I decided to take a short break from my Jumbo Focke-Wulf to build a tiny Old Timer – the Fleetwood Flyer. This was one of seven “Victory Models” designed by Louis Bucalo in the war years. The wing is the same dimensions as the Shaft, but has a different dihedral setup. This model was published in the August 1943 Air Age magazine.
It is a very quick build with the longest part being the amount of time it takes for the rolled tube fuselage to dry (one day). One curiosity was how to attach the single wheel landing gear. Here you can see the original plan and one of the article photos of the prototype. Note the photo seems to show a double wire strut.
I decided to 3D print a Landing Gear saddle. It has a hole and a notch to accommodate the single wire. The test print worked very well; exactly as designed.
I will provide two sheets of laser-cut parts: one sheet (1/16″) has all of the ribs, the wing tips, trailing edges, fin parts, wheel discs, and wing pylon. The other sheet (1/32″) has the tail cone, the tail winglets, and the blank to roll the tube fuselage. I will also be providing the 3D printed LG saddle.
I did move the pylon forward to better locate the CG properly and efficiently. The new, optional location is shown on the plan.
my prototype turned out to be a pretty-light 10 grams!
Below is a short video of a test flight. It doesn’t make 20 seconds, but you can certainly see the potential. I was running out of flying space on the breezy day and didn’t want to push my luck.
This model qualifies for FAC events: 2-Bit, OT Fuselage, and Victory Models (Pinkham HandbooK). I will be flying it as my 2-Bit model at the local Cloudbusters events this summer – until it flies away, of course!
You can find the product HERE.