50%plane

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Is anyone familiar with the flying lawnmower and/or Snoopy's flying doghouse? Has anyone had one or both? What did you think? Where can I get plans?

Campy

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A gentleman at my field (he is an EXPERIENCED flyer ) has one of the original "Snoopy Flying Dog House" done from the early plans. It is powered by an OS 61.

From what he has said, it is a handful to fly, and if you lose power get the plastic bag out. I have seen him fly it once during an open house we had. There was about a 7 - 8 mph wind and he was having all kinds difficulty keeping it upright and flying where he wanted it to go.

From my observations it is a straight wing about 30" long and about 14" in length with moveable slat sides and a dog house roof about 14" - 16" above the main wing. The slat sides were the rudders and the elevator was housed between the dog house sides and attached to the main wing/floor. There were no ailerons on this - it was 3 channel. The front and back of the dog house were completely open with the engine mounted at the front of the floor/main wing. The "plane" used tricycle landing gear.

My impressions were:

The aircraft was "top heavy" and would not be very stable in the air.

On the take off roll (grass field ) the sides of the dog house were moving about 3" from side to side.

The wing/floor of the dog house was quite short (wingspan ) for a 61 which could easily lend itself to instability, especially without ailerons.

If the engine ever died it definitely would be toothpicks as I don't think it would be at all controlable without power.

It was an "Interesting" flying object that got a good amount of attention.

Hope this helps some.

50%plane

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Thanks campy. I know that the plans were improved after the plane origionally debuted, but thats as much as I know.

F106A

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Hi,
I built one from the original plans. The sides had "doors" on each side that were hinged and moved in accordance with the turn, they were free moving and not connected to any servo's. the rudders were mounted at the rear of the sides. You're right, it's 3 ch, it's basically a low aspect ratio flying wing with "stuff" attached. The key is to build the sides and roof as light as possibe to reduce the top heavyness. Snoopy was just a profile that had a piece of musicwire that went through a piece of brass tubing that was glued to the roof. Snoopy was like a weather vane and pivoted into the relative wind. There was no glide if you lost an engine, it just fell out of the sky.
Charles Shultz filed suit for copywrite infringment for using the name and likeness of "Snoopy" without his permision. He wanted royalties anytime the model was flown at airshows where there was an admission charged, like Rhienbeck, which had a Snoopy/Red Baron show as part of the real show. He couldn't do anything against a modeler who built it for his own enjoyment, but I know that MAN stopped selling the plans for quite awhile because of his lawsuit, not sure if they're available again.
It's a like the recent lawsuits of Lockheed-Martin demanding roayties for every P-38 kit/plan made, since they copywrited the design and shape of the aircraft.
BRG,
Jon

50%plane

My Feedback: (5)

Thanks for the info. I guess it would help to airfoil the top to give it lift on the top. Does anyone know where to buy plans? MAN probably only has the origional version. I do know that the origional version had the motor set into the LE, but the second version had a 'fuselage' built into the LE with the motor some 6 or 8 inches farther foward.

50%plane

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Does anyone know where to get plans?

F106A

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Check with Model Airplane News (Air Age Publications), they were the one's that published them originally. I never saw the second version you mentioned, so I don't know where to get those. You might also see if you can get a back issue of MAN with the article and blow them up yourself, but it was a LONG time ago, I'm guessing around 25 years ago.
MAN may have an archive where they will copy and send you the article, for a fee of course.
Still not sure about the copywrite issue though.
Hey, it's worth a phone call!
Jon

Art S.

Go to airage.com, click on the R/C Store link and then the plans link. The Dog House in its original form is plan #4713 which places the article in the April 1971 issue. All that is previously written in this thread about the Dog House is factual. Charles Shultz did not take kindly to the Signorino design at all!

Art Schroeder

F106A

My Feedback: (2)

If you do decide to build it, resist the temptation to build it "stronger". It will only add weight and make it more top heavy than it all ready is. I used contest balsa for the sides and roof to keep it light. The sides and roof are braced by 1/16" music wire, much like a biplane; it's plenty strong enough for how the model was supposed to fly.
Jon

The Ghost

Woops,
I belive they were also published in RCM. Check out the plans catalog. There was also a race car done as well.

Cheers.

ifr2lax

Woops,

The Flying LawnMower is available at www.myunclewillies.com

Large selection of plans, but going out of business at the end of May.

He is closing up shop at the end of the month...lots of stuff, the Sailplane and Valkyrie, are now sold out, but somehow I suspect he still has a few copies of the LawnMower.

I have several of his plans, including the Valkyrie and the Comet Sailplane...(light years better than the Bob Holman copies of a ripped/repaired Comet Goldberg Sailplane)...they are clean and clear.

His service was quick, the plans, Sailplane, XP-3, Miss America, etc all very clean and the prices reasonable.

He is probably going out of business, at least for a while, he says at the end of May.

