Plan Built Sports Models

[kc]

Wight Crusader 

[kc]

The Wight Crusader was a Keith Humber design from Radio Modeller November  1988.

52 inch span and a free pull out plan.    Big thick wing section gives forgiving flight  characteristics.

I built the model and had many really good flights.  The plan was once in the MyHobbyStores plan range but seemed to have disappeared from the Sarik range.  However it turned up recently on Aerofred who even nicked my photo of my model to illustrate the plan!

It's a plan worthy of consideration if you want a traditional balsa and ply plane for a .40 two stroke.

Edited March 8, 2021 by kc

[Ron Gray]

Good looking model that KC.

[Danny Fenton]

Almost a tail-dragging Tipsey Nipper....

[Graham Davies 3]

I love Keith Humber's designs. I have a Wight Wizard in the loft that is getting on for 30 years old. More recently I returned to the hobby with another one, but electric. It has been flown to death in the last year, and I love it!

[Nigel R]

anything by Dereck Woodward, e.g. Little Special

 

[Nigel R]

Anything by Pete Miller (and there are a lot to choose from here!) e.g. Tequila Sunrise

 

[Nigel R]

Didn't mean to pick two pylon racer lookalikes!

 

Mike Delacole's Rival is a great hack model, better than the Wot 4 IMO:

 

[kc]

Well Nigel beat me by 9 minutes - I was just going to suggest  Rival  as a worthwhile design.  The plan and article are here on Outerzone.    I have not built one but it's high on my list of possible builds.   It's .40 size but there is also a larger 60 size version called Big Easy and that's on Outerzone too.

Edited March 9, 2021 by kc

[David Davis]

How about the DB Sport & Scale Skyrider?

 

https://www.dbsportandscale.com/skyrider-7793-p.asp

Edited March 9, 2021 by David Davis

[kc]

Keith Humber's Wight Wizard and also the earlier version Wight Witch are on Outerzone too.   Also Little Special.    These were all Radio Modeller designs from it's heyday when it had free plans in most issues.

[Nick Cripps]

Another vote for the Rival from me.

It made a great first waterplane and got me hooked on this fascinating branch of the hobby.

[Nigel R]

Sierra Sportster. Another free RM plan for ~0.25 motors, Sarik sell reprints.

 

 

Top wing permanently retained on a 1/4" ply central cabane - very simple.

Edited March 10, 2021 by Nigel R

[Geoff S]

I've enjoyed the few flights I managed last year with my lockdown Das Liddle Stik.  It's a very quick build from an Aerofred free plan.  No dihedral and a 1.2 metre ws means the wing can be built in one piece. 

 

 

Geoff

[kc]

Maricardo is a model somewhat similar to the Wight Crusader but slightly larger.   Worth considering in the updated version published much later as a free RCME plan.   The later article is available on the RCME Home page  - click on Plans and scroll down until you find it and click on the link- while the original plan is on Outerzone together with the original article.

That RCME Plans section contains the build articles on many RCME plans of a few years back, worth looking through if you want inspiration.

Edited March 12, 2021 by kc

[kc]

Another lesser known model that deserves a mention is the Basic 3D by Mike Keay.   The version a clubmate built looked like an equal to a Wot4 - very few models are, but this one was! - so worth considering.  Its 58 inch span or the version without wingtips 52 inch span.   The magazine article is here.

[kc]

One very little known model that deserves consideration is  Agujon 5.

This plan was published in RC Modeler ( USA) in the 1980's.   I scaled up the plan from the A4 size magazine plan using a ruler and pencil then hand cut a foam wing.  The only way in the days before cheap scanners and printers.  You can get the plan from Outerzone now.

A great model that did 121 flights for me.    My comments in my log were  " easier to fly than I expected and easier to land than the Wot4 "    So a very good first low wing model for me.    I strongly recommend it now as a good flier and a bit unusual at the flight line.

Edited March 18, 2021 by kc

[Nigel R]

A number of the old style pattern models make excellent sport flyers, and some of the late 80s - early 90s designs are very straightforward builds, make good alternative choices to Loaded Dice & Chilli Wind...

 

Rocket

 

 

 

Gitano

 

 

 

Supra Star

 

Well, a clone of it, anyway.

