I found this plane left in the garage by the previous owner of the house. I was wondering about specs for an engine / radio setup.

Here is the info...

Wingspan 69"
Wing chord 8.5"
Wing Type Flat bottom, Curved top
Wing tapers at the tips (approx 18" on each end)
Wing attaches to the op of the fuselage
The wing does not have ailerons.

Fuselage is 40" long
It does have a stabilizer with independant elevators.
It does not have a fin / rudder
The front of the fuselage come down/up to a horizontal point.
There is a rectangular cut out on the right side with two small holes.

Covering-
pretty decent shape (except for the dust, seems like it has been sitting for years)
There is one 5" cut on the wing
There are two smaller cuts on the tail.

I'm not an expert, in fact I'm also a beginner (still building my first plane), but about your description:

The way you described the stabilizer, it sounds like a V-Tail. And the 'damaged' covering might be the location where the control horns would normally attach to the elevators.

I think what you mean by the wing tapering is actually polyhedral (Taper is when the leading edge of the wing is not a constant angle, for example, the first few inches of a wing might represent a rectangle when seen from above, with the next inches making the wing look like a triangle, again, when seen from above).

Polyhedral means each wing is literally made of two parts, with the tip part having more of an upwards angle. I think all planes which have polyhedral don't have ailerons.

You said the front (nose) of the plane comes to a point. Does this mean that you cannot put in a propeller at the nose (ie. the nose of the plane is all in one piece and cannot be taken apart or move)? It's starting to sound like what you have is a sailplane (glider). Or if you can put in a propeller, it might be an electric powered glider. Strengthening the idea of a glider would be if the entire fuselage tends to be rounded and narrow.

The rectangular cutout with two holes is where you would put in a switch, to turn the airplane's receiver/servos on and off (this usually comes with the radio equipment you buy)

Here on RCairport, you can always try looking at different types of gliders until you find the one you have. Look at planes with the following characteristics: Handlaunch, Sailplane, Slope, and Thermal. Dur.

you might see a picture of what you have [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Other than that, you'll have to post a picture and someone might recognize it...

thanks for all the input. that really helps!

silly question...
how do you get a sailplane/glider in the air?

Before buying my first kit , I had done a lot of research about sailplanes because that was what I thought I was going to fly. But in the end I ended up buying a glow-powered trainer. So I know the answer to your question, but not first hand.

There are five methods that I'd read about:

1) Hand launch the plane (there is a special technique which I understand looks something like throwing a javelin).

2) Use a motor, either electric or a small glow-powered engine. These come in two forms, one that is inside the plane in the nose (with a folding propeller), or a pod, which attaches over the wing, sometimes facing backwards (pusher prop).

3) Using another plane to tow your sailplane into the air.

4) Using a Hi-start, which is like a catapult made of rubber and string. You stake one end into the ground, the other is attached to your plane. You pull on it, then let go. (it's more complicated than that, but it's basically what's done).

5) Using a winch. attach your plane to a string, and the string to a winch, you start the winch and your plane zooms up into the air. Again, much more complicated than my crude explaination!

If you really want a lot more explainations, try searching the web for a Sailplane FAQ. There are quite few of them and explains everything in detail, and more importantly, explains them accurately.