Hows your Sailplane coming?...I am interested in what mods you and your grandad did to convert it to r/c, pictures are always fun.

Pete

50%plane

My Feedback: (5)

My sailplane is coming along very slowly due to wanting to get it right. I was going to do the single gear in a retractible setup, but I couldn't bend the wire straight enough. I will probably end up going with normal taildragger setup. Afterall, that was the way many of the origionals were. Right now I am overloading myself with projects(15 at last count) and haven't been doing much work on it. Does anyone know where to get Japannese silk? Since this was all 50+ years before my time.

The doghouse is one of my favorite models, but I will probable not build it to scale. I will probably use a high lift airfoil on top to give it a decent glide. I might also use elevons, but we'll see.

On another note, does anyone know where to get BIG pieces of plywood? I heed something 1/8"by about 100".

jettstarblue

WOOPS- You may want to talk to Spiro at www.flyingthingz.com he may be able to help you out.

50%plane

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Thanks Jettstarblue. I'll check that out.

3D Nut

My Feedback: (1)

Hay Woops,
for the Dog house I have to give credit to BB for this one.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...02/ai_n9374738

Sorry,
But the mower plan is the only thing we don't sell. I believe if you check with RCM you could get the mower plans too.

Jettstarblue,
we finaly started cutting the bird. The first cut for the wing ended up in the Birds ...... Anyway I"m setting up another CNC cutter tonight hopefully to start cutting the Sea Gull. I have lost a great deal of hairs (foam) trying to get it just right. When I'm done with the Sea Gull, and it passes our approval. Then it should be for sale.

Spiro

cassat10

My Feedback: (31)

Woops,

I pm'ed you for your mailing info, but you sent your email adress. Let me know if you want me to send the stuff you are asking about.

jettstarblue

Sweet! Hope it's all going well for you Spiro. Nice change to your website too.

Hopefully, things will slow down a bit at work and 'll get back to some serious building/flying.....

50%plane

My Feedback: (5)

Thanks for the info. I will probably get the sky cutter from flyingthingz.com. I'll PM you the info cassat10.

Nuker

Sorry to ressurect an old thread. I just ordered the Snoopy Dog House plans from MAN. The original article (Jan/Feb 1969) was updated in April 1971 as the article suggests to give it better flight characteristics.

I'm not sure which version of the plans will be coming from MAN though. By any chance would anyone know where I could get the build articles from Jan/Feb 1969 and April 1971 updates? MAN doesn't seem to go back that far.

Any assistance would be appreciated as I want to build this classic.

Thanks

Bob

Simmons 9999

I purchased the plans for the dog house myself about two years ago. Saw it fly at the Glenview Nats back in the early 70s. Thought it might fly better with today's technology. The plans are hard to read. I'll look and see if I got instructions along with them. I thought there was a construction article included but I may be wrong. Look for a post Monday. By the way I built the Flying Lawn Mower back in the 80's I went to a Toro dealer and got the stickers from their service department. It looked great. Flew like a set of car keys. I believe it was a bit tail heavy. Didn't stay up long enough to find out for sure. Reinforce the outward wings. Someone used to cut the foam for this kit. Not sure if that is still available. I think the designer Ted Tessler still lives in Chicago. He is in the book, or at least was way back when.

longflyer

if anyone is interested i have man, fm. rcm from 60's and 70.. maybe a few 50's.. if any one would like to purchase the whole series , love to have some get use out of them rather then trashing them...

Nuker

Thanks Simmons 9999 I'll check back on Monday. Maybe they do send a construction article. Unfortunately when you order, the actual plans come from a different office so I couldn't confirm much, other than it was in stock. I was planning some work arounds for the foam, but I have to wait to see the plans.

Longflyer, there are a lot of collectors out there that would probably love to get your collection; no idea on what value it would be though. My wife would kill me if I bought 20+ years of mags [sm=what_smile.gif], I really only need the 3 articles mentioned. If you would want to sell just those 3 let me know but you'll probably want to keep it all together.

Thanks

Bob

Simmons 9999

I looked but I do not have the construction article for the dog house. I ordered the RCM plans a few years ago and this is a whole different model. Looked more like an ugly stick with a small dog house built around the nose. The original one is the best for shows, etc. I was thinking about building it electric.

RFJ

This is the article from April 1971 MAN.

Ray

Nuker

My plans arrived today (took only a week). The build articles are included but the copies are nowhere clear as the ones here. The plans themselves are quite clear though. After struggling reading the article reprints I logged in here and those excellent versions were posted. I now have one of my winter projects and am looking forward to building this one; Heck, it even comes apart for transport.

Simmons,

thanks for checking, I really appreciate it. Oh they also included a plan that is a small .049 version of the doghouse, would be perfect for a small electric

Ray,

Those are fantastic copies, thanks for posting them as they will be a definite assistance in modifying the plans.

Again I appreciate both of your for going out of your way to assist.

Bob