 

 

 

[kc]

At 56 inch span the Agujon is a fair bit smaller that many pattern models.   Therefore it flew well on an OS 40FP - quite modest power.  Although it looks like a low winger the wing is actually fairly close to the thrustline and the wing section is fairly thick and rather blunt.   All these things give it docile yet aerobatic qualities.  

[Frank Skilbeck]

RM Aerobat, I wonder how many of those were built, mine was great until the elevator pushrod failed. 

[Delks]

On 09/03/2021 at 10:16, Nigel R said:

Didn't mean to pick two pylon racer lookalikes!

 

Mike Delacole's Rival is a great hack model, better than the Wot 4 IMO:

 

Thanks for the kind words Nigel - cheque's in the post! There so many excellent sports designs knocking around and the number is increasing daily! Back in the 1970's the Kamco Kadet was a very popular trainer and was also an excellent all-round sports model. It was lightweight, very agile and with a .40 up front it had great aerobatic potential. David Boddington's Skyrider was also an excellent everyday flyerl but came in a bit heavier than the Kadet. Around that time an American modeller called Dean Swift was coming out with some small and very lightweight designs and his plans were being published by Model Airplane News. One evening in the early 80's I was thumbing through a back issue of MAN when I came across the King Foo. This was an ultra simple, very lightweight design for .15 glow motors. The article accompanying the plans was written in a very enthusiast style and it would have been hard not to delve a little deeper. This was the inspiration for my Quick Flash 20 design which was to be kitted by Ben Buckle. The aim was to make an ultra simple model that would provide a lot fun with a .20 on the front. The parts count for the kit was very low and due to the "straight-line" nature of the design it was quick and easy to build accurately. Ben placed ads in the mags etc and the big day came for the "launch" - it was all very exciting as anyone who has been involved in kit production will tell you what a relief it is to reach that stage. You could have knocked me over with a feather therefore when I learnt that the project had to be abandoned because Chris Foss had put the word out that I copied his Wot 4. I would agree that both designs have the wing mounted above the thrust line and both are tail draggers (like so many models before them) but after that they shared nothing in common. It was a pity because a lot of time and energy had gone into the project and model shop customers were denied the opportunity to try something a little different. There was also a Quick Flash 40 in the pipeline and the prototype of that alsoflew very well. So it was back to the drawing board and the first Rival was powered by an OS FP.40 and wing span was 48" - the same as the Quick Flash 20. The Rival for the RCM&E plan was around 55" span and was powered with a Rossi 40 - this motor was a really solid piece of engineering and also very powerful . The 48" Rival would make a nice little electric powered model as would it's larger stablemate. They both feature built up wings and simple all sheet construction and come out at a good weight.   

[Nigel R]

No worries, credit where it is due ?

 

 

13 minutes ago, Delks said:

had to be abandoned because Chris Foss had put the word out that I copied his Wot 4

 

Be interesting to know in what way he could actually have done anything about that allegation. Your design looks to be a different shape, size, construction and name.

 

Anyway, I thought he copied the Ugly Stik...

 

[Andy Stephenson]

There was a kit called the Rara Avis (spelling?), the advert in the model press mentioned something like how it performed better than the Wot4 which we understand sent Chris Foss after the manufacturer to retract that statement. There are other instances but I'm not going into them here as they are hearsay.

 

 

[Nigel R]

On 18/03/2021 at 18:28, Frank Skilbeck said:

RM Aerobat, I wonder how many of those were built, mine was great until the elevator pushrod failed. 

 

I built one a couple of years ago - it is a good flier, looks very like a mini Maricardo:

 

 

I slightly modified the tail group shape and moved the tailplane up to fuselage top. I didn't rate many of the construction details of the original that highly I'm afraid - not Boddington's best. I think the Maricardo itself is better engineered.

 

Before that I built the companion design, the RM Trainer. It's a Super 60 in different clothes, give or take:

 

 

Can shoot touch and goes with that all day, without going above 30 ft, great fun. Can't really find fault with this design, it's a good one.

 

[Nigel R]

Rara Avis:

 

I built one years back. Piped 46. Made the fatal mistake of putting micro servos on the ailerons. First flight was great fun, as it had absurd power-weight ratio.

 

There was a loud buzz on the second flight, then the ailerons detached, and an projectile like rekitting followed...