Can framework planes like this endure any punishment?

Of course built-up structures are fragile. Some think planes should be built to fly, not to crash (watch that start a debate).

George[/quote]

Geo:

If crashing is incidental to flying I'm all for crashing. Stuff happens during enjoyable activities.

Planes that are built light will not stall as easily heavy ones and if you anyway manage to crash, the 1/2a sized ones will barely manage to reach the ground as they stop in the grass above it. I have had my share of dead sticks where I have been to far from the field, you simply land out of sight and go pick up the plane, fuel and take of again.

So there is no compromise to talk about, just build it to fly well and it will never crash.

RknRusty wrote: ...My main goal and purpose is a project I can build meticulously and maybe only fly occasionally. I'm interested in the building experience of a stick plane more than just throwing together another frequent flier. I want the satisfaction of building a complex structure and have it come out not only aesthetically pleasing but airworthy in every respect. In other words I'm testing my building skills with an interesting new medium, and hoping for a pleasing outcome.

Rusty, You might check out Red Rheinhardt's Roger Dodger. Here's some info:

Red’s first published design was the Roger Dodger, in the march 1950 Air Trails. An .049-
powered Stunt model for fun-flying rather than for serious competition, it combined lightweight
construction with the right aerodynamic layout for top performance.
1/2A engines were new at the time, and serious fliers considered them a novelty. With this
design, Red showed that the little engines were capable of full Stunt pattern performance – in the
right aircraft.
The Roger Dodger had a 23-inch wingspan, and the wing’s leading edge and two spars were 1/8
square balsa. Rather than being enclosed in the built-up wing, the bellcrank and lead outs were
positioned below the wing.
Power was an OK Cub .049, which put out very little power by today’s standards. The airplane
was flown on 15-foot thread lines.
Although Rodger Dodger is considered small by today’s fliers, I bet it would be a joy to fly if it
was scaled up and beefed up a bit, and used with today’s .049-.061 power plants.

George

Ran across a scan of the Roger Dodger. I believe the plans are available from AMA.



George

Forgot to mention...this was the first plane I built from plans. I scaled up the magazine plan one part at a time using the scale shown on the plans. This was mid fifties, no home computers, printers, or copiers. :-)

Got it. I found it in Model Aviation and bookmarked it. Thanks George.

Red Reinhardt's most famous plane was the El Diablo for a .35. It's gotta be one of the best Old time stunt plane's that I've ever seen. I alway's loved that plane.

Jim Hayes