Can someone identify my $2.50 airplane?
 

A guy at the swap meet had two old beaters marked $5. Now I'm wondering if I paid too much. He said this one was a Sweeper, but a significant amount of Googling has turned up nothing. I've checked the AMA plans service and most of the bigger manufacturers to no avail. The plane is kit or scratch built, probably in the late 80's given the offset prong servos that came with it. It has a symmetrical airfoil with airfoiled stab. The firewall is cut off flat at the front. I'd love to get a picture of what the vertical should look like because that, the elevators, and new hinging on the wing is all it needs to be flyable.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=1981597

I've never seen anything like it so maybe it's a plane the guy designed and built himself. It seems to have an experimental look to it, to me anyways.

Looks a lot like a "Hooker."

I think you nailed it, K-bob ... I could NOT think of the name...

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/scra...ct-1981-a.html

looks like jester's version was bashed a bit... that certainly looks like a hooker though. ;)

The Hooker is close, but that's not it. My fuselage is 5 inches shorter and the wing is 3 inches longer than the Hooker design. The Fuselage side profile shape is pretty different too as is the shape of the horizontal stab. Any other ideas? I can always use the Chuck Cunningham guidelines to calculate the right size for the vertical stab if I need to, but I'd like it so much better if I had a picture to work with.

I think that Johnnie Casburn Manf. out of Fort Worth, Tx. made a model called the Sweeper about 30 years ago. That era, fun fly events were popular, and the sweep wing as suppose to improve spins.

I'm still thinking it could be home designed and built that someone was experimenting around with. It just has that look of not quite at the kit release level, IMO.

I found some pics of the Cashburn Sweeper, and at least the place is right. If this is a sweeper, it's been modded significantly. The wing has much bigger ailerons with flaps instead of the narrow strip ailerons, and the fuselage is a lot thinner top to bottom than it should be. Mine is also a built up wing where the Sweeper example I found online was foam core wing. My wing is also longer than the sweeper version I found online, but maybe they were produced in both .40 and .60 sizes?

Your model is very much like dozens of models of the 1970-1990 era. Sport Pylon racing, Quickie Racing, Competition Fun Flys, and other named events brought in both kits from many garage suppliers along with MODELERS trying lots of different things. One needs to remember that in up to 1995 +/- BUILDING was also a common activity. In addition many KITS were changed up and BEHOLD there was another "Original Design". :o Do whatever you think needs some doing, place a radio etc. in it, an engine up front and again BEHOLD, you have another "ORIGINAL". No probleem. Senior!

I'll do that Horace. I'm going to build the vertical like the Cashburn model. I'll do some calculations for how much area it should have and I'm sure it'll fly fine. It'll be fun to have a plane at Tbird field that nobody else has again. I had a an original BUSA Phaeton for several years that I lost recently to a suspected battery failure.

Yep, that's a $2.50 airplane alright.