XJet

About 25 years ago when I was half my present age, I built a really nice little pattern ship with a TD051 in the nose. This was a rough copy of a design that was in one of the US magazines about that time.

From memory it was about 38-40" in span and looked very much like the .60-sized pattern ships of the day. It had a vertical balsa keel that ran from the canopy right back to the vertical stabilizer and was a low-wing design with no undercarriage (hand-launch, grass landings)

This was a truly amazing little ship that really grooved and could fly almost the entire pattern, hindered only by the lack of throttle on the little TD.

I'd love to build another of these with my Norvel 061 in the nose and much lighter RC gear it would be a blast.

Does anyone remember the design I'm thinking of?

If not I'll just have to build from memory, and at my age that's a dangerous thing to do :-)

And, on another subject, I'm just about to start my little 3D funfly based on the plans that were posted here a while back. Unfortunately I've seen nothing around here that is remotely like the CF tub used in that design :-(

I'm thinking of either making my own GF tube or just building it like a regular profile ship with some CF roving reinforcement strips top and bottom. What d'ya think?

LS171Malibu

My Feedback: (16)

Two come to mind... the Mach None and the Baby Birdy. Fortunately I have a Baby Birdy kit with the built up wing... but I'm gonna hold on to it. I seem to remember seeing one for sale last week though, so don't lose hope.

XJet

Mach None, that name rings a bell. I wonder where I'd find a picture or plans .

Big Al-RCU

XJet, here is a Mach None, (or I should say the remnants of one). It is my sons and has been sitting at my place collecting dust for years. (Actuallyit's in better shape than I thought). As I remember it was a real screamer with a TD051. Sounds like what you have described. It was an Ace foam wing kit. I think the wing cores are still available and I would bet my son still has the plans stashed away someplace. I will ask him this weekend, (we are planing to meet at the local flying field).
And speaking of memory, I am on thin ice there too. BTW when you were one half your age I was only four years younger than you are now. (grin)
Al Lenz

XJet

Brilliant -- I did some Googling and came up with this plan and article -- which isn't the Mach One but is the exact model I was looking for.

Many thanks!

skylane42

My Feedback: (53)

I think you are right, the Mach None and the Babie Birdie. I think Ace kitted the Mach None and the baby birdie was sold by Sureflite and Hobby Shack. You can find the Mach None or Pacer on ebay pretty regularly. I am also pretty sure that RCM sold plans for these planes as the 1/2A stuff was the rage for a short time in the mid-70`s (?)

Bipe Flyer

I scaled down a SIG Kougar to 28". It weighs 16oz and is powered with a Norvel AME .061 (Older ABC version). It's a lot of fun.

Unfortunately I didn't draw plans, but there's not much to it. I built it using ACE tapered mini foam wings, a lost foam fibreglass cowl and by taking a few measurements from my Kougar.

I've attached a drawing that I did for trying out colour schemes.

Lynn S

BF, That's a great looking little Kougar!


For those who don't mind a "stick" front end the "Joy Stick" (RCM plan # 594)
looks like a good larger size pattern plane. (38.5 inch wingspan)
I almost forgot I had the plans, a .074 would do great on this plane!
I flew a .61 version of this plane back in the 80s. The guy I sold it to still has it!

Strat2003

My Feedback: (1)

I had a Pacer and the description of the flight characteristics in the linked article are pretty acurate, as I remember it. At 22 ounces it was a little heavy for the power but modern radio equipment (I notice they used a 450 mah batterey) could save some of that weight. With micro servos on all four channels and something from Norvel up front it should be a blast!