rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

I've been keeping my eye out for a bipe project for a long time, and came across the Wayfarer by Don Dewey. It's from the 2/72 RCM and is based on an earlier bipe called the Hobo. The Wayfarer has 52" equal-span wings, 800 sq." of area, and a weight of 5 - 5 1/2lbs. With a K&B .61 it should be a lot of fun.

Has anyone here built or flown this design? I love the lines and the simplicity of the design (no soldered wire cabanes).

Thanks, David

Hircflyer

I built the kit when it was available many years ago.....I had an old .40 in it and it flew great.

Our field has some utility wires along one end and one day I tried to fly through them,,,,,,,didn't work.

PM me if your interested in some foam cut wings for this project..I got them because I was going to scatch build another...but never did.

DRCRAIG

My Feedback: (31)

David,
I scratch built one several years ago and sold it - what a mistake. It was a great flying plane. I felt an OS 40 FSR was almost too much power - I'm not sure what you're looking for with a K&B 61!! Anyway, can you still get the Hallco gear? I'm not sure they're available. Good luck.
Craig

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for the input, y'all. And, you're right, the more I think about it, the .61 is too much for this design. On the other hand, I can always scale up the plans a bit. I have an old OS Max .50 (pre-FSR), but I want to use that in my Senior Falcon. So, I could either use an OS SF .40 or scale it up for the K&B .61. Scaling it 110% would give it a span of 57.2" and an area of 968 sq." Or, 112% would be 58.25" span and around 1000 sq." area.

Hircflyer, thanks for the foam core offer. I actually enjoy cutting out ribs and I'm thinking this plane would look nice with a silk covered wing.

All I know for sure is the more I study the plans the more I want to build it!

Thanks,
David

Hircflyer

I hate building wings.....go for it!!!

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

Actually, I think that the Wayfarer in 2/72 and the Acrostar in 4/73 are much more closely related (Dewey on the design of both). Both are about the same size and appearance. I had a Acrostar for close to 500 flights. I powered it first with an OS FSR61, then up engined it to a ST .75 swinging a 13-5 at 12,000. Pretty much unlimited vertical at 7 1/2 lbs dry.

The Acrostar is incredibly strong, with front and rear spruce spars in a "D" tube wing, and solid lite ply fuselage sides. I flew mine through another airplane, with very slight damage to the stab at the top of a 400 foot climb. The other plane was totaled coming down in little pieces.

When set up slightly tail heavy, it can tumble end over end across the sky and do some of the best sport flying you can imagine, yet is so easy to take-off and land.

I liked mine so much, that I bought 4 more kits (Airtronics) on auction the last couple of years.

Red B.

The Wayfarer is a very nice aircraft. A modern .40 - .46 two stroke should provide plenty of power as would a four-stroke engine. An OS 52 or Saito 56 comes to mind. Previously it was kitted by the European company Svenson and it may be that it is still kitted in Spain. I found a Spanish web shop that advertises the Wayfarer, [link=http://www.aeromodelismoserpa.com/product_info.php?products_id=1840]here[/link].

/Red B.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

This is some great info, keep it coming, please!

HighPlains, I also have the Acrostar issue. I will have to take a second look at that one, too.

I agree that 4-strokes are almost always better in bipes.

Thank,
David

Red B.

Here is a link to a Spanish building log of a Svenson Wayfarer:

[link=http://www.skytechnologies.net/wayfarer/]Wayfarer building log[/link]

And here is a French review:

[link=http://www.aeromodelisme.org/magazine/articles/tests-16.html]Wayferer review[/link]

You may try using [link=http://babelfish.altavista.com/]Babelfish[/link] to translate the text.

/Red B.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for the links, Red B. This plane simply has great biplane lines:

buzzard bait

David, I agree, but I like the "Comedian" even better. MA July 1976. You can find the article on the AMA website. Very similar in size and proportions, but a deeper, more realistic fuselage.

A friend build a Hobo which he modified in ways that anticipated the Wayfarer. He let me fly it and I was just mesmerized by the look in the air. It's about 30 years old and rather heavy, but flew nicely on a K&B .45 Sportster. You'll build it much lighter.

By the way, I got August FM on the newsstand last week--congratulations on a really nice piece.

Jim

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks, Jim. Getting a construction article published was a real hobby dream of mine.

I will check out the Comedian, too.

I know I said earlier that I enjoy cutting out ribs and I do. But, I thought maybe someone else here might like to build a Wayfarer, too, so I spent a little time drawing a laser cut file for the 36 ribs.

I'm changing the wing construction to suit my style of building. I'll use two 3/8 sq. spars, instead. I'll still sheet from the spars forward, sheet the TE and use cap strips like the plans show. I just don't care for the notched, full-depth spar method. It's hard to get eight full depth spars that are all perfectly straight. With the over-and-under spars you can jig the wing before gluing and make a straight wing much easier (at least I can).

