American Boy

I’ve been thinking about doing some Musciano hollow log models, or at least ordering a couple before you can’t get them anymore from Blackhawk Models.  I finally got around to ordering three models, but before I decided on which ones I wanted, I was thinking about the American Boy design that I had looked at a while ago.  It seemed pretty easy to scratch build, so I went for it.  Like I didn’t already have enough models waiting for their test flights. But, what the hell, it’s been raining here.

I got the plans from Outerzone here:
http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=4046

They’re simple and straight forward, as it’s just a profile plane.  The plans call for a fuselage made from 3/16” balsa sheet, but all I had on hand is ¼”, so that’s what I used.  Also, for some reason, the fin to fuselage junction is overly complicated.  Seems like it should just be a simple slot in the rear of the fuse, so that’s what I did.  I also saved some time and effort by using a Brodak 1/2A engine mount.  If I did another one of these, I’d probably just go ahead and use the plans version of the firewall and save the 4 dollars.  The wing is just an 18” section of SIG 3” airfoil shaped balsa.  

Bare bones:






And finished up:








Total weight is 5.3 ounces. Minus engine, it cost about 10 dollars.  When I get a chance, I will test run and tune the engine, then do a test flight of the plane.

The American Mark