz9830)

About this Plan

Citabria Profile. Control line profile stunt model for .35 Enya power.

Quote: "Just a Profile, but easy to love. Good Stunting potential with this unusual high-winged Controline. For .29 to .40 engines.

High-wing controline stunters are rare. Stunters with dihedral in the wings are rare too. High wing stunters with dihedraled wings are rarer yet. High wing stunters with dihedraled wings that have leadouts exiting the wing tip (rather than several inches below the wing on exposed outriggers so they will be on the centerline of the airplane) are impossible and shouldn't even be tried; or so prevailing thought on controline design has indicated.

This high wing taboo has hurt controline design for years because a lot of our favourite full-size airplanes have been high winged and it's frustrating not to be able to model them. I remember one breakthrough of the taboo years ago by stunt pioneer Bob Palmer. It was called the Challenger and featured a moderate shoulder-wing layout., which was rather attractive. Not much came of it though, even though Bob saw many possibilities in it for stunt. Being an irreverent sort when it comes to hallowed model airplane traditions, your author wondered why the Citabria couldn't be made to fly stunts just fine and still look like a Citabria. After all, if one places the wing in the middle of a Citabria it looks funny and all the people inside fall out the hole in the top when it flies upside down.

The result is rather exciting. It looks right due to the dihedral and tall wing mount that the real one has too, and it has the wing leadouts inside the wing where they don't create lots of drag, look better and are easier to build. It also flies just fine. In fact, it flies just like any other good sport stunter, or better than most. The wings don't wobble; it doesn't do barrel rolls; and it doesn't go slack on the lines, as everyone predicted. Think of the possibilities this opens up. If the jaunty Citabria doesn't grab you, how about a Piper Cub or a Lockhead Vega? Keep the moments close to the Citabria, rake the leadouts back as shown, locate the center of gravity in about the same place, and your own design should fly fine.

If you like the Citabria enough to build it, I suggest wandering around local airports until you find one and use it as inspiration for the paint scheme. The Aeronca factory custom paints the Citabria ("Airbatic" spelled backwards) to the customer's order, so almost anything can turn up and it is guaranteed to be gaudy. The real ship is stressed to be fully aerobatic and has proven to be quite popular.

Construction is straightforward. The bal-sa used in the fuselage and tail surfaces should be firm but not rock hard, lest the finished model be tail-heavy. Otherwise, overall weight is not too critical because there is lots of wing area to keep things flying. Avoiding misalignment and warps is as important as it is with any other air-plane..."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

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