Here's an image of the cut file. I got nine ribs on a 24" x 4" sheet to save on cost. Four sheets will give me all the ribs. If anyone else wants to build one I'll get a quote and we can order the ribs together to save on shipping. I might draw some of the other curved parts if anyone's interested. I'm thinking the plywood cabanes and struts would be nice to have laser cut.

David

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

If I remember correctly, Dewey styled them along the lines of the EAA bipe.

DRCRAIG

My Feedback: (31)

Dave,
Are you still thinking of scaling up the Wayfarer? I would be interested in a copy of the plans if you do.
Craig

cjet

I flew one in the 70's that I built from RCM plans. You can probably still get the plans there.

They are listed at http://www.rcmmagazine.com/store/sto...jTq59cfdM565T6

I flew mine with a SuperTigre .46 and it was just right. I think I ran an 11-5 or 11-4 prop to keep it slow.

I still have it and was considering flying it again when I discovered this thread just now. I have one photo from those days and will send more later when I round them up.

KrisG

Hi David,

The Wayfarer was/is very popular here in Belgium because Svenson ( which was a Belgian kit manufacturer, before they moved to Spain and went under) had it in their line for years. Probably hundreds of them flew over here, and they can still be found all over the country. Great flier with a 40-45 engine, and still okay with the less powerful 60-61s.

See pics attached. At least 3 of them in our club ( on 40 members only!). Have a partially kit myself, and sold another one to somebody who absolutely wanted one - these are really hot over here, after all those years.

How did it work with the Aurora plan parts I sent you? Still working on that?

Kris

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Kris. Yes, I was able to use the parts patterns you sent. Thanks again. The Aurora got shelved while I started working on other things, but the plans are almost finished. I think I lost your email address when I rebuilt my computer last month, so PM it to me and I'll send you copies.

That's cool to hear that the Wayfarer was so popular over there. I'm still planning on building one.

david

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Ok, I traced the wing and drew a laser cut file for the ribs. I have ordered four sets of laser cut ribs. They are for the original size (not enlarged). I can let you know the cost when I get the invoice. One is mine and one is spoken for. That leaves two sets if anyone wants one. I went back to the original construction method with full-depth notched spars. I made all the ribs the same to keep it simple. The center ribs will need to have the spar notches enlarged 1/16" for the ply dihedral doublers and the ailerons cut away as described on the plans.

David

KrisG

Does anyone know if there is any link between chuck cunningham's "showoff" and the wayfarer? Chuck and Don knew each other well, and the designs are more or less similar.

Kris

cjet

My Wayfarer first flew on June 10th, 1978. I didn’t have a computerized flight log then, so some day I will add up how many flights it has made. I flew it up to the late 80’s and then I hung it on the wall where it’s been since.

This was a scratch build from RC Modeler Magazine plans. I modified the strut area a bit as the photos show. I used yellow wood glue and epoxy in the construction. The covering is MonoKote. I glued a block of foam on the firewall and sanded it to shape. Then I used glass cloth and epoxy to protect it. One of the photos will show the glass cloth inside the cowl.

The empty weight of the plane with no engine (ST .46) and radio is 4.10 pounds. So I was probably flying at 5.5 to 6 pounds back then.

It was a lot of fun and a gentle flyer. When I get time, I will fly it again. It would be nice this time around with a four stroke engine.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Nice looking model, cjet! I'm getting more excited about building this plane. I got my plans printed out and notification from my laser cutter that the parts are in progress. As I said, I'll have two extra sets of ribs. I'll sell them to anyone who wants one for the actual cost plus shipping.

David

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

I got the Wayfarer ribs today. They look nice. I have two sets of 36 ribs (4 sheets each) left that I want to offer to anyone at cost plus shipping. PM me if you're interested.

I re-drew the wings in cad along with the spar patterns. Building the wings will be a lot easier now.

David

toolman770

Rainedave,
How much for a set of the Wayfarer ribs, shipped to 30263? Please e-mail me at: [email protected]
Thanks

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

I built the Svenson kit of the Wayfarer around 1977. I flew it for a number of years before parking it. Two months ago I got it out and am refurbishing it. I have about 1/2 the old dope and silk finish removed. It is surprising how good shape the airframe is. I still have the orginial Enya .46 I had in it and am going the use that engine in the refurbished plane.

Bruce

demarbeuf

Hi, my name is daniel, I used to build the wayfahrer in series for a hobby shop close to Paris , that was in 1975
I built may be 20 or 23 of them.
I flew that plane a lot, very good flyer, back then I used an OS 61 golden head( I still have one brand new)
Do you know where I can get the full size plan, or if you have one, can you make me a copy, I am dying to
build that wayfahrer again. thanks in advance for your answer
aloha daniel