atesus

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Hello all,

I built this biplane about 20 years ago from plans. The plans are long lost, and I have no other information on the plane. It looks very much like Joe Wagner's Dakota, except for the tail surfaces where my model has more rounded angles. The wingspan is around 30" and the plans were for 2-channel RC with .049 power.


Any ideas about this plane's identity? Your help is much appreciated.

The original sheet wings sustained a lot of damage over the years, so I'm now giving it built-up wings from Northwest Dakota plans and converting it to electric power.

atesus

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I believe I found it! It looks like it's Osprey, another fine Joe Wagner design... Many thanks to all who took a look.

... from RC Store web site

Osprey
Description:This 1/2A all-balsa cabin biplane is easy to build but incorporates unique design features such as easy-to-duplicate, molded balsa wings and a slide-in radio and engine tray that provides easy access to all equipment. Wing loading is perfect for slow,
Additional Information: relaxed flying. This Joe Wagner design is a sure hit for small fields. WS: 30 in.; L: 26 in.; engine: .049; 2 channels; 1 sheet.
Difficulty Level:
Item Number: FSP03881 X03881
$14.95

tri-pacer

Atesus,

I've got the plans scanned here someplace, with the construction article: I just need to find them. Anyway, if I remember, the wings are "Steamed" to shape over molds, and don't have ribs like the Dakotas did. Meanwhile, I'll try to post the plans.

Chuck

Ok, found the Plan: The hand drawn version by Joe himself. The second file contains notes, some hand written by the man himself. I believe I got these from sombody on this fourm, several years ago, that flys with Joe. Is Joe still alive? Anyway the notes are interesting and there are mods included for the Dakota as well; Enjoy!

atesus

My Feedback: (1)

Chuck,

This is very nice of you to find and provide the plans, thank you. There's surprisingly little information online on this neat design. I found a build thread on rcgroups, which contained some mods to Osprey that Joe Wagner himself suggested and some of those also appear in the article that you attached. Iwill copy those mods below so if somebody wants to build this model they can have everything together.

Joe Wagner still writes The Engine Shop column in the AMA 's Model Aviation magazine.

Atesus

Osprey build thread:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=901894

Osprey mods suggested by Joe Wagner (taken from the above link). In addition to the mods below, he also mentions that he increased the span of the upper wing to 36"(up from 30")

"Here's how I modified my prototype Osprey's airfoil.

1. Trim off the radiused part of the wing leading edges. ( I did
that with a balsa stripper. )

2. On the underside of the airfoil add a length of 1/4" X 1" tapered
trailing edge stock, thick side forward & flush with the newly-
squared-off wing leading edge.

3. When the glue dries, sand the resulting thick front edges straight
and flat; then add a length of hard 1/8" (or 3/16") X 3/8" balsa
to the thick front edges.

4. Draw a line on the front side of each new L.E., halfway between
its top and bottom. This line becomes the new centerline of the
leading edge radius. In other words, you'll now shape a thicker
radius on the front of the Osprey's wings, with that straight line
as its mid-line.

This re-shaping should be gradual, and remove a smidgen of material
from both the wing sheeting on top and the frontward edge of the
tapered trailing edge. You want to achieve a smoothly-contoured
new airfoil on all four wings. The "mid-line" mentioned above
makes sure that you don't re-shape the airfoils differently,
thus producing different incidence angles between the wings.

5. And speaking of incidence angles! Making this change increases
the Osprey's effective incidence by close to 1 1/2 degrees. That
of course results in increased decalage of the same amount.

I recommend re-positioning the stabilizer centerline at 1 1/2
degrees more positive. But the model flies OK without that
change it's just more stable in the glide. One other effect
is that increases in power cause more of a nose-up tendency,
and power reduction will make the Osprey nose down....

6. Come to think of it, with .09 power (or its e-power equivalent)
it might be advantageous to alter the Osprey's stabilizer incidence
even more. You could add 2 or even 2 1/2 degrees more positive
stabilizer incidence, move the CG back about half an inch, and
achieve a noticeable increase in maneuverability."

g-rock

My Feedback: (1)

Tri Pacer,
I downloaded the two PDF files and then noticed that the lower left corner of the main drawing is missing information. I have attached a pdf file of the lower left corner. Could you please fill in the missing information. I made an attempt and may have made some mistakes, if so please correct. Thank you.
Gene

tri-pacer

Gene,

I would if I could, but thats how I recieved the plans. I'm pretty sure I got them from someone on one of these fourms. I'll see if I can find out who and contact them for the info. I see your redrawing it....So far it looks nice!

chuck

g-rock

My Feedback: (1)

Chuck,

I just happen to have software that helps me align it, clean it up, and then add a boarder. The software for aligning and cleaning is SV ScanRaster. I don't think that it is still available, it was quite expensive but about the best software investment that I ever made.

Thank you for the update and hopefully you will be successful in finding the missing information.

Gene

g-rock

My Feedback: (1)

Chuck (Tri Pacer)
Brian (av8rsodt) was able to supply the missing information. I just received permission from Joe Wagner so it is OK to post.
Thanks for all of your help in restoring this excellent drawing. Joe sure has talent!
Gene

gene6029

Guys, i was looking at the Osprey plans and saw that an internal tank was feeding the external tank attached to the motor. I have never given that a thought, & in the past i just did one or the other. That opens up some possibilities for me since the bulk of my motors all have the tank attached to the motor & i have had to live with short run times. I love this site!!!.....Gene

build light

Gene, a number of enterprising individuals have done this and have often gone unnoticed for their efforts with the Cox engines for example.
Actually the primary tank is bypassed entirely by drilling a hole in the tank and slipping the secondary fuel line onto the fuel nipple inside the backplate. The picture below is a Pee Wee .020 Now you can use a tank much larger!

Robert

gene6029

Robert, ya know, i have seen motors for sale & saw the holes in the tanks & wondered why someone would drill a hole in the tank. Once again, i have learned something new. Thanks for takeing the time to pass that along......Gene

atesus

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I'm finally done with the rebuild. I gave my 21 yr old model AKA "Lady Sunflower" built-up wings with flat-bottom airfoil, I enlarged the upper wing to 36" and the lower wing to 31". Too bad I couldn't come up with a good way of incorporating the wing struts with the rubber-band mounting and all... And I converted it to electric. Although technically not an original Osprey, I believe it still maintains Osprey's charm. Maiden flight to follow.

gene6029

Nice work...Gene

Thomas B

My Feedback: (4)

A very nice restoration of that old Osprey model.

Speaking of Joe Wagner, I see him most every year at the SMALL Steps events in Little Rock, AR, including the one three weeks ago. He always smiles when it sees my old Dumas Dakota kit converted to electric R/C....